By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Mike Kessling knows the Northern Kentucky Men’s Amateur that begins Monday will be a much different golf tournament than the one he won last year.
Last December, the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association added the Amateur to its annual tournament schedule after merging with the Northern Kentucky Golf Association. The format has been changed to 54 holes of stoke play and golfers from courses in Cincinnati are permitted to enter the event that had once been strictly for members of Northern Kentucky courses.
With all the changes that have taken place, Kessling doubts if being the Amateur’s defending champion means much. But he is looking forward to the new challenges presented by next week’s three-day event at Traditions Golf Club in Boone County.
“I am excited about the opportunity to play in the new format at Traditions,” said Kessling, a 32-year-old financial planner. “There are a lot of great players in the event and I feel that it will take three solid rounds to put myself in a position to contend (for the title).”
The Amateur had been the signature event on the Northern Kentucky Golf Association calendar for 75 years. Kessling won the 2015 championship on his home course at Highland Country Club last July.
The tournament format the last few years included an 18-hole qualifying round followed by two rounds of match play. The final eight golfers would then compete in 36 holes of stroke play to decide the champion.
This year’s schedule will be three 18-hole rounds of stroke play with the final round on Wednesday. Results will be posted each day on the www.gcag.org website.
There are 71 golfers on the list of entries for next week’s Amateur, 38 from courses in Northern Kentucky and 33 from courses in Ohio and Indiana. The field includes Alex Ebel, who won this year’s Tony Blom Metropolitan Amateur, the biggest event on the GCGA calendar.
“The GCGA did a wonderful job of balancing the tournaments this year,” Kessling said. “Given that the Met is a match play tournament, it will be nice to have a stroke play event.”
Fifteen golfers who entered the Amateur are members at Traditions. The 7,100-yard, par 72 course has been rated among the top 10 in Kentucky by Golf Digest magazine.
“Traditions is a great track and in really good shape this year,” Kessling said. “I grew up playing there with my dad so I feel like I know the golf course very well. There is room to miss off the tee, however, approach shots will be key with what will be fast greens.”