It was, by one stroke, as Chris Trout of Fort Myers, playing in the final threesome, finished with 36 on his last nine holes for 68-135. “I just couldn’t make anything on the last nine, one birdie and one bogey,” he said

Play finished in a driving rainstorm and just before dark after several suspensions earlier in the day because of rain and lightning which totaled about two hours.

“There wasn’t much I could do but wait and watch the scoreboard,” Terga said.

It was Terga’s second South Florida PGA Section victory this year following his partnership with Kevin Compare of Palm Beach Gardens in the Senior-Junior on April 25 at the Links of Boynton Beach.

In the senior division for PGA professionals 50 years and older, Jerry Tucker of Stuart won by three strokes at 67-71-138. Tucker also tied for third in the open division, matched by Paul Scaletta of Jupiter on a pair of 69s.

Previously known as the Southeast PGA Classic, the Fort Lauderdale Open, presented by Callaway Golf and supported by BoxGroove, Global Golf Sales and The PGA Tour, had 135 entries this year.

South Florida PGA Section
Fort Lauderdale Open
Coral Ridge CC, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
6,826 yards, par 72

Open Division
Richard Terga, Palm Beach Gardens            66-68—134
Chris Trout, Fort Myers                       67-68—135
Jerry Tucker, Stuart                               67-71—138
Paul Scaletta, Jupiter                              69-69—138
Jay Westerlund, Fort Myers                       65-74—139
Mark Durland, Naples                             71-68—139
Alan Morin, Lake Worth                      70-70—140
Chris Toulson, Doral                                70-71—141
Justin Bertsch,  Naples                     74-67—141
Lee Rinker, West Palm Beach           68-73—141
Todd Raffensperger, Delray Beach                73-68—141
Jason Hrynkiw, Delray Beach                    68-73—141

Senior Division
Jerry Tucker, Stuart                               67-71—138
Lee Rinker, West Palm Beach           68-73—141
Dennis Meyer, Estero                              69-73—142
Mike San Filippo, Hobe Sound          76-66—142
Jim Karr, Palm Beach                               69-73—142

Click here for complete results.

Golf Night at Roger Dean Stadium was a big success this past Friday, May 11^th as South Florida Section PGA professionals shared their love of the game with baseball fans as the Jupiter Hammerheads faced off against the Tampa Yankees. The evening’s festivities kicked off with John Webster, PGA, of the John Webster Golf Academy; Kevin Compare, PGA, of the Divot the Clown Corporation; and Chris Czaja, PGA, of the Boca West Club engaged the fans in an introductory clinic with the use of SNAG golf equipment. Kevin Compare also demonstrated a few of his infamous and incredible trick shots for the crowd. Also, before the game and throughout the first few innings, fans took the opportunity to get free lessons from PGA professional Bobby P. Petelinker of The Florida Club. Petelinker offered free one-on-one advice for participants of Golf Night at Roger Dean Stadium. The evening was centered around growing golf awareness in the community and also featured participation from a variety of local courses who donated over 300 rounds of free golf to the first 300 game entrants, as well as the First Tee of The Palm Beaches who brought out fun games and activities for the fans.

This 36-hole, stroke play event is an 8:00am double tee start Saturday and on Sunday.  Players will be re-paired on Sunday by low score.  Awards will be given to the first through third place winners in each age division (Boys/Girls 12-13, 14-15, 16-18) as well as to the overall boy and overall girl winners of the event on Sunday, following play.  All South Florida PGA Junior Tour events are ranked by the national Junior Golf Scoreboard ranking system.  Pairings are now available on the South Florida PGA website.

The SFPGA Junior Tour presented by The Honda Classic is a membership-based tour open to boys and girls ages 12-18 in South Florida with the aspirations and skill levels to compete at the High School and Collegiate level and features some of South Florida’s most talented junior golfers.  The schedule for this season includes a wide array of first class facilities in South Florida.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour is proudly presented by The Honda Classic and supported by Allianz Championship, Club Med Golf Academy, Don Law Golf Academy, Palm Beach County Sports Commission, The Men’s Fun Group at Mirasol, and Titleist.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour, run under the South Florida PGA Foundation, is committed to its mission of keeping membership and tournament-related costs low while providing first-class quality golf at seventeen championship courses throughout South Florida over the course of the Junior Tour season.  For more information on the Junior Tour, please visit the South Florida PGA website at www.sfpgagolf.com and click on Junior Golf.

