Naples, FL - Brant Peaper carded rounds of 67-69–136 to win the South Florida Assistant PGA Professional Championship by one shot held at Bear’s Paw Country Club, August 28-29. With a staggered leaderboard following round one, Peaper, an Associate Assistant Professional at Lost Tree Club, trailed Ryan Crowley by three, who matched the Bear’s Paw course record with an 8-under 64 during the opening round. For the second consecutive year, Peaper entered the final round in the lead group. While being 2-under on the day through 6, Peaper’s tee shot found a bunker on the par-5, 7th hole. “I hit what I thought was a really good drive, which leaked into the bunker. Then I took off a little more than I could chew and hit it right into the lip,” explained Peaper on what led to a double-bogey on the 7th hole. Undeterred, Peaper parred the 8th and 9th holes to finish even on the front-9 and 5-under overall, still within two shots of the lead. “There is still a lot of golf to be played," Peaper told himself. “It doesn’t really matter, you just have to try to hit really good shots and see what happens.” Heading into the back nine, Peaper did not drop a single shot, playing the final 9 holes at 3-under, including a birdie on the 17th that ultimately secured the one-shot victory over Taylor Morgan, PGA of Pine Tree Club, and Michael Kartrude, PGA of The Bear’s Club.

Labelle, FL (August 29, 2025) - The South Florida PGA Foundation dedicated its 12th Habitat for Humanity home to new homeowners Jesus and Paola. This build was made possible through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties. In 2023, the thought of home ownership was merely a glimmer of hope for Jesus and Paola. With a desire to provide a safe home for their young family, faced with many challenges along the way, today's dedication was filled with joyful tears and much excitement as they received the keys to their first home, thanks to the support of the South Florida PGA Foundation and all of the members who supported the project. Bearing gifts upon their arrival, Jesus and Paola were so grateful and appreciative of all the support they received on the journey to homeownership, from their family and friends to the volunteers, Habitat for Humanity staff, and beyond. “We have a home for our kids to grow,” said Paola. “We are very happy and excited to receive this home.”

PGA of America Golf Professionals are coined as experts in the game and business of golf, whose mission is to grow the game we all love. At more than 30,000 strong, the PGA of America offers an extensive network of professionals to lean on, ask questions, seek advice, and collaborate with. Opportunities to network can come at the Chapter, Section, and National levels, all designed to elevate the PGA Professional. As golf department heads, PGA Professionals play an integral role in facilities, and PGA Professionals in high management roles are becoming increasingly more prevalent. Outside of being PGA General Managers, one thing stands out for Brian Bartolec of Shadow Wood Country Club, Ken Kosak of Broken Sound Club, and Rob Oosterhuis of Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club – they are all involved with the Club Management Association of America (CMAA) and all three sit on the CMAA Florida Chapter Board of Directors.

Jupiter, FL - Mark Mielke, PGA, fires consecutive under-par rounds to narrowly win the South Florida Senior PGA Professional Championship, played August 19-20 at The Bear’s Club.  In addition to being crowned the 2025 Senior Section Champion, Mielke, a Teaching Professional at High Ridge Country Club, and the other nine top-finishers advanced to the Senior PGA Professional Championship, which will be held October 23-26 at PGA Golf Club.

North Palm Beach, FL - Mark Brown, PGA and Mark Mielke, PGA fired a 10-under 61 to win their third consecutive Senior Pro-Pro Championship today at North Palm Beach Country Club. This year’s event welcomed 42 two-person teams of senior PGA Professionals playing in a four-ball format. Brown, a PGA Teaching Professional at the Yacht and Country Club, and Mielke, a PGA Teaching Professional at High Ridge Country Club, first teamed up in the 2023 Senior Pro-Pro when Brown joined the Section. Since then, the pair have not lost a Senior Pro-Pro Championship at North Palm Beach Country Club, including a 12-under 59 last year for a total of 32-under in the last three years. Starting on hole number 12, the duo started slower than years past, playing the first seven holes at 2-under. Once they turned to the front-nine, Brown and Mielke played the next 11 holes at 7-under to secure the win by one over Daniel Heaslip, PGA, and David Witt, PGA, at 9-under. Finishing in a tie for third at 8-under were the teams of Jerry Tucker, PGA, and Joe Kern, PGA, and the team of Paul Scaletta, PGA, and Tim Turpin, PGA. Rounding out the top-5 were four teams at 6-under: Paul Crespo, PGA, Derek Niszczak, PGA, Colin Amaral, PGA, Jared Isaacs, PGA, Justin Hicks, PGA, Matt Ball, PGA, Michael Kostelnik, PGA, and Alan Morin, PGA. The 2025 Senior Pro-Pro was supported and hosted by North Palm Beach Country Club. Thank you to PGA Director of Golf, Allan Bowman and his entire staff for hosting. The Senior Section season will culminate on August 19-20 at the Bear’s Club for the Senior Section Championship. Leaderboard

