Price is right as Country Club of York pro wins Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic and its $100K top prize

    Parks Price, the director of instruction at the Country Club of York, holed a 25-foot putt for birdie on the first hole of a playoff Tuesday to hit the $100,000 jackpot that goes to the winner of the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic at Sunnybrook Golf Club in Whitemarsh Township.

   Price, a 36-year-old native of Taylorville, N.C., had made four birdies on the back nine of the par-72 Sunnybrook layout on his way to a 4-under-par 68 that landed him in a playoff with two of the hottest players on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit, Brett Walker, an assistant pro at Sunnybrook, and Bidermann Golf Club instructor Zac Oakley.

   Walker and Oakley had finished 1-2 in last week’s Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship when the final round at Aronimink Golf Club was washed out and the scores reverted back to the 36-hole totals. Oakley had actually overtaken Walker and had the lead with three holes to go when the remnants of Hurricane Ida finally hit Aronimink and never relented.

   Oakley actually had the lead Tuesday at Sunnybrook when he got it to 5-under, but a bogey at the sixth hole, his 15^th of the round, dropped him back to 4-under.

   Walker had to be considered a bit of a favorite as he has been playing well and had the home-course advantage. Playing in one of the last groups left on the golf course, Walker dropped a 45-footer for birdie on Sunnybrook’s 410-yard, par-4 18^th hole to elbow his way into the playoff.

   Price hit an 8-iron from 155 yards onto the green in the first hole of the playoff, Sunnybrook’s 18^th again, and was 25 feet away. Oakley was inside him with a 20-foot look at birdie and Walker had just 12 feet for birdie. But Price, putting first, rolled in his birdie putt to put the pressure on Oakley and Walker.

   Oakley’s birdie try came up just short and Walker’s bid slid by on the left side. The Price was right as he hit for what, I’m pretty sure, remains the single biggest payday offered in any PGA Section event in the country.

   “Actually, I hit a better tee shot than I did in regulation, so it was nice to have one less club in my hand,” Price told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Joe Juliano in recounting the playoff hole. “I had the same putt from earlier so that made it nice. I just had to hit that putt. It was not as fast as you think, even though it is breaking away, but it was just a good putt, plus seeing it before helped.”

   Price had been up and down on the front nine of regulation. He birdied the first hole, but bogeyed the sixth. He birdied the eighth hole, but again gave the shot back with a bogey at the ninth. A birdie at the 10^th hole got Price going on the back nine. He ripped off three straight birdies at the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th holes to get it to 4-under before making pars at the last two holes.

   Pretty sure the event started with a top prize of $37,500 offered by the Haverford Trust Co. It was increased to $50 grand for a while before jumping up to six figures at $100,000 a few years ago. With that kind of cash on the line, the tournament has always created a buzz.

   The Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic has traditionally been played on the day after Memorial Day. Two years ago, the last time it was played, severe weather forced it to be postponed to the day after Labor Day. That’s when George Forster, at age 63, prevailed in a seven-man playoff that lasted seven holes and stretched over two days to win the big prize.

   The Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic was scheduled to return to its traditional day after Memorial Day spot in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic forced a change in plans. Tournament organizers postponed the event to the day after Labor Day, but, with the pandemic still raging, the event was cancelled.

   I got it from a pretty good source last week that the day after Labor Day might become the permanent spot on the calendar for the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic in the future.

   Walker and Oakley earned $3,175 for finishing in a tie for second place, so there’s a considerable dropoff from the top prize.

   Brian Bergstol, an assistant pro at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, carded a solid 3-under 69 to finish alone in fourth place, a shot out of the playoff.

   Walker, Oakley and Bergstol will represent the Philadelphia Section in the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

   Walker won the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship last month at Cedarbrook Country Club with Oakley and Bergstol finishing in a tie for third place. Walker finished in a tie for eighth place in the PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in April to earn a trip to the PGA Championship, one of golf’s four professional  majors for the men, at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on the South Carolina coast.

   Lookaway Golf Club head pro Mike Little, the reigning Philadelphia Section Player of the Year, headed a group of six players that finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 2-under 70.

   Concord Country Club head pro Mike Moses was also in the group at 2-under 70 and finished ahead of the pack in the Senior division.

   Billy Stewart, an instructor at Union League Liberty Hill, was also in the group at 2-under. Rounding out the group tied for fifth place were Alex Knoll, an instructor at Glen Brook Golf Club, Noah Firestone out of the Galloway National Golf Club pro shop and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Dave Pagett.

   Veteran Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz headed a trio tied for 11^th place at 1-under 71 that included Oakley’s fellow instructor at Bidermann, Braden Shattuck, and Berkshire Country Club assistant pro Andrew Turner.

   Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club was the runnerup to Moses in the Senior division as he signed for a 1-under 71.

   John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, and Stu Ingraham, an instructor at the MGolf Range & Learning Center, shared third place as each matched par with a 72.

   Pillar will be the two-time defending champion when the Philadelphia Section’s talented group of seniors gather for the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship next week at Huntsville Golf Club.

   Huntsville is serving as the emergency site for the Forme Tour Championship (what they’re calling the McKenzie Tour or PGA Tour Canada this year), which tees off Wednesday. The Forme Tour Championship was originally scheduled to be held at The Ridge at Back Brook in Ringoes, N.J., but the course suffered severe damage when the remnants of Hurricane Ida rolled through last week.

   Steve Wetherill carded a 3-under 69 to finish atop the Amateur division in the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic Tuesday. Hank Smith matched par with a 72 to earn runnerup honors.