By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

Middle school golf continues to thrive in Portage County.

Kent’s Stanton Middle School golf team hosts the annual Riders Junior Golf Tournament at Raccoon Hill Golf Club in Kent.

The tournament is open to any sixth-, seventh- or eighth-grade student golfer, boys or girls.

Set for Sept. 30, the tournament begins with tee times at 9 a.m. Golfers are grouped based on average and will receive tee times the day before the event.

Registration is $40 per athlete and includes 18 holes of golf and hot-dog lunch at the turn.

One addition this year will be a closest to the pin contest on each nine holes. One par-three hole will be selected on the front and the back nine. The golfer closest to the pin will receive a $25 gift card to Dunkin Donuts.

All profits received from the game are donated to The Rose Fund, a charity fund through Kelly’s Grief Center providing free services to parents who have lost a child.

Awards are presented immediately following the conclusion of the event.

Sponsorship for the Par 3 is $12 for one hole and $20 for both holes.

Families and businesses are also invited to sponsor a hole for $100.

For additional information email Ashley Shaheen at ashaheen@kentschools.net.

OHIO HALL OF FAME

Mitch Camp (left), who is the Director of Golf at Club Walden in Aurora, was recently inducted into the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame.

Mitch Camp, longtime director of golf at Club Walden in Aurora, was inducted into the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame, Class of 2023.

The hall of fame strives to recognize outstanding achievements of Ohioians who play or support the game of golf.

Founded in 1922, Hall of Fame inductees include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Kent State golf alumni Rob Moss and Ben Curtis, Aurora’s Gary Trivisonno and retired Kent State golf coach and Windmill Lakes Golf Club director of golf, Herb Page,

This years class included Mitch Camp, who became a member of the PGA of America in 1986. Camp graduated from Orrville High School in 1976 and won the Ohio High School Athletic Association AA individual state championship in 1975 and became a member of Ohio State University men’s golf team.

In 1980, Camp was named Second Team All-American and won the Les Bolstad Award for Low Stroke Average in the Big Ten.

He played the Space Coast Golf Tour before accepting the assistant golf professional job at Fairlawn Country Club. In 1989, Camp became the director of Golf at Club Walden in Aurora, a job he still currently holds.

His playing career highlights include two-time champion of the Ohio Open, three Northern Ohio PGA Section Championships, 2009 Ohio Senior Open champion and 2012 and 2021 Toledo Open Senior Champion.

He was also recognized as merchandiser of the year for a private club and was named four times as the NOPGA Junior Golf Leader of the year. He has been a member of the NOPGA Junior Golf Committee since 1989.

Camp is also a member of the Northern Ohio PGA Hall of Fame, Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame and Orrville High School Sports Hall of Fame.

TOURNAMENTS & OUTINGS

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 30 — Riders Junior Golf Tournament, Raccoon Hill Golf Club, Kent. (18-hole tournament for ages 6^th, 7^th and 9^th grade golfers.) Email ashaheen@kentschools.net.

OCTOBER

OCT. 7 — Wounded Warriors in Action Benefit Golf Outing, Raccoon Hill Golf Club, Kent. (Four-person, 18-hole scramble; $440 per team.) Call or text Chad Brazill 330-289-7414).

OCT. 7 — Caddyshack Open, Olde Dutch Mill Golf Course, Lake Milton. (Four-person, 18-hole scramble, 9 a.m. shotgun start, $75 per person.) Call 330-654-4100 to register.

OCT. 15 — Cross Country Scramble, Olde Dutch Mill Golf Course, Lake Milton. (Nine-hole, four-person scramble across the 18-hole course, $220 per team.) Call 330-654-4100.