HALF MOON BAY, California – Al Weinhold of Placerville, CA, winner of the Northern California Senior PGA Professional Championship and Senior Stroke Play Championship August 22-23, 2011 at Half Moon Bay Golf Links will lead 9 Section PGA Professionals to compete Oct. 6-9, in the 23rd Southworth Senior PGA Professional National Championship. Jim Collart from Lincoln, CA earned the title of Super Sr. Stroke Play Champion with a total score of 147.
The National Championship, presented by Mercedes-Benz, will be conducted for the first time at Creighton Farms of Aldie, Va., and River Creek Club of Leesburg, Va.
Weinhold turned in a winning total of 2-under-par 142 to capture the Northern California Senior PGA Professional Championship supported by Southworth Development LLC and Mercedes-Benz and local presenting partner Golf Insurance Services, www.golfinsuranceservices.com.
The Southworth Senior PGA Professional National Championship brings together a field of 264 contestants representing The PGA of America’s 41 nationwide Sections, and features a total purse of $285,000 on both courses over the first two rounds. Creighton Farms, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, will host the final 36 holes.
This marks the Senior PGA Professional National Championship’s first year of title sponsorship by Southworth Development, which has headquarters in Newton, Mass., and presenting sponsor Mercedes-Benz.
Creighton Farms, a par-72, 7,410-yard layout that opened in 2008, was one of two private courses in the world to achieve recognition by Golf Digest, GOLF Magazine and Travel Leisure Golf in the same season. In 2009, Golfweek selected Creighton Farms among its “Best New Private Golf Courses.” Creighton Farms reflects the Nicklaus trademark of a challenging design, focusing on course management strategy and precision rather than power.
River Creek Club, a challenging, 7,036-yard, par-72 layout, was designed by Ault, Clark & Associates, with Tom Clark of Marshall, Va., the lead architect in the regional firm. River Creek Club made its debut in 1997 as one of three golf courses nestled on the Potomac River, and bearing challenging, large undulating greens as its signature and most prominent set of challenges.
Begun in 1989, the Senior PGA Professional National Championship is modeled after the PGA Professional National Championship, with a field of 50-and-older senior PGA Professionals who advanced through 41 Section Championships conducted from July through September this year.
The top 35 finishers in the National Championship earn a berth in the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, which will be conducted May 24-27, 2012, at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich. The top five finishers earn an exemption into the final stage of the 2011 Champions Tour National Finals. Since its debut, many participants in the Senior PGA Professional National Championship have used their success in the event as a springboard to a Champions Tour career.
Conducted concurrently was the NCPGA Senior Division Stroke Play Championship.
About The PGA of America
Celebrating its 95th year, The PGA of America has maintained a twofold mission of its founders: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf. By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, The PGA enables its professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in a multi-billion dollar golf industry. By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public’s interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.
About the Northern California Section of the PGA of America (NCPGA)
Organized in 1920 to promote interest in the game of golf, the birth of this association was heralded as an important step to the advancement of the game in this district. The Northern California Section is one of the forty-one designated Sections of the PGA of America, the world’s largest working sports organization. With over 1,100 dedicated PGA Professionals and apprentices at over 500 golf facilities in Northern California and Northwestern Nevada, the association continues to have a positive impact on the game of golf and communities both regionally and nationally.
Contact:
Jennifer Noel or Nancy Maul
PH: (707) 449-4742
Email: jnoel@pgahq.com or nmaul@pgahq.com
