Team of Sanders, Volko, Walker, and Sears wins at Big Spring.

LOUISVILLE, KY (May 16, 2022) – One of the most closely-contested tournaments of the young season was held on Monday at Big Spring Country Club during the Pro-Am Championship supported by Sun Mountain. With the best two gross scores from the four-person teams used to tabulate results, five teams had scores of 134 (-10) or better which all finished within three shots of the lead. But the winning mark was 131 (-13), with Ryan Sanders, PGA, D.J. Volko, Justin Walker, and Luke Sears getting to that point and earning a one-shot victory.

Unlike many of the teams who finished in the top-ten, no one in the winning foursome had an under-par round for the day on their own ball. They instead made up for that with consistent birdies throughout the round, with the team getting at least one birdie on all but five holes at Big Spring. Each player made at least three birdies during the day and the team never had a hole that totaled over par. And because of that, they topped the 38-team leaderboard.

The group of Nathan Downs, PGA, Cayden Pope, Jansen Preston, and Mary Keene Marrs finished runner-up. Another shot back in third place was Jeremy Martin, Michael Crabtree, Matt Epperson, and Tyler Sharpe. Two teams then rounded out the top-five finishing T4, led by those teams’ PGA Professionals Adam Gary, PGA and Greg Basham, PGA.

The aforementioned Jeremy Martin would share low professional honors for the day with Blake Watts, PGA. Their scores were also the low rounds of the day from any player, Professional or amateur. They each shot 69 (-3). That was two shots clear of third, a spot held by Jesse Massie, PGA.

For the first time this season, Bruce Oldendick, PGA got the low senior professional prize off the strength of his 72 (E). Basham finished in second place one shot behind him.

NOTES & STATS

• Five eagles were made during the competition and four of them came on the par-five 10th. The only other eagle recorded was on the par-five 7th which was courtesy of Lainey Schmitt.
• Despite the eagles, neither of those holes ended up being the easiest of the day. In a rare occurrence, the easiest hole was actually a par-three with the 15th being most generous to the day’s competitors. It had a stroke-to-par average of +0.03 despite not cracking the top-two in holes with the most birdies made.
• A few holes prior to that, the par-four 11th made its presence felt as the hardest hole of the day at +0.63.
• There was almost no discernable difference between the difficulty of the two nines. The front nine averaged 38.59 strokes, a wee bit easier than the 38.63 holes 10-18 created. Added together, that brought the average score for the day to 77.62.

Click here to view the final results

Click here to view the photo gallery

The Kentucky PGA extends its thanks to Gary Bebelaar, PGA and his entire staff at Big Spring Country Club for their hospitality and hosting of the tournament. Additionally, the Section sends its appreciation towards Paul Branlund and Sun Mountain for their support of this event and KPGA activities throughout the year.

Next on the Section’s schedule is the Callaway Pro-Assistant which will take place at Audubon Country Club on Monday, May 23. A variety of competitions will be held that day, including the namesake Pro-Assistant. Registration for that tournament will remain open until 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight.

About the Kentucky PGA:
The Kentucky PGA Section (KPGA) is one of forty-one Sections across the country representing the PGA of America and its Members. It is also one of three organizations encompassed within Golf House Kentucky, which also includes the Kentucky Golf Association (KGA) and Kentucky Golf Foundation (KGF). The KPGA contains more than 275 Members and more than 30 Associates working in various roles across Kentucky; all of whom share the goal of bettering the game and its players. The KPGA and its Members assist with the organization of many chief growth-of-the-game initiatives including PGA HOPE and PGA Jr. League among others. The Section also operates more than thirty tournaments throughout the golf season, including the Kentucky Open and qualifiers for the Barbasol Championship.

Media Contact:
Ethan Fisher, PGA | Golf House Kentucky | efisher@kygolf.org | (502) 792-970