Jin Chung, an instructor at Chateau Elan Golf Club in Braselton, Ga., let Brian Bergstol, the director of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, and the rest of a talented field of assistant pros back into the tournament with a triple bogey-bogey finish in Saturday’s third round of the 45th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship.
Sunday, though, the 33-year-old Chung shut the door with a solid 2-under-par 70 over the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. that bared its teeth a little as he cruised to a seven-shot victory over Bergstol.
Chung’s strong finish left him with a 14-under 274 total and earned him the top prize of $12,000 out of a total purse of $150,000. The NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship is supported by Srixon, Cleveland Golf, XXIO and ASICS.
The 36-year-old Bergstol, one of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s most talented players, had closed within a shot of Chung with a sparkling 6-under 66 in Saturday’s third round, but quickly fell behind in Sunday’s final round with bogeys at the second, fourth and fifth holes while Chung was making birdies at three and five.
Chung, however, stumbled a little with bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes. When he missed the green at the 10th hole, Chung was suddenly staring at a third straight bogey. But he coaxed a nine-foot par putt into the cup and that seemed to get him headed in the right direction.
Bergstol kept battling, making birdies at the ninth and 12th holes, but a double bogey at 14 halted his momentum.
Chung, meanwhile, made birdies at the 12th and 16th holes to put the championship away. Chung had been the runnerup in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship a year ago. He didn’t come back to finish second this time.
“With this golf course, you really have to step up and hit it,” Chung told the PGA of America website. “Then you have to really grind it out. It’s easy to make bogeys when you miss greens in the wrong spot. Even off the tee, you have to put it in play.
“You really have to focus and hit a solid shot, otherwise it gets tough. My coach told me this week: Expect nothing, try for everything. So, l tried to do that and it worked out.”
A bogey at the 18th hole left Bergstol with a final round of 4-over 76, but he still held on for second place with a 7-under 281 total and earned a check for $9,400. It was a really strong showing for Bergstol and the rest of the Philadelphia Section PGA contingent that teed it up at the PGA Golf Club.
The Philadelphia Section ended up with three players in the top 13 as Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, and Brett Walker, an assistant pro at Sunnybrook Golf Club, both of whom had battled it out in the 100th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship two months ago at Aronimink Golf Club and Applebrook Golf Club, had strong showings this week in Port St. Lucie.
Oakley, the freshly minted Haverford Trust Rolex Player of the Year for 2021 in the Philadelphia Section, offset four bogeys with four birdies as he matched par in the final round with a 72 that left him among a trio of players tied for 10th place at 3-under 285.
Walker, who won that Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Aronimink, also had four birdies in a final round of 1-over 73 as he finished a shot behind Oakley in a group tied for 13th place at 2-under 286.
Walker will have fond memories of the PGA Golf Club in 2021. He came on strong in the final round at the PGA Golf Club’s Ryder Course and defeated Omar Uresti in a playoff to win the PGA Stroke Play Championship in February.
In April, Walker closed with a 2-under 70 at the Wanamaker Course to finish in a tie for eighth place in the PGA Professional Championship and earn a tee time in the PGA Championship, which was held in May at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on the South Carolina coast.
The final member of the Philadelphia Section foursome that survived the 36-hole cut and played the weekend in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship, Mike Tobiason, who plays out of the Deerfield Golf Club pro shop, struggled in Sunday’s final round with an 83 that left him in 77th place with a 304 total.
Making the cut in the NCR Assistant PGA Professional Championship is an accomplishment in itself with the level of talent in the club pro ranks these days.
Eric Steger, who plays out of the Indiana Section PGA, and Jeremy Wells, the director of player development at Cypress Lake Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla., finished a shot behind Bergstol in a tie for third place at 6-under 282.
Steger matched par in the final round with a 72 while Wells closed with a 2-over 74.
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