| In Ohio Amateur |
Goecke, a former Wright State Raider from Xenia, started strong by birdying four of the first six holes, reaching 19-under par and establishing a four-shot lead over Bailey. However, Goecke then made 11 consecutive pars, while Bailey birdied holes 8, 10, 16, and 17 to tie the match. Goecke missed a short birdie putt on the 17th hole and bogeyed the 18th, while Bailey made par on the 18th to win with a final score of 19-under, becoming the 11th player to secure back-to-back Ohio Amateur titles. Goecke had previously placed third for the past two years. “Congrats to Andrew on great playing all week,” Goecke said. “Winning one Ohio Amateur is hard enough, and winning two in a row is very impressive. This has been my closest call yet at this event, and it will sting for a while.” This past spring, Goecke was runner-up in the NCAA championships playing for Illinois and recently won his first Metropolitan Championship at Miami Valley Golf Club. His next event is the renowned Western Amateur later in July at Moraine Country Club. “I look forward to teeing it up at Moraine in a few weeks and hopefully contending again there,” Goecke said. A Carroll High School graduate, Goecke shot rounds of 66, 69, 65, and 70, finishing with a total score of 270 at 18-under par. He led going into Friday’s final round.
Bellbrook High School senior C.J. Scohy shot rounds of 68, 70, 74, and 70, finishing at 6-under in a tie for 24th with seven others. Scohy is committed to play at Wright State beginning in the fall of 2025 and his dad Jeff, who just won the Miami Valley Mid Am for the fourth time in a row earlier in the week caddied for him the final two rounds. Dhaivat Pandya of Dayton shot a low round of 70 on Thursday and finished at 1-under. Pandya played at Centerville and in college at Maryland and Kentucky. Others who have won both the Ohio Amateur and the Miami Valley Metropolitan are Matt Ehlinger and Michael Bernard, although not in the same year. |
- Tyler Goecke, the 2024 Miami Valley Metropolitan Champion, almost added another title to his impressive resume: Ohio Amateur Champion. Goecke had a three-shot lead going into the final round over last year's champion, Andrew Bailey. He maintained that lead through the turn before Bailey closed with a 3-birdie back nine to inch past Goecke on the last hole at Sylvania Country Club. The last person to win both the Miami Valley Metropolitan and the Ohio Amateur in the same year was Bob Servis in 1933. The only other time this has happened was when Bob Kepler also duplicated this feat in 1931.
Goecke’s former Wright State teammate, Mikkel Mathiesen, finished in an eight-player tie for third at 13-under after shooting a 64, the best score on Friday. Also tied for third was Bryce Haney of Huber Heights, another former Raider and Wayne graduate. Mathiesen is a two-time Metro winner, and Haney also holds a Metro title.