In a message to members, Combs said the elimination of the two golf positions “was the right financial decision for our club.”
The 31-year-old Combs was an assistant pro at Piqua Country Club from 2005-2012. He worked previously at WGC Golf Course in Xenia and at Kittyhawk Golf Course. He attended Bowling Green State University after graduation from Vandalia-Butler High School.
“Paul has been supportive of me throughout my first 6 months here, and has been amicable throughout this separation,” Combs said. “I am grateful for that and in some ways am sorry to see him go. Still I look forward to what is ahead for the club.”
City Starts Thursday
Michael Bernard, the 2010 Ohio Amateur champion, will make this week’s City Men’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship his last tournament before enrolling at Ohio State University.
The four-day, 72-hole tournament will be played at Madden Golf Course, beginning Thursday.
The 18-year-old Bernard has not been at his best this summer. Although he won a Junior PGA Tournament at Mansfield recently and finished in a respectable tie for 13th at the Ohio Am in Worthington, he had a disappointing performance in the Junior PGA Championship in Fort Wayne last week. He shot 79-74-84 and missed the cut.
No Rest for Block
Steve Block, one of the city’s better players over the years, had to make a great sacrifice to play in the Metropolitan Tournament, which ends Sunday at Greene Country Club.
Block, who drives a Pepsi-Cola truck, got up at 4 a.m., Thursday and worked his route for eight hours before showing up at the golf course just before his 1:30 p.m. tee time.
Then he labored in the hot sun for more than four hours to shoot 79.
Kalaman Tournament
It happened in January of 1998, but every time I go around that curve on I-675 near the Wilmington Pike exit I still think of the accident in which Centerville police officer John Kalaman and firefighter Robert O’Toole were killed while investigating another traffic accident.
The 15th annual John P. Kalaman Memorial Golf Tournament and Pig Roast will be held on Sept. 10, 2012 at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace. Sponsored by the City of Centerville, it raises money to provide scholarships. If you’d like to participate as a player or a sponsor, call the Yankee Trace pro shop at 937 438-GOLF.
Chip Shots
The Southern Ohio PGA’s Southwest chapter will hold its assistants championship Friday, Aug. 10, at NCR Country Club.
The Senior Southern Ohio PGA Professionals Championship and the SOPGA Lady Professional Championship will be held simultaneously Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 8-9) at Columbus Country Club.
Scioto Country Club in Columbus will host the 36-hole SOPGA Championship on Aug. 13-14.
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