Playing a little catch-up with the Philadelphia Section PGA guys. I especially hate to miss out on the local qualifiers for the national PGA of America championships that are played in the fall.
You know it had to be a busy spring for Jeff Kiddie, the head pro at Aronimink Golf Club.
Aronimink, the Donald Ross masterpiece in Newtown Square, played host to the PGA Championship, the PGA of America’s most important event.
Kiddie was honored by the PGA of America in 2023 when he was named the Golf Professional of the Year, the highest honor the organization bestows on one of its members. So you know Kiddie was going to go all out to make sure that Aronimink put its best foot forward when it welcomed the best players in the game to Delaware County.
And, from everything I’ve heard, Kiddie and Aronimink succeeded, by almost any measure, in putting on a great show in May.
So maybe Kiddie could take a deep breath and relax and do what got him into the golf business in the first place: Play some golf.
And guess what, Kiddie can still play a little. Teeing it up in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship for the first time, Kiddie added a solid 3-under-par 68 to his opening-round 70 June 22nd and 23rd at Bellewood Country Club, just across the Schuylkill River from Pottstown, to capture the title with a 4-under 138 total.
Kiddie had opened with a 1-under 70 in occasional rain showers to take a one-shot lead over Frank Bensel, the veteran club pro who has made Galloway National Golf Club his new base of operation.
But Kiddie came out firing in the second round, taking control of the tournament with a birdie at the first hole, an eagle at the par-5 second and another birdie at four. Suddenly, he was 5-under for the tournament.
Kiddie made a bogey at the fifth hole, got that shot back with a birdie at seven and stumbled a little with bogeys at eight and 12. But he had built a nice cushion with that fast start and a birdie at the 17th hole enabled him to finish with a 4-under total as he cruised to a seven-shot victory.
“This was the first time I’ve been able to play in this championship as it normally conflicted with our women’s Member-Member event at (Aronimink),” Kiddie told the Philadelphia Section website. “To win this championship, with so many awesome names on that trophy, it really means a lot.”
The victory also means Kiddie will head a seven-man Philly Section contingent (maybe more if some of the alternates get in) to the Senior PGA Professional Championship, which will tee off Oct. 22 at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Grand Canyon, Ariz.
Kiddie’s victory also earned him a spot in the pre-qualifier for the Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic, presented by Sodexo, as the PGA Tour Champions returns to the region for the first time in a while in October at Lehigh Country Club, an underrated William Flynn design in Allentown.
A top-35 finish at Superstition Mountain sends a player to the Senior PGA Championship, a major championship on the PGA Tour Champions, which returns to The Concession Club in Bradenton, Fla. for the second straight year next spring.
John Pillar, the Philly Section’s two-time reigning Robert “Skee” Riegel Senior Player of the Year, was part of the Corebridge Financial Team that reached the Senior PGA Championship this year with a solid showing at last fall’s Senior PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs, made the cut and played the weekend at The Concession Club and that accomplishment exempted him to the Senior PGA Professional Championship at Superstition Mountain.
Pillar added a 4-over 75 to his opening-round 76 at Bellewood as he finished in the group tied for 11th place with a 9-over 151 total. Pillar had won the last two editions of the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Dave McNabb, the head pro at Applebrook Golf Club who has been one of the top senior players in the Philly Section for more than a decade, added a 1-under 70 in the second round at Bellewood to an opening round of 4-over 75 as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 145 total that left him seven shots behind Kiddie.
Frank Bensel, who, like Pillar, represented the Philly Section in the Senior PGA Championship at The Concession Club in April, shared third place with Hugo Mazzalupi of the Radnor Golf Foundation, each landing on 4-over 146.
Frank Bensel added a 4-over 75 in the second round at Bellewood after matching par in the opening round with a 71.
Mazzalupi added a solid 1-under 70 in the second round at Bellewood to his opening round of 5-over 76.
The ageless Dave Quinn, playing out of Laurel Creek Country Club, added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 75 to finish in fifth place with a 5-over 147 total.
Chris Krueger of Kings Creek Country Club and Brendon Post, the head coach of the men’s golf team at Delaware, nailed down the final two guaranteed berths to Superstition Mountain as they finished in a tie for sixth place, each recording a 6-over 148.
Krueger and Post had identical splits, each bouncing back from an opening round of 5-over 76 with a 1-over 72 in the second round.
Terry Hertzog, playing out of the Bent Creek Country Club pro shop, was also in the tie for sixth place at 6-over as he opened with a 2-over 73 and added a 75 in the second round.
Looks like he lost out in a playoff and will be the first alternate to Superstition Mountain out of the Philly Section, but Hertzog should have a decent chance to make the field for the Senior PPC.
Wayne Phillips, playing out of the aforementioned Lehigh Country Club pro shop, took top honors in the Super Senior division as he matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added 2-over 73 in the second round for a 2-over 144 total.
Harvey Williams of Glen Oak Country Club was the runnerup to Phillips among the older guys as he added a 3-over 74 to an opening-round 73 for a 5-over 147 total.
The Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship was supported by PXG, The Golf Channel, Ohana Farm and SCNS Sports Foods.
Anthony Sebastianelli, working out of the Whitford Country Club pro shop these days, captured the title in the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship in a playoff with Logan Hay of Burlington Country Club in a one-day, 36-hole shootout June 15th.
The Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship honors the memory of the late, great Dick Smith Sr., a past president of both the PGA of America and the Philadelphia Section.
Sebastianelli, who starred scholastically at Abington Heights and collegiately at Connecticut State, has emerged as one of the top players in the Philly Section and his talent was on display at Laurel Creek.
