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46 | June 2013 | www.pgamagazine.com (password: PGAmag007)

P G A C O V E R S T O R Y

2013 PGA PROFESSIONAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

SHOWDOWNAT SUNRIVER

For the third time in history, the PGA ProfessionalNational Championship will return to Sunriver (Ore.)Resort and to the scenic Crosswater Club and itsnearby sister layout, the Meadows Course.

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THE 46TH PGA PROFESSIONALNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNSTOTHE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, WHERETOP PLAYERS FROM AROUND THECOUNTRY WILL COMPETE FOR AVICTORY AND MUCH MOREBy Don Jozwiak, Senior EditorPhotos courtesy of Sunriver Resort

P R E S E N T E D B Y:


The 46th PGA Professional National Champi-onship will be contested on June 23–26 at Sunriver’sCrosswater Club and Meadows Golf Course. Thisyear’s National Championship marks the third timethe event has been held at the central Oregon resort.A pair of Middle Atlantic PGA Section memberswon the previous two National Championships atSunriver: Wayne DeFrancesco led wire to wire whenSunriver hosted the event for the first time in 2001,while Chip Sullivan rolled to a four-stroke victorywhen the event returned to Sunriver in 2007.

A worldwide Golf Channel audience will watchthe 312 players in the 2013 PGA ProfessionalNational Championship field in prime time, and

the event’s Sunday-Wednesday dates will make thebroadcasts must-see TV during a time when livegolf rarely appears. Viewers will be watching to seeif 2013 National Champion Matt Dobyns of FreshMeadow Country Club in Lake Success, N.Y., canauthor a repeat performance of his record-breakingeight-stroke victory last year at Bayonet BlackHorse in Seaside, Calif.

This year’s Champion will receive $75,000, thehonor of having his name engraved on the WalterHagen Cup, and exemptions into six PGA Tourevents over the next 12 months. The NationalChampion will also be joined by the rest of the top20 finishers at Sunriver in qualifying for the 95th


There’s going to be a showdown when the pga professional national champi-

onship presented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA returns to the Wild Westthis month, and there’s plenty at stake. When the showcase event for PGA Professionalsconcludes at Sunriver Resort near Bend, Ore., the winner will hoist the Walter Hagen

Cup, 20 PGA Professionals will have earned their place in August’s PGA Championship at Oak HillCountry Club in Rochester, N.Y., and the U.S. side for September’s PGA Cup in England will startcoming into focus.

Breathtaking viewsof Mt. Bachelor arevisible throughoutSunriver Resort, as seen here onhole No. 16 of theMeadows Course.


PGA Championship, Aug. 8–11 at Oak Hill CountryClub’s East Course in Rochester, N.Y.

The 2013 PGA Professional National Champi-on and other top-10 finishers at Sunriver will also receive points toward qualifying for the 26thPGA Cup. The 10-man team of PGA of AmericaProfessionals will compete against a team of clubprofessionals from Great Britain & Ireland in theRyder Cup-style matches, set for Sept. 20– 22 at theSlaley Hall Hunting Course in Northumberland,England. The 10-player U.S. side will be finalizedafter the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

Add it all up, and there’s plenty at stake this yearat Sunriver.

“The National Championship really representsthe essence of everything we do as PGA Profession-als,” says PGA President Ted Bishop, who is servingas PGA Professional National Championship chair-man for a record fifth consecutive year. “You have312 of the best players, who’ve qualified out ofroughly 3,500 players who competed in 41 PGASection Championships to earn their spots in theNational Championship. And those players are allpreparing to play while still doing their home jobs,doing the variety of things that PGA Professionalsdo on a daily basis. And when the PGA ProfessionalNational Championship at Sunriver is over, they’llgo right back to work.”

That was the case for Dobyns last year, whoscrambled to catch a redeye flight back to NewYork to teach the lessons he had booked for themorning after the final round of the NationalChampionship.

“I was a little tired for those lessons, but ourmembers were so excited and mostly wanted to talkabout the National Championship and what it waslike,” Dobyns says. “It was really fun to share thatsuccess with them.”

What to Expect This YearBefore the winner of the 2013 PGA ProfessionalNational Championship heads back to his homefacility with the Walter Hagen Cup and all theother spoils of victory, he’ll have to solve thebrawny tests presented by the Crosswater andMeadows courses at Sunriver. Competitors willplay one round on each of the courses before a 36-hole cut to the low 70 and ties, with the final tworounds being played at Crosswater.

Crosswater was designed by Bob Cupp, windingthrough 600 acres of woodlands and wetlandsalong the Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers.The Certified Audubon Sanctuary course openedin 1995, and has changed little in the ensuing 18

years. Players who competed in the 2007 PGA Pro-fessional National Championship may notice onenotable change: Crosswater’s greens were regrassedin late 2011 to eliminate the Poa Annua grass thathad intruded onto the bentgrass putting surfaces.With more than a year to grow in, the pure T1 Bent-grass greens are ready to roll firm and fast for thisyear’s competitors.

“The Crosswater greens came out of the winterin great shape, and they should be spectacular whenthe National Championship gets underway,” saysPGA Professional Mark Tschetschot, The PGA’sdirector of member tournaments. “They’re goingto roll fast and true, and we should see some verygood scores.”

In addition to the previous PGA ProfessionalNational Championships won by DeFrancesco andSullivan, Sunriver was also the host of the Jeld-WenTradition – a major on the Champions Tour – from2007–10. Fred Funk won the event in 2008 and2010, with Mark McNulty (2007) and Mike Reid(2009) capturing the other two titles during theevent’s four years at Sunriver.

Funk, McNulty and Reid are all known for theiraccuracy, as are DeFrancesco and Sullivan. SunriverResort PGA General Manager Scott Ellender sayseach of the players to win at Sunriver fits the profileof what the facility’s courses demand. Despite theeye-catching 7,566 yards that Crosswater can play,Ellender says PGA Professional National Champi-onship competitors will not find themselves at a


Who: 312 PGA Professionals in good standing representing 41 PGASections.

What: 72-hole stroke playtournament.

Where: Crosswater Club (par 72, 7,105 yards) and Meadows GolfCourse (par 72, 6,904 yards), Sunriver, Ore.

When: June 23–26, 2013

Television: Golf Channel (all times EDT)

Live BroadcastsSunday, June 23, Golf Channel, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.Monday, June 24, Golf Channel, 3:30 – 6 p.m.Tuesday, June 25, Golf Channel, 4 – 7 p.m.Wednesday, June 26, Golf Channel, 4 – 7 p.m.

Replays:Monday, June 24, Golf Channel, 4:30 – 6:30 a.m.Tuesday, June 25, Golf Channel, 3 – 5 a.m.Wednesday, June 26, Golf Channel, 3 – 5 a.m.Thursday, June 27, Golf Channel, 3 – 5 a.m.

Defending Champion: Matt Dobyns

At Stake: The 2013 PGA Professional National Champion receivesexemptions into the 2013 PGA Championship, the 2013 PGACup and six PGA Tour events over a 12-month period. Thelow 20 finishers receive an automatic invitation to play in the2013 PGA Championship, Aug. 8-11 at Oak Hill Country Club inRochester, N.Y.

Purse: $550,000 (Walter Hagen Cup and $75,000 presented toChampion)

Presenting Sponsors: Club Car, Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA

SupportingSponsors: Titleist, Nike, TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Callaway Golf and

PGA Tour

Exclusive Media Partner: Golf Channel

46th PGA Professional National Championshippresented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA

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“bomber’s paradise.”“Crosswater and Meadows are both ball-striker

golf courses,” says Ellender, who came to Sunriverfrom Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort in January of 2008.“The courses play at 4,200 feet, so distance isn’treally a factor – the ball really travels here, and espe-cially in June you get a lot of roll on your tee shots.You need to be accurate off the tee to set up manageable approach shots, and then you need tocontrol your distance into the greens.”

According to 2001 National Championshipwinner DeFrancesco, it’s a combination of eleva-tion, elements and the course’s greens that makeCrosswater a unique challenge.

“It takes you a round or two to really get used tothe elevation change, especially for an East Coastguy like me,” says the director of instruction atWoodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

When he traveled to central Oregon in 2001,DeFrancesco was an assistant professional at Baltimore’s Woodholme Country Club. He didn’thave much experience playing at elevation or in ahigh desert environment. By the end of his week at Sunriver, he’d experienced all that and more.

“I played well in practice, and really had all partsof my game hitting on all cylinders, but it was still agreat challenge,” says DeFrancesco, who plans tocompete in this year’s National Championship. “Butwe had some weather come in, and things deterioratedfrom ideal conditions in the 80s for the first tworounds to mid-50s with strong wind for the finalround. You really had to grind; I remember birdieingthe first three holes of the final round, then makingdouble on four and bogeying five. I said to my caddie,

‘There’s all kinds of ways to be even par.’ With thealtitude and everything else, that’s a good attitude tohave at Sunriver. Crosswater’s a really unique course,and I can’t wait to see it again.”

Of course, Crosswater isn’t the only layout inplay at the National Championship this year. Com-petitors will also play a round on Sunriver’s Mead-ows Golf Course, which is shorter and moreprotected from the elements than Crosswater.Fred Federspiel designed the original Meadows lay-out, which opened in 1969, and the course wasredesigned by John Fought three decades later. TheSun and Falls rivers run through the property,which is two miles away from the Crosswater Club.

As Sullivan learned during his 2007 NationalChampionship run, Meadows Golf Course lookslike a place to make a few birdies – but it can certainlyget your attention.

“I started on the Meadows Golf Course andmade the turn at 4-over,” says Sullivan, then thehead professional at Ashley Plantation in Daleville,Va. “I rallied and played the back in 4-under to getback on track, but I learned my lesson not to sleepon the Meadows – it can grab you. It’s a tight, narrow course and you have to keep it in play or youwill have a really tricky time.”

Sullivan played the next three rounds at Cross-water in a combined 7-under par to win the 2007

National Championship by four strokes. Sullivan’ssteady play in a strong wind kept him from beingseriously challenged during the final round.

“I love that Crosswater layout; it requires a lot ofprecision shots, and can play very difficult when thewinds come up,” says Sullivan, who is now the PGAdirector of golf at Hanging Rock Golf Club inSalem, Va. “It requires a lot of confidence, and yourwhole game has to be tuned – there are a couple ofholes where you can spray it off the tee or be loosewith an iron shot, but generally speaking you haveto be very precise and keep your focus.”

Sullivan says focusing on golf may be difficult forhim when he returns to Sunriver this month. He’llbe traveling to the National Championship withouthis longtime caddie, father-in-law and best friend,Tom Hall, who passed away last year. Hall was on thebag for Sullivan when he won at Sunriver in 2007.

“That was the highlight of my golf career, and


The PGA Player Development department and thePacific Northwest PGA Section are hosting a pair

of Golf 2.0 events prior to the 2013 PGA ProfessionalNational Championship as way to introduce golf tofamilies in the Sunriver Resort area.

The first event is a youth clinic setfor Friday, June 21, at Lost Tracks GolfClub in nearby Bend, Ore. The youthclinic – staffed by 15 area PGA Professionals, includingPGA Past President and Lost Tracks owner BrianWhitcomb – is geared toward juniors from local alliedyouth charities. The event will focus on theaffordability, fun and fitness elements of golf, and willfeature instruction, games, giveaways and lunch.

On Saturday, June 22, Riverbend Park in Bend will

be transformed into a Family Fun Zone from noon to4 p.m., with the assistance of 10 volunteer PGAProfessionals. This free family golf festival will includegroup lessons, games and other fun activities to

encourage area families to play thegame.

These events will serve to createexcitement in the community prior to the

June 23 first round of the PGA Professional NationalChampionship, and to grow the number of adult andjunior golfers in the Bend area. Get Golf Ready, TEE ITFORWARD, PGA Junior League Golf and PGA SportsAcademy Powered by UnitedHealthcare will behighlighted as ways for new golfers to learn moreabout the game and keep playing.

Golf 2.0 events on tap for PNC week

“I LOVE THAT CROSSWATER

LAYOUT; IT REQUIRES A LOT

OF PRECISION SHOTS, ANDCAN PLAY VERY DIFFICULTWHEN THE WINDS COME UP.”

—CHIP SULLIVAN, PGA

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Tom was an integral part of the highlight,” Sullivansays. “It will be tricky walking the fairways in Ore-gon without him, but I’ll be trying to think abouthow we talked our way through some of the differentsituations on those golf courses. I’m going to keepsmiling and trying to think about the good times.”

Making the Most Out of Being HostSullivan, DeFrancesco and Dobyns are among the15 past National Champions expected to travel toSunriver Resort for the 46th PGA ProfessionalNational Championship. According to Sunriver’sEllender, return visits by players – from pastNational Championships and the Jeld-Wen Tradi-tion – are part of the reason resorts enjoy hostingthe event.

“I was at Pinehurst when it hosted the NationalChampionship in 1997 and ’98, and we saw a lot ofplayers come back to the resort with their familiesor with groups of members in the years that fol-lowed,” Ellender says. “I arrived at Sunriver the sea-son after the 2007 National Championship, and

I’ve hosted many PGA Professionals and Champi-ons Tour players who really enjoyed their time atthe resort and wanted to come back and share itwith others.”

For competitors, Sunriver will make an impactwith its breathtaking views – the property was thelocation for one of John Wayne’s last big-screenWesterns, “Rooster Cogburn.” The expansive,upscale resort will also impress visitors with out-door activities, such as hiking, biking, fishing,kayaking, white water rafting, and amenities suchas a world-class spa and fine dining.

Ellender says players will also be impressed withthe local support of the National Championship.More than 600 volunteers will be on hand to covermore than 1,200 shifts during the event, with ThePGA of America, the Pacific Northwest PGA Section and the Sunriver Resort staff workingtogether to make sure the competitors have amajor championship-worthy experience through-out the week.

But the biggest impact for Sunriver comes from


The Sunriver Lodgeis a focal point ofthe entire resort.

Golf Channel is marking its 16thconsecutive year of providing

live coverage of the PGA ProfessionalNational Championship with itsbroadcasts from Sunriver Resort thismonth. As the exclusive mediapartner of the event, Golf Channel isset to show 10 hours of live coverage,along with late-night replays of eachround (see page 49 for the completeschedule).

The Golf Channel coverage team

for this year’s NationalChampionship is scheduledto include Dave Marr and2012 PGA Teacher of theYear Michael Breedproviding play-by-play andanalysis, along with tower analystTripp Isenhour and on-coursereporter Phil Blackmar.

The 1997 PGA ProfessionalNational Championship at Pinehurst(N.C.) Resort was the first time

Golf Channel providedlive coverage of theevent. This year, theevent has a potentialaudience of 110 millionviewers in the U.S.

and internationally, includingcountries such as Canada, China,Japan, Korea, Malaysia andSingapore, and throughout regionssuch as Latin America, the MiddleEast and Scandinavia.

Golf Channel providing live coverage for 16th consecutive year



the extensive live Golf Channel coverage of thePGA Professional National Championship.According to Pacific Northwest PGA Section Pres-ident Marcus King, the promotional value of GolfChannel coverage benefits the entire region.

“The entire Pacific Northwest will get an after-glow from the Golf Channel coverage of the PGAProfessional National Championship at SunriverResort,” says King, the general manager of Over-lake Golf & Country Club in Medina, Wash.“What we’ve noticed from the past two NationalChampionships at Sunriver is that it gives peoplearound the country a chance to see that there’ssome really great golf here in the Pacific Northwest– it may seem like we’re off the beaten path, butthere’s a strong contingent of golf courses to takeadvantage of.”

Supporting Sponsors Titleist, Nike, TaylorMade-adidas Golf and Callaway Golf will be on site withtech reps and club builders for the third year in a row.The companies will be offering the same service thatcompetitors at the PGA Championship receive.

