Pluchinsky celebrates OPGA Publinx victory

July 31, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

By STEVE WILAJ

SUNBURY

Going into this past week’s Ohio Public Golf Association Publinx Tournament, Brandon Pluchinsky had memories of playing at host course NorthStar Golf Club in Sunbury from his days at South Range High.

He played there with the Raiders in the 2010 and 2011 state tournaments — finishing eighth in Division III as a junior and seventh in D-II as a senior.

So while it’s been five years, Pluchinsky figured what he remembered from the course could prove beneficial this time around.

“But it was completely different, because when I was in high school it was 40 mph winds and it was almost snowing the one round,” said the North Lima native, who also played golf at Youngstown State from 2012-16. “Me and my buddies from YSU who also played in tournament went and played a practice round and I was kind of confused.

“The course played a lot shorter than what I remembered from four years ago.”

No, those old memories of NorthStar didn’t serve Pluchinsky well. But he still left the course on Friday having made a terrific new one.

Shooting a 283 in the tournament that lasted Tuesday-Friday, the 2012 South Range graduate finished first in the 60-player field to win the OPGA Publinx.

“It’s always been a prestigious tournament,” Pluchinsky said. “So it was cool to go down there again where I played state and win it. It was fun.”

Especially when you’re notching scores like he did all week.

Pluchinsky opened on Tuesday with a 72, followed on Wednesday with a tournament-best 68, shot a 70 on Thursday and clinched the victory with a 73 on Friday.

“I was just hitting fairways,” he said. “Their course is kind of deceiving. It’s really open, but it’s kind of tight at the same time.

“So I didn’t hit driver too much — I hit hybrid most of the time and just kept it in the fairway and hit some greens. When I had a birdie putt, I made a few and missed a few. But it was mostly just about keeping it in play.”

Pluchinsky — a first-team All-Horizon League selection at YSU in 2014-15 and the conference’s golfer of the year in 2015-16 — finished six strokes ahead of second-place finisher Adam Fluty.

His 68 on Wednesday was keyed by a hot start in which he birdied six of his first seven holes and shot a 30 on the back-nine.

“I got off to a really hot start and then just tried to keep the momentum going,” he said.

Pluchinsky then led Gabe Reynolds by two strokes heading into the final round on Friday, while Fluty was seven behind.

As it turned out, it was smooth sailing on the final day.

“I told myself that I have to stay steady, hit the ball in the fairway and hit the greens,” Pluchinsky said. “I knew I had a decent lead, so I just didn’t want to make any big mistakes — just keep it in play.

“It all worked out.”