It’s been five years since Zach Barbin defied the summer of fear when the mysterious and deadly coronavirus forced widespread lockdowns.
Slowly, though, it became apparent that there was one place you could safely have a little fun in the middle of the raging pandemic: The golf course. And Zach Barbin, in the midst of his college career at Liberty, found his refuge on the golf course to the tune of victories in two of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Patterson Cup. (And, by the way, kudos to GAP for just getting those championships played in that chaotic summer.)
In the ensuing five years, Barbin has turned pro and made the sensible move by joining the staff at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club, owned by the Barbin family. Barbin has quickly become one of the top players on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit.
Barbin cemented his status as one of the rising stars on the Philly Section scene Sunday as he finished in a tie for second place in the PGA of America’s Assistant PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club’s Dye Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The Assistant PPC has become something of a proving ground for the top players in the Philly Section. Barbin’s tie for second place marked the second straight year a Philly Section player has finished in a tie for second place and the fourth time in the last five years that a Philly Section player has finished either second alone or tied for second.
Barbin closed with a 2-under-par 70 to end up with a 3-under 285 total that left him in a tie for second place with Andre Chi, an assistant pro at Deepdale Golf Club on Long Island, and Evan Wentgrow, a Midvale, Utah resident who works out of the pro shop at Koshkonong Mounds Country Club in Fort Atkinson, Wis.
There was some history made at the Dye Course Sunday as Sandra Changkija, a Daytona Beach, Fla. resident and an instructor at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla., became the first woman to capture the title in the 49-year history of the Assistant PPC.
The 36-year-old Changkija matched par in the final round with a 72 and that turned out to be good enough for an 8-under 280 total and a decisive five-shot victory. Changkija, a collegiate standout at Division II Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. who spent eight years on the LPGA Tour, pocketed the top prize of $17,800.
Barbin began the day in a tie for sixth place with Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Course who finished in a tie for second place in the Assistant PPC a year ago at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course, and Chi.
Barbin put together a really steady final round as he made back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes, added another birdie at 10 and made a bogey at the last. Barbin earned $10,966.67 and an exemption into next year’s Assistant PPC.
Oakley was equally steady in the final round as made a bogey at the second hole, a birdie at three and then rattled off 15 straight pars as he matched par with a 72 that left him alone in seventh place with a 1-under 287 total.
Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, is the other Philly Section pro who has regularly contended in the Assistant PPC, finishing alone in second place in 2021 and in a tie for second in 2022.
Bergstol closed with a 3-over 75 Sunday to get a share of 16th place with a 5-over 293 total.
Oakley and Bergstol are among the players who will represent the Philly Section in the PGA Professional Championship next spring at one of golf’s most desired destinations, the Bandon Dunes Resort on the rugged Oregon coastline.
One of those spots on the Corebridge Financial Team – the top-20 finishers in the PPC who will tee it up in the PGA Championship – will be especially coveted by the Philly Section contingent at Bandon Dunes because the PGA, one of professional golf’s four major championships, will be played in the Philadelphia Section at Aronimink Golf Club, the Donald Ross masterpiece in Newtown Square, in May.
Bergstol was part of the Corebridge Financial Team at this year’s PGA Championship at The Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. after he finished in a tie for third place in last spring’s PPC at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course.
Changkija earned herself a spot in the field at Bandon Dunes with her victory in the Assistant PPC.
The golf naysayers out there – you know who you are – will diminish Changkija’s accomplishment by saying she played a shorter golf course than the guys did. Yes, the golf course measured 7,172 yards for the men for Sunday’s final round and Changkija played a Dye Course that measured 6,035 yards.
But the hole wasn’t any bigger and she got the ball in the hole in five less times than the rest of the field.
Changkija began the day with a one-shot advantage over Michael Bolcar, an assistant pro at Brandywine Country Club in Maumee, Ohio.
After an early bogey at the fourth hole, Changkija made birdies at five, seven and 13 to get it to 10-under for the tournament, as, one by one, all her challengers fell away. Bolcar struggled to a 5-over 77 to finish in a tie for fifth place with a 2-under 286 total.
Changkija made bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes on her way to the clubhouse to fall back to 8-under, but they were bogeys she had the luxury of taking after building a big lead.
“It means a lot,” Changkija told the PGA of America website. “I’ve worked really hard on my game. And being that I work a full-time job, it’s hard. The field is mostly men, these national events, so it means a lot that a female can win.”
Chi, the NCAA Division III individual champion as a senior at Methodist University in 2022, came on strong over the weekend, posting a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s third round and closing with a 2-under 70 to earn his piece of second place.
Wentgow, who began the day just three shots behind Changkija, closed with a 2-over 74 to join Barbin and Chi in the tie for second place at 3-under.
Joining Bolcar in the tie for fifth place at 2-under was Adam Fisher, a native of Scotland and an assistant pro at North Ridge Country Club in Raleigh, N.C.
Fisher had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 5-under 67. After matching par with a 72 in Friday’s second round, Fisher fell back with a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s third round before again matching par with a 72 Sunday to get a share of fifth place.
Rounding out the Philly Section contingent that survived the 36-hole cut was Andrew Cornish, an assistant pro at Green Valley Country Club. Cornish closed with a 5-over 77 to finish among the group tied for 54th place with a 304 total.
Joining Cornish in the group tied for 54th place was Josh Rackley, who was one of the Philly Section’s top players a decade or so ago as an assistant pro at Gulph Mills Golf Club.
Rackley, a Wilmington, N.C. resident and an instructor at Castle Bay Golf Course in Hampstead, N.C., also closed with a 5-over 77 Sunday.
The Assistant PGA Professional Championship was supported by The Golf Channel, Srixon and Cleveland Golf.
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