Milone, Traynor share Philly Junior Tour victory as they scorch Wilmington North with 67s

 

   Nicholas Milone of Bryn Mawr and Harry Traynor, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Great Valley last fall, both blitzed the North Course at Wilmington Country Club with a 4-under-par 67 to finish in a tie atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop July 27^th.

   Milone ripped off three straight birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh holes, added back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including four straight pars to open his round and another run of four straight pars from 13 through 16.

   Milone toured the outgoing nine at Wilmington North in 3-under 32.

   Traynor made birdies at the first, fifth, 10^th, 11^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including two separate strings of four pars in a row from six through nine and again from 12 through 15. Traynor was a dazzling 4-under 32 on Wilmington North’s incoming nine.

   Quinn Gallagher, another Bryn Mawr resident and a senior on the golf team at The Haverford School, made birdies at the 12^th and 14^th holes and had 15 pars on his card, matching the card with nine straight pars to open his round, as he finished three shots behind Milone and Traynor in third place with a 1-under 70.

   J.D. Radio of West Chester took fourth place with a 1-over 72, Frank Kunze, a junior on the Garnet Valley golf team was fifth with a 74 and Trey Barkman, another West Chester guy, and Ben Nowland, a junior on the Avon Grove golf team, finished in a tie for sixth place, each posting a 76.

   Kunze’s Garnet Valley teammate, Jack Ferm, a senior who was a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, headed a six-player logjam that rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they finished in a tie for eighth place, each signing for a 77.

   Quinn Marshall, who wrapped up his junior season at the Wilmington Friends School by finishing in third place in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Championship at Baywood Greens in the spring, was also in the group tied at 77.

   Rounding out the gang of six tied for eighth place at 6-over were Pierce Drake, a senior on the Downingtown East golf team, Ben Fifer of Wyoming, Del., Joseph Gangemi Jr. of Downingtown and Christian Bennett of Wilmington, Del.

   Brody Campbell, a Plymouth Meeting resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, matched the 4-under 67s registered by Milone and Traynor with a sizzling effort of his own as he earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division.

   Campbell opened his round with five straight birdies as he scorched Wilmington North’s outgoing nine in 5-under 30. He added another birdie at the 11^th hole and had 10 pars on his scorecard, including a string of five straight pars from six through 10.

   Daniel Ross, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Souderton, last fall, went back-to-back twice on Wilmington North’s back nine with birdies at the 10^th and 11^th holes and then again at 16 and 17, as he earned runnerup honors with a sparkling 1-under 70.

   Ross had 12 pars on his card, including a run of seven straight pars from the third through the ninth holes.

   Charles Blok of Downingtown made birdies at the 13^th and 15^th holes and had 14 pars on his card, including a string of nine consecutive pars from four through 12, as he finished in third place by matching par with a 71.

   Preston Minio of Lansdale, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory the previous week at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, took fourth place with a 2-over 73.

   Jack Gilbert of Bryn Mawr, coming off a victory the previous week in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s St. Martins Course, finished in fifth place with a 74.

   Bobby Stefanski of Newtown Square, coming off co-medalist honors in a Philly Junior Tour stop the previous week at The Bucks Club, finished in sixth place with a 75.

   Helmut Dang, another Newtown Square guy, Noah Gates of Ardmore and Tucker Detwiler, a West Chester resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, shared seventh place, each ending up with a 76.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was a foursome tied for 10^th place at 78 that included Jack D’Emilio of Wilmington, Del., Jack Ferry of Port Deposit, Md., Baylor Keim of Blue Bell and Carter Bove of Kennett Square.

   Brooke Burge, a senior on the Appoquinimink golf team, had seven pars on her scorecard, finishing up her round with back-to-back pars at the 17^th and 18^th holes, as she earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 82.

   Kallista Spence of Phoenixville earned runnerup honors in a short field as she tallied a 108.

   Looks like the 13-to-15 girls were halted by weather after 14 holes with He Hannah of Chadds Ford, Molly Wagner, a Newark, Del. resident and a junior on the St. Mark’s golf team, and Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. shared medalist honors as each were at 16-over 71 when weather forced them off the golf course.

   Hannah had four pars on her scorecard, going back-to-back with pars at the 12^th and 13^th holes. Wagner had four pars on her card, three of them on Wilmington North’s outgoing nine. Cowan had four pars on her card, three of them also coming on the front nine.

   Rachel Santoso, a sophomore on the Downingtown East golf team, finished four shots behind the co-medalists in fourth place with a 75.

   Mae Racowski of Newtown Square took fifth place with an 87, Hridya Shah of Downingtown was sixth with a 94 and Finley Campbell of West Chester rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished seventh with a 96.

   James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. made birdies at the 15^th and 18^th holes and had five pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with an even-par 36.

