Kirkpatrick beats Bergstol in a playoff to claim Jack Jolly & Son Championship at Medford Village

   Curtis Kirkpatrick, the head pro at Indian Spring Country Club, birdied the first hole of a playoff to claim a victory in the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Jack Jolly & Son Championship Monday at Medford Village Country Club in Medford, N.J.

   Kirkpatrick carded a 2-under-par 70 over the Medford Village layout, a total that was matched by one of the Section’s top assistant professionals, Brian Bergstol of the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort.

   The pair headed out to the 10^th hole at Medford Village, a par-5, and Kirkpatrick birdied the hole while Bergstol made a par. It was Kirkpatrick’s first victory in one of the Section’s points events.

   Kirkpatrick had back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes to offset two front-nine bogeys as he made the turn at even-par. Birdies at the 13^th and 15^th holes got him to the house at 2-under.

A double bogey at the ninth hole dropped Bergstol to 1-over for his round, but he rallied on the incoming nine with birdies at the 10^th, 13^th and 14^th holes to get it to 2-under.

   Alexander Knoll, an assistant pro at Glen Brook Golf Club and the Section’s reigning Omega Player of the Year, headed a group of six players tied for third place as he carded a 1-under 71.

   Three members of the Section’s talented senior division, Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club, Greg Farrow of Deerwood Country Club and Robert Lennon of Wilmington Country Club, were also in the group tied for third.

   Kelly had earned the chance to represent the Philadelphia Section at this spring’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, scheduled to be played at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich., by finishing in a tie for 22^nd place in last fall’s Senior PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas.

   Unfortunately, the Senior PGA Championship, a PGA Tour Champions major, was canceled, a victim of the coronavirus pandemic.

   Rounding out the group tied for third at 1-under were Spring-Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz and Trevor Bensel, an assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club.

   Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, Lookaway Golf Club head pro Mike Little and Michael Rushin out of the Bear Trap Dunes pro shop rounded out the top 10 as they shared ninth place, each matching par with a 72.

   Another representative from the Overbrook pro shop, assistant pro Ashley Grier, the Section’s top female player, headed a group of seven players tied for 12^th place as she posted a 1-over 73.

   The rest of the large group at 1-over included Andrew Watters of Talamore Country Club, Kyle Early of Waynesborough Country Club, George Frake of the Moorestown Field Club, Joseph Kogelman of GolfTec Moorestown, Dustin Wallis of Dustin Wallis Golf and Michael Tobiason of Deerfield.

   Bergstol’s 70 did give him the top spot in the concurrent Philadelphia Assistants Organization (PAO) event. Knoll and Bensel shared second place with their 1-under 71s.

   Kelly, Farrow and Lennon shared first place in the Senior Division with their 1-under 71s. The Moorestown Field Club’s Frake finished fourth with his 1-over 73.

   Farrow and Lennon also topped the 60-and-over Super Senior Division with their 1-under 71s. Don DeAngelis of Spring-Ford Country Club finished third with a 75. Two of the Section’s most decorated Super Seniors, George Forster, the head pro at Radnor Valley Country Club and Stu Ingraham, the instructor at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, finished in a tie for fourth, each signing for a 76.

   The Jack Jolly & Son Championship was supported by Jack Jolly & Son, Inc.; Joni-King; Scott Hutchinson; Conrad JJ Radcliffe, Esq.; and the PGA Tour.