Different name, same goal for last year's city golf champion

Whoever wins the championship flight of the Lima City Men’s Golf Championship, either 2022 winner Zach Miller or last year’s winner Guillermo Menacho, will become the city champion for a second time.

But Menacho, a University of Northwestern Ohio golfer from Bolivia, would be the first to do it under two different names.

In most of the Spanish speaking parts of the world, people have a first name followed by their father’s surname and their mother’s maiden name.

He played as Guillermo Garron in last year’s city tournament and still is listed that way on UNOH’s roster. This year he somehow was shown as Guillermo Menacho on a list of participants in the city tournament, in its tee times and in its results.

When The Lima News asked him Saturday which name he preferred and offered to return to Garron, like last year, he said either name was all right with him and no correction was necessary.

Miller jumped out to a big lead over two-time city champion Josh Hollar and maintained that advantage all the way to a 5-and-4 victory to get the chance to play for another championship. He won two of the first three holes and four of the first six.

“Getting up early was nice. I was able to keep the foot on the gas and he had to make a bunch of birdies to get back in,” Miller said. “If you get up you just can’t let them get back.

“I felt like I hit the ball pretty decent. The putter was feeling nice so it was good to have that throughout the round. Whenever I had a putt that I needed to make I was able to do that,” the University of Findlay golfer said.

Menacho also took an early lead when he went ahead by three holes after the first 10 holes of his match against Braden Beachy.

But it got much tighter on the back nine and Beachy thought he had sent the match into a playoff after sinking a putt on No. 18 at the Shawnee Country Club.

On his scorecard he recorded the ninth hole as a tie but Menacho’s card showed it as a win for himself. The discrepancy was settled amicably when Beachy agreed that Menacho’s card was correct after looking back at what happened on No. 9 and Menacho won 1 up.

Menacho said, “I think my irons were very solid today. They did what they had to do. When I had to hit the middle I did. My chipping and putting wasn’t great and I also missed a couple of drivers. I’m very consistent now with my irons, probably better than last year.

“Last year I had no clue what this tournament was about. Now I have one,” he said.

Miller said, “I’m going to treat it (Sunday’s championship match) like any other round, just go out and play, like I did today. I can’t really control the outcome. I’m just going to play how I know how to play and if it’s good enough to win, I’ll accept that. And if I play good and lose I’ll have to accept that as well.”

Saturday’s Results

At Shawnee Country Club

Championship Flight

Zach Miller def. Josh Hollar 5-and-4; Guillermo Menacho def. Brandon Beachy 1 up

First Flight

Carter Frey def. Braylen Kennedy 5-and-4; Seth Grieshop def. B.J. McPheron 1 up

Second Flight

Josh Buetner def. Russel Lubon (no score reported); Shane Conrad def. Doug Collins 3-and-2

Third Flight

Tug Taviano def. Chris Kelly 6-and-5; Scott Gephart def. Marc Tobias 2-and-1

Fourth Flight

Brayden Ruble def. Jayden Irons (no score provided); Nicholas Sanchez def. Tyler Hawk 1 up

Senior Championship Flight

Matthew Akers def. Dean Meyer 3-and-1; Dennis Medeiros def. Gary Karch 3-and-2

Senior Open Flight

Tim Grigsby def. Rob Fletcher 2-and-1; Keith Augustus def. Todd Coil 6-and-5

Super Senior Flight

Dennis Thompson def. Vince Ozier 1 up, 19 holes; Bob Moster def. Jim Troyer 5-and-4

Super Senior Plus

Bob Hollar def. Jim Odenweller 1 up; Pete Hubbell def. Dan Garlock 1 up, 19 holes

Sunday’s Tee Times

2:30 p.m. — Super Senior Plus Flight; 2:37 p.m. — Super Senior Flight; 2:44 p.m. — Senior Open Flight; 2:51 p.m. — Senior Championship Flight; 2:58 p.m. — Fourth Flight; 3:05 p.m. — Third Flight; 3:12 p.m. — Second Flight; 3:19 p.m. — First Flight; 3:26 p.m. — Championship Flight