Shattuck surges to three-shot lead heading into final round of Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship

 

   Braden Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, surged to a three-shot lead Tuesday going into the final round as he tries to successfully defend his title in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.

   Shattuck delivered a seven-birdie, one-bogey masterpiece at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club for a 6-under-par 66, easily the best score of the day over the George C. Thomas Jr. gem that once played host to a regular PGA Tour stop.

   Combined with his opening round of 8-under 64 Monday at nearby Sandy Run Country Club, Shattuck was at 14-under 130 through two rounds, giving him a three-shot lead over Tony Perla, who is working out of the pro shop at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

   The Philadelphia PPC is the first step on a road that can lead a Philadelphia Section PGA pro to next May’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America’s headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   The top 10 eligible finishers in the Philadelphia PPC will earn a spot in the field in the PGA Professional Championship next April at the Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green, Fla.

   The top 20 finishers at Streamsong form the Corebridge Financial Team that will represent club pros from across America in the PGA Championship at PGA Frisco.

   Shattuck is exempt from qualifying for the PPC at Streamsong on the strength of his epic 2023 victory in the PPC at the Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

   Another Philly Section pro, Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, is also exempt by virtue of his being selected to play on the U.S. PGA Cup team.

   Shattuck, the Philadelphia Section’s reigning four-time Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year, rallied in the final round this past April to finish in a tie for eighth place in the PPC at the Bandon Dunes Resort on Oregon’s rugged coastline to earn a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team for the PGA Championship right here in Delaware County at Aronimink Golf Club, the Donald Ross masterpiece in Newtown Square.

   Starting off the 10^th tee in Tuesday’s second round, Shattuck got right to work with back-to-back birdies at the 10^th and 11^th holes. He added a birdie at the 15^th hole and turned to Whitemarsh Valley’s outgoing nine at 3-under for his round.

   Shattuck, a product of Sun Valley High School, opened the front nine with birdies at the first, third and fifth holes. A bogey at the sixth hole was the only blemish on his scorecard and dropped him to 5-under for his round before he got one more birdie at eight to complete his 6-under tour of Whitemarsh Valley.

   Whitemarsh Valley has been playing the tougher of the two courses over the first two days. The field was cut to the top 60 and ties, the cut coming at 6-over 150. The survivors of the cut will all finish up in the final round Wednesday at Whitemarsh Valley.

   “I hit it great today,” Shattuck told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I kept track of my proximity to the hole today and I hit 10 shots within 10 feet.”

   Shattuck is trying to become the first repeat winner of the Philadelphia PPC since Alex Knoll of Glen Brook Golf Club did it in 2019 and 2020.

   Perla had grabbed a share of the lead with Shattuck by matching Shattuck’s 8-under 64 Monday at Sandy Run. Perla put together a solid 3-under 69 at Whitemarsh Valley in Tuesday’s second round that left him in second place, three shots behind Shattuck with an 11-under 133 total.

   Brett Walker of Chester Valley Golf Club added a 2-under 70 at Whitemarsh Valley Tuesday to his opening round of 5-under 67 at Sandy Run that left him another four shots behind Perla in third place with a 7-under 137 total.

   Walker is a two-time winner of the Philadelphia PPC, two years ago at Rolling Green Golf Club and in 2021 at Aronimink in the tournament’s 100^th edition.

   Walker is one of four former Philadelphia PPC champions among the top-10 players on the leaderboard chasing Shattuck going into the final round.

   Anthony Sebastianelli of Whitford Country Club, winner of the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship earlier this summer at Laurel Creek Country Club, matched par at Whitemarsh Valley with a 72 Tuesday after opening with a 6-under 66 at Sandy Run and was a shot behind Walker in fourth place at 6-under 138.

   The Shawnee Inn’s Bergstol, the 2022 Philadelphia PPC champion at DuPont Country Club, headed a trio of players that included Aronimink instructor Riley Wheeldon and Trevor Bensel of LuLu Country Club tied for fifth place a shot behind Sebastianelli at 5-under 139.

   Bergstol finished in a tie for third place in the PPC at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in the spring of 2025 and represented the Philly Section as part of the Corebridge Financial Team at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.

   Bergstol had opened with a 3-under 69 at Whitemarsh Valley and added a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round at Sandy Run.

   Wheeldon, the runnerup to Shattuck in the Philadelphia PPC a year ago, added a 1-under 71 at Whitemarsh Valley Tuesday to his opening round of 3-under 68 at Sandy Run.

