Brian Bergstol, the director of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, made three birdies on the last six holes at DuPont Country Club Wednesday to pull away for a two-shot victory in the 101st playing of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.
Bergstol had trailed 36-hole leader Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, by as many as five shots early in the final round. But Oakley, the Philadelphia Section PGA’s reigning Rolex Haverford Trust Player of the Year, struggled down the stretch and Bergstol came on strong.
Bergstol cut into his deficit by making back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth holes, but a hole-out for par at the 10th hole might have been the most pivotal shot of the round.
Bergstol had to re-tee on the par-4 10th hole, not sure whether it was out of bounds or a lost ball. But after his second shot landed safely, Bergstol salvaged an unlikely par by holing out.
Bergstol fell back to 6-under for the championship with a bogey at the 12th hole, but birdies at 13, 15 and 18 enabled him to post a second straight 2-under 69 over the par-71 DuPont layout, home to the LPGA Championship, since rebranded as the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, but a major for the women in either case, from 1994 to 2004.
That gave Bergstol, who just recently earned election to PGA membership allowing him to play in the Section championship for the first time, a 54-hole total of 9-under 204. Bergstol, who will add his name to the William B. Packer Trophy, won the top prize of $9,000 out of a total purse of $72,000.
“It was stressful out there today,” Bergstol told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I’m glad it’s over, but I’m very happy to be walking away with the (William B. Packer) Trophy.”
Braden Shattuck, an instructor at Rolling Green Golf Club who, like Bergstol, was eligible for the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship for the first time, had the low round of the day, a sparkling 5-under 66 to earn runnerup honors, two shots behind Bergstol, with a 7-under 206 total.
It looks like DuPont might have been set up tough and I’m sure the wind was up with the passage of a cold front Tuesday evening, making for difficult scoring conditions. But Shattuck, a Sun Valley product, blitzed the DuPont layout for six birdies against a lone bogey.
Oakley finished a shot behind his former Bidermann pro shop colleague Shattuck in third place as Oakley closed with a 2-over 73 for a 6-under 207 total.
Bergstol, Shattuck and Oakley will head a strong contingent of Philadelphia Section representatives in next spring’s PGA Professional Championship, which will be held at the Twin Warriors and Santa Ana courses in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.
The top 20 finishers in the National Club Pro – the PGA Professional Championship’s old-school moniker – earn a spot in the field for the PGA Championship, which will be played at Oak Hill Country Club, a classic major championship layout in Rochester, N.Y.
Oakley was one of the 20 players who represented America’s club pros in this year’s PGA at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. after he finished in a tie for sixth place in the PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas.
Dave McNabb, the head pro at Applebrook Golf Club, represented the Philadelphia Section in a pair of this year’s PGA Tour Champions majors, the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at the Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Mich. and the U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem.
McNabb struggled a little in the final round at DuPont with a 5-over 76, but finished in a tie for fourth place with Trevor Bensel, who plays out of the Sandy Run Country Club pro shop, each landing on even-par 213, six shots behind Oakley.
McNabb, the reigning two-time winner of the Philadelphia Section’s Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year award, and Joanna Coe, in her first year as an instructor at Merion Golf Club, were already exempt into the PGA Professional Championship. Coe closed with a solid 2-over 73 Wednesday to finish among a group of four players tied for 11th place with a 3-over 216 total.
In 2019, Coe and Ashley Grier, who played out of the Overbrook Golf Club pro shop for a few years before moving on in the offseason this year, became the first women to survive two cuts and play all 72 holes in the PGA Professional Championship at Belfair in Bluffton, S.C. Coe finished in a tie for 51st place.
Coe will represent the Philadelphia Section in next summer’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. She earned her spot in the major championship field with a runnerup finish in the LPGA Professional National Championship, held earlier this summer at the Kingsmill Resort’s River Course in Williamsburg, Va.
Bensel also closed with a 2-over 73 to get his share of fourth place at even-par. Oakley and Bensel will be making a trip the to the PGA Professional Championship for the third year in a row.
Two more of the Philadelphia Section’s senior standouts, Terry Hatch of Royal Oaks Golf Course and Hugo Mazzalupi of Linfield National Golf Club, punched their tickets to New Mexico as they finished in a tie for sixth place with Michael Little of Makefield Putters, each ending up with a 1-over 214 total.
Hatch and Mazzalupi each closed with a 3-over 74 while Little, a two-time Player of the Year in the Philadelphia Section, finished up with a 2-over 73 and also earned a trip to the PGA Professional Championship.
Billy Stewart, an instructor at the Union League’s Liberty Hill course, earned a trip to Santa Ana Pueblo along with Matthew Zehner, who plays out of the Wilmington Country Club pro shop, as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 2-over 215.
Stewart, who stared scholastically at Malvern Prep and collegiately at Saint Joseph’s, closed with a 3-over 74 while Zehner made a big move up the leaderboard with a final round of 3-under 68.
Coe was joined in the tie for 11th place at 3-over by three more of the Philadelphia Section’s senior standouts, Brian Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club, Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz and John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs.
As a PGA Life Member, the ageless Kelly is ineligible to play in the PGA Professional Championship, but he matched par in the final round with a 71 at DuPont.
But Steinmetz, who captured the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship as a senior “rookie” this summer at Medford Village Country Club, and Pillar will be making the trip to New Mexico.
Steinmetz has teed it up in the PGA Professional Championship quite a few times and advanced to the PGA Championship on two or three occasions. He closed with a 4-over 75. Pillar finished up with a 5-over 76.
Yet another of the Philadelphia Section’s outstanding senior players, Terry Hertzog, a Philadelphia PGA entry, grabbed the final ticket to the PGA Professional Championship in a playoff after he finished among a group of four players tied for 15th place at 4-over 217.
Hertzog, like Steinmetz, a three-time winner of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, closed with a 5-over 76.
Steve Sanderson, playing out of the Pine Valley Golf Club pro shop, is the first alternate as he matched par with a 71 in the final round to join the group at 4-over.
Coe’s colleague in the Merion pro shop, Grant Gardiner, is the second alternate as he finished up with a solid 1-under 70 to finish among the group tied for 15th place.
Rounding out the quartet tied for 15th place was Lookaway Golf Club instructor Mark Sheftic, who matched par in the final round with a 71 and is the third alternate. Sheftic has had some nice showings in the PGA Professional Championship. Pretty sure he’s advanced to the PGA Championship on three occasions.
Sam Ambrose, playing out of the Chester Valley Golf Club pro shop, finished among a group of three players tied for 19th place at 5-over 218 and is the fourth alternate. Ambrose made a big move in the final round with a 2-under 69.
Eric Kennedy, the head pro at Overbrook, and Alex Willey of Burlington Country Club were the other two players at 5-over with Kennedy getting the fifth-alternate spot in a coin flip. Kennedy matched par in the final round with a 71 while Willey finished up with a 2-over 73.
The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship is presented by Cadillac, Club Car and Rolex and supported by Titleist, FootJoy, Nike Callaway, TaylorMade Golf, Golf Channel, the PGA Tour, Precise Yardage Books, SCNS Sports Foods, Ship Sticks and Visit Delco, Pa.
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