The third major of the LPGA season, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, will be played June 20-23, 2019 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, MN. Among the field of 156 Professionals will be Ashley Grier of Overbrook Golf Club. Grier will get her KPMG underway at 9:30 AM Thursday morning followed by a 2:55 PM start time on Friday afternoon. Follow along as she competes against the game’s top female professionals.
Lancaster, Pa. – The Philadelphia PGA traveled to Conestoga Country Club in the heart of the Amish Country on a day packed with humidity that led to a brief period of rain. The Conestoga CC tested the entire field’s playing ability due to the wet, lush rough which was the result of overnight rain.
To start the day off, Mike Tobiason (Deerfield Golf Club) came into the clubhouse with the first under par score of 1-under (69). Tobiason didn’t have one blemish on his card and capped the day off with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole.
The driver’s seat was quickly taken over by Eric Kennedy (Overbrook Golf Club). Kennedy started off hot with an eagle on the par-5 1st hole. He ended up with three more birdies and one bogey to enter the clubhouse as the leader. “I decided to hit driver everywhere after watching the final round of the U.S. Open last night,” said Kennedy. The announcers planted a seed in Kennedy’s head prompting him to play aggressive and not to lay back.
Just a few groups back was the low man of the day. John Pillar (Country Club of Woodloch Springs) carded a 6-under (64). Pillar had a near perfect round with seven birdies and a lone bogey that came on the par-3 5th hole. He navigated around the 6,400-yard-long golf course with no goal in mind. “I came into this event with no expectations. Having a busy week left me with little time to focus on the state of my game,” Pillar said. “My game plan was to just keep the ball in front of me and hit fairways.” Pillar also gives credit to playing with Brian Kelly and Eddie Perrino, two guys he is comfortable with and able to keep things light on the course.
The rest of the field chased Pillar and when a brief rain shower dampened the greens and allowed players to attack more holes, Pat Butkus (Tavistock Country Club) gave Pillar a scare with another 4-under (66). Butkus made four birdies to end his round without a blemish on his card. Playing with Pillar, Brian Kelly (Bucknell Golf Club) shot a 3-under (67). Kelly started the day with six straight pars and mixed in four birdies and one bogey.
Pillar also led the way in the tournament’s senior division with his 6-under (64). Brian Kelly (Bucknell Golf Club) finished in second in this division with a 3-under (67). Stu Ingraham took home third place with a 2-under (68).
The Conestoga Classic also featured a super senior division. Finishing in the top spot in the super senior division was Bill Sautter (Philadelphia Cricket Club). Sautter carded a 1-over (71) to finish two shots clear of division runner-up Don DeAngelis (Spring Ford Country Club). George Foster (Radnor Valley Country Club) and Gary Hardin (Northampton Country Club) both shot 4-over (74) to tie for third place.
The Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO) event came down to a playoff. Brian Bergstol (Shawnee Inn & GC) and Parks Price (CC of York) were the only two of the seven tied at 1-under par 69 who were still there at the end of regulation play. Both went back on the course in a sudden-death playoff. It took three extra holes to settle things as Bergstol finally prevailed.
The Section would like to thank the members and staff of Conestoga Country Club for hosting our event as well as our tournament sponsors, Golf Max, Morell Studios and the PGA Tour.
The Philadelphia PGA will return to action on Monday, June 24 at Medford Village Country Club for the Jack Jolly/Golf Pride Championship.
Inside this issue we feature: • Senior PGA Professionals compete at KitchenAid Sr PGA Championship • Philly PGA’s Strong Showing at PGA Professional Championship • Braden Shattuck Goes from Philly Junior Tour to Professional Career • Local Junior Wins Division at Drive, Chip and Putt Championship • Team Philadelphia Travels to Bethpage for 2019 Secretary’s Cup
Westampton, N.J. – The 34th Burlington County Classic and Pro-Am presented by WSFS Bank was played on Sunday, June 2 – Monday, June 3 at Burlington Country Club. The tournament features a day one Pro-Am followed by an individual stroke play event on day two. The field of Professionals on day two are joined by a select group of amateurs who qualified by virtue of their opening round to complete the 36-hole event.
“The Burlington Classic is a great celebration of the club, its membership and the PGA Professionals of the Philadelphia Section”, said John Hanuscin, Burlington Classic Tournament Chairman.
The tournament’s second round got underway at 10:00 am after late day storms forced the opening round to be completed on Monday. With nearly 90 people playing the second round the tournament leaders did not get on the course until almost 3:00 pm. In the final pairing was overnight leader Mark Sheftic (Merion Golf Club), Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club) and Jakob Gerney (Trump National Philadelphia).
As the second round progressed windy conditions made scoring difficult throughout the day. In fact, tournament leader Sheftic’s only blemish came on the first hole in round two after he posted a double bogey.
“I didn’t think I hit that bad of a shot”, said Sheftic of his approach into the first green. “I guess I overestimated the wind and I put myself into a bad position, but it was definitely a wakeup call.”
