'That was a lot of fun': Maxwell Moldovan wins Stark Amateur Golf Championship

UNIONTOWN — Maxwell Moldovan's stellar 36 holes of golf on Friday was a sign of things to come.

To prepare for the Stark County Amateur Golf Championship, the Green High School graduate and Ohio State junior played a practice round with friends at Prestwick County Club. He fired a 62 to tie the course record set by Justin Lower.

Moldovan played another practice round a few hours later and shot a record-breaking 61.

Yes, he certainly was ready for another title run on his home course.

Moldovan dominated the Open Division this weekend and won his third Stark Amateur championship in four years. He shot 66 on Saturday and 68 on Sunday, finishing at 10-under overall.

Moldovan took control right away and never let go. He had a 6-shot lead going into the final round and won by 11 strokes.

"I just had to keep doing what I was doing yesterday," Moldovan said. "I had a lot of good shots. I hit 16 greens. It was kind of a stress-free round.

"I just wanted to keep it the same way today. I got off to a good start again and kind of had a relaxed round. I had a couple of hiccups during the middle of the round, but I was able to get a couple shots back."

Moldovan, who played in last month's U.S. Open, eagled the par-5 No. 4 hole. He closed out his round with back-to-back birdies.

The win took some of the sting out of falling short of a three-peat last year. Moldovan won the Stark Amateur in 2019 and 2020. Vaughn Snyder earned the title in 2021.

"I definitely had a focus on getting back in the winner's circle in this tournament," Moldovan said. "Vaughn played great last year. I felt like I played pretty well, too, and he got me by a shot. I knew I had to play a good couple of days of golf this weekend.

"It was cool to have a lot of friends, family and neighbors come out and watch. It kind of made it a little bit more of an event in terms of having a crowd and getting claps and cheers when you hit good shots. That was a lot of fun. There definitely was a big incentive to come out and win."

While Moldovan was in cruise control, the race for second place was wide open. It was won by another player with Green ties.

Green High School junior Kyle Smith finished his second Stark Amateur at 1-over. His 67 on Sunday was the lowest round of the day.

"I was hitting greens and making a lot of putts," Smith said. "That was the big thing. Yesterday I couldn't get a putt to fall. Today everything was fine.

"It was fun to be able to come out and play well in a tournament like this."

Smith has always tried to model his game after Moldovan's. The two have practiced together. Smith has learned a lot from him.

"It's awesome to have a guy like that around who can help me," Smith said. "It's a big part of what my score is now.

"I played with him on Friday when he broke the course record twice. That was fun to watch."

Speaking of scores, Smith's score on Sunday was pretty significant.

"It's the first time I beat him," Smith said. "That was awesome."

Moldovan has high praise for Smith.

"I'm really excited for him," Moldovan said. "... Whenever I'm home and he's home, we play together out here. I feel like he has a really good game,

"He's a Green Bulldog, too, and his older brother is one of my best friends. I feel like I can have a positive impact on Kyle. If I can push him and show him ways to practice and ways to get better, that's all I want to do."

Back-to-back 72s helped lead Tom Laubacher to a 2-shot win in the 50-59 Division and Bruno Chirumbolo to a 2-shot win in the 60-69 Division. Mike Brady shot 70 in the final round and won the 70-and-over Division by 13 shots.

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @mpopovichREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Green's Maxwell Moldovan dominates Stark Amateur on home golf course