Alex Beach, a 30-year-old assistant pro at Westchester
Country Club in Rye, N.Y., made it a fitting conclusion to the dream year that
2019 has been for him Sunday.
Beach birdied the first three holes at PGA Golf Club’s
Wanamaker Course on his way to a sizzling 5-under-par 67 that gave him a
three-shot victory in the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional
Championship.
It bookended his victory in the PGA Professional
Championship at Belfair in Bluffton, S.C. and made him the first player ever to
win two PGA of America national championships in the same year and only the
fourth player to win both the PGA Professional Championship and the Assistant
PGA Professional Championship in their careers.
In between those two wins, Beach was just what his job title
suggests, an assistant pro at a prestigious country club in suburban New York
City. A lot of long days and not a whole lot of golf. He kept his game sharp by
competing in events in the Met Section, one of the most competitive sections in
the country.
Beach did get to sneak over to Bethpage State Park’s Black
Course for a few days in May to tee it up in the PGA Championship against the
big boys. Shot 77 and 75 and missed the cut and while it’s always a thrill for
the club pros to tee it up in the PGA, it had to be extra special for the Met
Section guys who got to play major championship golf on one of the Section’s top
courses.
“It’s crazy,” Beach said after being informed that he is the
lone member of the club of multiple national PGA of America event winners in
the same calendar year. “It’s a huge honor. It’s been a great year. I keep
asking myself how it can get better. Winning a championship like the PPC (at
Belfair) makes everything relative.”
So yeah, the National Assistant Club Pro isn’t quite as
prestigious as the National Club Pro, but it proves, once again, that Beach has
what it takes to compete at the next level.
Beach will get that opportunity in 2020 as he earned some
status on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit, with a sixth-place
finish in Stage 2 of Korn Ferry Q-School last week at Plantation Preserve Golf
Club in Plantation, Fla. Beach will get a chance to improve his Korn Ferry
status in the Final Stage of Q-School, which tees off Dec. 12 at Orange County
National in Winter Garden, Fla.
Beach had fallen three shots off the lead with his only
less-than-stellar round of the tournament, a 2-over 74 Saturday that was
lowlighted by a pair of back-nine double bogeys.
But while nearly everybody else seemed to struggle in
Sunday’s final round, Beach made the turn at the Wanamaker Course at 4-under
for the round, adding a birdie at the sixth hole to his birdie-birdie-birdie
start.
The only blemish on his round was a bogey at the 10th
hole, but Beach made birdies at the 13th and 16th holes
to finish with an 8-under 280 total.
Beach earned the top prize of $12,000 out of the total purse
of $150,000. The NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship is supported by
Srixon/Cleveland Golf/XXIO, Golf Advisor and John Deere.
Carlos Sainz Jr. of Houston, a 34-year-old who has some Korn
Ferry experience himself, closed with a 2-under 70 to earn runnerup honors at 5-under
283.
Sainz had started the day tied with Beach for fifth place
and struggled on front nine before making birdies on four of the last eight
holes to surge into second place.
Scott Berliner, a 44-year-old out of the Hiland Park Country
Club pro shop in Queensbury, N.Y., and 22-year-old Timothy Wiseman, who wrapped
up a solid college career at Ball State last spring, shared third place, each
landing on 2-under 286. They were the only two players besides the top two to
finish under par for four rounds at the Wanamaker Course.
Berliner, one of the top players in the Northeastern New
York Section, closed with a sparkling 4-under 68. Wiseman, who advanced out of
sectional qualifying to the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock, finished up with a
1-under 71.
Colin Van Es, a former Seton Hall standout who works out of
the Providence Golf Club pro shop in Davenport, Fla., had contended the whole week,
but a final-round 77 left him alone in fifth place at even-par 288.
Colin Inglis, an assistant pro at Emerald Valley Golf Course
in Creswell, Ore., had grabbed the lead after three rounds, but struggled to an
80 in Sunday’s final round and finished among the group tied for ninth place at
2-over 290.
Tony Perla, an assistant pro at Canoe Brook Country Club in
Summit, N.J., also struggled in the final round with a 4-over 76, but had a
strong showing at the PGA Golf Club, finishing in the group tied for 15th
place at 4-over 292. The 32-year-old Perla is the former head pro at LedgeRock
Golf Club in the Philadelphia Section PGA.
For the second straight year, the low man among the Philly
Section contingent in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship was Rusty
Harbold out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop.
The 37-year-old Harbold actually shared low Philly Section
honors with Chester Valley Golf Club’s Zack Kempa a year ago, the pair both
finishing in the group tied for 30th place.
Harbold carded a solid 1-over 73 in Sunday’s final round to
end up among the group tied for 41st place at 11-over 299.
Mike Little of Lookaway Golf Club struggled to an 82 in
Sunday’s final round to finish in a tie for 67th place at 306. The
35-year-old Little did tame the Wanamaker Course to the tune of a 2-under 70 in
Friday’s second round that enabled him to stick around for the weekend. Little
also played the weekend last spring in the PGA Professional Championship at
Belfair.
The last of the trio of Philly Section players to make the
cut, 24-year-old Chris Filling, out of the Seaview pro shop, posted a final-round
78 to end up in the group tied for 72nd place at 308.
Josh Rackley, an assistant pro at Tam O’Shanter Country Club
in Glen Head, N.Y. on Long Island, struggled in the final round with an 80 as
he finished among the group tied for 52nd place at 302. Rackley, who
turned 30 earlier this month, was one of the top performers in the Philly
Section when he was an assistant pro at Gulph Mills Golf Club.
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