The South Florida PGA Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded to support the South Florida community, with a focus on junior golf, education and scholarships, and charitable gifting.  The South Florida PGA Foundation falls under the direction of the of the South Florida PGA, a not-for-profit organization comprised of over 1,600 men and women PGA Professionals dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

Seventeen teams participated in the event helping to raise over $20,000 in support of the South Florida PGA Foundation. During the awards ceremony immediately following the event Executive Director, Geoff Lofstead announced that the South Florida PGA Foundation will make their second consecutive donation of $50,000 to Habitat for Humanity in support of a home build in Jupiter later this year.  Special thanks to presenting partner Tire Kingdom, support partner Indian Creek Country Club, along with all those who participated in the event.

About TBC Retail Group
Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, TBC Retail Group, Inc., a subsidiary of TBC Corporation,operates more than 770 tire and automotive service centers under the brands: Tire Kingdom, NTB – National Tire and Battery, and Merchant’s Tire and Auto Centers, along with nearly 500 franchised Big O Tires locations. The contingent of over 1250 stores has trained and certified ASE technicians who use state-of-the-art equipment to provide quality service on cars and trucks.  The nationwide warranty provides peace of mind while it protects consumers and their investment in over 40 states.  TBC Retail Group employs more than 300 associates at its Juno Beach, Florida headquarters and approximately 10,000 associates nationally.  To locate a store near you, call 800-NEW-TIRE. TBC Corporation, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is one of the nation’s largest marketers of automotive replacement tires through a multi-channel retail and wholesale strategy. There are 260 Tire Kingdom retail locations in the Southeast, 188 of which are in Florida.

About the South Florida PGA Foundation
The South Florida PGA Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded to support the South Florida community, with a focus on junior golf, education and scholarships, and charitable gifting.  The South Florida PGA Foundation falls under the direction of the of the South Florida PGA, a not-for-profit organization comprised of over 1,600 men and women PGA Professionals dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

Stefano Gabriel Butti of Palm City made a birdie putt on the first sudden death playoff hole to win the Overall Boys title. Butti and Alex Rios of Coral Springs tied for the tournament with a two day score of 147. Finishing tied for third with 148s were Derron Peyton of Boyton Beach, Michael Anderson of Parkland, and Zachary Smith of Palm Beach Gardens.

Alexandra Papell of Boca Raton claimed her second Overall Title of the year by shooting a two day score of 152. Claudia De Antonio of Weston finished second with a 153.  Ashley Burke of Boynton Beach finished third with a 157.

Winning the Boys 12-13 age division in a scorecard playoff after a score of 148, was Andrew Kozan of Palm Beach Gardnes. Coming in second was Alberto Martinez of Weston. Tied for third with a 154 was David Giandomenico of Boynton Beach and Michael Checo of Boca Raton.

Valeria Sophia of Hallandale Beach won her second Girls 12-13 division title with a 4 stroke lead. Sophia shot a two day score of 163. Coming in second place was Paige Lee Garris of West Palm Beach with a 167. Finishing third with a 174 was Andie Shukow of Boca Raton.

The next South Florida PGA Junior Tour event will be at The Vineyards in Naples, May 19-20.

For complete results click here.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour is proudly presented by The Honda Classic and supported by Allianz Championship, Club Med Golf Academy, Don Law Golf Academy, Palm Beach County Sports Commission, The Men’s Fun Group at Mirasol, and Titleist.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour, run under the South Florida PGA Foundation, is committed to its mission of keeping membership and tournament-related costs low while providing first-class quality golf at thirteen championship venues throughout South Florida over the course of the Junior Tour season.  For more information on the Junior Tour, please visit the South Florida PGA website at www.sfpgagolf.com and click on Junior Golf.

