Tobiason heats up at Lookaway to capture inaugural Philadelphia Players Championship

    Mike Tobiason, an assistant pro at Deerfield Country Club, fired a sparkling 7-under-par 65 at Lookaway Golf Club in central Bucks County Monday to capture the Philadelphia Section PGA’s inaugural Philadelphia Players Championship.

   Tobiason birdied half the holes at a tough Lookaway layout to offset two bogeys as he claimed a two-shot victory over Lookaway’s head pro, Mike Little, in one of the Section’s Omega Player of the Year points events.

   The new event was the brain child of Little and Lookaway member Scott Hutchinson, who has supported most of the big events on the Philadelphia Section schedule this year. As a result of Hutchinson’s support, the purse for the Philadelphia Players Championship was $31,000, the second biggest purse for a Section event.

   It was the second big win for Tobiason in the last month as he bested the field to capture the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship last month at St. Davids Golf Club. He’ll head the Philadelphia Section’s contingent to the 44^th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which will be held in November at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

   Tobiason was at even-par for his round after giving away the shot he gained with a birdie at the third  hole by making a bogey at the fifth. He proceeded to birdie six of the next eight holes, ripping off three straight at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes and adding birdies at the 10^th, 12^th and 13^th holes.

   A bogey at the 14^th hole briefly stalled Tobiason’s momentum, but then he added back-to-back birdies at the 15^th and 16^th holes to get it to 7-under for the round.

   “We had a great field here for the inaugural Philadelphia Players Championship, so it’s an honor to win, as we have a lot of great players in our Section,” Tobiason told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “You have to go low to win.”

   Little had birdies at the third and fourth holes, but bogeys at the first and seventh holes left him at even-par turning for the back nine. Little got it going on that incoming nine on his home course as he made birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes and then finished with a flourish with birdies at the 16^th, 17^th and  18^th holes.

   Little’s back-nine 31 gave him a 5-under 67, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch Tobiason.

   David Quinn of Laurel Creek Country Club, Ross Seaman of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club and Christopher Krueger of Kings Creek Country Club were another two shots behind Little in a tie for third place, each posting a 3-under 69.

   Quinn’s 69 left him atop the leaderboard of the always competitive Senior division. Quinn will be part of the Philadelphia Section’s contingent to next month’s 32^nd Senior PGA Professional Championship, which will also be held at the PGA Golf Club.

   Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, who has been playing some solid golf lately, and Brendon Post, an assistant coach and director of player development for Delaware’s men’s and women’s programs, finished in a tie for sixth place, each signing for a 2-under 70.

   Seven players ended up in a tie for eighth place, each carding a 1-under 71. Included in that group were Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club, Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, Dave Padgett of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, Joseph Kogelman of GolfTec in Moorestown, N.J., Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Ashley Grier, the Section’s top female player, and Bob Hennefer, the director of golf at Indian Spring Country Club.

   McNabb and Post finished in a tie for second in the Senior division, their 2-under 70s leaving them a shot behind Quinn. Bucknell’s Kelly was another shot behind McNabb and Post in fourth place among the Section’s many talented senior players with his 71.

   Earl Williams of Glenmaura National Golf Club birdied the first hole of a playoff to defeat Overbrook Golf Club’s Oscar Mestre, the reigning Golf Association of Philadelphia Senior Player of the Year, for top honors in the Amateur division at Lookaway. Williams and Mestre each carded a 2-under 70 during the regulation 18 holes.

   Matt Finger of DuPont Country Club, Michael Brown of LuLu Country Club and Troy Vannucci of Little Mill Country Club shared third place, each landing on 1-over 73, three shots behind the top two. Brown captured the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Championship earlier this summer at Lookaway.

   Six players hit the Senior Skins board, led by Green Valley Country Club’s John Cooper, whose tee shot at  the par-3 15^th hole found the cup for a hole-in-one.

   Hugo Mazzalupi of Patriots Glen National Golf Club earned a skin with a birdie at the fifth hole, John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, picked up a skin with his birdie at the 11^th hole, Bill Sautter of Philadelphia Cricket Club got one with his eagle at the fourth, Laurel Creek’s Quinn made eagle at the 17^th to claim a skin, and Brett Walker of Sunnybrook Golf Club made an eagle at the third hole to earn a skin.

   Pillar beat McNabb in a playoff in last month’s Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Concord Country Club. Pillar, McNabb and Kelly will join Quinn as part of the group representing the Philadelphia Section at the Senior PGA Professional Championship next month at the PGA Golf Club.