The Niles City Golf Tournament has made some changes for the 61st annual event.

The tournament will be divided into a pair of weekends at Plym Golf Course.

The first weekend, July 14-16, will feature the youth tournament, along with the seniors and women’s tournaments.

The second weekend will feature the championship flights.

Deadline for entering the youth, seniors and women’s divisions of the tournaments is noon on July 12. Deadline for entering the championship flights is at noon July 19.

Cost is $20 for adults and $10 for youth.

Play in all tournaments begins at 8 a.m.

The youth tournament will be Friday, July 14.

“I took suggestions from people who had golfed in it in the past,” said Jamie Moody, who is running the tournament this year. “We made the change because of the wait time during the turn last year.”

Moody said that splitting the tournament into a pair of weekends will allow the seniors and “super” seniors to play in the flight championships if they so choose. The cost will be an additional $20 to participate.

After several years of not having enough players to host a youth tournament, Drew Rudlaff was the winner of 2016 Championship Flight as he shot a 46.

Lee Anderson was the runner-up after shooting a 53, while Dylan Duke finished third with a 57.

The A Flight champion was Wyatt Fazi, who shot 49. Jacob McCollough and Marc Fisher finished second and third with scores of 77 and 87 respectively.

The senior and women’s tournament will be Saturday and Sunday, July 15 and 16.

Cathy Daniels defeated the defending champion Vanissa Rudlaff to win last year’s title.

Daniels, playing in her first city tournament, shot 186 to best Rudlaff by 20 strokes. Ross Prenkert was third after shooting 211.

Bob Freshley captured the Senior Championship Flight by one stroke over Gerrell Durham. Freshley shot 152 to win his fifth championship in the last seven years.
Ed Debros finished third, just four strokes back.

Jerry Marlin shot 177 to win the Senior A Flight championship over Jack Maynard, who shot 180. Bill Martin was third with a 183.

Dick Noble captured the Senior B Flight title with a 185. Clare Ashenbrenner shot 187 to finish second and Jim Crough 189 to take third.

Marlin was also a first-time winner, while Noble picked up his third seniors city championship and his ninth title overall.

The championship flights will be contested July 22 and 23.

Robb Zurawski shot 148 to win the Championship Flight crown last year.

Evan Smith was second with a 154 and Dave Berger third with a 156.

Isaiah Beckman captured the A Flight title with a 167 while Nick Borkowski and Jim Conrad finished second with a 170.

The B Flight title went to Will Smith, who shot 162. Paul DePoy shot 167 and Nate Kahne shot 172 to finish second and third respectively.

The C Flight championship went to Brian Cheney, who shot 170. John Sexton was second with a 187 and Todd Nichols third with a 189.

Zurawski was another first-time champion in 2016.

After winning back-to-back titles, Beckman must now compete in the Championship Flight this year.

Smith and Cheney were also first-time winners of the city tournament.

Moody said that she is hoping to have the pairings for the tournaments ready by the Thursday after each deadline so that golfers can plan accordingly.

For more information or to register, contact Plym Park at 684-7331.