Shattuck a dominant six-shot winner as he repeats in Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Whitemarsh Valley

 

   Braden Shattuck continued his domination of the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit by finishing off a six-shot victory in the 105^th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship
Wednesday with a business-like 4-under-par 68 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club.

   It was the second straight win in the marquee event for the Philadelphia area club pros for Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club. Shattuck has been the winner of the Philly Section’s Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year Award the last four seasons.

   Shattuck’s win in the Philadelphia PPC, his fourth of the season, likely puts him in the driver’s seat for a fifth straight Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year Award.

   Shattuck led or shared the lead right from the start. His opening round of 8-under 64 Monday at nearby Sandy Run Country Club left him in a tie for the lead. He surged to a three-shot lead on the strength of a sizzling 6-under 66 in the second round at Whitemarsh Valley, a classic George C. Thomas Jr. design in Whitemarsh Township that once hosted a regular stop on the PGA Tour.

   Shattuck’s final-round 68 gave him an 18-under 298 total and a six-shot victory over Zach Barbin, who works out of the pro shop at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club and closed with a Whitemarsh Valley course record of 10-under 62.

   Shattuck’s name will be inscribed on the William B. Packer Trophy for a second time and he collected the top prize of $10,000.

   Shattuck was exempt into next spring’s PGA Professional Championship on the strength of his victory in that event in 2023 at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

   He will head a group of 12 Philadelphia Section players who will tee it up in the PPC next April at the Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green, Fla. The top 20 finishers at Streamsong will form the Corebridge Financial Team that will represent club pros all across America in the  PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   It would be one thing if you could make the argument that Shattuck is dominating a group of club pros that don’t measure up competitively. Nothing could be further from the truth.

   Shattuck finished in a tie for eighth place in the PPC in the spring at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon to earn a starting time in the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, not all that far from where the Sun Valley product grew up.

   But he was not the only player in the field this week who has taken that route to the PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four major championships.

   Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, has been a member of the Corebridge Financial Team twice, joining Shattuck in the field for the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. two years ago. Oakley finished in a tie for sixth place in this week’s Philadelphia PPC and will be headed for Fields Ranch East next spring.

   Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, represented the Philadelphia Section in the PGA Championship in the spring of 2025 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. after finishing in a tie for third place in the PPC at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

   Bergstol, who was exempt to next spring’s PPC as a member of the United States team that competed in the PGA Cup, finished in a tie for eighth place in this week’s Philadelphia PPC.

   Zach Barbin finished in a tie for second place in last fall’s Assistant PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club’s Dye Course, an event in which both Bergstol and Oakley have contended in recent years.

   These are players who have performed well on national stages that Shattuck is dominating, making his accomplishments even more impressive.

   Shattuck became the first repeat winner of the Philadelphia PPC since Alex Knoll of Glen Brook Golf Club did it in 1999 and 2000.

   If anybody thought Shattuck was going to falter in the final round, he dispelled that notion pretty quickly with birdies at the second, third and fifth holes.

   After making a bogey at the eighth hole, Shattuck made a birdie at 11, a bogey at 12, a birdie at 12 and a bogey at 14 before putting an exclamation point on his week with birdies at 15 and 17.

   “With three rounds, mathematically speaking, I have a better chance than in a one-round shootout,” Shattuck told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “Being able to play consistently and steadily grow the lead is a little easier for me than going out and trying for a career round.”

   Zach Barbin put together a 10-birdie, no-bogey masterpiece that broke the course record at Whitemarsh Valley that was held by Gary Player (1963), Ray Floyd (1975) and Tom Kite (1978) back in the days when the course was a regular stop on the PGA Tour. I count 14 major championships among those three guys.

   Zach Barbin started his round with birdies at the first, second and third holes. After birdies at the fifth, eighth and 11^th holes, Zach Barbin again ripped off three consecutive birdies at 13, 14 and 15 before recording his 10^th birdie of the day at 17.

   Zach Barbin’s final-round 62 left him alone in second place with a 12-under 204 total.

   The lowest round ever recorded in the Philadelphia PPC was a 61 posted by Al Besselink in 1960 at Bala Golf Club.

   Zach Barbin’s 62 matched the 62 carded by Knoll in the Philadelphia PPC in 2019 at the Union League’s Torresdale Course. Knoll’s 62 broke Sam Snead’s course record of 64 that had stood since 1941.

