Pillar, Bensel will represent Philadelphia Section in Senior PGA Championship after solid showings in Senior PPC

 

   John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, and Frank Bensel, the director of instruction at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore, will represent the Philadelphia Section PGA as part of the Corebridge Financial Team in next spring’s Senior PGA Championship after they had solid showings in the Senior PGA Professional Championship, which wrapped up Sunday at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

   Pillar, the reigning Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year in the Philly Section, finished among a trio of players tied for 32^nd place at 3-over 291 after four rounds at two PGA Golf Club courses.

   The top 35 finishers in the Senior PPC punched their ticket to the Senior PGA Championship, a major on the PGA Tour Champions which tees off April 16 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., as a part of the Corebridge Financial Team.

   The Senior PGA Championship, an event that pre-dates the birth of the PGA Tour Champions, had been a fixture over the Memorial Day weekend on the senior circuit’s calendar in recent years, but moves to April in the spring of 2026.

   Pillar had earned his trip to the Senior PPC by capturing the title in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship for the fourth time in six years in sweltering weather in the summer at Spring Ford Country Club.

   Pillar got off to a great start in the Senior PPC with a 1-under-par 71 at the PGA Golf Club’s Dye Course. He survived the 36-hole cut with a 3-over 75 at the Wanamaker Course. A 2-over 74 in Saturday’s third round at the Wanamaker Course kept him in the hunt for one of those coveted top-35 spots and he closed with a solid 1-under 71 at the Wanamaker Course to join the trio tied for 32^nd place at 3-over.

   Pretty sure this will be Pillar’s fourth trip to the Senior PGA Championship as part of the Corebridge Financial Team.

   Bensel is new to the Philadelphia Section, but is certainly a familiar face on the national club pro scene.

   A fixture in the Metropolitan Section before moving to Galloway National, this will be Bensel’s fourth trip to the PGA Senior Championship. On three different occasions, Bensel advanced out of the PGA Professional Championship and played in the PGA Championship. He is a three-time winner of the Assistant PGA Professional Championship.

   The 57-year-old Bensel closed with a solid 3-under 69 in windy conditions at the Wanamaker Course to finish among the group tied for 19^th place in the Senior PPC with a 1-over 289 total.

   Bensel had opened with a 1-over 73 at the Dye Course and was comfortably inside the cut line at the halfway mark after posting another 1-over 73 at the Wanamaker Course. Bensel survived the 54-hole cut with a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s third round at the Wanamaker Course before moving into the top 35 with his strong final round.

   Mark Sheftic, the head on instruction at Sunnybrook Golf Club, was the only other member of the Philly Section contingent to survive both cuts and play four rounds at the PGA Golf Club.

   After opening with a 3-over 75 at the Wanamaker Course, Sheftic tallied a 1-over 73 at the Dye Course. A 1-over 73 at the Wanamaker Course in Saturday’s third round enabled Sheftic to survive the 54-hole cut and his final-round 76 at the Wanamaker Course left him among the group tied for 61^st place with a 9-over 297 total.

   Justin Hicks, a former PGA Tour pro who is an instructor at Stonebridge Country Club in the South Florida Section, held on for a one-shot victory over defending champion Alan Morin, an assistant pro at The Club at Ibis, also in the South Florida Section, as Hicks put his name on the Leo Fraser Trophy and pocketed the winner’s check of $31,100 out of a total purse of $350,000.

   Hicks, a senior “rookie” at age 50, teed it up in the PGA Championship at The Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. as part of the Colebridge Financial Team in May after he finished in a tie for ninth place in the PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club.

   After opening with a 2-under 70 at the Wanamaker Course, Hicks added another 2-under 70 at the Dye Course in the second round. A 3-under 69 in Saturday’s third round back at the Wanamaker Course gave Hicks a one-shot advantage over Morin going into the Sunday’s final round.

   It was an edge Hicks would preserve with a final round of 1-under 71 that gave him an 8-under 280 total.

   Hicks followed up a birdie at the second hole with a bogey at three to open his final round and followed up a birdie at 12 with a bogey at 13 that left him at 7-under for the championship. He was rock solid over those final six holes, with a birdie at the 16^th hole and five pars for a closing 71.

   Morin was pretty much right there step for step with Hicks throughout the tournament. Morin opened with a 3-under 69 at the Dye Course and added a 1-under 71 at the Wanamaker Course in the second round to join Hicks at 4-under at the halfway point.

   Morin fell a shot behind Hicks with a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s third round and could only match Hicks’ final round of 1-under 71 to finish a shot behind him in second place with a 7-under 281 total.

   Omar Uresti, the former PGA Tour player from Austin, Texas, was another shot behind Morin in third place with a 6-under 282 total. Uresti opened with a 1-under 71 at the Dye Course and added back-to-back 1-under 71s at the Wanamaker Course in the second and third rounds before closing with a 3-under 69 at the Wanamaker Course.

   I thought the PGA of America had changed a rule that affected Uresti’s status and kept him out of the national club pro events, but apparently that didn’t extend to the Senior PPC.

   There’s always been this undercurrent of resentment toward Uresti among the club pros who consider him still more of a PGA Tour player, although I believe he has earned PGA Life Member status.

   Pretty sure Brian Kelly, a PGA Life Member who was the head pro at Bucknell Golf Club forever, is ineligible for the PGA Professional Championship under the so-called Uresti Rule.

   But the 60-something was at the PGA Golf Club last week representing Titleist Fitwear and the Philly Section and was among a large group of players who just missed the 36-hole cut with a 7-over 151 total.

   Kelly, who was the runnerup to Pillar in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship in June at Spring Ford, matched par in the opening round at the Dye Course with a 72 before struggling to a 79 in the second round at the Wanamaker Course.

   Dave McNabb, the head pro at Applebrook Golf Club, was another Philly Section representative who just missed the cut at 7-over. McNabb opened with a 2-over 74 at the Dye Course before adding a 5-over 77 at the Wanamaker Course in the second round.

   Terry Hertzog, who is working out of the pro shop at Bent Creek Country Club these days, opened with a 2-over 74 at the Dye Course and was in with a chance to survive the 36-hole cut, but a 6-over 78 in the second round at the Wanamaker Course left him two shots shy of the cut line with an 8-over 152 total.

   Rich Steinmetz, the longtime head pro at Spring Ford, also landed in the group at 8-over as he opened with a 6-over 78 at the Wanamaker Course before adding a 2-over 74 at the Dye Course in the second round.

   Rounding out the Philly Section contingent at the PGA Golf Club was Carlisle Country Club’s Steve Swartz, who missed the cut with a 154 total. Swartz opened with a 7-over 79 at the Wanamaker Course before adding a 3-over 75 in the second round at the Dye Course.

   Interesting name popped up at 9-over 153 in Pete Oakley, who was a dominant player in the Philly Section a lifetime ago while based in Delaware and who is now in Palm City, Fla. Oakley stunned the golf world, at least the golf world outside of the Philadelphia area, when he won the Royal & Ancient Senior Open in 2004, a major championship on the senior circuit.

   Oakley opened with a 4-over 76 at the Dye Course, matching his age, and added a 5-over 77 in the second round at the Wanamaker Course.

   Oakley’s son, Zac, is an instructor at Bidermann Golf Course in Delaware and one of the top players in the Philly Section. Zac Oakley was the Philly Section’s Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year in 2021.