Approximately 40 Pacific Northwest PGA Sec-tion members will be on site to work the NationalChampionship, plus Sunriver’s staff of eight PGAProfessionals. King says the Section views theevent as a educational opportunity to see how ThePGA’s top member tournament is run, which willbe reflected in future Section events and at club-level tournaments and outings.

King adds that he believes the benefit of theextensive live Golf Channel coverage of the PGAProfessional National Championship travels wellbeyond the host facility and its Section.

“It’s a showcase event for Sunriver and for ourSection, but I think there’s a benefit to all PGA Pro-fessionals when the National Championship getsairtime on Golf Channel,” King says. “It’s all aboutpromoting the game. Golf fans watching the com-petitors on TV helps with player development andoutreach – they realize the players are the sameguys who give lessons and run the courses at thelocal level, and that makes a real connection.”

What’s at Stake at SunriverThere’s no doubt that the PGA Professional NationalChampionship is a truly big event, with millionswatching on Golf Channel and following the actionon PGA.com, more than 600 volunteers, 312 playersin the field, dozens of Section PGA Professionalsworking the event and a number of nervous familymembers on hand. At the end of the final round,however, the attention will shift to the winner and 19

other competitors for whom the National Champi-onship becomes a life-changing event.

For the winner, the impact is immediate. Inaddition to being presented a $75,000 first-placecheck and having your name engraved on the Wal-ter Hagen Cup, the winner also receives an exemp-tion into the 2013 PGA Championship, sixexemptions into PGA Tour events over the follow-ing 12 months and a lifetime exemption into thePGA Professional National Championship.

The winner will also receive a custom engravedwatch from OMEGA. In addition, OMEGA and Club Car will once again offer a custom watchand Club Car Precedent golf car, respectively, asprizes for any competitor who cards a hole-in-oneon the 17th hole of the Crosswater. Past Club Car hole-in-one winners include three recentChampions in Chip Sullivan, Scott Hebert andMatt Dobyns.

Dobyns experienced all this as part of what hecalled his “year of firsts” in 2012: He and his wifewelcomed their first child, Dobyns got his “dreamjob” as head professional at Fresh Meadow, and hequalified for his first National Championship –

The 46th PGA Professional NationalChampionship, which will be played at Sunriver

(Ore.) Resort on June 23-36, is presented by ClubCar, Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA. Club Car hassponsored the event since 1993, with Mercedes-Benzstarting in 2011 and OMEGA joining in 2012. Club Car,Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA are also presentingsponsors of the 41 PGA Section Championshipsconducted nationwide to determine the field for the72-hole National Championship.

“The longstanding support of Club Car, our third yearwith Mercedes-Benz and the latest addition of OMEGA aspresenting sponsors are critical to creating the bestChampionship that we can provide,” says PGA PresidentTed Bishop. “Their dedication to supporting andpromoting PGA Professionals through this great Championship furtherindicates their commitment to the game of golf.”

The 2011 Professional National Championship debuted a new supportingsponsor program. Titleist/FootJoy, Nike, TaylorMade-adidas Golf andCallaway Golf all partnered with The PGA of America to support the 41 SectionChampionships and the National Championship.

“Having those four major equipment companies sponsor each SectionChampionship and the National Championship shows the level of importancethat the Section Championships have, while also providing terrific support inclubfitting and technical support at the National Championship,” says Bishop.

All four companies will be on site at Sunriver to support their staffprofessionals in a similar fashion to how they service competitors at the PGAChampionship.

Sponsorships provide vital National Championshipsupport

“IT’S A SHOWCASE EVENT

FOR SUNRIVER AND FOR

OUR SECTION, BUT I THINK

THERE’S A BENEFIT TO

ALL PGA PROFESSIONALS

WHEN THE NATIONALCHAMPIONSHIP GETSAIRTIME ON GOLF CHANNEL.”

—MARCUS KING, PRESIDENT PACIFICNORTHWEST PGA SECTION


becoming just the eighth player to win the event inhis first attempt while breaking Sam Snead’s scor-ing record in the process.