The South Florida PGA Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded to support the South Florida community, with a focus on junior golf, education and scholarships, and charitable gifting.  The South Florida PGA Foundation falls under the direction of the South Florida PGA, a not-for-profit organization comprised of over 1,600 men and women PGA Professionals dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

This is the third year in a row that the Fazio course at Jonathan’s Landing at Old Trail has hosting the event.

The South Florida PGA, one of 41 PGA Section offices throughout the United States, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The

South Florida Section is one link in the grass-roots network used to facilitate communication amongst the nation’s 25 million amateur golfers and the PGA’s 28,000 members. The South Florida Section PGA is comprised of over 1,600 men and women PGA Professionals dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

For complete event results click here.

The afternoon Annual Meeting of the Membership included a brand new format which included information about the new  Golf 2.0 information, and featured a presentation about GET GOLF READY by PGA of America Vice President, Ted Bishop. Bishop gave an inspiring presentation which included an informational video on GET GOLF READY.

The annual meeting also included a best practices panel of Section Professionals who have had success implementing Golf 2.0 strategies at their own facilities. Personal success stories were shared with their peers about the ways in which Golf 2.0 initiatives have benefited both their members and their facilities. Karl Bublitz, Director of Golf at Grey Oaks Country Club spoke about his experience ‘Protecting the Core’ membership at his facility. Warren Bottke, Teaching Professional at Abacoa Golf Club shared a success story about ‘Connecting with Her’ via his Chip N Sip group at his facility where he engages women who are just beginning the game. Christian Sheehan, Director of Golf at Pelican’s Nest Golf Club addressed ‘Engaging the Lapsed/Tee if Forward’ initiative and gave a personal account of how teeing it forward at his facility has increased his rounds over the past year by nearly 7,000.

In the order of new business, Resolution 1 was unanimously passed. This resolution was proposed by the Executive Committee to amend the election policies to add a statement to the section constitution indicating that all election policies and procedures are defined by the Executive Board.

Resolution 2 was also unanimously passed. This resolution proposed by the Executive Committee in the matter of housekeeping, was to become consistent with all other section programs and eliminate the reference to the tournament program in the constitution. This would also be consistent with the PGA of America constitution as there is no mention of any specific programs. The Tournament program will remain under the care of the tournament committee which recommends policy and procedure changes to the Executive Board for approval.

In addition to the resolutions, Neil Lockie was sworn in as the new Southwest Chapter President as well as Karl Bublitz as the new Southwest At Large board member.

The meeting concluded with a complimentary cocktail hour at the Marriott Heron Bay presented by WeatherBug.

This 36-hole, stroke play event is an 11:30am double tee start Saturday and an 8:00am double tee start on Sunday.  Players will be re-paired on Sunday by low score.  Awards will be given to the first through third place winners in each age division (Boys/Girls 12-13, 14-15, 16-18) as well as to the overall boy and overall girl winners of the event on Sunday, following play.  All South Florida PGA Junior Tour events are ranked by the national Junior Golf Scoreboard ranking system.  Pairings are now available on the South Florida PGA website.

The SFPGA Junior Tour presented by The Honda Classic is a membership-based tour open to boys and girls ages 12-18 in South Florida with the aspirations and skill levels to compete at the High School and Collegiate level and features some of South Florida’s most talented junior golfers.  The schedule for this season includes a wide array of first class facilities in South Florida.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour is proudly presented by The Honda Classic and supported by Allianz Championship, Club Med Golf Academy, Don Law Golf Academy, Palm Beach County Sports Commission, The Men’s Fun Group at Mirasol, and Titleist.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour, run under the South Florida PGA Foundation, is committed to its mission of keeping membership and tournament-related costs low while providing first-class quality golf at seventeen championship courses throughout South Florida over the course of the Junior Tour season.  For more information on the Junior Tour, please visit the South Florida PGA website at www.sfpgagolf.com and click on Junior Golf.

The South Florida PGA Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded to support the South Florida community, with a focus on junior golf, education and scholarships, and charitable gifting.  The South Florida PGA Foundation falls under the direction of the of the South Florida PGA, a not-for-profit organization comprised of over 1,600 men and women PGA Professionals dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

This year’s meeting will be held Monday, April 30th at the Marriott Heron Bay Coral Springs.

Click here for complete meeting information and registration!