Golf: Medina's Ray Dress tied for third after first day of Ohio Open

AKRON — Medina resident Ray Dress couldn't miss during the first round of the 104th Ohio Open at Firestone Country Club on Monday. The 2025 Hoban graduate carded a sizzling 6-under-par 64 on the Fazio course to finish the day tied for third with Youngstown's Ken Keller, who shot a 6-under 66 on the North Course. Barberton's Nolan Haynes, a former high school teammate of Dress, led the field with an 8-under 62 on the Fazio Course ahead of today's second round. Players alternate the two courses for the first and second round. Westfield Center's Ben Smith is one shot behind Dress after shooting a 5-under 67 on the North Course to place him in a five-way tie for fifth place. Former Wadsworth graduate and current Mount Union golfer Brian Myers is tied for 35th after turning in a 1-under 69 on the Fazio Course. The top 40 golfers, plus all ties, after the second round advance to Wednesday's final round. Currently sitting two strokes outside the cutline are Chippewa Lake's Jared Toom and Brunswick's Evan gray, who each shot a 1-over 73 on the North Course. Dress was 3-under at the turn and then birdied three of his final four holes to finish the back nine 3-under with seven birdies overall. Smith was sensational after the turn, closing his final nine with bookend birdies, to go with birdies on the fifth and seventh holes. Myers got off to a fast start with three of his five birdies on the first nine. He had four bogeys on the back. Medina County has 14 competitors in this year's Ohio Open. Brunswick graduate Joe Puch, Cloverleaf graduate Luke Schreck and Medina graduate Kyle Salamon were 2-, 3- and 4-over, respectively. A pair of 2025 graduates in Eli Zimmerman (Medina) and Zach Butcher (Highland) each shot 5-over. Wadsworth's Daniel Terry and Medina's Bob Koch were each 7-over and Brunswick's David Reiter Jr. and Medina's Garrison Flora were each 12-over.