Knoll seizes a one-shot lead as he opens repeat bid in Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship

 

   It wasn’t quite the spectacular course-record 62 he fired to open the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at the Union League Golf Club at Torresdale a year ago, but Alex Knoll’s 6-under-par 65 at Bent Creek Country Club in Lititz left him exactly where he was then, atop the leaderboard in the 99^th edition of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s premier event.

   Knoll, an instructor at Glen Brook Golf Club, went on to win the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship a year ago, although his second tour of the Donald Ross classic at Torresdale in the final round wasn’t quite as good as his opening round.

   That meant he arrived at Bent Creek Monday as the defending champion in a field of 144 of the Philadelphia region’s club pros, a group whose talent stacks up quite favorably with any other PGA Section in the country. The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship is presented by Club Car and Omega.

   Knoll, who went on to claim the Philadelphia Section’s Omega Player of the Year award, will get a shot at another Donald Ross classic when he plays Tuesday’s second round at the Country Club of York. The entire field will switch courses for Tuesday’s second round after which there will be a cut to the low 60 players and ties. The slimmed-down field will all take on Bent Creek in Wednesday’s final round.

   While winning is nice, the ultimate goal at Bent Creek Wednesday is to be one of the top finishers who are awarded a berth in the PGA Professional Championship, which tees off next April at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The top 20 club pros at PGA Golf Club will earn a ticket to the PGA Championship next May at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island on the South Carolina coast.

   Knoll never got the opportunity to tee it up in this year’s PGA Professional Championship, which was a victim of the coronavirus pandemic. Knoll did, however, represent the Philadelphia Section in the rescheduled PGA Championship last month at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco due to his status on a national ranking of club professionals.

   Knoll dominated the par-5s at the par-72 Bent Creek layout, including a pair of eagles, one at the ninth hole and another at the 12^th as he came away with a one-shot lead over Mark Sheftic, the veteran head of instruction at Merion Golf Club and Pine Valley Golf Club’s Tom Cooper.

   Sheftic has never won the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, but he has earned three trips to the PGA Championship with strong showings at the National Club Pro. He fired a 5-under 67 at the par-72 Country Club of York layout Monday while Cooper earned his share of second place with a 5-under 66 at Bent Creek.

   Knoll was up and down early in his round as birdied the third hole and gave that shot back with a bogey at the fourth. He birdied the fifth hole and again dropped back to even-par for his round with a bogey at the seventh.

   But the eagle at the par-5 ninth hole seemed to jump-start his round. After a birdie at the 11^th hole and his second eagle at the par-5 12^th, Knoll was suddenly 5-under. A birdie at the 18^th hole gave him sole possession of the lead.

   “It hit it excellent off the tee and gave myself a lot of opportunities,” Knoll told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I made some nice putts today and really played the par-5s excellent. I was 5-under on those holes, so that really helped my score today.”

   Sheftic started off with six straight pars before rattling off three straight birdies at the seventh, eighth and ninth holes at the Country Club of York. After a bogey at the 10^th hole, Sheftic heated up again with birdies at the 12^th and 14^th holes and an eagle at the 15^th that got him to 6-under for the round. A bogey at the 16^th hole dropped him back to 5-under.

   Carried the bag for Cooper in a friendly round at Stonewall’s Old Course a couple of weeks ago. He isn’t all that long off the tee, but his game was precise and disciplined. He seemed like the kind of guy who doesn’t force things, just takes what the golf course gives him.

   A second straight bogey at the fourth hole at Bent Creek left him at 1-over for his round Monday. That’s when he started to make things happen as he proceeded to birdie five of the next 10 holes. Cooper made birdies at the fifth, sixth, ninth, 12^th and 14^th holes.

   A bogey at the 15^th hole briefly slowed his roll, but Cooper made birdies at the 16^th and 18^th, his seventh and eighth birdies of the round, to get it in at 5-under.

   Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, and Jeff Herb out of the Waynesborough Country Club pro shop, were tied for fourth place, two shots behind Sheftic and Cooper as both carded a 3-under 69 at the Country Club of York.

   Oakley has been solid on the Philadelphia Section circuit all summer, including back-to-back wins in the GALV Lehigh Valley Open and the Doylestown Open in a stretch of eight days.

   Another entry from the Merion pro shop, Terry Hertzog, a three-time winner of this event, and Country Club of York assistant pro Parks Price were among six players who carded a 2-under 70 at the Country Club of York and were tied for sixth place.

   Hertzog recorded the last of his three Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship wins in 2017. He worked out of the Country Club of York pro shop for years before hanging his shingle at Merion this year, so he and Price were both in familiar territory at the Country of York in the opening round.

   Three of the Section’s large group of talented assistant pros, Sunnybrook Golf Club’s Brett Walker, Overbrook Golf Club’s Trevor Bensel and Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Rusty Harbold, were also in the group at 2-under after carding 70s at the Country Club of York.

   Walker and Bensel earned tickets to the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November at the PGA Golf Club in last month’s Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship at St. Davids Golf Club.

   Rounding out the group at 2-under was Hugo Mazzalupi out of the Patriots Glen National Golf Club pro shop. Like the rest of the group at 2-under, Mazzalupi posted a 70 at the Country Club of York.

   A trio of former champions, Stu Ingraham, an instructor at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz and Laurel Creek Country Club’s Dave Quinn, were among eight players tied for 12^th place at 1-under.

   Steinmetz, a three-time winner, and Ingraham, a two-time champion, each carded a 71 at the Country Club of York while Quinn, another two-time champion, posted a 1-under 70 at Bent Creek. If Ingraham can get one of the coveted tickets to next spring’s PGA Professional Championship, it would be his 39^th trip to a PGA of America national championship, including six PGA Championship appearances.

   Bensel’s colleague in the Overbrook pro shop, Ashley Grier, the Philadelphia Section’s top female player, was also in the group at 1-under as she signed for a 70 at Bent Creek. Grier will join Bensel and Walker in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November as she earned a ticket to Port St. Lucie as a member of the inaugural U.S. Women’s PGA Cup team last year.

   Rounding out the large group at 1-under were Briarwood Golf Club’s Richie Krebs and Harbor Pines Golf Club’s Mark Parson, both of whom posted a 71 at the Country Club of York, and Berkshire Country Club’s Tom Michaels and French Creek Golf Club’s Andrew Turner, both of whom registered a 70 at Bent Creek.

   The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship is supported by Titleist/FootJoy, Nike, TaylorMade, The Golf Channel and the PGA Tour.