Blue Bell, Pa. – On Monday, October 23, the Philadelphia PGA season came to an unofficial end as the Section held its annual Fall Meeting, which, this year, was hosted by Cedarbrook Country Club. The meeting brought together nearly 225 Section Professionals to discuss the Section’s business affairs from the past year. One of the most important issues on the meeting slate was the Section’s biennial elections.

With names brought forth from the Section’s nominating committee, the Section conducted elections for both the Executive Committee and six district directors. The Section is excited to announce that the following Professionals were elected by acclamation to serve the members of the Philadelphia PGA.

President – John Rogers, PGA – Victory Golf
Vice President – Jeff Kiddie, PGA – Aronimink GC
Secretary – Patrick Shine, PGA – Commonwealth National GC
Director of Section Affairs – Chip Richter, PGA – Carlisle CC
Director of Tournaments – Robert Hennefer, PGA – Indian Spring GC
District 1 Director – Kevin Duffy, PGA – Riverton CC
District 2 Director – Anthony Malizia, PGA – Bidermann GC
District 3 Director – Jason Gebhart, PGA – Outdoor CC
District 4 Director – Dustin McCormick, PGA – Glen Brook GC
District 5 Director – Brett Nelson, PGA – Moselem Springs GC
District 6 Director – Eric Schultz, PGA – Sunnybrook CC
District 6 Director – Eric Kennedy, PGA – Overbrook CC

The Executive Committee gained two new additions as both Robert Hennefer and Chip Richter moved from their District Director roles to join the team. With the exception of Eric Kennedy, the remaining elected District Directors will all be serving their first terms. Finally, after his two year run as President of the Philadelphia PGA, Ian Dalzell will now serve as the Section’s Honorary President while John Pillar will join the ranks of the Section’s Past Presidents.

The Section was also privileged to have PGA of America President Paul Levy in attendance to serve as the meeting’s keynote speaker. Levy addressed the meeting attendees touching on various important topics affecting all PGA Professionals before opening of the floor to questions.

In addition to the conducting the business of the Section, the meeting is also a chance for the Section to recognize all of the year-end award winners. Leading the way on the Omega Player of the Year Points List was first time winner and Section newcomer Brett Melton (Radley Run CC). Melton had multiple wins in 2017 including the Pro-Am for Wishes and the Shawnee Open. Melton was also awarded bonus points for finishing with the season’s lowest scoring average, 69.44, also giving him the DeBaufre Scoring Average crown. Melton finished 300 points ahead of second place finisher Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) who in addition to multiple top ten finishes also claimed victory at the Jack Jolly / Golf Pride Championship. Rounding out the top three was Dave Quinn (Philmont CC) who earned a win at the 2017 Conestoga Classic.

Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) continued his streak as the Robert “Skee’ Riegel Senior Player of the Year award bringing his consecutive title streak to eight in a row. Ingraham had multiple senior wins which in the end propelled him to a more than 1,000 point lead in the senior player of the year race. Finishing second to Ingraham was Dave Quinn (Philmont CC). Quinn also had multiple senior wins in 2017 however none was bigger than his first Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship. Newly minted senior player, John Pillar (CC of Woodloch Spring) rounded out the top three in his first year of eligibility.

The Section’s Howard “Ike” Turner Most Improved Player went to Michael Caldwell (Biderman GC). Caldwell improved his position on the Omega Player of the Year points list by nearly 100 places to finish 2017 in the 40^th position. Caldwell also dropped his scoring average by three shots while increasing his tournament participation.

The Section’s Comeback Player of the Year went to Billy Stewart (The ACE Club). After finishing inside the top 10 on the 2015 Omega Player of the Year Leaderboard injuries plagued Stewart during the 2016 season. However the time away did not hurt Stewart this past season and even though he had not played competitive golf in over a year, he was nearly a top 10 player in 2017 finishing 12^th place on the final Omega Player of the Year standings.

After the meeting was adjourned almost 50 two person teams headed out to compete in the season’s final event, the Fall Meeting Foursomes. The foursome format was select drive-alternate shot and in the end the pair of Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) and Jason Calhoun (Univ. of Pennsylvania) finished at 4-under (68) to earn a one shot victory over the field.

Fall Meeting Foursome Results