   Jack Kolmer of Wayne, in the middle of a stretch on the Philly Junior Tour in which he could be found hanging out at or near the top of the leaderboard, had five pars on his card, including four straight pars to close out his round, as he earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 40.

   Nolan English of Villanova had three pars on his card, including back-to-back pars at the 16^th and 17^th holes, as he finished in third place with a 42.

   Ryan Stefanski, another member of Newtown Square’s Team Stefanski, took fourth place with a 43, Benny Pollard of Haverford and Julian Kelley of Wilmington, Del. shared fifth, each signing for a 45, and Luca Saienni, another Wilmington, Del. guy, and Kayaan Patel of Mullica Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for seventh, each recording 46.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division was the pair of Jackson Larrabee, another Wilmington, Del. guy, and Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each registering a 47.

   Claire Malbacho of Haverford had three pars on her scorecard, including back-to-back pars at the 13^th and 14^th holes, as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 47.

   Vivian Anderson of Wilmington, Del. made a par at the 17^th hole as she earned runnerup honors with a 54.

   Addison Sabatini of West Chester made a par at the 11^th hole as she finished a shot behind Anderson in third place with a 55.

   Katelyn Cunningham of Havertown took fourth place with a 58, Aashi Chakraborty of Kennett Square and Julie Prickitt of Ambler shared fifth, each posting a 59, and Natalie McKinley of Wilmington, Del. rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she finished seventh with a 68.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shattuck a dominant six-shot winner as he repeats in Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Whitemarsh Valley

 

   Braden Shattuck continued his domination of the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit by finishing off a six-shot victory in the 105^th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship
Wednesday with a business-like 4-under-par 68 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club.

   It was the second straight win in the marquee event for the Philadelphia area club pros for Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club. Shattuck has been the winner of the Philly Section’s Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year Award the last four seasons.

   Shattuck’s win in the Philadelphia PPC, his fourth of the season, likely puts him in the driver’s seat for a fifth straight Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year Award.

   Shattuck led or shared the lead right from the start. His opening round of 8-under 64 Monday at nearby Sandy Run Country Club left him in a tie for the lead. He surged to a three-shot lead on the strength of a sizzling 6-under 66 in the second round at Whitemarsh Valley, a classic George C. Thomas Jr. design in Whitemarsh Township that once hosted a regular stop on the PGA Tour.

   Shattuck’s final-round 68 gave him an 18-under 298 total and a six-shot victory over Zach Barbin, who works out of the pro shop at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club and closed with a Whitemarsh Valley course record of 10-under 62.

   Shattuck’s name will be inscribed on the William B. Packer Trophy for a second time and he collected the top prize of $10,000.

   Shattuck was exempt into next spring’s PGA Professional Championship on the strength of his victory in that event in 2023 at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

   He will head a group of 12 Philadelphia Section players who will tee it up in the PPC next April at the Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green, Fla. The top 20 finishers at Streamsong will form the Corebridge Financial Team that will represent club pros all across America in the  PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   It would be one thing if you could make the argument that Shattuck is dominating a group of club pros that don’t measure up competitively. Nothing could be further from the truth.

   Shattuck finished in a tie for eighth place in the PPC in the spring at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon to earn a starting time in the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, not all that far from where the Sun Valley product grew up.

   But he was not the only player in the field this week who has taken that route to the PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four major championships.

   Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, has been a member of the Corebridge Financial Team twice, joining Shattuck in the field for the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. two years ago. Oakley finished in a tie for sixth place in this week’s Philadelphia PPC and will be headed for Fields Ranch East next spring.

   Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, represented the Philadelphia Section in the PGA Championship in the spring of 2025 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. after finishing in a tie for third place in the PPC at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

   Bergstol, who was exempt to next spring’s PPC as a member of the United States team that competed in the PGA Cup, finished in a tie for eighth place in this week’s Philadelphia PPC.

   Zach Barbin finished in a tie for second place in last fall’s Assistant PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club’s Dye Course, an event in which both Bergstol and Oakley have contended in recent years.

   These are players who have performed well on national stages that Shattuck is dominating, making his accomplishments even more impressive.

   Shattuck became the first repeat winner of the Philadelphia PPC since Alex Knoll of Glen Brook Golf Club did it in 1999 and 2000.

   If anybody thought Shattuck was going to falter in the final round, he dispelled that notion pretty quickly with birdies at the second, third and fifth holes.

   After making a bogey at the eighth hole, Shattuck made a birdie at 11, a bogey at 12, a birdie at 12 and a bogey at 14 before putting an exclamation point on his week with birdies at 15 and 17.

   “With three rounds, mathematically speaking, I have a better chance than in a one-round shootout,” Shattuck told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “Being able to play consistently and steadily grow the lead is a little easier for me than going out and trying for a career round.”

   Zach Barbin put together a 10-birdie, no-bogey masterpiece that broke the course record at Whitemarsh Valley that was held by Gary Player (1963), Ray Floyd (1975) and Tom Kite (1978) back in the days when the course was a regular stop on the PGA Tour. I count 14 major championships among those three guys.

