Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, punctuated an outstanding 2021 season on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit by capturing the Philadelphia PGA Match Play Championship with a victory over Berkshire Country Club assistant pro Andrew Turner in the final Thursday at the Steel Club in Hellertown.
It was Oakley’s second win in the Match Play Championship in three years as he captured the title in 2019 and lost in the final a year ago to Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Trevor Bensel.
Oakley rolled to the title with a 4 and 2 victory over Turner. Oakley claimed wins on the first two holes and, although Turner battled back a couple of times, he was never able to catch Oakley.
Turner won the third hole to cut his deficit in half, but Oakley captured the fourth and fifth holes to widen his advantage to 3-up. Turner again fought back, earning wins at the seventh and ninth holes to again cut his deficit to 1-down.
But Oakley picked up wins at the 11th, 12th and 14th holes to surge to a 4-up advantage. Turner won the 15th hole to cut his deficit to 3-down, but Oakley’s win at 16 closed out Turner.
“I played well today,” Oakley told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I needed to play well against Andrew. It was a great match.”
Earlier Thursday, Oakley reached the final with a 6 and 5 victory over Applebrook head pro Dave McNabb in a semifinal match. McNabb’s been playing some solid golf, winning last month’s Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Huntsville Golf Club. McNabb will represent the Philadelphia Section in the Senior PGA Professional Championship later this month at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Turner reached the final with a 2 and 1 semifinal victory over Overbrook Golf Club head pro Eric Kennedy.
Oakley began his road to the title with a 3 and 2 victory over Dustin McCormick of Glen Brook Golf Club in Tuesday’s second round. Oakley then advanced to the quarterfinals, the final of the Ed Dougherty Bracket, with a 6 and 5 decision over Eddie Perrino of the Eagle Rock Resort in a third-round match Wednesday morning.
Oakley drew a tough customer in the quarterfinals in Brian Bergstol, an assistant pro at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, but Oakley cruised to a 3 and 2 victory over Bergstol Wednesday afternoon to earn his semifinal date with McNabb.
Oakley’s win in the Match Play Championship probably nailed down the Philadelphia Section’s Rolex Player of the Year honors for 2021. He had already claimed the F. Edward DeBaufre Trophy for the low scoring average. Oakley’s 68.93 average was the lowest in the history of the award.
In addition to his three wins, Oakley was the runnerup in the 100th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Applebrook Golf Club and Aronimink Golf Club last month.
McNabb reached the semifinals with a hard-fought 1-up victory over Oakley’s colleague in the Bidermann pro shop, instructor Braden Shattuck, in the final of the Ed Dougherty Bracket. In one of the many interesting matchups that occurred during the week, Shattuck reached the final of the Ed Dougherty Bracket with a 2-up victory over Concord Country Club head pro Mike Moses, who has been a mentor to Shattuck in his journey as a PGA professional.
Turner reached the semifinals with a 2 and 1 victory over Overbrook assistant pro Ashley Grier, the 2020 Women’s PGA Player of the Year.
Kennedy reached the semifinals with a 3 and 1 victory over another of the Section’s senior standouts, Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club, in the final of the Dick Smith Sr. Bracket. Kennedy was involved in another one of those interesting matchups in the third round when he edged Bensel, the defending champion and one of the talented assistant pros in Kennedy’s shop, 1-up.
The Philadelphia PGA Match Play Championship was supported by Rolex, Scott and Karen Hutchinson and the PGA Tour.
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