Mike Tobiason of Deerfield Country Club in Newark, Del. fired a scintillating 7-under-par 62 in the second half of Monday’s double-round to cruise to a four-shot victory in the National Car Rental Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship at St. Davids Golf Club, where Radnor Township, Delaware County meets Tredyffrin Township, Chester County in Wayne.
The event was originally scheduled to be held at Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia, which is in South Jersey. Several events scheduled for New Jersey have been moved to allow competitors from Delaware to play without being forced to quarantine for 14 days in New Jersey, just one of the many curveballs thrown at golf officials in the summer of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tobiason won’t have to quarantine in Pennsylvania, but he clearly found the Donald Ross original at St. Davids, which played to a par of 69, to his liking.
Tobiason never quite it going in the morning round, offsetting three bogeys with four birdies in a 1-under 68 that left him three shots behind Steve Swartz of West Shore Country Club and Brian Creghan of Rolling Green Golf Club, both of whom recorded a 4-under 65 in the opening round.
But Tobiason went off in the afternoon, ripping off birdies at the first, second, fourth and fifth holes to quickly get it to 4-under for the round. After a bogey at the seventh hole, Tobiason made an eagle at the eighth before closing out the front nine with another bogey.
Birdies at the 12th, 15th and 17th holes enabled Tobiason to complete his round of 62 that left him at 8-under 130 for the day.
Tobiason survived local and sectional qualifiers to earn a spot in the field for the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club. Pretty sure he was working out of the Applecross Country Club pro shop in those days. Tobiason was also a member of the cast of The Golf Channel’s “Big Break” series in 2013 at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
Tobiason will head a contingent of six Philadelphia Section PGA assistant pros who will tee it up in the 44th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which is scheduled to tee off Nov. 12 at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The National Assistant Club Pro event is supported by Srixon, Cleveland Golf, XXIO, Asics and John Deere.
Four players, including defending champion Trevor Bensel, who comes out of the Overbrook Golf Club pro shop, shared second place at 4-under 134.
Bensel’s fellow Overbrook assistant, Ashley Grier, the Philadelphia Section’s top female player, was also in the group tied for second. Grier, who has been really been solid the last month or so, had a pair of 2-under 67s.
Grier had already earned a berth in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club as a member of the inaugural Women’s PGA Cup team in 2019.
Bensel got it going in the afternoon with a 4-under 65 after opening with an an even-par 69 to earn a return trip the PGA Golf Club.
West Shore’s Swartz backed off a little in the afternoon after grabbing a share of the lead with his opening-round 65. His afternoon 69 left him in the group tied for second at 134.
Rounding out the quartet at 4-under was Sunnybrook Golf Club’s Brett Walker, who was just a shot out of the lead after an opening-round 66 before adding a 1-under 68 in the afternoon.
Ross Seaman of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club grabbed the final available berth to the Assistant PGA Professional Championship as he finished alone in sixth place at 3-under 135. Seaman added a 68 to his opening round of 2-under 67.
Four players finished in a tie for seventh place at 1-under 137 and were sorted into alternate spots for the Assistant PGA Professional Championship, led by first alternate Jordan Shuey, another entry out of the West Shore pro shop. Shuey added a 1-under 68 to his opening-round 69.
Noah Firestone of Galloway National Golf Club had the same 69-68 splits as Shuey and was the second alternate. Brandon Kuzmich of Merion Golf Club was the third alternate as he added a 69 to his opening round of 1-under 68.
Matt Episcopo of Pine Valley Golf Club was in the hunt after an opening-round 66, but an afternoon 71 left him in the group at 137 and he was the fourth alternate.
Rolling Green’s Creghan, who had shared the opening-round lead with Swartz with a 4-under 65, cooled off with a 4-over 73 in the afternoon and finished alone in 11th place at even-par 138. Creghan was the fifth alternate.
Bidermann Golf Club’s Zac Oakley, who had been the Philadelphia Section’s hottest player with wins in the last two Omega points standings tournaments, headed a group of five players tied for 12th place at 1-over 139. Oakley opened with a 1-under 68, but fell back with a 2-over 71 in the afternoon.
The Shawnee inn & Golf Resort’s Brian Bergstol shaved three shots off his morning 71 with a 1-under 68 to join the group at 1-over. Andrew Turner of French Creek Golf Club heated up in the afternoon with a 3-under 66, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 73 in the opening round as he also landed on 139.
Matt Cecco, another representative from the Overbrook pro shop, had the same 68-71 splits as Oakley did to join the group tied for 12th place. Rounding out the group at 1-over was Rob Farnham of Lebanon Country Club as he added an even-par 69 to his opening-round 70.
No comments:
Post a Comment