   Zach Barbin started his round with birdies at the first, second and third holes. After birdies at the fifth, eighth and 11^th holes, Zach Barbin again ripped off three consecutive birdies at 13, 14 and 15 before recording his 10^th birdie of the day at 17.

   Zach Barbin’s final-round 62 left him alone in second place with a 12-under 204 total.

   The lowest round ever recorded in the Philadelphia PPC was a 61 posted by Al Besselink in 1960 at Bala Golf Club.

   Zach Barbin’s 62 matched the 62 carded by Knoll in the Philadelphia PPC in 2019 at the Union League’s Torresdale Course. Knoll’s 62 broke Sam Snead’s course record of 64 that had stood since 1941.

   Zach Barbin was coming off a three-shot victory over Whitford Country Club’s Anthony Sebastianelli earlier this month in the Pro-Am for Wishes with an 8-under 134 total at Penn Oaks Golf Club.

   Tony Perla of Huntingdon Valley Country Club had been Shattuck’s closest pursuer through two rounds and he matched par with a 72 in Wednesday’s final round at Whitemarsh Valley to get a share of third place with Riley Wheeldon, an instructor at Aronimink, each landing on 11-under 205, a shot behind Zach Barbin.

   Wheeldon, the runnerup to Shattuck a year ago at Concord Country Club, closed with a sparkling 6-under 66 to join Perla at 11-under.

   Chester Valley Golf Club’s Brett Walker, the winner of the Philadelphia PPC in 2021 at Aronimink and again two years ago at Rolling Green, finished up with a solid 3-under 69 to end up alone in fifth place with a 10-under 206 total.

   Oakley, the 2023 Philadelphia PPC champion at the Country Club of Scranton, closed with a solid 4-under 68 to get a share of sixth place with Sebastianelli at 8-under 208.

   Sebastianelli, winner of the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship earlier this summer at Laurel Creek Country Club, tallied a 2-under 70 in Wednesday’s final round to join Oakley at 8-under.

   It was four more shots back to Bergstol, who recorded a 1-over 73 in Wednesday’s final round, as he finished in a tie for eighth place with Parks Price of Bent Creek Country Club, each ending up with a 4-under 212 total.

   Price matched par with a 72 in the final round at Whitemarsh Valley to get his share of eighth place with Bergstol.

   Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, one of the Philly Section’s top senior players and another Philadelphia PPC past champion, Joanna Coe, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, Joe Kogelman of GOLFTEC Moorestown and Trevor Bensel of LuLu Country Club finished in a tie for 10^th place, each ending up with a 2-under 214 total.

   Steinmetz, who has advanced out of the PPC to the PGA Championship at least twice in his career, closed with a 1-under 71.

   Coe, the four-time reigning Philadelphia Section Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Women’s Player of the Year, finished up with a 1-over 73 to join the foursome at 2-under.

   Coe represented the Philadelphia Section in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. Coe failed to make the cut.

   Coe defeated Ashley Grier, the one-time assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club, in a playoff for the fourth and final spot out of the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in February to earn her seventh trip to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

   Kogelman had grabbed a share of the lead following a sizzling 8-under 64 at Whitemarsh Valley in the opening round. He finished up with a 1-over 73 at Whitemarsh Valley to join the group at 2-under.

   Bensel closed with a 3-over 75 to end up at 2-under.

   Steinmetz, Coe and Kogelman got the final three tickets to next spring’s PPC at Fields Ranch East. Bensel is the first alternate and stands a pretty good chance to get the call for a trip to the PPC.

   Michael Little of Clubhouse 54 and Knoll were the second and third alternates, respectively, as they finished in a tie for 14^th place at 1-under 215. Little matched par in the final round with a 72 while Knoll closed with a 1-over 73.

   Dave Quinn, another of the Philly Section’s senior stalwarts who plays out of the Laurel Creek pro shop, was the fourth alternate and Zach Barbin’s younger brother Austin Barbin, also playing out of the Chesapeake Bay pro shop, was the fifth alternate as they were two of the four players who finished in a tie for 16^th place at even-par 216.

   Quinn posted a 1-over 73 in the final round while Austin Barbin closed with a 3-over 69 over the same Whitemarsh Valley layout where he captured the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship two years ago after concluding his college career at Liberty.

   Billy Stewart, an instructor at the Union League’s Liberty Hill Course, and Andrew Turner, playing out of the Green Valley Country Club pro shop, rounded out the group tied for 16^th place at even-par.

   Stewart, who had opened with a sparkling 7-under 65 at Sandy Run, closed with a 3-over 75. Turner registered a 2-over 74 in the final round.

   The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship was presented by Club Car, Corebridge Financial and Rolex. The tournament was 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 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.