   Bensel had spent some time working in the pro shop at Sandy Run and his familiarity with the course showed as he tallied a 4-under 68 there in Tuesday’s second round after opening with a 1-under 71 at Whitemarsh Valley.

   Two more past Philadelphia PPC champions, Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, and Billy Stewart, an instructor at the Union League’s Liberty Hill course, headed a foursome tied for eighth place at 4-under 140.

   Oakley, the 2023 Philadelphia PPC winner at the Country Club of Scranton, added a 3-under 69 at Whitemarsh Valley Tuesday to his opening round of 1-under 71 at Sandy Run.

   Oakley has taken the road through the PPC to the PGA Championship a couple of times in his career.

   Stewart, the 2018 Philadelphia PPC winner at Concord Country Club, had opened with a sparkling 7-under 65 Monday at Sandy Run, but struggled to a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s second round at Whitemarsh Valley.

   Stewart, who starred scholastically at Malvern Prep and collegiately at Saint Joseph’s, captured the title in the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic and its whopping $100 grand payday in May at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   Joining Oakley and Stewart in the quartet tie for eighth place at 4-under were Parks Price of Bent Creek Country Club and Mike Meisenzahl of Tavistock Country Club.

   Price matched par with a 72 at Sandy Run Tuesday after opening with a solid 4-under 68 at Whitemarsh Valley.

   Meisenzahl matched par with a 72 at Whitemarsh Valley Tuesday after opening with a 4-under 68 at Sandy Run.

   The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship is presented by Club Car, Corebridge Financial and Rolex. The tournament is supported by Gallagher, The Golf Channel, the PGA Tour, ShipSticks, Titleist/Footjoy, Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade, Sun Cruiser Vodka Iced Tea, Mid-Atlantic Golf Cars, StrackaLine and SCNS Sports Foods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shattuck grabs share of the lead as he opens defense of his Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship title

 

   Braden Shattuck, the head of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, struck the opening drive in the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in May.

   It was a proud moment for Shattuck personally and for the Philadelphia Section PGA, which was hosting the PGA of America’s major championship for the first time since the PGA was played at Aronimink in 19 and 62.

   Shattuck, a product of Sun Valley High School in Aston, earned his spot in the field at Aronimink by finishing in a tie for eighth place in the PGA Professional Championship at the Bandon Dunes Resort on Oregon’s rugged coastline.

   The top 20 finishers in the PPC each year form the Corebridge Financial Team and get to represent club pros all across America in the PGA Championship. It was the third time in the last four springs that Shattuck had earned a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team and got to tee it up in the PGA Championship.

   This one, at Aronimink, so close to home, was special.

   Shattuck took the first step on what could be a return trip to the PGA Championship in 2027 by firing a sizzling 8-under-par 64 Monday at Sandy Run Country Club to get a share of the lead in the 105^th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.

   After three straight runnerup finishes in the Philadelphia PPC, Shattuck broke through and captured the title a year ago at Concord Country Club.

   He opened defense of that title by grabbing a share of the lead with Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Tony Perla, who matched Shattuck’s 64 at Sandy Run, and Joe Kogelman of GOLFTEC Moorestown, who posted a sizzling 8-under 64 of his own at nearby Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, the George C. Thomas Jr. classic that once upon a time hosted a regular stop on the PGA Tour.

   The players will switch courses for Tuesday’s second round and the field will be cut to the low 60 and ties with the survivors of the cut teeing it up in the final round at Whitemarsh Valley Wednesday.

   The top 10 eligible finishers will earn a trip to the PGA Professional Championship next spring at the Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green, Fla. The top 20 finishers at Streamsong will form the Corebridge Financial Team for the PGA Championship, which will be held at the Fields Ranch East Course at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   Shattuck, the Philly Section’s four-time reigning Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year, and Brian Bergstol, the director of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, are exempt into next spring’s PPC at Fields Ranch East.

   I have not been able to keep up with the Philly Section circuit as much as I'd like during this busy summer, but Shattuck has been his typically solid self.

   Shattuck was coming off a third-place finish in the 50^th annual Pro-Am for Wishes earlier this month with a 4-under 138 total at Penn Oaks Golf Club.

   In early July, Shattuck put together a blistering 14-under 128 total in rounds over Berkleigh Golf Club and Moselem Springs Golf Club to take the title in the Golf Association of the Lehigh Valley’s Reading Open.

