Zac Oakley, an instructor in the Bidermann Golf Club pro shop, had the best round of the day, a sparkling 5-under-par 67 Saturday at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course that enabled him to move within a shot of the lead going into the final round of the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Oakley, winner of both the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship and the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship in 2023, had an efficient round with six birdies against a lone bogey that left him with an 8-under 208 total after 54 holes of the Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which is supported by Srixon, Cleveland Golf and Asics.
Oakley, who came into the third round at 3-under, got off to a fast start with birdies at the second, fourth and seventh holes before the lone blemish on his scorecard, a bogey at nine. Oakley had another birdie burst on the incoming nine at the 12th, 13th and 17th holes to get it to 8-under for the championship.
Oakley, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship a year ago at the Wanamaker Course, enters the final round very much in contention for the top prize of $12,500 out of a total purse of $165,000.
If Oakley is going to win the title, he’s going to have to get through the Ballo brothers to do it.
Mike Ballo Jr., who plays out of the Westchester Country Club pro shop, and Preston Cole of the Quail Hollow Club, entered Saturday’s third round tied for the lead and remained that way as each posted a 1-under 71 that left them tied atop the leaderboard at 9-under 207.
Peter Ballo, Mike Ballo’s younger brother and a fellow Metropolitan Section pro at Connecticut Golf Club, also registered a 1-under 71 to join Oakley in the tie for third place at 8-under 208.
Mike Ballo got off a slow start in Saturday’s third round with bogeys at the third and ninth holes, but he recovered with birdies at 13, 16 and 17 to get it into red figures for the third consecutive day.
After a bogey at the seventh hole, Cole went 2-under the rest of the way, making birdies at 13 and 16 as he added a 71 to the pair of 4-under 68s he tallied in the first two rounds.
Sandy Run Country Club assistant pro Trevor Bensel had begun the day tied for sixth place in a group that included Oakley at 3-under. Bensel recorded a 2-over 74 that left him in the group tied for 13th place at 1-under 215. Bensel had surged to the top of the leaderboard on the strength of an opening round of 6-under 66.
Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, carded a solid 1-over 73 and was alone in 27th place with a 3-over 219 total. Bergstol had been the runnerup in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship in each of the last two playings.
The last two representatives out of the Philadelphia Section who survived the 36-hole cut, Rusty Harbold, who works out of the pro shop at Philadelphia Cricket Club, and Parks Price, an instructor at the Country Club of York, both landed among the group tied for 58th place at 11-over 227.
Harbold struggled a little, recording a 7-over 79 at the Wanamaker Course, while Price signed for a 4-over 76.
Ashley Grier, who was the Philadelphia Section’s top female player during her time at Overbrook Golf Club, carded a 4-over 76 in the third round to join the group tied for 50th place with a 10-over 226 total. Grier is working at Yinglings Golf Center in Hagerstown, Md. in the Middle Atlantic Section.
I was made aware in the caddyshack at Stonewall, where I’ve been known to grab a loop now and again, that I missed another woman who was in the Philadelphia Section until a couple of years ago in my posts on the first two rounds of the Assistant PGA Professional Championship.
Megan Leineweber was a popular assistant pro at Stonewall before moving on to TPC Potomac At Avenel and is, like Grier, in the Middle Atlantic Section. Leineweber, who also worked with the golf team at Owen J. Roberts while at Stonewall, has been a welcome visitor when she’s returned for the Stonewall Partner-Pro the last two summers.
After opening with a solid 2-over 74, Leineweber struggled to an 81 in Friday’s second round, her 155 total missing the cut by three shots.
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