Alex Knoll is the best player in the Philadelphia Section PGA.
He might not claim the Section’s Omega Player of the Year award that he won in 2019, but the Glen Brook Golf Club instructor posted his second straight dominant victory in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, which concluded Wednesday at Bent Creek Country Club in Lititz, Lancaster County.
As he had done a year ago at the Union League Golf Club at Torresdale and Riverton Country Club, Knoll jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a sizzling opening round, this time a 6-under-par 65 at Bent Creek, and never let go of the lead.
After solidifying his lead with a 3-under 69 at the Country Club of York in Tuesday’s second round, Knoll closed with a solid 1-under 70 back at Bent Creek Wednesday for a 10-under 204 total that gave him the title and the top prize of $9,500 out of a total purse of $72,000.
The 99th edition of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship was presented by Club Car and Omega.
Knoll gives golf lessons at Glen Brook in Stroudsburg, but he also teaches kids in the Palmerton School District and before going out for each of his rounds this week, he was delivering lesson plans on-line to his students.
Knoll will also lead a contingent of 12 Philadelphia Section PGA pros to the PGA Professional Championship next April at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. It will be Knoll’s eighth trip to the National Club Pro, the old-school moniker for the event, and the sixth straight year he has punched his ticket to one of the PGA of America’s biggest events.
Knoll, however, didn’t get a chance to tee it up in last spring’s edition of the PGA Professional Championship, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Scheduled to be held at the Omini Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas, the National Club Pro was rescheduled for July, but when the coronavirus spiked in Texas, the event was cancelled.
The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship are awarded berths in the PGA Championship. Denied that opportunity, Knoll did end up teeing it up in the rescheduled PGA Championship last month at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco as a result of his status on a national ranking of club pros.
Knoll failed to make the cut at Harding Park, but that appearance, combined with three rounds at iconic Oakmont Country Club in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Open Championship – he did some serious grinding to make the 36-hole cut on the number – had him more than ready to defend his Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship title.
Birdies at the sixth and eighth holes got Knoll off to a strong start Wednesday. He made a bogey at the ninth hole, birdied the 11th and made bogeys at the 13th and 16th. Knoll wasn’t really threatened by his closest pursuer, Tom Cooper, who plays out of the Pine Valley Golf Club pro shop, but Knoll decided to remain aggressive.
Knoll bombed driver on the 270-yard, par-4 17th hole at Brent Creek and his ball finished just off the green. He chipped up and made one more birdie to get it to 10-under for the week.
“I was proud of myself today,” Knoll told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “My past big tournament experiences really helped me play better today.”
It was a really impressive showing by Cooper as well. I mentioned in my post on Monday’s opening round that I had the opportunity to caddy for Cooper a couple of weeks ago at Stonewall’s Old Course and was really impressed with his game and his approach. So, I wasn’t all that surprised to see him contend this week at the Country Club of York and Bent Creek.
Cooper trailed Knoll by just a shot after firing an opening round of 5-under 66 at Bent Creek. A 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round at the Donald Ross classic at the Country Club of York kept him within two shots of Knoll’s hot pace.
Cooper matched par with a 71 at Bent Creek in Wednesday’s final round for a 7-under 207 total that left him three shots behind Knoll and three shots clear of the rest of the field.
After creeping a little closer to Knoll with a birdie at the third hole, Cooper made bogeys at the sixth and 10th. He made some noise with an eagle at the par-5 12th hole before giving back shots with bogeys at the 14th and 15th. A birdie at the 18th hole finished off a solid week and enabled him to start making plans for Port St. Lucie in April.
Hopefully, we’ll have a better handle on the pandemic by then and the club pros from all around the country will get to compete for a chance to tee it up in the PGA Championship, scheduled to return to the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island on the South Carolina coast in May.
Andrew Turner of French Creek Golf Club and Rusty Harbold, playing out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop, both matched the low round of the day at Bent Creek, a 2-under 69, as they finished in a tie for third place at 4-under 210, three shots behind Cooper.
Mike Little, the head pro at Lookaway Golf Club, matched par with a 71 and headed a group of three players tied for fifth place at 2-under 212.
Little was joined at that figure by Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, and Sunnybrook Golf Club assistant pro Brett Walker. Oakley closed with a 2-over 73 and Walker carded a final round of 3-over 74.
Walker will get a sneak peek at PGA Golf Club’s Wanamker Course when he represents the Philadelphia Section in the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November.
Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, a three-time Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship winner, headed a group of three players tied for eighth place at 1-under 213. Steinmetz, who closed with a 4-over 75 Wednesday, has made numerous trips to the National Club Pro and advanced to the PGA Championship at least twice.
Steinmetz was joined at 1-under by Hugo Mazzalupi of Regents Glen National Golf Club and Parks Price of the Country Club of York. Mazzalupi matched par with a 71 at Bent Creek in the final round to punch his ticket to the PGA Golf Club while Price finished up with a 3-over 74.
Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, grabbed the final ticket to Port St. Lucie as he closed with a 2-over 73 to finish at even-par 214.
Looks like Terry Hertzog, Sheftic’s colleague in the Merion pro shop and, like Steinmetz, a three-time winner of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, also landed on even-par 214. Not sure if there was a playoff to break that tie, but the final spot went to Shertic, who has saved some of his best stuff for the PGA Professional Championship, making it to the PGA Championship at least three times out of the National Club Pro.
Pretty sure Hertzog’s finish still puts him at the top of the list of five alternates out of the Philadelphia Section to the PGA Professional Championship.
Ashley Grier, an assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club and the Section’s top female player, will also represent the Philadelphia Section at the PGA Golf Club next April as she earned a spot in the field as a member of the U.S. team in the inaugural Women’s PGA Cup last year.
Grier, who bettered par with an opening round of 1-under 70 at Bent Creek Monday, struggled a little with a final-round 78, but still finished up with a solid 7-over 221 total.
The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship was supported by Titleist/FootJoy, Nike, TaylorMade, The Golf Channel and the PGA Tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment