Oakley, Shattuck give Philadelphia Section a pair of entries in PGA Championship at Valhalla

 

   Two years ago, Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, represented the Philadelphia Section PGA in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

   A year ago, Braden Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, represented the Philadelphia Section in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y.

   In a couple of weeks, Oakley and Shattuck will both be in the field for this year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. after they both landed in a large group that finished in a tie for 16^th place in the PGA Professional Championship, which wrapped up Wednesday at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in Frisco, Tenn.

   The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship – I still like to call it by its old-school moniker, the National Club Pro –- form the Colebridge Financial Team, which represents club pros all across the country in the PGA Championship, one of the men’s game’s four major professional championships.

   Two years ago, Oakley finished in a tie for sixth place in the PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas to earn his trip to Southern Hills.

   Shattuck was working in the pro shop alongside Oakley at Bidermann then before moving on to Rolling Green. A year ago, Shattuck became just the second Philadelphia Section pro to win the PGA Professional Championship when he sank a 12-foot par putt on the 72^nd hole at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

   That victory sent Shattuck, who starred scholastically at Sun Valley, to Oak Hill to make his PGA Tour and major professional championship debut.

   It was a windy day in Frisco for Wednesday’s final round and that, combined with the pressure to get inside that top 20 and earn a ticket to the PGA Championship, made scoring difficult.

   Oakley entered the final round at 1-over par and made a couple of birdies to help offset six bogeys while carding a 4-over 76 that gave him a 5-over 293 total, just good enough to earn him a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team.

   After making bogeys at the first and seventh holes on the outgoing nine at Fields Ranch East, Oakley righted the ship by making a birdie at 11. He struggled on the incoming nine with back-to-back bogeys at the 13^th and 14^th holes and again at 16 and 17, but Oakley snuck in a crucial birdie at 15 to get him in at 5-over.

   It was a long day for Shattuck, the reigning two-time Rolex Haverford Trust Player of the Year in the Philadelphia Section.

   He had to finish up seven holes of his third round early Wednesday as weather issues early in the week backed things up.

   Shattuck made two birdies around a bogey on those final seven holes to complete a solid third round  of 2-under 70 at Fields Ranch East that gave him a 1-under total that was only five shots behind third-round leader Ben Polland, the director of golf at Shooting Star of Jackson Hole in Wyoming.

   Shattuck just couldn’t get it going in the final round. He made a bogey at the seventh hole and a double bogey at eight. He got on the bogey train on the back nine with bogeys at the 11^th, 12^th, 16^th and 17^th holes. He was 6-over heading to the par-5 finishing hole at Fields Ranch East.

   Displaying the clutch gene Shattuck showed a year ago at Twin Warriors, he reached the putting surface in two and two-putted for his only birdie of the round as he closed with a 6-over 78 that enabled him to join Oakley and three others at 5-over and punch his ticket to Valhalla.

   A par would have left Shattuck in a six-man playoff for one final available spot on the Corebridge Financial Team.

   Oakley and Shattuck finished 1-2, respectively, in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship late last summer at the Country Club of Scranton and Elmhurst Country Club in the northeast corner of the Philadelphia Section.

   Polland was nine years removed from a disastrous double bogey at the 72^nd hole, the classic finishing hole at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, that cost him a victory in the PGA Professional Championship.

   Polland took a three-shot lead into Wednesday’s final round and put together a 4-over 76 that gave him a 2-under 286 total and a three-shot victory over Andy Svoboda of Butler National Golf Club in suburban Chicago and Jared Jones of River Oaks Country Club in the South Texas Section. Polland was the only player under par for 72 holes at Fields Ranch East.

   Polland started slowly with a bogey at the fourth hole and a double bogey at five. He righted the ship a little with a birdie at the seventh hole. Polland made bogeys at the 11^th and 12^th holes, but again made a birdie at 14 that gave him some breathing room. A bogey at the 17^th hole dropped him back 4-over for the round.

   Polland earned the winner’s check of $60,000 and the Walter Hagan Cup, a pretty neat piece of crystal. And he gained a little redemption for that collapse nine years ago at the Cricket Club.

   I was there that day, covering the tournament for the Delaware County Daily Times. Polland said all the right things, saying it was difficult to consider the week anything but a success since he had earned a spot in the PGA Championship. He’ll go to Valhalla this time as the PGA Professional Championship winner.

   Svoboda closed with a solid 2-over 74 that gave him a 1-over 289 total and a share of second place with Jones, who had a share of second going into the final round and struggled a little, finishing up with a 4-over 76.

   John Sowers, who works out of the pro shop at Southern Hills in Tulsa, and Jesse Mueller, the general manager of the Grand Canyon University Club and a volunteer assistant coach for the Grand Canyon University men’s golf team, finished in a tie for fourth place, a shot behind Svoboda and Jones at 2-over 290.

   Both players made big moves up the leaderboard in the final round, Sowers posting a 1-over 73 and Mueller matching par with a 72.

   The only player who bettered par in the final round was Jeremy Wells of Cypress Lake Golf Club in the South Florida Section and his 2-under 70 enabled him to jump 37 spots, going from seemingly little chance of earning a trip to the PGA Championship at Valhalla into a tie for eighth place at 4-over 292 and making travel plans for Louisville.

   Two more Philadelphia Section pros came up just short of a spot in the top 20 and on the Corebridge Financial Team.

   Mike Meisenzahl, who works in the pro shop at Little Mill Country Club, was one of the players knocked out of a chance for a playoff when Shattuck made his birdie at the 18^th hole.

   I missed Meisenzahl in my post after the 36-hole cut was established. Meisenzahl had added a solid 1-under 71 at Fields Ranch East in the second round after opening with a 1-over 73 at Fields Ranch West. He recorded a 3-over 75 back at Fields Ranch East in the third round before closing with another 3-over 75 that left him in the group tied for 21^st place with a 6-over 294 total.

   Trevor Bensel, the talented assistant pro at Sandy Run Country Club, was another shot behind Meisenzahl in the group tied for 26^th place with a 7-over 295 total after closing with a solid 2-over 74.

   Danny Lewis, playing out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop, closed with a 5-over 77 at Fields Ranch East to finish in the group tied for 61^st place with a 302 total.

   Rounding out the Philadelphia Section contingent that survived the 36-hole cut and played four rounds at Fields Ranch was Chris Krueger of Kings Creek Country Club in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Krueger closed with a 7-over 79 to land in the trio tied for 69^th place with a 304 total.