It's only appropriate that Overbrook's Grier be crowned inaugural Women's Philadelphia PGA champion at Kennett Square

    When it comes to women club pros in the Philadelphia area, the bar has been set pretty high by Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Ashley Grier.

   Grier is the best player among the nearly 30 women club pros in the region, a fact that she emphasized with a four-shot victory over her sister, Wilmington Country Club pro Andrea Grier, in the inaugural Women’s Philadelphia PGA Championship, held in blistering heat last Thursday at the Kennett Square Golf & Country Club.

   But being a club pro means a lot more than just being a good player and to be a woman club pro offers its unique challenges.

   It is the 100^th year of the Philadelphia Section PGA and it tells you all you need to know about the place that women have had in the club pro ranks that it took this long to even have a Women’s Philadelphia PGA Championship.

   But the PGA of America has really ramped up its efforts to support young women who might aspire to be a club pro in recent years. When the PGA of America took over what had been the LPGA Championship and rebranded it as the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, it offered women club pros the same avenue to tee it up in an LPGA major championship that the PGA Championship had always offered to male club pros.

   When Suzy Whaley became the first woman president of the PGA of America – her term ended at last fall’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club – young women who might consider a career as a golf club professional had a clear vision of somebody who had reached the highest level of the club pro ranks.

   I don’t think Ashley Grier set out to be the face of the female club pro in the Philadelphia Section and beyond, but that is what she has become just by being who she is. Grier has always gone out of her way to thank her fellow club professionals, and most of them are still men, for treating her not as a woman club pro, but as the professional she is.

   Grier’s performance on the golf course speaks for itself. She had earned a spot in the PGA Professional Championship at Betfair in Bluffton, S.C. in the spring of 2019 and Grier, along with Joanna Coe, an instructor at Baltimore Country Club and a Jersey Shore native, became the first two women to survive two cuts and play four rounds in the event once known as the National Club Pro. Grier finished in a tie for 71^st place.

   Grier earned a trip to the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship last November at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. and was the only Philadelphia Section representative to survive the 36-hole cut as she finished in a tie for 34^th place. Her performance in the Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO) events last year earned Player of the Year honors.

   Grier capped an outstanding year by being named the 2020 Women’s PGA Player of the Year.

   Last month Grier finished in fifth place in the LPGA Professionals National Championship at the Kingsmill Resort’s River Course in Williamsburg, Va. and qualified for next year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. It will be the fifth time Grier will tee it up in the major championship on the LPGA Tour.

   Earlier this month, Grier was the runnerup in the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship at Cedarbrook Country Club for the second year in row, earning a return trip to the Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie.

   Grier’s forays on the national stage made the creation of a Women’s Philadelphia PGA Championship inevitable.

   Grier was typically solid at Kennett Square as she made birdies at the seventh and 13^th holes and parred the rest of the holes until stumbling with a triple bogey at the finishing hole for a 1-over-par 72.

   “It is always cool to be an inaugural champion,” the 37-year-old Grier told the Philadelphia Section website. “I stayed patient on the course today, particularly on the greens. This is a competitive tournament, but the best part about today was getting to see everyone and we had a good day on the course together. Today was special.”

   Andrea Grier claimed runnerup honors with a 5-over 76.

   Patty Post, who oversees both the men’s and women’s golf teams at Delaware as the Director of Golf Programs, headed a group of four players tied for third place, each landing on 8-over 79. Post was joined at that figure by Victoria Petrosky of Fox Hill Country Club, Marjorie Jones of The Shore Club and Jennifer Cully of Honeybrook Golf Club.

   Abby Mann of Aronimink, Lauren Muhlbauer of Makefield Highlands Golf Club and Meghan Spero, a colleague of Andrea Grier in the Wilmington Country Club pro shop, finished in a tie for seventh place, each registering an 80. Rounding out the top 10 in the field of 14 was Linda Nevatt of Union League Liberty Hill as she finished alone in 10^th place with an 83.

   It was indeed a special day for the women club pros in the Philadelphia Section and, in a lot of ways, they have Ashley Grier to thank for it.