Billy Stewart, an instructor at Union League Liberty Hill, made the biggest move of the day among the Philadelphia Section PGA contingent at the PGA Professional Championship as he carded a solid 2-under-par 69 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Foothills Course in Monday’s second round.
Stewart, who starred scholastically at Malvern Prep and collegiately at Saint Joseph’s, had opened with a 2-over 72 over the par-70 Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course Sunday. His even-par 141 total left him among a group tied for 51st place and enabled him to survive the 36-hole cut.
The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship – better known by its old-school National Club Pro moniker – will punch their ticket to next month’s PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four major championships, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Stewart was joined at even-par 141 by two other Philadelphia Section standouts, Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club and the reigning Rolex Haverford Trust Player of the Year in the Philadelphia Section, and Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Trevor Bensel. They were the only three members of the Philadelphia Section contingent who survived the 36-hole cut.
Oakley had opened with a 2-under 69 at the Fazio Foothills Course Sunday and added a 2-over 72 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round.
It was a bit of a disappointing day for Bensel, who was just a shot out of the lead after opening with a sparkling 5-under 65 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course. Bensel, however, struggled over the Fazio Foothills Course in Monday’s second round, carding a 5-over 76.
Stewart started slowly on the Fazio Foothills Course with a bogey at the eighth hole, but he jump-started his round with an eagle 2 on the 12th hole. A bogey at the 14th hole dropped Stewart back to even for the round, but he made back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 to get it to the clubhouse at 2-under.
Oakley was up and down on the front nine of the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round. After a birdie at the third hole, Oakley made bogeys at five and six, birdied the seventh and then made another bogey at eight that dropped him to 1-over for the round.
Oakley settled down, making nine pars the rest of the way with one more bogey at the 14th hole that left him at 2-over for the round.
Bensel made five straight bogeys beginning at the sixth hole on the Fazio Foothills Course Monday. He righted the ship a little with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes, but fell back to 5-over with bogeys at 13 and 17 on his way to the clubhouse.
The Philadelphia Section trio is eight shots behind the leader, Jesse Mueller, the 39-year-old general manager at the Grand Canyon University Golf Course in Phoenix.
After opening with a 4-under 66 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course, Mueller added a 4-under 67 at the Fazio Foothills Course in Monday’s second round to land atop the leaderboard with an 8-under 133 total.
Mueller started off the 10th tee and had an adventurous incoming nine on the Fazio Foothills Course. After making birdies at the 11th and 12th holes, Mueller made bogeys at 13 and 14 and then rattled off three straight birdies at 15, 16 and 17 to get it to 3-under for the round.
Mueller settled down after that making nine pars the rest of the way along with a birdie at the par-5 fifth hole that gave him the outright lead.
Austin Hurt, the head pro at the Wing Point Golf & Country Club in Seattle, and Dylan Newman, an assistant pro at the Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., shared second place, each landing a shot behind Mueller at 7-under 134.
Hurt added a 2-under 68 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 5-under 66 at the Fazio Foothills Course. After opening with a solid 3-under 68 at the Fazio Foothills Course, Newman added a 4-under 66 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round.
The 36-hole cut fell at 2-over 143 and Bensel’s colleague in the Overbrook pro shop, Ashley Grier, came up a couple of shots shy with a 4-over 145 total as she added a 2-over 73 in Monday’s second round at the Fazio Foothills Course to the 2-over 72 she carded at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Sunday’s opening round.
Grier, the 2022 Women’s PGA Player of the Year, will represent the Philadelphia Section in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a major championship on the LPGA Tour, in June at Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course in Bethesda, Md.
Grier punched her ticket to Congressional by finishing in fifth place in the LPGA Professional National Championship last summer at the Kingsmill Resort’s River Course in Williamsburg, Va.
Philadelphia Country Club head pro Scott Reilly was a shot behind Grier with a 5-over 146 total as he had opened with a solid 1-over 71 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course before adding a 4-over 75 at the Fazio Foothills Course in Monday’s second round.
Rusty Harbold, who works out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop, was a shot behind Reilly with a 6-over 147 total as he added a solid 1-over 71 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round to the opening round of 5-over 76 he posted at the Fazio Foothills Course.
Sunnybrook Golf Club assistant pro Brett Walker and Hugo Mazzalupi, the pro-owner of the Patriots Glen National Golf Club, both landed on 7-over 148.
Walker, the winner of the 100th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship last summer at Aronimink Golf Club and Applebrook Golf Club, signed for a 3-over 73 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round after opening with a 4-over 75 at the Fazio Foothills Course.
Mazzalupi carded a 2-over 73 at the Fazio Foothills Course in Monday’s second round after opening with a 5-over 75 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course.
Parks Price, an instructor at the Country Club of York, finished with an 8-over 149 total. Price, who claimed the $100,000 jackpot that goes to the winner of the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic last summer at Sunnybrook, bounced back from the 7-over 78 he opened with at the Fazio Foothills Course Sunday with a 1-over 71 in Monday’s second round at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course.
Saucon Valley Country Club assistant pro Mike Furey added a 5-over 75 at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Monday’s second round to the 4-over 75 he posted at the Fazio Foothills Course in Sunday’s opening round for a 9-over 150 total.
Terry Hertzog, an instructor at Merion Golf Club, added a 5-over 76 at the Fazio Foothills Course in Monday’s second round to the 6-over 76 he registered at the Coore Crenshaw Cliffside Course in Sunday’s opening round as he ended up with an 11-over 152 total.
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