Tyler Goecke seemed poised to dominate the 118th Ohio Amateur through 54 holes. With defending champion Andrew Bailey in pursuit, however, that outcome was far from certain.

Held at Sylvania Country Club in Ohio, Goecke (Xenia) kicked off with scores of 66-69-65 (-16), securing a three-stroke lead heading into Friday’s final round. The final pairing featured Goecke (-16), Andrew Bailey (-13), and Caden Scarbrough (-11), each with diverse backgrounds: Goecke, the highest-ranked amateur in the field and NCAA National Championship runner-up; Bailey, the seasoned mid-amateur defending his Ohio Amateur title; and Scarbrough, a talented underdog from D2 college ranks.

Goecke got off to a nervy start: A missed fairway, a missed green, and a missed up and down for par on the first hole. Bailey, a Shaker Heights native and one of the top mid-ams in the country, stuffed his approach shot close for an early birdie. Suddenly, the three-shot lead Goecke had slept on was down to one. 

If there was any concern Goecke didn’t show up to play on Friday, he quickly erased it with a shoo-in birdie on the par-5 2nd hole. After an easy birdie on the short par-5 4th hole, Goecke rolled in 25 footers for birdies on the par-4 5th and par-3 6th holes. Walking off the 6th green, it felt like Goecke wouldn’t miss again, and his lead was up to 4 strokes. 

Goecke would not make another birdie, and his lead would slowly dwindle.

Goecke’s momentum waned on the back nine, allowing Bailey to close the gap. A birdie on the par-5 8th and a crucial birdie putt on the par-3 10th kept Bailey within striking distance. The duel intensified through the final stretch, each player trading pars until the 16th hole.

Goecke had a two-stroke lead with three holes to play, yet momentum favored the trailing Bailey, as Goecke’s putter had gone cold and stalled out on the back nine. Bailey, on the other hand, was bogey-free and applying the pressure.

The 16th and 17th holes at Sylvania Country Club are back-to-back par 5s, and the now back-to-back Ohio Amateur Champion took advantage. On the 16th, Bailey hit the green and two-putted for birdie; Goecke failed to get up and down for his birdie, missing a 5-footer from above the hole.

 On the 17th, Bailey would hit the green again in two, leaving himself around 30 feet for his eagle. From fifty-some yards behind him, Goecke matched his approach shot, leaving a putt from the front of the green to a back pin. Goecke’s lead was just one; both men had eagle putts, and the stage was set.  

Bailey’s eagle putt would just miss the cup–a constant theme in his round– leaving him a tap in for birdie. Goecke’s eagle putt was a great effort, scaring the cup but leaving him a knee-knocking 4-footer down the hill. He would miss his short birdie putt, and they were tied heading into the last.

After setting themselves up in prime position off the tee on the short par 4 18th hole, Bailey left a wedge 12 feet on top of the cup. A tricky putt, but a birdie putt nonetheless. Goecke’s approach shot came up just a few yards short, leaving him a tricky short-sided chip up the hill. He put it to 4 feet on top of the cup.

 With a putt to win the championship, Bailey missed the cup by mere inches. He would clean up for par and left Goecke with his 4-foot putt to force a playoff, already reeling from some short misses. After watching Bailey’s putt creep to the right at the cup, Goecke's par putt never worked back toward the hole, missing on the left edge. 

Shrowded in disbelief, the final pairing exchanged handshakes. For the second year in a row, the Shaker Heights native Andrew Bailey was the Ohio Amateur Champion.

Bailey’s disbelief was apparent. Now the 11th man in tournament history to win back-to-back titles, Bailey joins the ranks of players including John Cook, Frank Stranahan, Ben Curtis, and the illustrious Arnold Palmer, who won the 1954 Ohio Amateur at Sylvania Country Club. 

“It's humbling to win. I didn’t even think I could win it last year, and then to win it last year, and then for this year to not even hold the lead until the 72nd hole when the tournament was finished, it was kind of like, ‘what the heck just happened?’”

Goecke led the field in birdies, but the champion Bailey credited his bogey avoidance for his victory, making just one bogey the entire week (1st round, 18th hole). 

Bailey finished the tournament with rounds of 67-70-66-66 (-19) with Goecke one shot behind at -18. On the back of a tournament low 64 (-8) in his final round, Beavercreek’s Mikkel Mathiesen finished in a tie for 3rd place at -13, along with a whopping eight other competitors: Tommy Sullinger (Sylvania), Darin Hudak (Tallmadge), Mitchell Soma (New Albany), Jackson Chandler (Dublin), Brett Podobinski (Dublin), Bryce Haney (Huber Heights), and Colin Schadek (Liberty Township). 

With this victory, Bailey punches his ticket to the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

“It feels good,” Bailey said about his U.S. Amateur berth. “It’s my 4th one, but my first since 2019.” 

No stranger to the moment, the back-to-back Ohio Amateur champion will look to make a run at the 124th U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota from August 12-18th. 

A note to history:
According to an article by Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus met for the first time at the 1954 Ohio Amateur at Sylvania Country Club. Click here to learn more. Thank you to the Ohio Golf Association for sharing.  

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