Phoenixville, Pa. – The second points event on the Philadelphia PGA calendar, The TaylorMade Classic, was played on Monday, April 30 at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve. The event featured nearly 120 players and was a combined event with the Section’s Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO).

Although the calendar read April 30, Mother Nature had other ideas as temperatures remained relatively cool and brisk winds plagued the players throughout the day. Early in the tournament it looked like the number to reach would be even par (71). The first player to post that number was 2016 Philadelphia PGA Player of the Year Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club). After a benign front nine, Little traded two birdies and two bogeys on his inward nine, including a birdie on the par-4 18^th hole to finish as the first player at par or better.

Little was quickly joined by Billy Stewart (The ACE Club) who after three bogeys through his first nine holes managed to play blemish-free adding multiple birdies along the way to get back to even par.

However, one player in the field had his eyes set on his first tournament victory. Kevin Nicholson (White Manor Country Club) played a near perfect round enabling him to overcome the difficult conditions the wind presented the rest of the field. Nicholson posted one eagle and four birdies against only two bogeys, to finish at 4-under-par (67) and the first player to post red figures. As the leader in the clubhouse Nicholson would need to wait more than two hours to see if his number would be good enough.

As group after group finish it looked as though no one would come within four shots of Nicholson, however John Appleget (The Shore Club) had a great round going. Through ten holes Appleget was 2-under-par but an untimely double-bogey on the par-4 15^th derailed Applget’s chances for a win but he did manage a birdie on the closing hole to finish at 1-under-par (70) and a solo second place finish.

In the tournament’s final group, Bob Hennefer (Indian Spring Golf Course) managed to get his score to 2-under-par through seventeen holes but a double bogey on his final hole ultimately dropped him into a third place tie at even par (71).

With no other players in the field managing to shoot under par Nicholson earned his first Philadelphia PGA individual points win of his career.

“Competing in one the best playing Sections in the country I am at a loss for words with this win, said Nicholson. I have a put in a lot of hard work to start this season and it seemed to all come together today. It means so much to me to be included in the list of professionals that have won a Philadelphia PGA tournament. I want to thank our tournament sponsor TaylorMade and Mike Zupi and Jay Junkin as well as Jamie Komancheck and the entire staff and membership of RiverCrest Golf Club and Preserve for hosting us today.”

The victory for Nicolson was twice as nice as he also took home top honors in the PAO TaylorMade Classic event. Nicholson finished four shots clear of second place finishers Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club) and Billy Stewart (The ACE Club) who ended the day at even par (71).

Leading the way in the tournament’s senior division was John Appleget (The Shore Club). Appleget carded a 1-under-par (70) to finish two-shots ahead of both Dave McNabb (Applebrook Golf Club) and Stu Ingraham (M Golf Range) who both finished at 1-over-par (72).

The Section would like to thank our tournament sponsors TaylorMade Golf and our Section representatives Mike Zupi and Jay Junkin as well as the PGA Tour for supporting today’s event.

The next event on the Philadelphia PGA tournament calendar is the Spring Pro-Pro Championship which will be played on Monday, May 7 at the Country Club of York.

For complete coverage of the Philadelphia PGA be sure to follow us on our Social Media Channels Facebook / Twitter / Instagram.

Full Tournament Leaderboard