Sebastianelli opened with a 1-over 72 that left him a shot behind Hay, Zac Oakley, out of Bidermann Golf Club, and Andrew Cornish, who works out of the pro shop at Llanerch Country Club.
But Sebastianelli got off to a great start in the afternoon, making birdies at the second, fourth and fifth holes and an eagle at the par-5 ninth. He stumbled a little on the incoming nine with bogeys at the 11th and 18th holes, but posted a 3-under 68 that gave him a 2-under 140 total.
Hay started a little slowly in the second round with a bogey at the first hole, but he heated up in the middle of the round with birdies at nine, 12 and 15 that got him to 2-under for the tournament.
Hay dropped a shot with a bogey at the 17th hole, but came up with a clutch birdie at the last for a second round of 2-under 69 that forced a playoff with Sebastianelli.
Sebastianelli and Hay will head a group of six Philly Section players (again, maybe more if any of the alternates get in) who qualified for the Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which tees off Nov. 12 at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Oakley added a 1-under 70 to his opening-round 71 to share third place with Austin Barbin of the Chesapeake Bay Golf Club, each ending up with a 1-under 141.
Oakley has competed and contended in so many events at the PGA Golf Club, he could probably play the Ryder and Wanamaker courses blindfolded. He finished in a tie for second place in the Assistant PPC in 2024.
Austin Barbin, who capped his amateur career by capturing the title in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship in 2024 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, added a sparkling 3-under 68 in the second round to his opening-round 73 to join Oakley at 1-under.
Austin Barbin’s older brother, Zach, was a shot behind Oakley and Zach’s little brother, in fifth place with an even-par 142 total as he added a 2-under 69 in the second round to his opening-round 73.
Zach Barbin, also playing out of Chesapeake Bay – the Barbin family owns the place – was exempt into the Assistant PPC because he finished in a tie for second place last fall in the Assistant PPC at the PGA Golf Club.
Zach Barbin, winner of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Lancaster Country Club in the pandemic summer of 2020, has quickly established himself as one of the top players in the Philly Section.
Trevor Bensel, an assistant pro at LuLu Country Club, grabbed the final guaranteed berth to the Assistant PPC at the PGA Golf Club as he finished strong with a 3-under 68 after opening with a 4-over 75 that left him in sixth place with a 1-over 143 total.
Trevor Bensel very nearly earned a berth in the field for the PGA Championship as he finished one spot outside the top 20 that formed the Corebridge Financial Team at Aronimink. He ended up in 21st place in the PGA Professional Championship at the Bandon Dunes Resort on Oregon’s rugged coastline in April.
Llanerch’s Cornish added a 2-over 73 in the second round to his opening-round 71 as he finished in seventh place at 2-over 144. Cornish is the first alternate to the Assistant PPC out of the Philly Section, which means he’s got a decent chance to join the party at the PGA Golf Club in November.
The Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship was supported by Srixon/Cleveland Golf, The Golf Channel, Ohana Farm, SCNS Sports Foods and the PGA Tour.
Zach Barbin flashed his considerable talent in capturing the title in the 40th Burlington Classic, presented by WSFS Bank, at Burlington Country Club in Westampton, N.J. June 7th and 8th by a shot.
Barbin and Michael Chanaud of Bear Trap Dunes hooked up in quite a shootout in the opening round at Burlington.
Chanaud’s first nine included birdies at the second and third holes, an eagle at four and birdies at six and nine. It added up to a 6-under 29 on the outgoing nine at Burlington and he finished with a 6-under 64.
Barbin, however, put on a pretty good show of his own on the incoming nine at Burlington, closing with five straight birdies and a back-nine 30 that left him with a 5-under 65 and a shot behind Chabaud.
Barbin got off to a fast start in the second round with birdies at the first, fourth and fifth holes. Barbin stumbled with bogeys at the eighth, 11th and 12 holes that dropped him back to 5-under.
Barbin, however, made birdies at the 13th and 16th holes that gave him a 2-under 68 and a 7-under 133 total as he claimed a victory in the Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year points event.
Chanaud matched par in the second round with a 70 as he earned runnerup honors with a 6-under 134 total.
Quinn, the talented senior who plays out of Laurel Creek, added a 1-under 69 in the second round to his opening-round 66 as he finished a shot behind Chanaud in third place with a 6-under 134 total.
A couple of other players out of the Philly Section’s deep stable of talented seniors, Jason Wilson of Bethlehem Golf Club and Brian Kelly, the retired longtime head pro at the Bucknell Golf Club who represents Titleist Fitwear these days, finished in a tie for fourth place, each ending up with a 3-under 137 total.
Wilson and Kelly had identical splits, each matching Quinn’s sparkling 4-under 66 in the opening round and adding a 1-over 71 in the second round.
Quinn topped the Senior division with Wilson and Kelly tied for second place two shots behind Quinn.
Bill Sautter, who works out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop, finished in first place in the Super Senior division as he added a 1-over 71 in the second round to his opening-round 74 for a 5-over 145 total.
Greg Farrow, the longtime head pro at Deerwood Country Club, and Wayne Phillips, working out of the Lehigh Country Club pro shop, finished in a tie for second place with 8-over 148 totals that left them three shots behind Sautter.
Farrow and Phillips each recorded a pair of 4-over 74s.
Tom Byrne captured the Marotto Cup that goes to the winner of the Burlington Classic’s amateur division as he added a 6-over 76 in the second round to his opening-round 74 for a 10-over 150 total.
Bill Murray had grabbed a one-shot lead over Byrne with an opening round of 3-over 73 before closing with a 79 that left him two shots behind Byrne in second place with a 152 total.
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