The Philadelphia Section PGA could probably do a little
better job of filling in part-time blogsters like myself who had to spend an
inordinate amount of time trying to jam 14 high school football games in the
Saturday print product of the Daily Times
on the details, but I’m fairly certain the top club pros in this area will be
descending on Delco this week.
The Philadelphia Section PGA Championship is being staged at
Concord Country Club and Llanerch Country Club beginning Tuesday. If the format
is like last year, half the field will play Concord Tuesday while the other
half plays Llanerch, site of the 1958 PGA Championship. Wednesday, the local
pros will play the course they didn’t play Tuesday. Then there will be a cut
and, if I recall the conversation I had with Merion Golf Club head of
instruction Mark Sheftic at the Philadelphia Open this summer, the final round
will be at Llanerch Thursday.
There’s a lot at stake in this event, not the least of which
is the top prize, which was $7,500 a year ago when Applebrook Golf Club head
pro Dave Quinn captured the title.
The top finishers from the Section Championship qualify for
the PGA National Professional Championship – better known over the years as the
National Club Pro. The top finishers at the National Club Pro earn spots in the
PGA Championship. Sheftic has made three trips to professional golf’s fourth
major championship via the National Club Pro in recent years and Stu Ingraham,
the instructor at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, has taken that route to
the PGA Championship six times in his career.
It’s always a special deal to make the National Club Pro,
but even more so this year because the 2015 event will be staged at the
Philadelphia Cricket Club’s historic Wissahickon Course as well as its more
modern counterpart, the Militia Hill Course. The National Club Pro will be held
June 21 to 24 at the Cricket Club.
The Section championship will also go a long way toward
deciding the season-long Haverford Trust Co. Player of the Year race. Quinn
holds a slim lead over Billy Stewart, an assistant pro at The ACE Club who grew
up playing at Llanerch and starred scholastically at Malvern Prep and
collegiately at Saint Joseph’s. Ingraham, who was 52 when he won Player of the
Year honors two years ago, sits at third in this year’s standings.
Trio makes Section’s Hall of Fame
The Philadelphia Section PGA did announce three additions to
its Hall of Fame last week.
The group is led by Leo DeGisi, who has been the head pro at
Medford Village Country Club in New Jersey since 1979. DeGisi came up through
the caddie ranks at Gulph Mills Golf Club and became an assistant pro there
after graduating from Temple. He went on to be an assistant pro at Bala Golf
Club before taking over at Medford Village.
Joning DeGisi in the Section’s 2014 Hall of Fame class are
Mike Swisher, the longtime head pro at Lebanon Country Club until his retirement
in 2010, and the late Harry “Jake” Obitz Jr., once the head pro at Shawnee Inn
& Country Club who gained fame with a popular golf show that he took all
over the country.
Stanilka finishes tied for 15th
The Philadelphia PGA’s Junior Tour met some resistance from
Mother Nature in a stop at Five Ponds Golf Club in Warminster Saturday.
Rain washed out play and the only age group that went
official was the 16-to-18 boys division and that was limited to nine holes.
Top honors went to David Gall of Cinnaminson, N.J. who
matched par with a 35. He finished one shot ahead of Jake Fitts of Warrington,
who was at 1-over 36.
Garnet Valley senior Michael Stanilka, keeping his game
sharp in between Central League matches, finished tied for 15th with
a 44.
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