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Southern Ohio PGA News

Kern, Sowards Shine at PGA Winter Championsihps

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – There’s an ATM joke to be made about how Bob Sowards and Ben Kern treat the PGA Winter Championships every year. When the weather in Ohio turns cold, Bob and Ben are just getting warmed up, and that proved to be true once

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Ben Kern Comes Up Just Short at Stroke Play Championship

By Craig Dolch Special to the PGA of America PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2026) – It’s not easy to beat Ben Kern in a playoff. Or to win with an 8 on the scorecard. Andre Chi of Hicksville, N.Y., managed to do both Tuesday, making a 17-foot

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Kern, Sowards Win For The Second Time In One Week!

By Craig Dolch Special to the PGA of America PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Feb. 3, 2026) – Bob Sowards was prophetic last week when asked if he and teammate Ben Kern were the team to beat in the PGA Four-Ball Stableford Team Championship. “As long as

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Sowards, Kern Win Senior-Junior Team Championship

By Craig Dolch Special to the PGA of America PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (January 29, 2026) – Mother Nature proved to be the only way to delay Bob Sowards and Ben Kerns’ inexorable march to victory in the PGA Senior-Junior Team Championship at PGA Golf

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PGA HOPE Southern Ohio Increases Impact in 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, PGA HOPE Southern Ohio reflects on a year defined by expanded opportunities and meaningful growth for our Veteran community. With more programs offered and more Veterans served, this season stands out as one of our strongest

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Why Team Ohio’s Birdies Meant Even More After a Rain-Soaked Run to Second Place

Frisco, TX – On the final day of the 2025 PGA Jr. League Championship, the Texas sky wouldn’t cooperate. Lightning sirens wailed, rain hammered the turf and the championship match against Team California kept slipping into pauses. The players

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A Legacy of HOPE: Burt Jones and the Power of Purpose

Before he ever cradled a 7-iron or gave a Veteran the gift of golf, Burt Jones was a kid from Milford, Ohio, staring down the narrow roads of a small town and choosing the only path that seemed to lead somewhere bigger. In December 1968, despite

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PGA HOPE Ambassador, Brandon Johnson: From the Fairways to the Flight Line and Back Again

Brandon Johnson has worn many hats: Air Force officer, analyst, fierce competitor and now, PGA HOPE Ambassador. What ties them together is a lifelong commitment to service. Through his new role with the Southern Ohio PGA, Brandon is using the game he

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Meet Issie Spray, the next PGA Works Fellow for the Southern Ohio PGA

On the job for a few months now, take a moment to get to know the next PGA WORKS Fellow of the SOPGA, Issie Spray. Issie is a native of Leeds, England and joins 22 others in the 2025-2026 class of PGA of America REACH Foundation WORKS Fellows. SOPGA:

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Brandon Johnson Tapped As New PGA HOPE Ambassador for PGA HOPE Southern Ohio

DAYTON, Ohio – Brandon Johnson, a graduate of the PGA HOPE program at the Golf Club at Yankee Trace and a Chapter Captain for that very program, has been selected to become the third PGA HOPE Ambassador for the Southern Ohio PGA. Brandon will

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