Trevor Bensel Outlasts Field to Win Match Play Championship
Concordville, Pa. – For the third consecutive day the Philadelphia PGA returned to Concord Country Club to for the 2017 Match Play Championship. After two exciting days of golf the field was whittled down from 64 players to just four all looking to capture the season’s final point’s event.
The first semifinal match featured Greg Farrow (Deerwood Country Club) and Trevor Bensel (Huntingdon Valley Country Club). Early in the match the players battled back and forth with each gaining no more than a hole advantage. However with a win on the short par-4 5th hole, Bensel grabbed a 1-up lead and would never relinquish it back. In the end, Bensel closed out Farrow on the 17th hole to win 2&1 and advanced to the finals.
In the second semifinal match Brian Bergstol (Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort) w battled the 2017 Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic champion Andrew Turner (Sunnybrook Golf Club). After winning the first hole to grab a quick 1-up lead, Bergstol did not win another hole until the par-5 14th hole. After taking the lead on the 4th hole, Turner increased his advantage to as much as 4-up before closing out Bergstol on the 16th hole to win 3&2 and set up a finals match with Bensel.
Bensel’s road to the finals featured wins over John Rudolph (2&1), Mickey Sokalski (2-up), Tom Michaels (2&1) and Jakob Gerney (4&3) before his win over Farrow in the semifinals. Turner had wins over Jimmy Maack (5&4), Carson Solien (4&3), Michael Caldwell (4&3) and Dave Quinn (1-up) before beating Bergstol to advance to the finals.
As the finals match got underway, Bensel got off to a quick start with a win on the first hole to grab a quick 1-up lead. However, his lead did not last long as Bensel dropped the second hole to Turner after making a bogey. But after that dropped hole, Bensel went on to win five consecutive holes to lead the match 5-up through seven holes. Turner cut into the lead with a win on the par-3 8th hole before the pair traded pars on the 9th hole giving Bensel a 4-up lead after nine holes.
After making the turn, the pair traded wins with Bensel grabbing the 10th hole and Turner winning the par-3 11th with a birdie. After halving the 12th hole the pair once again traded holes with Bensel winning the par-4 13th and Turner grabbing the par-5 14th. The pair both parred the par-3 15th hole but with the match dormie the halved hole gave Bensel the match 4&3. The win was Bensel’s first Philadelphia PGA tournament win.
“It’s definitely exciting to get my first Philly PGA tournament win”, said Bensel of his Match Play win. “I play matches with the guys at Huntingdon Valley all the time so it’s a format I am comfortable with. I played well in my early matches which gave me a lot of confidence. I want to thank Mike Moses and everyone at Concord Country Club for a great week as well as all of the tournament sponsors for their support.”
The Section would like to thank the membership and staff at Concord Country Club for their hospitality during the week. The Section also thanks event sponsors Omega and the PGA Tour for their continued support of our tournament program.
The next on the Philadelphia PGA calendar is the annual Fall Meeting which, this year, is being held at Cedarbrook Country Club. The meeting is a chance for the Section’s officers to update the membership on all business matters. After the meeting will be the Fall Meeting foursome event, the final tournament of the 2017 season.