Wilmington, Del. (August 29, 2022) — As DuPont Country Club and Concord Country Club host the 101st Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, PGA Member Brian Bergtsol of Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania, vaulted to the top of the leaderboard to lead by two stokes over fellow PGA Member Zac Oakley of Bidermann Golf Club in Wilmington, Delaware, following his 5-under-par opening round of 66. The championship is presented by Cadillac, Club Car and Rolex.

Championship week began a little earlier this year, as the Philadelphia PGA Section hosted 13 past champions for its inaugural Philadelphia PGA Professional Champions Dinner on Sunday evening at DuPont. John Pillar, the PGA of America’s current District 2 Director and a past Section champion himself, approached the Section about hosting a dinner to celebrate champions from the past 100 years.

In his opening round, Bergstol paired an impressive seven birdies with two bogies at Concord, and will venture to DuPont for tomorrow’s second round in the 54-hole championship.

“I played really solid,” Bergstol said of his first round. “Overall it was a really good round, although I still missed three putts within eight feet. I hit it super

and hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways, and took care of business on the par-5s.”

Bergstol went on to say he plans to attack the event like three separate one-day tournaments.

Following Bergstol at 5-under-par, and Oakley at 3-under, five PGA Professionals are tied for third at 2-under-par entering the second round: 2003 Philadelphia PGA Professional Champion Terry Hatch, Royal Oaks G.C.; Braden Shattuck, Rolling Green G.C.; 2018 Champion Billy Stewart, Union League Liberty Hill; Michael Rushin, Bear Trap Dunes; John Cooper, Green Valley G.C.; and Nick Iacono, Chester Valley G.C.

One-hundred-fifty-seven of the Philadelphia PGA Section’s best players are competing for the William B. Packer Trophy and a berth into the 56th PGA Professional Championship, ​April 30 – May 3, at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Pueblo Golf Clubs in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. From there, PGA Members from the 41 PGA Sections will compete to join the Team of 20 and earn a berth into the 2023 PGA Championship on May 15-21, at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.

The second round continues tomorrow, August 30 at 8:00 a.m. at both DuPont C.C. and Concord C.C. Follow the action via our live scoring by visiting golfgenius.com/pages/3409682 and our social media channels: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. For more information on the championship, including the week’s schedule, pairings, and more, visit the championship’s official e-publication.

Members of the media are welcome onsite to cover the championship.

The 101st Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship is presented by Cadillac, Club Car and Rolex, and supported by Titleist, FootJoy, Nike, Callaway, TaylorMade Golf, Golf Channel, the PGA Tour, Precise Yardage Books, SCNS Sports Foods, Ship Sticks, and Visit Delco, Pa. The Philadelphia PGA Section and its PGA Professionals thank our hosts, DuPont Country Club and Concord Country Club, its members, management, host PGA Professionals, and staff, as well as our partners, as the event would not have been possible without their support.

To view the full 101st Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship leaderboard, click here.

The next Philadelphia PGA Rolex / The Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year tournament on the schedule is the 25th annual Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic on Tuesday, September 6, at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

About the Philadelphia PGA Section
The Philadelphia PGA Section, covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, is one of 41 geographical managing entities of the PGA of America. This Section manages nearly 900 PGA Members and Associates who are employed at over 590 golf facilities in our region.

Contact: Matt Frey, PGA, Communications Director, mfrey@pgahq.com