Zac Oakley, an instructor in the pro shop at Bidermann Golf Club, got it going in the fall portion of the Philadelphia Section PGA schedule, capping the season-long Match Play Championship with a victory at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course after cruising to a four-shot win in the Philadelphia Players Championship at Lookaway Golf Club.
Oakley rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Whitemarsh Valley Country Club head pro Dave Pagett in the Match Play Championship final Oct. 2nd at Merion’s East Course, which will play host to the U.S. Amateur for the seventh time in 2026.
Oakley got his 2024 off to a great start when he finished in a tie for 16th place in the PGA Professional Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the new PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
That earned Oakley a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. as he teed it up in one of professional golf’s four major championships for the second time in three years.
The Section’s Match Play Championship had begun with a field of 120 players, which was whittled down to just 16 when two rounds of matches were played Sept. 18th at Laurel Creek Country Club in Mount Laurel Township, N.J.
Each of the four brackets are named for legendary figures in the Philadelphia Section’s history and Oakley advanced to the semifinals at Merion by taking the Art Wall Jr. Bracket with a 3 and 2 victory over a tough customer in Sandy Run Country Club assistant pro Trevor Bensel.
Oakley’s road to the top of the Art Wall Jr. Bracket included match wins over Anthony Hoffman, who plays out of John F. Byrne Golf Course pro shop, Pat Butkus of Whitford Country Club and Merion’s Matthew Durham in the round of 16 at Laurel Creek.
Pagett won the Ed Dougherty Bracket with a 2-up victory over Braden Shattuck, the head of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club and the Section’s two-time reigning winner of the Rolex/Haverford Trust Player of the Year honor.
Joanna Coe, the director of instruction at Merion, claimed the top spot in the Dick Smith Sr. Bracket and Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Sunnybrook Golf Club, was the winner in the Henry Williams Bracket.
Coe and Sheftic conceded their semifinal matches at Merion to Oakley and Pagett, respectively, due to scheduling conflicts they were unable to resolve.
Oakley got the jump on Pagett at Merion with wins on four straight holes beginning with a birdie at the par-5 second hole along Ardmore Avenue. Oakley won the tough par-3 third hole with a par and par was good enough to give him a win at the par-5 fourth. A par on the par-4 fifth hole, arguably the rugged East’s toughest hole, gave Oakley a quick 4-up lead.
Pagett got one back when he took the sixth hole with a birdie, but Oakley continued his strong play by winning eight and nine with pars and the short, par-4 10 with a birdie to take a commanding 6-up lead.
Pagett cut into his deficit by winning the picturesque par-4 11th hole with a birdie, but Oakley restored his 6-up advantage by taking 12 with a par. When Oakley and Pagett halved the little, par-3 13th hole with pars, it was over.
“I knew Dave (Pagett) was going to be a tough match,” Oakley told the Philadelphia Section website. “He took out our Section’s best player (Shattuck) this year, so I knew he was going be hard to beat.”
It was the third time Oakley has won the Match Play Championship title. He claimed the crown in 2021 at the Steel Club and in 2019 at Lookaway.
The Match Play Championship was supported by Rolex and the PGA Tour.
A little more than a week earlier, Oakley blitzed a tough Lookaway layout with a sizzling 7-under 65 Sept. 23rd to cruise to a three-shot victory over a bulky group of eight players tied for second place to earn the top prize of $5,000 in the Philadelphia Players Championship.to
Oakley made eagles on both of the par-5s on Lookaway’s outgoing nine at the third and eighth holes and added birdies at six and nine as he scorched the front nine to the tune of 6-under 30.
After making a birdie at the 13th hole, Oakley made a bogey at 15, the only blemish on his scorecard, before making his fourth birdie of the day at 16 to get it to 7-under.
Among the eight players tied for second place at 4-under 68 were three of the players who shared the top spot in the Senior division, Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, the Section’s reigning two-time winner of the Rolex Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year honor, and Mark Parson of Harbor Pines Golf Club.
Rolling Green’s Shattuck was also in the group at 4-under. Shattuck also finished in a tie for 16th place in last spring’s PGA Professional Championship at PGA Frisco and then was one of just two members of the Colebridge Financial Team to survive the 36-hole cut in the PGA Championship at Valhalla before earning low club-pro honors.
Rounding out the group at 4-under in the Philadelphia Players Championship were Waynesborough Country Club’s Kyle Early, Andrew Cornish of Cedarbrook Country Club, Brian Bergstol, the director of instruction at the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, and Brian Buskirk of Honeybrook Golf Club.
Dave Quinn, who works out of the Laurel Creek pro shop, finished a shot behind the trio of McNabb, Steinmetz and Parson in fourth place in the Senior division with a 3-under 69. Eric Kennedy, the head pro at Overbrook Golf Club, finished in fifth place among the seniors with a 1-under 71.
Merion’s Coe, the Section’s reigning two-time winner of the Women’s Player of the Year award, finished at the top of the leaderboard in the Women’s division of the Philadelphia Players Championship with a 2-over 74 at Lookaway.
Coe, who gave birth to her first child earlier this year, had won the title in the Women’s Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at the Union League Torresdale Course earlier last month.
Tessa Teachman, an instructor at Aronimink Golf Club, and Brittany Weddell, who works out of the pro shop at Green Valley Country Club, each finished two shots behind Coe in a tie for second place with a 4-over 76.
The Philadelphia Players Championship was presented by Scott and Karen Hutchinson and was supported by Levelwear, StrackaLine and Lookaway member Everett Farr.
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