With a late run of birdies, Trevor Bensel of Sandy Run Country Club, outdueled his playing partners, Brian Bergstol, an instructor at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, and Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, to capture the National Car Rental Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which was held Sept. 12th at Heidelberg Country Club in Bernville, Berks County.
Bensel made birdies at four of the last five holes on his way to a 3-under-par 67 over the par-70 Heidelberg layout that gave him a two-shot victory over Bergstol and Oakley, the reigning Rolex Haverford Trust Player of the Year on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit.
The Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship was originally scheduled to be a one-day, 36-hole event, but severe weather ultimately wiped out the second round and the event was reduced to 18 holes.
Bensel will head a group of six players who will represent the Philadelphia Section in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which tees off Nov. 17 at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Bergstol was exempt to this year’s Assistant PGA Professional Championship by virtue of his runnerup finish in last year’s National Assistant Club Pro, also held at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course. Bergstol finished seven shots behind the champion, Jin Chung, an instructor at Chateau Elan Golf Club in Braselton, Ga.
Bensel knocked his opening tee shot at Heidelberg out of bounds and began his day with a double bogey. A bogey at the fifth hole dropped him to 3-over for the round. That’s when he got down to business. Bensel made birdies at the eighth and ninth holes to right the ship and then turned it on down the stretch with birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 18 that enabled him to hoist the George Izett Memorial Trophy.
“My first tee shot went (out of bounds), which was not the best way to start,” Bensel told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I figured I had plenty of holes left to get it done. I tried to keep the ball in front of me and made a few good pouts coming down the stretch.
“It was fun to play with Brian and Zac. They are good friends of mine and we feed off each other when we’re all playing well.”
Bensel, Bergstol and Oakley were all coming off solid showings in the recent Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Concord Country Club and DuPont Country Club.
Bergstol overtook Oakley to capture the Philadelphia Section crown, Oakley finished in third place and Bensel ended up in a tie for fourth. All three players earned a trip to next spring’s PGA Professional Championship at the Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Pueblo courses in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.
Oakley used last spring’s PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas as a stepping stone to the PGA Championship as he earned a trip to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. by finishing in a tie for sixth place at Omni Barton Creek.
Bergstol and Oakley each carded a solid 1-under 69 to finish two shots behind Bensel in a tie for second place at Heidelberg.
Also earning berths in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie were Alex Knoll, an instructor at Glen Brook Golf Club who finished alone in fourth place by matching par at Heidelberg with a 70, and Berkshire Country Club’s Andrew Turner and Moselem Springs Golf Club’s Jeff Fick, both of whom survived a playoff after finishing in a tie for fifth place, each carding a 1-over 71.
The playoff from which Turner and Fick emerged from with the final two guaranteed berths to the National Assistant PGA Club Pro also sorted out three alternates from the Philadelphia Section.
Pine Valley Golf Club’s Steve Sanderson ended up as the first alternate, Jacob Woodman of Aronimink Golf Club is the second alternate and Rocco Sgrillo of Philadelphia’s John F. Byrne Golf Course is the third alternate. All three matched the 1-over 71s recorded by Turner and Fick.
Britt Weddell of Stonewall, Andrew Cornish of Cedarbrook Country Club and Alex Willey of Burlington Country Club finished in a tie for 10th place, each carding a 2-over 72 as they missed the playoff for the final two berths in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship by a shot.
Weddell joined a group I was caddying in at Stonewall the Saturday before the NCR Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship and she can really play. Got it up and down for pars from some really difficult spots several times.
Weddell finished in a tie for second place in the Philadelphia Women’s PGA Professional Championship earlier this summer at Whitford Country Club.
Sponsored by National Car Rental, the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship was also supported by Srixon, Cleveland Golf, XXIO, ASICS, the PGA Tour and Ohana Farm LLC.
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