   Did manage to get a little roundup of Shattuck’s victory in the Delaware Valley Open at Scotland Run Golf Club a few days after he failed to make the cut in the PGA Championship at Aronimink.

   Shattuck had tuned up for the PGA Professional Championship at Bandon Dunes in April with a victory in the Radnor Golf Foundation Tournament Players Division Championship at Galloway National Golf Club.

   Shattuck was flawless Monday at Sandy Run as he made birdies at the fourth, seventh, ninth, 10^th, 12^th and 14^th holes before adding an eagle at the par-5 15^th.

   Perla got off to a nice start at Sandy Run with birdies at the fourth, sixth and ninth holes on the outgoing nine before turning it on on the back nine, going back-to-back with birdies at 11 and 12, going back-to-back again with birdies at 15 and 16 and finishing up his round with a birdie at the last.

   Kogelman blitzed Whitemarsh Valley with seven birdies in his first 11 holes. He went back-to-back with birdies at the first and second holes, went back-to-back again with birdies at four and five and then ripped off consecutive birdies at nine, 10 and 11.

   A double bogey at the 13^th hole slowed Kogelman’s roll a little, but he got back on track with a birdie at 15 and the finished strong with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.

   Billy Stewart, an instructor at the Union League’s Liberty Hill Course, was a shot behind the three co-leaders with a sparking 7-under 65 at Sandy Run.

   Stewart, the 2018 Philadelphia PPC champion, cashed the biggest check offered by any Section tournament in the country when he won the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic and its top prize of $100,000 the day after Memorial Day at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   Whitford Country Club assistant pro Anthony Sebastianelli, who captured the title in the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship at Laurel Creek Country Club earlier this summer, was a shot behind Stewart in fifth place after signing for a 6-under 66 at Sandy Run.

   Sebastianelli was the runnerup to Chesapeake Bay Golf Club’s Zach Barbin in the Pro-Am for Wishes earlier this month at Penn Oaks with a 5-under 137 total.

   Chester Valley Golf Club’s Brett Walker, a two-time winner of the Philadelphia PPC, most recently two years ago at Rolling Green Golf Club, was a shot behind Sebastianelli in sixth place with a 5-under 67 at Sandy Run.

   The trio of Aronimink Golf Club instructor Riley Wheeldon, Tavistock Country Club’s Mike Meisenzahl and Bent Creek Country Club’s Parks Price were in a tie for seventh place, each ending up at 4-under.

   Wheeldon, the runnerup to Shattuck in the Philadelphia PPC a year ago at Concord, and Meisenzahl both carded their 68s at Sandy Run while Price recorded his 68 at Whitemarsh Valley.

   Wheeldon nearly earned a spot in the field in the PGA Championship at his home course, but struggled in the final round in the PPC at Bandon Dunes to finish in a tie for 51^st place.

   Rounding out the top 10 following the opening round of Philadelphia PPC were the Shawnee Inn’s Bergstol and Jake Gerney of Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia as they ended up in a tie for 10^th place at 3-under.

   Bergstol, the Philadelphia PPC champion in 2022, opened with a 69 at Whitemarsh Valley while Gerney’s 69 came at Sandy Run.

   Bergstol finished in a tie for third place in the PPC in the spring of 2025 and represented the Philadelphia Section as a member of the Corebridge Financial Team in the  PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.

 

Stumacher finishes strong to claim title in Philly Junior Tour's Girls Summer Championship at Manufacturers

 

   Just couldn’t stay away from the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s East Course, but it left me well behind in a lot of the golf news I usually post on this blog. I’m going to keep plugging away, particularly with the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stuff, to catch up as much as possible, starting with …

   Sarah Stumacher, a Gladwyne resident and a senior on the Friends’ Central School golf team, finished strong at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club, a classic William Flynn design in Fort Washington, to card a sparkling 3-under-par 71 and capture the title in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s Girls Summer Championship July 27^th.

   The Girls Summer Championship was originally scheduled to be a two-day event July 27^th and 28^th, but looks like it was limited to just a single round.

   It was still a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event, offering points for players that can earn them status on some of the higher-profile junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

   The JGS points went to overall finishers from ages 13 to 18. The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, so I will wrap them up while referring to the overall scoring.

   Stumacher, who plays out of Philadelphia Cricket Club, got off to a good start with back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and an eagle at the par-5 ninth. She made birdies at the 10^th, 12^th, 14^th and 16^th holes while touring the incoming nine at Manufacturers in 2-under 36.