Sheftic was able to recover those early lost shots with birdies on both eight and nine to make the turn at even par as his lead increased to three shots. As Sheftic made his way back to the clubhouse, he was able to add two additional birdies on the par4 11th hole as well as the par5 14th hole. With no other player able to make a significant move up the leaderboard, Sheftic’s lead increased again as he played his final four holes.
When all the scores were final, Sheftic 36-hole total of 11-under (61-68-129) was good enough for a five-shot lead over the field giving him his third Burlington County Classic and Pro-Am presented by WSFS Bank crown. Sheftic previously took home the top spot in 2013 and 2016. Sheftic joins Gene Feiger (1991-92, 1998) and Rob Shuey (1994, 1996-97, 2002, 2007-08) as the only three-time champions of the event.
Rounding out the podium were Brian Bergstol (Shawnee Inn & Resort) and Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club) who both finished with a two-day total of 5-under. Like Sheftic, Bergstol posted two rounds in the 60s (66-69-135) while Little got to the 5-under number after carding rounds of (63-72-135).
“To be honest I hadn’t been playing my best coming into this tournament”, said Sheftic. “I had been struggling with my putting while I was at the PGA Professional National Championship and decided to go with a new putter this week. At the last minute I grabbed my old long putter and it worked great and I felt very comfortable with it the last two days. I think that was the difference for me, the confidence it gave me on the greens.”
“I also need to thank Mike Mack, John Hanuscin and the entire membership and staff of Burlington Country Club for their support of this event”, commented Sheftic. “I enjoy playing in this event and everyone does a great job making us feel welcome each year.”
In the tournament’s senior division, John Pillar (Country Club of Woodloch Springs) edged the field after posting a 36-hole total of 2-under (70-68-138). After trading birdies and bogeys in the early part of his round, Pillar managed to right the ship and posted birdies on the difficult par4 8th and another on the par4 13th helping him to his one-shot victory. Finishing one shot behind with a 36-hole total of 1-under was a pair of familiar names in Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) and Dave McNabb (Applebrook Golf Club).
In the tournament’s Super Senior division, Don DeAngelis (Spring Ford Country Club) cruised to a victory after posting a two-day total of 1-under (68-71-139). Special congratulations also go to DeAngelis after he carded a hole-in-one on the 140-yard par-3 10th.
Congratulations to amateur Scott Magee who was awarded the Marotto Medal as the tournament’s low amateur after a posting a Championship total of 7-over (69-78-147). The Marotto Medal is named in memory of longtime Burlington Country Club member Ron Marotto, who was an integral part of the Pro-Am committee for many years.
The Section thanks the membership and staff of Burlington Country Club as well as tournament sponsor Adidas golf, Jani-King, Evolve Golf and WSFS Bank. The next event on the Philadelphia PGA tournament calendar is the Connelly Cup / Head Professional Championship at Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia on Monday, June 10.
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Allentown, Pa. – On Tuesday, May 21 Lehigh Country Club hosted the first Philadelphia PGA Spring Pro-Lady Team Championship. Teams consisted of one PGA Professional with three female amateur partners with the classic William Flynn-designed golf course providing a spectacular backdrop for the day’s action to unfold.
Early in the day it looked as though the hometown team of Chris Wegner (Lehigh Country Club) and his amateur partners Diane Adams, Patty Cox, and MaryAnn Meehan who posted ten birdies and two eagles en route to a 12-under (58) would be the team to beat. The score was a product of a total team effort as each member contributed on multiple holes. However, with the majority of the field yet to post scores they had a long wait to see if their score was good enough.
As the afternoon progressed a second team was able to join the leaders with a matching score of 12-under (58). Tom Koenig (Penn Oaks Golf Club) and his partners Dawn Capriotti, Donna Dalusio, and Tina Landis posted twelve team birdies without a single blemish to join the team from Lehigh at the top of the leaderboard.
Late in the day a third team managed to join the teams at 12-under (58) after posting three net eagles and six birdies against only one bogey. Jeff Breiner (Country Club of Harrisburg) and his amateur partners Kitty Campbell, Leigh McBride, and Pam Troutman overcame an early bogey and finished strong with two net eagles on the inward nine.
Unfortunately for the teams at 12-under the group from Woodstone Country Club had their own idea for the tournament. Professional Gregg Meyer and his partners Donna D’Amore, Cookie Felchock, and Joy Wallace carded an impressive four net eagles to go along with seven net birdies to finish with a final team score of 15-under (55) and a solo first place finish.
In the tournament’s gross division, a pair of teams tied for the top spot after finishing with matching scores of 2-under (68). The first team to post that number played in the tournament’s first pairing and featured PGA Professional Jim Smith, Jr. (Philadelphia Cricket Club) and his partners Joanne Bidwell, Kristen Fireman, and Courtney Schultz. They were joined late in the day by the team of Cameron Small (Aronimink Golf Club) and his partners Lynne Jones, Casey Reiss, and Jeanne Waldron to share the tournament’s top spot.
The Section thanks our tournament partners Lincoln Motor Company, Skechers Golf, Belle Monde Luggage and the SVS Wealth Management Team at Morgan Stanley. The Philadelphia PGA resumes tournament action on Tuesday, May 28 at Sunnybrook Golf Club for the annual Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic.