The Georgia PGA will be represented at the PGA Championship for a sixth straight year, as River Pointe pro Sonny Skinner recorded a top-10 finish in the recent PGA Professional National Championship in Oregon.
Skinner earned a spot in the 2013 PGA Championship in August at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., tying for 9th in the PNC. It will be Skinner’s third start in the PGA Championship – and his third top 10 in the PNC – since 2008.
Bill Murchison, an assistant at Towne Lake Hills, nearly qualified for the PGA Championship for a second straight year, missing a top-20 finish by just one shot.
Nine Georgia PGA members competed in the PNC, with three of them making the 36-hole cut. Tim Weinhart, an instructor with Nuclear Golf, which is based at the Standard Club, finished in a tie for 59th in his 15th career start in the PNC.
Skinner finished 2nd in the PNC in both 2008 (at Reynolds Plantation) and 2010. It will be his second appearance in a PGA Championship this year, as he also qualified for the 2013 Senior PGA Championship, narrowly missing low club professional honors in that event.
An opening 67 on the easier of the two courses used for the first two days at Sunriver Resort put Skinner in a tie for 6th, but he fell out of a top 20 with a 75 the next day on the Meadows course. Skinner moved into the top 10 by shooting even par (71-73) over the weekend, finishing strong both days.
Skinner birdied the 18th hole in the third round to stay in the top 10 after 54 holes, and clinched his spot in the PGA Championship with a birdie at the long, par-3 17th the final day. He finished at 1-under 286 in a 5-way tie for 9th.
During his career as a tour player, which included four seasons on the PGA Tour, Skinner never qualified for a major championship, but will be making his third start in the PGA next month since becoming a Georgia PGA member in ’08.
Murchison was in position to get into a playoff for the final three spots in the PGA Championship, but a bogey at the 17th knocked him out, Murchison finished at 2-over 289, shooting 75-73 the final two days. He qualified for the PGA Championship last year, getting a spot in the PNC field as an alternate after Skinner withdrew to compete in a Champions Tour event.
A second round 70 on the Meadows course gave Murchison a 2-under 141 total after 36 holes and a spot in the top 20. He struggled on the front nine in the third round before a spectacular finish put him back in contention. Murchison played his final five holes birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle, making 2 on the par-4 18th when his approach shot one-hopped into the hole.
Murchison was 1-under after seven holes the final day before taking a double bogey on the par-4 eighth.
Weinhart was hoping to qualify for the PGA Championship in the city where he was born and still has a strong family contention, but was never inside the top 30 after any round. He shot 71-73-74-77 for an 8-over 295 total. Weinhart was either under par or even pat late on the front nine in each of his last three rounds, but suffered a double bogey on the back nine all four days to cost him a chance of a top-20 finish and a sixth career start in the PGA Championship.
Tommy Brannen, the head professional at Augusta CC, and Brian Dixon of Fox Creek both missed the 36-hole cut by one shot, posting 146 totals over the first two days.
Brannen shot 72-74 and was inside the cut line before a pair of bogeys on the back nine the second day. Dixon, making his first start in the PNC. scored an eagle on the Meadows course in a first round 74, and shot 1-over 72 the next day on the easier Crosswater layout, making 17 pars and a bogey in a birdie-less round.
Country Club of the South Director of Instructor Shawn Koch shot 74-74—148, managing just one birdie in 36 holes, none the second day on the Crosswater course.
Craig Stevens, playing in his 16th PNC, triple-bogeyed the 18th hole on both courses, and shot 75-74—149 to miss the cut by four strokes. Stevens, an instructor at Brookstone CC, was even par on his round the first day after back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16, but made a triple on the 18th on Meadows. He was 1-under after eight holes on Crosswater, but a triple bogey on his ninth hole of the day dropped him well outside the cut line.
After shooting 74 on the tougher Meadows, Chicopee Woods assistant Greg Lee struggled to a 79 the next day on Crosswater to miss the cut. Gregg Wolff, one of four Georgia PGA qualifiers for the PNC over the age of 50, shot 76-78—154. Wolff, the head pro at Willow Lake in Metter, was 2-under after four holes the second day on the Meadows course to briefly get close to the cut line.