   Stumacher had six pars on her scorecard as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring.

   York Suburban senior Vivienne Powers, who has qualified for the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of the last two falls, Conestoga junior Nicolette Bottos, who helped the Pioneers capture the PIAA Class AAA team title last fall, and Shuyan Song, an invader from China, each posted a 1-under 73 to finish two shots behind Stumacher.

   Powers was awarded runnerup honors in the overall scoring in a tiebreaker, Song, who finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division, was in third place via the tiebreaker and Bottos ended up fourth in the overall standings.

   Powers made birdies at the 10^th, 14^th and 16^th holes while touring the incoming nine at Manufacturers in 3-under 35. She had 13 pars on her card, including a string of four straight pars from the sixth through the ninth holes.

   After making birdies at the third, seventh and 10^th holes, Bottos made an eagle at the par-5 12^th before adding another birdie at 16 as she matched Stumacher’s 2-under 36 on the back nine at Manufacturers. Bottos had eight pars on her card as she shared second place among the older girls with Powers.

   Bottos, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club, has had a strong summer, highlighted by her victory in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship earlier in July at Honeybrook Golf Club. Powers finished in a tie for second place at Honeybrook.

   Ephrata junior Makenna Heckman, who has reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of her first two seasons of scholastic golf, finished in fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and sixth in the overall standings with a 1-over 75.

   Exeter senior Giulia Weisser, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first three seasons of scholastic golf, Conestoga senior Corinne McReynolds, Bottos’ teammate on the Pioneers state Class AAA team champions, and Harriton junior Megan Choi, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first two seasons of scholastic golf, finished in a tie for fifth place in the 16-to-18 division as each tallied a 2-over 76.

   That trio, along with Cedar Crest sophomore Bryn Brandt, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall who finished in third place in the 13-to-15 division with a 3-over 76, rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring as they finished in a four-player logjam tied for seventh place.

   Perkiomen Valley senior Saloni Patel, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Siena Cohen of Marlton, N.J. finished in a tie for eighth place in the 16-to-18 division, each signing for a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Southern Lehigh senior Lexi Miller, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Emma Bergey of Kennett Square as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each recording an 81.

   Song made birdies at the third, seventh, 10^th, 12^th and 17^th holes and had 10 pars on her scorecard, including a run of four straight pars from 13 through 16, as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with her 1-under 73.

   Song toured the incoming nine at Manufacturers in 2-under 36 while earning third place in the overall standings in the tiebreaker with Powers and Bottos from the 16-to-18 division.

   Madison Cabot, a Newtown resident and a sophomore at The Pennington School, finished a shot behind Song in second place among the younger girls and fifth in the overall scoring by matching par with a 74.

   Cabot, the Philly Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 Player of the Year in 2025, made back-to-back birdies at the 15^th and 16^th holes and had 14 pars on her card, including a string of five straight pars from six through 10. Cabot toured the incoming nine at Manufacturers in 1-under 37.

   Cabot played on the Council Rock South golf team as a freshman last fall before transferring across the Delaware River to Pennington.

   Cedar Crest’s Brandt ripped off three straight birdies at the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th holes and added another birdie at 16 in her 2-over 76 that left her in third place in the 13-to-15 division and part of the four-way tie for seventh with Weisser, McReynolds and Choi from the 16-to-18 division in the overall chase.

   Brandt also had eight pars on her card and finished up with a sparkling 2-under 36 on the back nine at Manufacturers.

   Notre Dame Academy freshman Katelyn Bodge, who finished in sixth place in the Inter-Ac League Championship in May at Sandy Run Country Club, finished in fourth place among the younger girls with a 3-over 78.

   Council Rock North sophomore Noor Mehta and Mia DeCarlo of Glen Mills finished in a tie for fifth place in the 13-to-15 division as each registered an 81. DeCarlo, the Sam Penecale Scoring Average Award winner in the girls 12-and-under division a year ago, was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a week earlier at Laurel Creek Country Club.

   Radnor junior Sara Fanelli took seventh place among the younger girls with an 84, Emilie Davoli, a precocious 12-year-old from Ambler, was eighth with an 85 and Caroline Wallace of Chambersburg finished ninth with an 88.

   Hannah LeGrow, coming off her freshman season with the Ursuline Academy golf team in the spring, rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in 10^th place with a 91.