The eastern border of Ohio is rife with public courses that attract golfers from Western Pennsylvania, among them The Links at Firestone Farms, Millcreek, Yankee Run and Copeland Hills.

Now you can add another to the rotation -- Kennsington Golf Club in Canfield, Ohio, a 7,050-yard Brian Huntley design which might be the best of them all.

Opened in 2006 as part of a real-estate community, Kennsington is the one course that can compete with Firestone Farms for quality and price -- offering a $35 greens fee on weekdays ($28 for seniors) on a big-time layout built on a whopping 277 acres.

"We get a lot of players coming over from Pittsburgh," said director of golf Jeff Myers, a certified PGA professional who was head professional at nearby Fonderlac Country Club for 16 years. "They like coming. They always say if they had to pay for a golf course like this in Western Pennsylvania, it would be $80 or $90."

Indeed, Kennsington is a solid mix of staunch par-4s that weave around bunkers, trees and man-made lakes such as the one that runs the length of the left side at the 461-yard ninth; par-3s such as the 186-yard eighth, nicknamed "Boulder" for the massive rock that sits 20 yards in front of a green that measures 46 yards deep; and par-5s that require strategy, shot placement and a small measure of guile. Except for the 617-yard 10th, which requires a certain amount of pop from the back tee.

Huntley, a Canton, Ohio-based architect , did a nice job weaving the par-71 layout through trees and valleys, creating an aesthetically pleasing look that is a different from the links-style appearance of his other design -- Firestone Farms in North Lima. Kennsington has five sets of tees on every hole, too, making the course play as short -- or as long -- as the player desires.

"He told me, even before I came here, that this [layout] is the best he's done," Myers said of Huntley.

Who is the only player to finish under par in three consecutive U.S. Open championships? (Hint: He won two of them). Answer at end.

Marquette senior Mike Van Sickle, a Pine-Richland High School graduate, failed to qualify for the NCAA Division I championship being played this weekend at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. But that disappointment was softened when he received one of the top awards in college golf.

After a season in which he was named to the eight-man U.S. team for the Palmer Cup matches, Van Sickle was named winner of the 2009 Byron Nelson Award, given annually to the nation's top graduating senior who combines academic and golf achievement with character, integrity and good citizenship.

Van Sickle received the award, presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America, at a dinner Thursday night in Toldeo. One of the highlights was to meet and have his picture taken with Jack Nicklaus, who was the main speaker.

"To win the award, and everything it stands for, is very humbling," Van Sickle said.

Van Sickle, who had a school-record 11 career victories, is a two-time All-American and the 2009 Big East player of the year. He leads NCAA Division I in scoring average (70.0) and birdies (165).

After much scrambling to obtain sponsors, the Falling Rock Classic has been rescued and will be played at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in July -- though on a much smaller scale from the previous grandiose version.

The tournament has been reduced from 72 to 54 holes and will feature a purse of $84,000 with $12,000 to the winner, making it the second largest payday in the Tri-State PGA section. However, the tournament had a $184,000 purse with a $30,000 first prize last season, which was the richest of any PGA of America section event in the country.

However, 84 Lumber founder and owner Joe Hardy, who sponsored the tournament, decided to postpone the event this season because of the number of store closings and layoffs across the country and the payroll cutbacks at the Farmington, Pa. resort.

In stepped Dennis Clark, the resort's director of golf and a PGA master professional. He secured enough outside sponsors to keep the tournament alive, even in a reduced form. The event, featuring a field of 60 club professionals, will be played July 19-21 at Mystic Rock, former site of the PGA Tour's 84 Lumber Classic.

"If anyone wants to know how the pro raised the money, tell them I had to look everywhere I could," Clark said. "Actually, the golf community came out to support the event and it was really nice to see."

• The 8th annual Larry Richert American Cancer Society Celebrity Classic is June 19 at the Longue Vue Club, Verona. Entry is $400 and includes lunch, dinner and auction. Call 1-888-ACS-5445 or email at nancy.tilley@cancer.org.

• The Fifth Bottleshop Café Outing, honoring Matthew Conn, is June 29 at Montour Heights CC. Entry is $130 per person and includes lunch buffet, dinner and prizes. Call 412-279-8910 or go to pghbottleshopcafe@gmail.com.

• Homestead District Lions Club will hold its 22nd annual Celebrity Scramble July 1 at Westwood GC in West Mifflin. The event features continental breakfast, buffet dinner and silent auction. Entry is $150. Call 412-461-6032.

• The 11th Gerry Dulac Parkway West Rotary Classic is July 20 at Diamond Run GC. Entry is $180 and includes box lunch, dinner, gift and silent auction. Call 724-947-1234 or go to parkwaywestrotary.org.

Curtis Strange finished under par in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 U.S. Open championships. He won in 1988 and 1989.

Look for the Post-Gazette's weekly video golf tips beginning Thursday on post-gazette.com. Gordon Vietmeier, director of instruction at the Club at Nevillwood, and Rolling Hills CC teaching professional Kevin Shields are the instructors for the tips, which are hosted by Post-Gazette golf writer Gerry Dulac.