Steve Paramore
Nominated by Paul Dienstberger
Steve Paramore first gained notoriety in golf while in the Junior Golf Program at Brookside Golf Course, which was started by the great George Valentine. He would devote countless hours to improving his golf game at Brookside which would make it that much more special to bring State and National Championships home to Ashland. Steve credits his grandparents, Merrill and the late Anne Shaffer for facilitating and financing his stardom in golf, which meant playing all over the state and country against the best junior golf competition.
While Steve was a student-athlete at Ashland High School he garnered much
success on the course. He was a three-time All-Ohio Heartland Conference First
Teamer, claiming Medalist honors in 1998. His team claimed the OHC title in
1996-98. He would win the 1997 Ohio High School State Championship individually
at the Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course, with a two day total of 147.
His team would take Runner-up honors that year by six shots to Walsh Jesuit,
and he would earn All-Ohio honors. In 1998, he was a team captain along with
successful Arrow golfers Chris Yoder and Bobby Castor that would win the Ohio
High School State Championship Team Title. He believes to this day that the Arrow
Varsity Golf Team from 1998 could have rivaled any high school golf team
in the country at that time. He credits his strong relationship with Chris, Bobby,
John Locke, Kevin Priest, Adam Houston, Jeff Mohrman, Coach Loren Green,
Coach Paul Dienstberger, the late Robert Castor and the late George Valentine for
the motivation and support to be successful in high school and beyond.
Outside of high school golf, but while still a junior golfer, Steve won the 1999
Ohio Golf Association Junior Amateur Championship at Shelby Country Club,
and was Runner-up in 2000 at Union Country Club. He played in the 1998 United
States Junior Amateur Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club in Chicago,
Illinois, and played as well in 1999 at York Country Club in York, Pennsylvania.
Many of the competition in these two events you can see on Sundays on the PGA
Tour. He also played in the 1999 United States Public Links Championship outside
St. Louis, in Alton, Illinois.
Steve was recruited to play golf at Florida Southern College in Lakeland,
Florida by Golf Coaches Association of America Hall-of-Famer Doug Gordin, a Delaware, Ohio native and dear friend of the late George Valentine. Florida
Southern is small in student population, but it is a NCAA Division II juggernaut,
they have won 27 National Championships in baseball, softball, basketball, and
most noticeably golf. In 2010, Florida Southern earned their 12th NCAA Division
II National Title in Men's Golf. Steve had success in the state of Ohio, now he was
moving on to the national collegiate stage.
Steve had a standout four-year career with the Moccasin golf team. As a freshman,
he was the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year, an honorable
mention All-America selection and a member of the Moccasins' 2000 National
Championship team which they won by 29 shots. As a sophomore he finished
fourth at the National Championship and earned first-team All-America recognition.
In his junior season, the Moccasins made another trip to the national tournament
and placed third, as Paramore finished seventh, earning a second straight
first-team All-America honor. As a senior, he was the SCC champion with an
eleven under par total, breaking 2-time US Open Champion Lee Janzen's conference
scoring mark, and he led the team in stroke average that year, receiving
third-team All-American honors. He was the Florida Southern College Male Athlete
of the Year in 2002-2003. Steve is one of only ten four-time All-Americans at
Florida Southern College that boasts 423 total All-Americans from their prestigious
athletic programs.
While a collegiate player Steve played well on the national amateur stage
playing in the 2001 US Amateur Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta,
Georgia and 2002 competition at Oakland Hills Country Club just outside Detroit.
He won the prestigious Labor Day Invitational at Mobile Country Club in
Mobile, Alabama in 2001.
His golfing success continued after he graduated from FSC, as he won the
2003 Ohio State Amateur Championship and the 2005 Ohio Public Links Championship.
He now is the head boys and girls golf coach at Ashland High School in
his hometown of Ashland, Ohio. He has led the Arrow Boys to four OCC titles,
and in 2008 both his boys and girls golf teams made it to the Ohio High School
State Golf Championships. He coached his girls' team to a fourth place finish at
the Ohio State High School Championship in 2009 as well as All-Ohioan Rachel
Thompson.
Steve is the son of Kavin Paramore, and Stephanie Kenneth Griggs. He married
Kerre, daughter of Judith and Everett DeVaul, former AHS Athletic Director
in 2003. They have two daughters, Klaira (6) and Mazie (2) and reside in Ashland.
Steve has taught Elementary Physical Education with the Ashland City Schools
for the last eight years.
Steve feels very blessed to work with the youth of Ashland in
many capacities and is thankful to God, his family, friends, and
the community for the opportunity to be successful as an athlete,
a teacher, and a coach.
