Columbus, Ohio – The 30th Ohio Cup. That pretty much says it all.
Three decades after the Southern Ohio PGA and Northern Ohio PGA Sections first turned their statewide rivalry into a Ryder Cup-style competition, the event has become something larger than a tournament. It is rivalry and friendship rolled into three days of golf.
And this year, Southern Ohio brings a team that carries plenty of that history with it.
The Southern Ohio PGA (SOPGA) will travel north to Sand Ridge Golf Club in Chardon, Ohio, Oct. 5-7 to defend the Ohio Cup after last year’s dramatic victory at Wedgewood Golf & Country Club. It will be the second time the Northern Ohio PGA (NOPGA) has hosted the event at Sand Ridge.
Leading the SOPGA will be Captain Larry King, who takes the reins after being an Assistant Captain for Bob Sowards in 2024 and 2025. The SOPGA Hall of Famer competed on 12 Ohio Cup teams.
Tim Krapfel is back as an Assistant Captain. Krapfel is an Ohio Cup original and played on 19 Ohio Cup teams before serving as both Captain and Assistant Captain a number of times.
The 2026 team features 16 players across the Main and Senior divisions, including two players who will make their Ohio Cup debuts.
Allie White will make history at Sand Ridge as the first woman to represent the SOPGA in the Ohio Cup. She will also become the 82nd different player to wear the Section’s colors in the event.
White became the first woman to win the main division of an SOPGA tournament earlier this year before competing at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National. Senior rookie Brad Loomis will become the 83rd.
Around them is a group with an extraordinary amount of Ohio Cup experience.
Bob Sowards will make his 21st Ohio Cup appearance, while Dave Bahr and Sam Arnold will each make their 20th. Jeff Olson will make his 19th appearance. Together, those four have accounted for 150 Ohio Cup points, or roughly 37 percent of every point earned by the SOPGA in the history of the event.
Andy Montgomery will play in the Ohio Cup for the 15th time. Michael Auterson and Chase Wilson will make their eighth appearances in 2026. Alex Martin is back for the fourth time and Jared Jones returns for the second-straight year and third overall. Jones played in his third career PGA Championship at Aronimink earlier this year.
Rounding out the Main Division are two-timers Corey Weckerling and Taylor Suggs.
Joining Arnold, Bahr and Loomis in the senior division will be Ohio Cup veterans Joe Moore and Mike Thomas, both of whom are making their 11th appearances. Chad Ammer joins team SOPGA for the seventh time.
The NOPGA leads the all-time series 17-12 entering the 30th edition. The SOPGA closed the gap last year at Wedgewood, where the final day came down to the last few matches before the Cup ultimately returned south.
The 30th Ohio Cup team for the Southern Ohio PGA Section is supported by long-time partners, Saling Simms Associates at Steward Partners, who have been the presenting sponsor of Team SOPGA at the Ohio Cup since 2009. For nearly 20 years, Saling Simms Associates at Steward Partners has been the cornerstone supporter of the Section’s mission to serve PGA Professionals and grow the game of golf by positively impacting communities across Southern Ohio.
Also supporting Team SOPGA is Devon Holden, PGA from AHEAD, Rod Koch from Titleist and Todd Adams from Stitch Golf.
The 2026 Southern Ohio PGA Ohio Cup Team
Main Division
Michael Auterson, PGA (Hickory Woods Golf Course)
Jared Jones, PGA (Scioto Country Club)
Alex Martin, PGA (Golfweek Junior Tour)
Andy Montgomery, PGA (Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club)
Jeff Olson, PGA (Wedgewood Golf & Country Club)
Bob Sowards, PGA (Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club)
Taylor Suggs, PGA (Heritage Club)
Corey Weckerling, PGA (Moraine Country Club)
Allie White, PGA (Lancaster Golf Club)
Chase Wilson, PGA (Columbus Country Club)
Senior Division
Chad Ammer, PGA (Maketewah Country Club)
Sam Arnold, PGA (Vineyard Golf Course)
Dave Bahr, PGA (Maketewah Country Club)
Brad Loomis, PGA (Miami View Golf Club)
Joe Moore, PGA (Beavercreek Golf Club)
Mike Thomas, PGA (Sharon Woods Golf Course)
Captain
Larry King, PGA (Tri-County Golf Ranch)
Assistant Captain
Tim Krapfel, PGA (Golf Galaxy – Dublin)