A solid 3-under-par 69 at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Saturday enabled Gunner Wiebe to put a little distance between himself and the rest of the field after three rounds of the 44th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship.
The 31-year-old Wiebe, playing out of the Bel-Air Country Club pro shop in Los Angeles, was at 10-under 206 after bettering par for a third straight day. He will be battling for the top prize of $12,000 as well as a berth in the PGA Professional Championship back at the PGA Golf Club next April in Sunday’s final round.
Wiebe, the son of two-time PGA Tour winner Mark Wiebe, had gotten off to a good start a year ago in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which is supported by Srixon, Cleveland Golf, XXOI, Asics and John Deere, but fell out of contention in the middle two rounds.
“Last year, I just wasn’t very good,” Wiebe told the PGA of America’s website. “Even the first round, I never felt particularly comfortable. This year, my preparation wasn’t all that much better. More than anything, I’ve done a good job of not playing outside of myself. Last year, I tried to make birdies from the tee box.”
Wiebe had a birdie at the sixth hole and a bogey at the eighth and was even-par heading to the back nine at the Wanamaker Course. But he got it going on the incoming nine, getting it to 4-under for the round with birdies at the 11th and 15th holes and an eagle at the par-5 16th. A bogey at the 17th hole dropped Wiebe back to 3-under for the round.
After opening with a 2-under 70, Wiebe fired a 5-under 67 in Friday’s second round that gave him a one-shot lead heading into the weekend.
Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Ashley Grier, the lone Philadelphia Section PGA representative to survive the 36-hole cut, struggled to a 5-over 77 and was in a tie for 53rd place at 7-over 223. The 36-year-old Grier had opened with a 2-under 70 before cooling off with a 4-over 76 in Friday’s second round.
Grier was one of three women in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship field. Brittany Kelly of Woodland Country Coub in Carmel, Ind. matched par with a 72 Saturday and was the low lady at 2-under 214, which left her in the group tied for 11th place at 2-under 214, eight shots off Wiebe’s pace.
Aaron Purviance, a 24-year-old out of the pro shop at Red Ledges in Heber City, Utah, and Jin Chung, a 32-year-old representing Chateau Elan Golf Club in Braselton, Ga., had shared the opening-round lead, each carding a 5-under 67. They have remained in lockstep ever since and each registered a solid 2-under 70 in Saturday’s third round. That left them tied for second place, three shots behind Wiebe at 7-under 209.
Justin Bardgett, a 33-year-old assistant to Mike Small on the coaching staff of Big Ten power Illinois, and Greg Koch, a 35-year-old playing out of the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Grande Lakes, Fla., were tied for fourth place, each a shot behind Purviance and Chung at 6-under 210. Bardgett stayed in contention with a 1-under 71 while Koch matched par with a 72.
Defending champion Alex Beach, a 31-year-old assistant at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., had surged into contention with a 7-under 65, the low round of the tournament in Friday’s second round. Beach, however, fell back with a 5-over 77 that left him among the group tied for 14th place at 1-under 215.
Tony Perla, the 33-year-old former head pro at LedgeRock Golf Club in Berks County, signed for his second straight 2-over 74 and was in a tie for 55th place at 8-over 224. Perla works out of the pro shop at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J.
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