BAY HARBOR — The area golf professionals that make up the courses throughout Charlevoix and Emmet Counties usually don’t need an excuse to hit the links.
A good one, or a bad one, it’s all part of the job.
But the annual Harbor Cup Match? That’s about as good of a reason to get out on the course as any.
Aside from the golf and competition amongst friends, it’s also one of the largest charity events each year, with this year’s Harbor Cup showcasing just how big it’s been.
Recently, Team Harbor pulled out a 13.5 to 10.5 win in the Ryder Cup style tournament, which took place at Bay Harbor Golf Club.
The other win was raising around $69,000 towards local charities for Team Harbor and equally the same for Team Boyne, with the total amount raised over a 28-year span eclipsing $1 million for the event.
“There’s all kinds of records being set as far as passing a million together, raising over what I assume will be $140,000, just really neat stuff,” Harbor Cup Golf Club professional Shaun Bezilla said.
Bezilla is currently the longest tenured member of the Harbor Cup, having missed only one event through all 28 years.
He’s been through 12 Team Harbor wins, though Boyne leads the all-time series with a 16-12 record. Bezilla has also been along for the ride through all the charitable donations, from the First Tee of Northern Michigan, Manna Food Project, Camp Daggett, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Human Society and many more.
What Bezilla has also loved is watching his peers compete.
“There’s only a handful of us that really play any kind of tournament golf anymore,” Bezilla said. “It’s the nature of the business. Clubs are busy and we’re asked to work more and do more, so for a lot of these guys, this is their tournament of the year. It’s fun to compete and see what my friends can do under pressure. There are a lot of good golfers up here that don’t compete in the Michigan Open or whatever. It doesn’t mean they can’t, they just don’t get the opportunity.”
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This year’s opportunity to compete came at Bay Harbor for the second time, though it was the first time the event was actually completed there.
“It was probably one of the largest crowds we’ve had in years,” Bezilla said. “We played it 8-10 years ago, but the weather was terrible and we only got the better-ball matches in. It snowed and sleeted. What a tremendous venue. Steve Niezgoda and the staff over there did a great job.”
Team Harbor got off to a 5-1 start through four-ball the opening day, sweeping five of the six matches. Things stayed at the same pace in foursomes after a 3-3 tie, leaving it all to singles play on the final day.
Boyne got off to a hot start in singles, taking five of the opening six matches, then Team Harbor did just enough over the final handful of matches, falling 6.5 to 5.5, though took the overall cup.
“We got off to a really great start. I was surprised,” Bezilla said. “Then we had a bunch of really good matches in the singles. It was a lot of fun and very competitive.”
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Members of team Harbor included: Bezilla, Tyler Johnson, Corey Crowell, Pete Markarov, Kevin McKinley, Kyle Roman, Harry Dixon, Brian Sanderson, Matt Shallop, Jason George, Robert Getzmeyer and Keith Grunch.
For team Boyne, golfers included: Chaz Babin, Nathan Kraykyk, Brian Jakeway, Benny Dieterle, Avry Freel, Corey May, Casey Powers, Scott Pussehl, Zach Zondlo, Bob Wilson, John Myers and Steve Niezgoda.
A handful of first-year players again competed in the cup in 2024, growing another number Bezilla has grown proud of over the years. There’s now been over 100 golf professionals to compete, have fun and help bring so much good to the Northern Michigan community.
“I think that’s an awesome number,” added Bezilla. “Its impacted so many people.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Annual Harbor Cup continues to be staple charity event, eclipses $1 million
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