Three of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s top players, Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Course, and Zach Barbin of Chesapeake Bay Golf Club, each carded a 1-under-par 71 at the PGA Golf Club’s Dye Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Thursday and were in a tie for seventh place following the opening round of the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship.
Bergstol and Oakley have contended for the title in this event a couple of different times. Oakley finished in a tie for second place in the NCR Assistant PPC a year ago when it was played at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Club. Bergstol finished alone in second place in the NCR Assistant PPC in 2021 and in a tie for second a year later in 2022, both also at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course.
Adam Fisher, a Raleigh, N.C. resident and an assistant at North Ridge Country Club, was in the first group off the first tee Thursday and posted a sparkling 5-under 67 over the 7,193-yard, par-72 Dye Course layout to grab a one-shot lead.
Bergstol finished in a tie for third place in the PGA Professional Championship at the Wanamaker Course in April and was part of the Colebridge Financial Team, representing the Philadelphia Section and club pros all across America in the PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.
Starting off the 10th tee Thursday, Bergstol started with a bogey at the 10th hole, but made birdies at 11, 12 and 17 to get it to 2-under for his round. Bergstol had a lone bogey at the second hole and eight pars on the outgoing nine at the Dye Course to end up at 1-under.
Oakley also started off the 10th tee and also opened with a bogey. He made back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes before a bogey at 18 left him at even-par going to the front nine. Oakley ripped off birdies at the first, fourth and seventh holes to get to 3-under for his round before closing with a disappointing double bogey at nine.
Barbin, winner of a pair of Golf Association of Philadelphia major championships in the pandemic summer of 2020, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Patterson Cup, also went off the 10th tee and got off to a fast start with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes. Bogeys at 13 and 16 dropped him back to even-par heading for the front nine.
Barbin made birdies at the fifth and seventh holes to get it to 2-under for his round before giving a shot back with a bogey at eight.
Andrew Turner, an assistant pro at the Country Club of York, opened with a 2-over 74 and was among the group tied for 30th place.
Chad Ferguson, an assistant pro at Pine Valley Golf Club, was a shot behind Turner in the group tied for 44th place after opening with a 3-over 75.
Andrew Cornish, an assistant pro at Green Valley Golf Club, recorded a 7-over 79 that left him in the group tied for 80th place.
The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties following Friday’s second round.
Rounding out the Philly Section contingent was Matt Zehner, a colleague of Ferguson’s in the Pine Valley pro shop who registered an 83 that left him in the group tied for 115th place.
The lone blemish on Fisher’s scorecard came at the fourth hole, where he made a bogey, but he got it going after that. Fisher went back-to-back with birdies at the fifth and sixth holes, made another birdie at 10, went back-to-back again with birdies at 12 and 13 and added his sixth birdie of the day at 17 to complete his 5-under round.
Ian McConnell, an assistant pro at the Country Club of Fairfax in Fairfax, Va., and Sandra Changkija, one of the top women club pros in the country who works out of the pro shop at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, were a shot behind Fisher in a tie for second place as each tallied a 4-under 68.
Changkija, who resides in Daytona Beach, Fla., was part of the Colebridge Financial Team representing club pros in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America’s national headquarters in Frisco, Texas in June. The Dye Course is playing 6,097 yards for women club pros.
The NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship is supported by The Golf Channel, Srixon and Cleveland Golf.
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