“Winning the National Championship alteredmy life forever,” Dobyns says. “It took me years toqualify, but now I know that I have the game tocompete, even when I’m working full-time at agreat club. And now I’ve played in a PGA Champi-onship at Kiawah Island and I can tell you that ThePGA puts the same attention to detail into theNational Championship for us.”

Past National Champions DeFrancesco and Sullivan also found validation in their victories atSunriver. For DeFrancesco, winning in 2001 was

proof that three back surgeries didn’t rob him of hiscompetitive potential. Today, he has a full lessonbook and oversees his popular namesake website(www.waynedefrancesco.com), where golfers cansign up for online lessons – and fellow instructorscan interact with him.

“What I do every day is look at golf swings andthink about golf, and my website gives me a forumfor my opinions – a lot of other PGA Professionalslook at it and comment, and I hope I’m addingsomething to the general knowledge of the game bysharing my perspective,” DeFrancesco says. “I’m 55

and I teach a full schedule, and I’m still dealing withback issues, so I don’t play as much as I used to. But


I t seems like every winner of the PGA Pro-fessional National Championship hassome kind of amazing story, and it was

my turn to have some drama in 2008. Earlyin June I won my sixth Michigan Open,right before my daughter was born a monthearly June 10. Susie was healthy, but she stilldidn’t come home from the hospital untilJune 19 – the day I shot a 67 in the first round

of the National Championship at ReynoldsPlantation in Georgia. Knowing she andmy wife, Laurie, were home, I relaxed andplayed some great golf, including makingfive birdies on the back nine of the finalround to score a one-stroke victory.

As amazing as that month was, the expe-rience of being a PGA Professional NationalChampionship winner only got better fromthere – and continues to be something thatmeans a lot to my career. For starters, you getinstant credibility and attention in the golfworld, especially from sponsors and other

players. Anyone who seriously fol-lows or plays the game understands what itmeans to win the National Championship,and how hard it is to beat 311 other top play-ers. When I played in that year’s PGA Cham-pionship at Oakland Hills and the PGA Tourevents I won ex emptions into, I was sur-prised at how many Tour players went out oftheir way to congratulate me.

In addition to the national notorietythat comes from winning the NationalCham pionship live on Golf Channel, youalso get a lot of local attention. My em -ployer, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa,

took out a billboard in Traverse City con-gratulating me, and the members of ourgolf club threw me a party. To this day, peo-ple still ask me about winning the NationalChampionship when they come into thegolf academy for a lesson.

I think the victory also helped my pro-fessional career. I still have the same title Ihad when I won the National Champi-onship – head golf professional for threeresort courses and 250-plus local mem-bers – but I’ve added more responsibilitiesand room for growth. I now serve as thedirector of instruction for our year-roundGrand Traverse Golf Academy, and I thinkthe notoriety of winning the NationalCham pionship made it easier for me tostep into a larger role in the golf operation.

And, of course, winning the NationalChampionship has meant a lot to me on thecourse. I’m exempt into the event until I’m60, so I don’t have to worry about qualifyingfor the PNC; I can set my schedule aroundthe event during the last week of June. It’ssuch a great event and such a treat to play in,and getting to be part of the ChampionsDinner each year is really great.

I also got to play in the 2009 PGA Cup inScotland, which was handled exactly like aRyder Cup. No doubt that’s one of the cool -est experiences I’ve ever had in my life – win-ning the National Championship is thehighlight of my career, and representing mycountry in the PGA Cup was an amazingexperience for a kid from the Upper Penin-sula of Michigan who never thought he’dhave that kind of op portunity. ■

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Anyone who seriously follows or plays the game understandswhat it means to win the National Championship,and how hard it is to beat 311 other top players.”

— Scott Hebert, PGA

Winning the PGA Professional NationalChampionship is the of my careerBy Scott Hebert, PGA

highlight

first-person perspective


I still enjoy the competition, and I love going backto Sunriver – I’d put it up with where we played lastyear on the Monterey Peninsula (at Bayonet BlackHorse) for beauty.”

Likewise, Sullivan’s victory at Sunriver in 2007

capped a comeback from health issues. Despitebattling hemochromatosis and diabetes, Sullivan’ssignature victory at Sunriver led to a number ofother memorable experiences.

