DAYTON, Ohio – The morning light at Miami Valley Golf Club comes in slow and indifferent. As if the sun acquiesces its daily appearance to the ghosts from that 1957 PGA Championship, ghosts who prefer to remain undisturbed while they stroll the fairways. It’s got the air of a course that tells you “there’s no hiding out here” when every stroke is counted and signatures on scorecards signal the end of the round.
As he watched the final group of the 2025 Southern Ohio PGA Championship, a Section pro said from the comfort of a signed scorecard, “this tournament tears people up!” Section Championships have a way of peeling you open like that. We saw it again.
Jared Jones stood on the first tee a shot behind and ready for the grind. He’s a fan of that nasty but ever-present part of this beautiful game – the pressures and perks, and all that’s in between. Most of the pros playing in the Section Championship have day jobs but those were on hold for 48 hours this week. This was real golf and Jones was ready. The Tommy Bryant Memorial Trophy is only taken.
He is not a touring pro with a travel team and a swing coach in tow. He is a PGA of America Golf Professional who spends more hours watching students bend their knees to hit it slightly less right rather than chasing flags for himself. And yet, here he is, paired with men who’ve felt the heat of this tournament before. Michael Auterson was leading when the day began and he’s won two Tommy Bryant’s. Ben Kern got his in 2023 and was in a three-way tie for second with Jones and Andy Montgomery.
Bob Sowards has eleven of these things and he’s always lurking. Game on.
On the par-5 first, his group roars out of the gate. An eagle for Auterson. Birdies for Jones and Monty. Four under par on the first and red numbers on the board before the coffee’s cooled. Jones stayed hot with three more birdies before a pair of speed bump bogeys to turn at 2-under. The lead changed hands four times throughout the day. Kern held it and then lost it, his errant tee shot on the 12th his undoing. Auterson made a typical late push that’s a hallmark of his doggedness and tenacity.
And then they reached the 18th, the bunker bisecting the fairway swallowed both tee shots. Their approaches short left and short right. And suddenly, they’re both standing over a pair of pitches that do two things and two things only: make heroes or haunts dreams.
We saw both, again.
Auterson’s pitch from short right went too far from the hole for his liking, opening the door for Jones. He walked right through it. With a low-running chip that settled inside four feet, all he needed was Auterson’s par attempt to stay above ground, which it did. One quick swipe of the putter, one more par for the road and Jones snatched his first Southern Ohio PGA Section title just like that.
“You always want to compete to win and have a chance to get something up and down to win a tournament,” said Jones. “That’s why you work hard and put in the time to improve.”
Jones would say after the round that he simply made it to the finish line but anyone who watched saw someone built for the grind and unwilling to be torn up. It’s the type of stuff we remember and on a hot Tuesday in August, in a corner of Dayton where history still lingers, his performance felt right at home.