Palm Beach Gardens, FL - Ty Patterson played the final two holes at 3-under to win the Bushnell Stroke Play Championship, played August 4-5 at Old Palm Golf Club and BallenIsles Country Club. Alan Morin, PGA, claims the Senior Division title with a 7-under performance. The South Florida PGA Bushnell Stroke Play Championship is the third of four SFPGA Majors to be played throughout the 2025 season. In addition to the major, the 36-hole event also served as a qualifier for the 2026 Corales Puntacana Championship on the PGA TOUR, in which Evan Bowser earned the spot as the low Class-A Professional. After a 6-under 66 in the opening round at BallenIsles North Course, which included only 25 putts, Patterson, an Associate Assistant Professional at the Golf Club of the Everglades, trailed by one. With his final round at Old Palm, Patterson opened with a bogey before finishing his first nine holes at 2-over. With Evan Bowser, PGA of LaPlaya Golf Club, holding a two-shot lead on the back nine, Patterson checked the leaderboard and knew he needed to make a charge. “I looked at it (leaderboard) on 15 and that's when I knew I needed to make some birdies," Patterson said. “I looked at it on 17, and Evan was 8-under, so I was two back.” Patterson proceeded to make an eagle on the par-5 17th and a birdie on the par-4 18th to claim the outright title by one in only his third SFPGA Major since joining the Section in 2024. “I'm still taking it in and processing," Patterson said following the win. “I'm going to play in every tournament now.” While finishing runner-up to Patterson by one, Bowser, a PGA Assistant Professional at LaPlaya Golf Club, secured low Class-A Professional honors, earning him entry into the Corales Puntacana Championship on the PGA TOUR. “It is super exciting,” exclaimed Bowser, who was unsure he would even be able to play in the event. “I was flying back from a trip in Michigan, and my flight got cancelled, so I didn’t get here until 2:30 AM Monday.” Bowser is no stranger to competing at the highest level, as he competed in the 2024 PGA Championship with his sister on the bag and family cheering him on, and looks to have the same support at the 2026 Corales. “I am sure she will be there for me, and it should be a family affair for sure, it will be a lot of fun,” Bowser said as he just returned from a family trip in his hometown in Michigan. In the Senior Division, Alan Morin, PGA Assistant Professional at The Club at Ibis, managed a two-day total of 7-under to win the Senior title by one over Justin Hicks, PGA, Paul Scaletta, PGA, and Brett Melton, PGA. Over the 36-hole event, Morin managed two clean scorecards, as the only player in the field to go bogey-free. Morin added his second win of the year after winning the South Florida Senior Open in May. The 2025 Bushnell Stroke Play Championship, supported by DR Golf Sales, Melin, Oakley, and Nexbelt, was hosted at Old Palm Golf Club and BallenIsles Country Club. Old Palm is led by PGA Director of Golf, Ryan Flinn, and PGA Assistant Professional, Joey Medora, while BallenIsles is led by PGA Director of Golf Jeff Fitzherbert, PGA Head Professional Chris Hayes, and five PGA Assistant Professionals. Leaderboard

In the five years after graduating from Michigan State University, Christian Meier, PGA, took her Toyota Prius from 10,000 to over 300,000 miles, competing all across the country on the Symetra Tour (now Epson Tour). A four-year starter for the Spartans, where she competed in 42 career events, won three Big 10 Conference titles, and boasted the 10th lowest scoring average in school history, Meier was set on making it to the highest level of women's golf. Growing up in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Meier loved competing, and having an older sister who also played golf made that competitive drive even deeper. The two were talented junior golfers, often competing head-to-head as the only girls in junior events back home. While Christine headed to Michigan State and her sister, Amy, to conference competitor Ohio State, the Meier sisters were carving their own paths. The summer following her sophomore year, Christine qualified for the U.S. Women's Open, becoming the first Spartan to qualify for the Major Championship while still in school. A year later, Amy qualified as well. With both sisters having standout college careers, they hit the road together, traveling across the country, searching for their breakout opportunity. Christine's came in her second-to-last year on tour, but it was vastly different from what she initially envisioned. While having an extensive break on her schedule, Christine came across a high school coaching position in Memphis, Tennessee. Not ready to give up on her playing aspirations, Christine saw this as an opportunity to do something different and get her mind off the grueling stretch of competitive golf. "The woman who hired me was Mary Murphy, a PGA Professional who teaches in Memphis and Olive Branch, Mississippi," explained Christine. "She talked about the PGA Program a little bit, and I kind of brushed it off initially, not in a negative way, I was just still in the mindset of, I'm going to play, I'm a player." The experience turned out to be extremely beneficial for Christine, who began falling in love with coaching—so much so that she came back the following season to coach for another 10 weeks. This time, Christine was introduced to Jennifer Hudson, the PGA Director of Instruction at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Texas. "I saw what she did, she helped me with my game a little bit, and it started to look like a life I would enjoy," Christine recalled. "It keeps you around the game, you learn a ton, and you get to meet a lot of other people. That may have nudged me in that direction more than I already was." Throughout this entire time of playing professionally and coaching, Christine maintained a seasonal position inside the golf shop at The Club at Mediterra while working up north for a few seasons. Following her second stint coaching, when Christine returned to Mediterra for the winter season, PGA Director of Golf Kevin Swan again encouraged her to enter the program. Because of her time competing on tour and experience working at different facilities, Christine had the necessary knowledge to knock out the program.. Between the encouragement from Swan and others, Christine was all in on the PGA of America, becoming a Class-A Member in 2023. While proud and happy with her new life in golf, Christine is not afraid to admit that the transition from playing full-time to now working in golf was incredibly daunting. "Golf was such a huge part of my identity that it was really difficult to wrestle with the potential of that not being the case anymore, not being able to be around the game, not playing a ton anymore," Christine explained. "I really struggled with that idea." A few years into her full-time position with Mediterra, Christine is just as involved with the game as she ever was, only now in a different setting. "It has been a perfect fit because I can still be around the game, which was so important to me," emphasized Christine. "I never really want to lose that or the playing or teaching piece of it."

