Shawnee’s Brian Bergstol Wins 32nd Burlington Classic Pro-Am
Westampton, N.J. – The second and final round of the 32nd 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 32nd 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.