Sunnybrook Golf Club assistant pro Brett Walker represented the Philadelphia Section PGA in the PGA Championship, one of golf’s four professional majors, earlier this year at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on the South Carolina coast.
It looks like he might make a run at another PGA appearance. The road to the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. begins with a top-11 finish in the 100th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.
Walker took a big step toward joining a century-long list of winners of the Philadelphia Section’s most prestigious championship by firing a brilliant 4-under-par 66 Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club, the Donald Ross classic that will play host to the 2026 PGA Championship, as he grabbed a two-shot lead entering the final round of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.
Not sure if there is a Plan B if the remnants of Hurricane Ida leave Aronimink unplayable for Wednesday’s final round. It’s possible the event will be shortened to 36 holes, but we’ll see. As I finish up the post at in the 8 a.m. hour Wednesday, the plan is to begin final-round play at 9 a.m.
Either way, Walker, playing Aronimink for the first time, was nothing short of spectacular Tuesday. He had opened the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship with a solid 4-under 67 at Applebrook Golf Club and trailed first-round leader Ashley Grier, an assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club, by just a shot.
After opening his round with a bogey at the first hole, Walker rattled off three straight birdies at nine, 10 and 11 to get it to 2-under. He stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 12th hole, but got that shot right back with a birdie at 13 before getting it to 4-under with an eagle at the par-5 16th hole.
That left him with an 8-under 133 total and a two-shot lead over Bidermann Golf Club instructor Zac Oakley, who added a 3-under 67 at Aronimink Tuesday to the opening-round 68 he posted at Applebrook, an early Gil Hanse design in East Goshen, for a 6-under 135 total.
“My strategy has been to hit a lot of fairways and I hit it extremely well off the tee, which allowed me to attack some of the hole locations,” Walker told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “The course was playing tough if you missed fairways, but I did a good job of keeping it in position, which made it an easier round for me.”
The top 11 finishers following Wednesday’s final round will earn a trip to the PGA Professional Championship next April at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas.
After finishing in a tie for fifth place in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship a year ago, Walker landed in a tie for eighth in the PGA Professional Championship, earning himself a spot in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
Oakley, who has been one of the top performers on the Philadelphia Section circuit this summer, made bogeys at the third and fourth holes to open his round at Aronimink Tuesday. He got a shot back with a birdie at the fifth hole and then matched Walker’s run of three straight birdies at nine, 10 and 11 to get it to 2-under for the round.
Oakley got one more birdie at the 14th hole as he registered a solid 3-under 67 at Aronimink to get it to 6-under for the tournament. Oakley was in position to earn a berth in the PGA Championship through three rounds in the PGA Professional Championship in April at the PGA Golf Club, but struggled in the final round to finish in a tie for 40th place, still a strong showing in a field of 300-plus club pros from around the country. The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship qualify for the PGA Championship.
Billy Stewart, an instructor at Union League Liberty Hill, posted a 1-over 71 at Aronimink Tuesday, which, combined with his opening-round 67 at Applebrook, left him alone in third place at 3-uneder 138, three shots behind Oakley.
Stewart, who starred scholastically at Malvern Prep and collegiately at Saint Joseph’s, captured the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship in 2018.
Grier, who has emerged as one of the top woman club pros in the country, added a 3-over 73 to the sparkling 66 she fired at Applebrook Monday and was alone in fourth place, a shot behind Stewart at 2-under 139.
Grier earned a trip to the PGA Professional Championship in the spring of 2019 at Belfair in Bluffton, S.C. and, along with Baltimore Country Club instructor Joanna Coe, became the first two women to survive two cuts and play four rounds in the history of the event.
Dave McNabb, the head pro at Applebrook and the runnerup in the 2017 PGA Professional Championship at the Sunriver Resort in Oregon, headed a group of three players tied for fifth place at 1-under 140. McNabb had opened with a 1-under 70 on his home course at Applebrook Monday and matched par with a 70 Tuesday at Aronimink.
Merion Golf Club instructor Terry Hertzog, like McNabb a member of the Philadelphia Section’s talented group of senior standouts, added a 1-over 71 at Aronimink to the 2-under 69 he carded Monday at Applebrook to join McNabb at 1-under. Pretty sure Hertzog has won the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship three times.
Rounding out the trio at 141 was Philadelphia Cricket Club assistant pro Rusty Harbold, who posted a solid 1-under 69 at Aronimink Tuesday after matching par with a 71 at Applebrook in the opening round.
Grier’s colleague in the Overbrook pro shop, assistant pro Trevor Bensel, was alone in eighth place at even-par 141 as he matched par at Aronimink with a 70 after posting an even-par 71 at Applebrook Monday.
Like Walker and Oakley, Bensel was in the mix for a ticket to the PGA Championship in the PGA Professional Championship in April at the PGA Golf Club before finishing in a tie for 55th place.
A fourth member of the Philadelphia Section’s contingent who survived two cuts and played four rounds in the PGA Professional Championship in the spring, Hugo Mazzalupi, who plays out of the Patriots Glen National Golf Club pro shop, headed a group of six players tied for ninth place at 1-over 142.
Mazzalupi, another of the Section’s senior standouts, matched par with a 71 at Applebrook Tuesday after opening with a 1-over 71 at Aronimink Monday.
The ageless George Forster, who has been one of the top senior club pros in the country for more than a decade, was also in the group at 142 as he signed for a 1-over 72 at Applebrook Tuesday after matching par with a 70 at Aronimink Monday. Forster has been the head pro at Radnor Valley Country Club for forever, although he has no affiliation on the score list. Might be a well-deserved retirement, although clearly his golf game is nowhere near ready for retirement.
Philadelphia Country Club head pro Scott Reilly and Parks Price of the Country Club of York were also in the group tied for ninth place at 142 with identical splits as each carded a 1-over 72 at Applebrook Tuesday after matching par with a 70 at Aronimink Monday.
Rounding out the quintet at 1-over were Steve Sanderson of Pine Valley Golf Club and Mike Furey, who plays out of the Saucon Valley Country Club pro shop. Sanderson had opened with a 3-under 68 at Applebrook Monday before adding a 4-over 74 at Aronimink Tuesday. Furey added a 1-under 70 at Applebrook to his opening round of 2-over 72 at Aronimink.
The battle for the 11 spots in the PGA Professional Championship is always the tournament within the tournament in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.
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