Greatest Golfer champion offers plenty of thanks

By now, you’ve read a lot about Greatest Golfer of the Valley 4.0. My plan after the event was to write a congratulatory paragraph this week to the winner and move on to a new subject.

However, as luck would have it, I ended up having a good weekend and bested some good friends to capture the victory.

No, I’m not going to write a whole column about me. Rather, I want to take some time to write (what hopefully will become a speaking tradition at the tournament itself) a thank-you speech.

First of all, I have to say what a thrill it was to win the tournament. I got to play the final round with two great friends (Josh Zarlenga and Tim Morrow) who were right behind me as fellow Boardman Spartans and YSU Penguins.

The final round was at my home course, The Lake Club. And it was great to see a lot of friends and family members out there rooting for me coming down the stretch.

And while our final group had our fair share of troubles out on the course, it was exciting to be involved in a close tournament and see some great shots when they mattered. In the end, I was very thankful to come out ahead, knowing Josh and Tim will win a number of Greatests in the future.

Next, I have to thank my friend Todd Franko and the whole staff at The Vindy. From the organization at Mill Creek to the final presentation at Lake Club, the event couldn’t have been nicer. I also would like to thank all of the sponsors who make the week possible. I’m not going to try to list them all for fear of leaving one out, but I do want to say a special thank you to four important people/companies:

• Mr. Gulas and his team at Farmers National Bank, who have been involved since day one. Their support has been instrumental in helping Greatest grow year after year.

• Mr. Antonucci and his team at Superior Beverage. Their title sponsorship of the new Greatest Scramble was a great addition to this year’s entire Greatest program.

• Mr. Covelli and his team at Covelli Enterprises. Their sponsorship of the event, and of local PGAer Jason Kokrak, helped bring a PGA playoff contender to the new scramble which added a whole new level of excitement.

• And finally, to my friend Ed Muransky and his team at The Lake Club. From day one, Mr. Muransky got behind the event and has helped make it what it is today. I have to add that, seeing first hand the number of charity events, sponsorships, and donations Mr. Muransky gets behind at The Lake Club is truly amazing. And I know I speak for everyone involved when I say we are all thankful he is also a huge supporter of Greatest.

In addition to the sponsors, I also want to say a quick thank you to the host courses. From the juniors through the final round, none of this would be possible without the courses’ willingness to host all of us crazy competitors.

I want to say thank you to all the people who decided to pay the entry fee and take advantage of the best tournament in the Valley. Without the 310+ competitors who played across 7 flights, my final round wouldn’t have been anymore than a friendly round between three “over the hill” former Spartans.

And, I have to say thank you to one William Lewis, the Vindy photographer who captured a lot of our last nine. I woke up the next day to a number of text messages with pictures of “The Kiss” from the front sports page of The Vindy. I didn’t even see Mr. Lewis standing under the tree when I kissed my wife after the last putt went in, but I have to say, it’s an awfully nice reminder of what was truly a great weekend.

What an honor it is to get my name on a trophy named after the late Pete Mollica. I didn’t know Mr. Mollica that well, but I do know that for a long time, he was the man who trumpeted local golf more than anyone.

As always, thanks for reading.

Jonah Karzmer is a former golf professional who writes a Sunday golf column for The Vindicator. In his spare time, he sells commercial insurance for Huntington Insurance and loves getting feedback on his weekly columns via email at jonah.karzmer@huntington.com