Naples, FL - For the third consecutive year, Justin Hicks, PGA, and Robbie Wight claim the Pro-Scratch Championship, presented by Srixon | Cleveland, played July 22-23 at Talis Park Golf Club and Grey Oaks Country Club. Hicks and Wight first teamed up in the 2022 Pro-Scratch Championship, where they finished in the top-25. Since then, the duo has won three straight, making them the first pair to win three consecutive titles in the event's 45-year history. Finishing at 19-under, 62-63–125, Hicks and Wight outlasted the teams of Michael Kartrude, PGA of The Bear’s Club, with amateur partner, Justin Grondahl, and the team of Brant Peaper of Lost Tree Club and amateur partner, Mackenzie Edwards, by one. With rain falling throughout the front nine of the final round for Hicks and Wight, they managed a 3-under performance, which saw them trail by two going into the final nine holes. As the rain subsided, Hicks and White caught fire, playing the final six holes at 5-under, including an eagle on the par-5 13th hole from Hicks. “We get a sandwich at the turn and somehow go gangbusters on the back, which was a lot of fun, " said Hicks. “We managed to really ham and egg it well on the back nine and saw ourselves go from chasing to the ones being chased.” Finishing in fourth was the Bowser team of Evan Bowser, PGA of LaPlaya Golf Club, and sister Elayna Bowser, who finished at 17-under. Rounding out the top-5 were the teams of Kenny Leech, PGA of Don Law Academy @ Osprey Point, with Elijah Zamarron, and the team of Kyle Horvath, PGA of Quail Creek Country Club, and partner, Victor Prokop, at 15-under. This year’s Pro-Scratch Championship was held at Grey Oaks Country Club and Talis Park Golf Club. Grey Oaks Country Club is led by PGA Directors of Golf, Martin DeAngelo and Leslye Dyke, PGA Head Professional of Golf Professional Avery Radunz. Talis Park Golf Club is led by PGA Director of Golf, David Witt, and Associate Head Professional, Cory Briney. Srixon and Cleveland were the presenting partners, while Airshare, Ghost Golf, Kohler Wisconsin, The Back Nine Golf, Florida Window and Door, and Unknown Golf were the supporting partners. Leaderboard

Naples, FL - Seminole Golf Club Professionals, Matt Cahill and Dakun Chang, win the Yamaha Pro-Pro Championship, presented by Callaway, July 8-9 at The Rookery at Marco and Hammock Bay Golf Club. Head Professional, Cahill, and Assistant Professional, Chang completed the wire-to-wire victory with a 21-under performance, adding their third team championship together but first Pro-Pro victory. This year’s Championship returned to The Rookery at Marco and Hammock Bay, serving as the host facilities for the fourth time in the last five years. A full field of 240 South Florida PGA Professionals and Associates competed in a team four-ball format over the 36-hole event. After an 11-under opening round, Cahill and Chang held a one-shot lead over Andrew Filbert, PGA of West Bay Club, and Justin Smith, PGA of Bonita Bay Club. Leaving no room for question, the duo of Cahill and Chang opened the final round with five straight birdies to expand their lead. The two again managed five straight birdies on the back nine on holes 12-16 to ultimately finish at 21-under and three shots ahead of Filbert and Smith. In third place came the Peaper duo of Brian and Brant, who wrapped the event at 17-under. Finishing in a tie for fourth at 16-under were the teams of Greg Martin and Michael Kartrude, Ashley Grier and Alan Morin, and Mark Mielke and Mark Brown. The 2025 Yamaha Pro-Pro Championship was presented by Callaway and supported by Dunning/Greg Norman, Global Golf Sales, Heritage Creations, