The 2017 PGA Professional Championship will be played for the 50th time beginning Sunday, June 18 and concluding Wednesday, June 21 at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon. The 312 PGA Professionals in the field will all be competing for the top spot and the Walter Hagen Trophy. Additionally, those finishing in top20 at the Championship will also earn a spot in the 99th PGA Championship being held at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina August 7-13, 2017.

The Philadelphia PGA will be represented by the following 14 Section Professionals:

Name		Facility	Player Bio	Tee Times	Scorecard
Jordan Gibbs		Gulph Mills Golf Club	- 1st National Championship - 95th PPGA Professional Champion	8:50 AM Sunday Meadows 2:20 PM Monday Crosswater	Gibbs Scorecard
Stu Ingraham		M Golf Range	- 27th National Championship - 2x PPGA Professional Champion - 8x PPGA Player of the Year - Qualified 2017 US Senior Open	1:55 PM Sunday Crosswater 8:25 AM Monday Meadows	Ingraham Scorecard
Chris Krueger		King's Creek Country Club	- 2nd National Championship - Past State Open Champion	1:25 PM Sunday Meadows 7:55 AM Monday Crosswater	Krueger Scorecard
Michael Little		Lookaway Golf Club	- 1st National Championship - 2016 PPGA Player of the Year	1:40 PM Sunday Meadows 8:10 AM Monday Crosswater	Little Scorecard
Dave McNabb		Applebrook Golf Club	- National Championship - 94th PPGA Professional Champion - Competed in 2 PGA Championships - Qualified 2017 US Senior Open	2:10 PM Sunday Crosswater 8:40 AM Monday Meadows	McNabb Scorecard
Brett Melton		Radley Run Country Club	- 11th National Championship - 5x Indiana PGA Player of the Year	8:25 AM Sunday Meadows 1:55 PM Monday Crosswater	Melton Scorecard
Mike Molino		Country Club of Scranton	- 3rd National Championship - 6th Place in 95th PPGA Championship	1:05 PM Sunday Meadows 7:35 AM Monday Crosswater	Molino Scorecard
Dave Pagett		Whitemarsh Valley Country Club	- 1st National Championship - 4 PPGA Top 10 finished in 2016	3:05 PM Sunday	Pager Scorecard
Tony Perla		Philadelphia Cricket Club	- 1st National Championship - Competed in 3 Nat'l Asst. Championship - 2016 PPGA Assistants Champion	9:00 AM Sunday Crosswater 2:30 PM Monday Meadows	Perla Scorecard
John Pillar		Country Club of Woodloch Springs	- 10th National Championship - 88th PPGA Professional Champion - Qualified for 2017 US Senior Open	8:05 AM Sunday Meadows 1:35 PM Monday Crosswater	Pillar Scorecard
Scott Reilly		Philadelphia Country Club	- 1st National Championship - 2012 Haverford Classic Champion	2:45 PM Sunday Meadows 9:15 AM Monday Crosswater	Reilly Scorecard
Mark Sheftic		Merion Golf Club	- 7th National Championship - 3x PGA Cup Participant - Played in 2 PGA Championships	2:35 PM Sunday Crosswater 9:05 AM Monday Meadows	Sheftic Scorecard
John Spina		Philadelphia Cricket Club	- 3rd National Championship - 3 Top10 finishes in 2016	1:30 PM Sunday Meadows 8:00 AM Monday Crosswater	Spina Scorecard
Bill Walker		Riverton Country Club	- 3rd National Championship - 2005 PPGA Assistant Player of the Year - Competed in 2 Web.com events	8:45 AM Sunday Crosswater 2:15 PM Monday Meadows	Walker Scorecard

Royersford, Pa. – On Tuesday, June 13, Spring Ford Country Club played host to the Jack Jolly / Golf Pride Championship, the season’s seventh point’s event in the race for the Omega Player of the Year presented by Haverford Trust. The Jack Jolly / Golf Pride Championship was played as an individual stroke play event and featured a field of 83 PGA Professionals which included 28 players from the Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO) who were competing in the PAO event which was held in conjunction with today’s Championship. As a note some PAO members were competing in both of the day’s tournaments.

Players competing in today’s tournament had to deal with more than the challenging Spring Ford layout as temperatures crept into the mid-90s proving that summer is truly less than a week away. However, playing in the tournament’s first pairing, Brett Melton (Radley Run Country Club) showed that good scores were available in spite of the difficult conditions. Melton posted four birdies through 14 holes before adding a fifth on the par 4, 17^th but bogeys on holes 15, 16 and 18 dropped Melton to 2-under (70) for the day and he would be forced to watch the leaderboard.

Unfortunately, not far behind Melton, Jordan Gibbs (Gulph Mills Golf Club) would end the wait for Melton after just three groups, by finishing at 3-under (69). Gibbs carded one birdie on his outward nine to make the turn at 1-under but a bogey on the par 4, 10^th, his lone blemish on the day, quickly dropped him back to even par. Gibbs would post three additional birdies as he made his way back into the clubhouse to take the 1-shot lead. Needing to head back to work at Gulph Mills, Gibbs would also keep a close watch on the tournament leaderboard.

It looked as though Gibbs lead would hold as players came close but faded as they came down the stretch. However, one player who was up to the challenge was seasoned tournament veteran Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range). Fresh off of qualifying for the US Senior Open, Ingraham played a near perfect round of golf carding three birdies along the way to finish tied with Gibbs at 3-under (69). At the end of the day it came down to a sudden-death playoff between Ingraham and Gibbs. Gibbs went first hitting it far right, while Ingraham’s drive found the end of the fairway. Both Gibbs and Ingraham found the green with their second shot giving both a look at birdie. Putting first, Ingraham was able to make his 13’ putt forcing Gibbs to do the same with his 10 footer. Despite his best effort, Gibbs’ putt just missed giving Ingraham the win.

“This win means so much to me especially this year,” said Ingraham on his win. “I met Dennis McGugan in 1991 and he was always a great friend to me. To capture the title after we lost such a great person is something I will never forget.”

All was not lost for Gibbs as he did take home the top prize in the PAO Jack Jolly / Golf Pride Championship, his first PAO win of the 2017 season. Ingraham would also clinch a win in the senior division posting a 2-shot win over Dave Quinn (Philmont Country Club) who finished with a 1-under (71).

Special congratulations go out to Joe Kogelman (GolfTEC – Moorestown) who carded his first hole-in-one in tournament play. Kogelman used an 8-iron on the par 3, 170 yards long 14^th hole to accomplish the feat.

The Section would like to thank our tournament sponsors, Jack Jolly & Son and Golf Pride Grips who came out to today’s event. The Philadelphia PGA will return to action on Monday, June 26 at Biderman Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware for the Connelly Club / Head Pro Championship.

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Egg Harbor Township, N.J, – The 34 teams that gathered at Hidden Creek Golf Club for the National Car Rental AC Team Stableford Championship thought that June would bring summer weather, but instead, it turned out to be more like a chilly autumn afternoon. Despite the conditions, the sun decided to come out for the afternoon wave and all the competitors had an enjoyable day. All teams featured one PGA Professional and three amateurs and playing a stableford points system competing in both a Net and a Gross division.

In the Net Division the final pairing of the day Jonathan Trauner from GolfTEC Moorestown and his amateur partners Al Silvertri, Bob Davis, and Bernard Gmitter finished at top of the leaderboard with a score of 88 points beating out four teams with 86 points. Trauner eagled #8 followed with a birdie on #18. The Gross division was won by the team of John Kulhamer from Green Pond Country Club and his amateur partners Jason Wilson, Charlie Leon, and Tom Lusto with a score of 80 points. Kulhamer birdied back to back holes on 14 and 15.

The Philadelphia PGA would like to thank the tournament sponsors Golf Life Navigators and especially National Car Rental for bringing their mobile experience bus to the tournament and offering to re-grip the competitors’ clubs. Additionally, the Philadelphia PGA thanks the membership and staff of Hidden Creek Golf Club for their continued support. The next event on the Philly PGA schedule is this Tuesday, June 13^th, at Springford Country Club for the Jack Jolly/ Golf Pride Championship.

For more information, visit www.philadelphia.pga.com or follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Westampton, N.J. – The second and final round of the 32^nd Burlington Classic Pro-Am was played on Monday, June 5 at Burlington Country Club. After the opening round Pro-Am, all PGA Professionals, and the top three amateur participants returned to complete their 36-hole stroke play tournament.

“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.

With inclement weather in the forecast, tee times for the second round were shifted to an 8:00 am shotgun to avoid the storms scheduled for the afternoon. Even though all players were on the course at the same time the tournament leaders were paired together to help make for an exciting finish with a dozen players within five shots of the lead.

After a very impressive opening round of 9-under par (61) Trevor Bensel (Huntingdon Valley Country Club) hoped to re-capture the magic of his opening round. However, Bensel managed only one birdie on his outward nine and didn’t fare much better on the back nine finding some trouble which ultimately dropped him from contention. Despite not finishing in the top spot Bensel did manage to secure a top 10 finish in his first tournament of the 2017 season with a tournament total of 3-under (137).

Making an early charge at the top spot was Indian Spring Golf Club Professional Curtis Kirkpatrick. After posting a 4-under (66) in Sunday’s round, Kirkpatrick quickly made waves in the second round. He carded five birdies through eight holes to take a share of the lead. Unfortunately, his second nine was not as successful and when his round was finished Kirkpatrick had dropped from the top spot but did secure his second top ten finish on the year with a two day total of 2-under (138).

Playing in the tournament’s final pairing Brian Bergstol (Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort) was able to keep an eye on exactly what was needed to secure a win at the 32^nd Burlington Classic. Bergstol who was two shots back of the leader after a first round 7-under (63) got off to a near-perfect start with birdies on three of his first four holes. After a pair of bogeys, Bergstol closed his outward nine with a fourth birdie to make the turn at 9-under with nine holes to play. While most players found trouble on Burlington’s back nine, Bergstol was able to keep his game in check playing his final nine holes at even par to finish the two-day event at 9-under (131) giving Bergstol a three-shot win over the field and his first Philadelphia PGA tournament win.

In the senior division, Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) made a late surge with five birdies over his final six holes to finish with a 36-hole total of 6-under (134) to take home his third senior points win of the 2017 and a tie for second in the regular division.

Congratulations to amateur Travis Mazurek who was awarded the Marotto Medal as the tournament’s low amateur after a posting a two-day total of 18-over (158). The Marotto Medal is named in memory of longtime Burlington Country Club member Ron Marotto, who was instrumental in starting the Burlington Classic Pro-Am.

The Section would like to thank the membership and staff of Burlington Country Club as well as tournament sponsor Adidas golf. The next event on the Philadelphia PGA tournament calendar is the National Car Rental AC Team Stableford Championship at Hidden Creek on Thursday, June 8.

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Flourtown, Pa. – One day removed from Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer, the annual Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic was held at Sunnybrook Golf Club. Despite temperatures and conditions that were more like fall weather, it did not deter the field of 150 players (138 professionals and 12 amateurs) for competing for the Section’s largest first place check…$100,000.

One year removed from the sting of a runner-up finish, Andrew Turner (Sunnybrook Golf Club) was primed to have a different outcome in 2017. Playing early in the day, Turner did not get off to the start he envisioned after he bogeyed the par4 2^nd hole. However, using some home course knowledge Turner was able to turn things around and birdie four holes to close his opening nine holes at 3-under. After making the turn, Turner carded four additional birdies but it was not all that good coming in as three bogeys dropped Turner to 4-under (68) at the end of his round. The early tee time meant that the only thing Turner could do was sit and wait to see if his score would be good enough for a win.

As play went on in the morning wave players now knew the number they needed to reach. However, at the end of the wave, the closest someone would get would be three shots, as fresh off his appearance at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, George Forster (Radnor Valley Country Club) would finish his day at 1-under (71).

In the afternoon wave, a few players made a charge at Turner and the top of the leaderboard. The first to make waves was Justin Riegel (French Creek Golf Club). After twelve holes, Riegel was able to match Turner at 4-under but a couple of bogeys on his closing holes dropped Riegel out of the top spot.

The next player to make a charge for the lead was Jake Gerney (Trump National Philadelphia). Gerney made the turn at even par but after three consecutive birdies on holes 11thrru 13, Gerney was only one shot back. However, that was as close as Gerney would get, as an untimely bogey on the par 4 14^th hole dropped Gerney to 2-under (70) which would ultimately be good enough for a solo second place finish.

The final player to make a charge at Turner was Steve Swartz (Regents Glen Golf Club). Like Gerney, Swartz reached the 3-under number but a couple of late bogeys also dropped Swartz out of contention.

When all was said and done no one was able to match Turner at the top and his 4-under number would be good enough to give Turner the title and the $100,000 first place prize. It was a great time for Turner to capture his first Philadelphia PGA tournament win as the first place prize in the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic is the largest of the year.

Leading the way in the amateur division was Joe McClatchy who posted an impressive 5-under (67). As a note, amateurs playing in today’s tournament play from a modified set of tees.

As always the members of the Philadelphia PGA would like to thank Mr. George Connell and the Haverford Trust Company as well as the membership of Sunnybrook Golf Club for their tremendous support of this event.

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