   Zach Barbin was coming off a three-shot victory over Whitford Country Club’s Anthony Sebastianelli earlier this month in the Pro-Am for Wishes with an 8-under 134 total at Penn Oaks Golf Club.

   Tony Perla of Huntingdon Valley Country Club had been Shattuck’s closest pursuer through two rounds and he matched par with a 72 in Wednesday’s final round at Whitemarsh Valley to get a share of third place with Riley Wheeldon, an instructor at Aronimink, each landing on 11-under 205, a shot behind Zach Barbin.

   Wheeldon, the runnerup to Shattuck a year ago at Concord Country Club, closed with a sparkling 6-under 66 to join Perla at 11-under.

   Chester Valley Golf Club’s Brett Walker, the winner of the Philadelphia PPC in 2021 at Aronimink and again two years ago at Rolling Green, finished up with a solid 3-under 69 to end up alone in fifth place with a 10-under 206 total.

   Oakley, the 2023 Philadelphia PPC champion at the Country Club of Scranton, closed with a solid 4-under 68 to get a share of sixth place with Sebastianelli at 8-under 208.

   Sebastianelli, winner of the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship earlier this summer at Laurel Creek Country Club, tallied a 2-under 70 in Wednesday’s final round to join Oakley at 8-under.

   It was four more shots back to Bergstol, who recorded a 1-over 73 in Wednesday’s final round, as he finished in a tie for eighth place with Parks Price of Bent Creek Country Club, each ending up with a 4-under 212 total.

   Price matched par with a 72 in the final round at Whitemarsh Valley to get his share of eighth place with Bergstol.

   Spring Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz, one of the Philly Section’s top senior players and another Philadelphia PPC past champion, Joanna Coe, the head of instruction at Merion Golf Club, Joe Kogelman of GOLFTEC Moorestown and Trevor Bensel of LuLu Country Club finished in a tie for 10^th place, each ending up with a 2-under 214 total.

   Steinmetz, who has advanced out of the PPC to the PGA Championship at least twice in his career, closed with a 1-under 71.

   Coe, the four-time reigning Philadelphia Section Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Women’s Player of the Year, finished up with a 1-over 73 to join the foursome at 2-under.

   Coe represented the Philadelphia Section in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. Coe failed to make the cut.

   Coe defeated Ashley Grier, the one-time assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club, in a playoff for the fourth and final spot out of the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in February to earn her seventh trip to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

   Kogelman had grabbed a share of the lead following a sizzling 8-under 64 at Whitemarsh Valley in the opening round. He finished up with a 1-over 73 at Whitemarsh Valley to join the group at 2-under.

   Bensel closed with a 3-over 75 to end up at 2-under.

   Steinmetz, Coe and Kogelman got the final three tickets to next spring’s PPC at Fields Ranch East. Bensel is the first alternate and stands a pretty good chance to get the call for a trip to the PPC.

   Michael Little of Clubhouse 54 and Knoll were the second and third alternates, respectively, as they finished in a tie for 14^th place at 1-under 215. Little matched par in the final round with a 72 while Knoll closed with a 1-over 73.

   Dave Quinn, another of the Philly Section’s senior stalwarts who plays out of the Laurel Creek pro shop, was the fourth alternate and Zach Barbin’s younger brother Austin Barbin, also playing out of the Chesapeake Bay pro shop, was the fifth alternate as they were two of the four players who finished in a tie for 16^th place at even-par 216.

   Quinn posted a 1-over 73 in the final round while Austin Barbin closed with a 3-over 69 over the same Whitemarsh Valley layout where he captured the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship two years ago after concluding his college career at Liberty.

   Billy Stewart, an instructor at the Union League’s Liberty Hill Course, and Andrew Turner, playing out of the Green Valley Country Club pro shop, rounded out the group tied for 16^th place at even-par.

   Stewart, who had opened with a sparkling 7-under 65 at Sandy Run, closed with a 3-over 75. Turner registered a 2-over 74 in the final round.

   The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship was presented by Club Car, Corebridge Financial and Rolex. The tournament was supported by Gallagher, The Golf Channel, the PGA Tour, ShipSticks, Titleist/Footjoy, Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade, Sun Cruiser Vodka Iced Tea, Mid-Atlantic Golf Cars, StrackaLine and SCNS Sports Foods.