“I got to play in the PGA Championship and thePGA Cup, and I made the cut in three of the sixPGA Tour events I played – and made some gooddollars there,” Sullivan says. “I haven’t had much timeto work on my game because I have a lot of respon-sibility here at Hanging Rock; we do 35,000 roundsand 75 outings a year, and that keeps me from thepractice range a lot of days. But I’m going to get my game face on, and I know I’ll feel comfortableteeing it up at Sunriver.”

Crowning a champion is only part of the final-round drama at the PGA Professional NationalChampionship. The top 20 finishers earn exemp-tions into the PGA Championship, and a playoff isoften needed. Last year at Bayonet Black Horse, aneight-man playoff for the final spot in the field atKiawah Island was won by Michael Frye, a PGAassistant professional at Oakcreek Country Club inSedona, Ariz., when he parred the third playoffhole. If a playoff is needed at Sunriver, players willstart on Crosswater Club’s 10th hole, then proceedto holes 1–18, playing until each PGA Champi-onship exemption and alternate spot is filled.

The finish at Sunriver will also help determinethe makeup of the U.S. team that PGA HonoraryPresident Allen Wronowski will captain at October’sPGA Cup in England. Points are awarded based onperformances in the 2012 and 2013 PGA ProfessionalNational Championships and PGA Championships,making this year’s National Championship thepenultimate opportunity for players to bolster theirchances of making the team.

“For a lot of us as PGA Professionals, playing inthe PGA Cup – representing your country in inter-national match play – is often the highlight of a play-ing career,” says PGA President Bishop. “It’s a veryspecial experience.”

And it is one more reminder of the multifacetedhigh-stakes, high-altitude showdown in store forPGA Professional National Championship com-petitors later this month at Sunriver Resort. ■


For more on the 2013 PGA Professional National Championship,plus plenty of post-Championship coverage (including

photos), log onto PGAmagazine.com.

Log onto PGAmagazine.com

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in MyrtleBeach, S.C., the historic jewel among

the famed 60-mile “Grand Strand” in thePalmetto State, will be joined by thepopular Grande Dunes Resort Club as co-hosts of the 47th PGA Professional NationalChampionship presented by Club Car,Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA on June 22–25, 2014. It marks the second visit to SouthCarolina by The PGA of America’s

showcase event for PGA Professionals.The Championship will bring a field of

312 to Myrtle Beach, acclaimed as “the GolfCapital of the World” for its roster of 120golf courses. The PGA ProfessionalNational Championship was last conductedin South Carolina in 2005 at The OceanCourse in Kiawah Island.

“The PGA of America is very proud to betaking our National Championship in 2014

to Myrtle Beach, a resort destination thathas embraced the game of golf unlike fewother sites in the world,” says PGAPresident Ted Bishop. “The Dunes Golf &Beach Club and Grande Dunes areoutstanding venues to test our best-playingPGA Professionals. When you think aboutthe history of golf in Myrtle Beach and howmany members of our Association made animpact upon that region, you could not askfor a better setting for this Championship.”

Designed in 1948 by legendary RobertTrent Jones Sr., the Dunes Golf & BeachClub will serve as the primary host course inthe National Championship, including thefinal 36 holes. All contestants will competethe first two rounds on The Dunes andGrande Dunes Resort Club.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunityto welcome the country's most skilled clubprofessionals for their most prestigiousannual event,” says Dunes Club PGA HeadProfessional Dennis Nicholl. “We have beenfortunate to host a number of high-levelprofessional and amateur golf tournamentsin the past and are excited to serve ThePGA of America.”

Myrtle Beach to host 47th PGA Professional National Championship in 2014

“FOR A LOT OF US AS PGAPROFESSIONALS, PLAYING IN

THE PGA CUP –

REPRESENTING YOUR

COUNTRY IN INTERNATIONAL

MATCH PLAY – IS OFTEN THEHIGHLIGHT OF A PLAYINGCAREER.”

—PGA PRESIDENT TED BISHOP


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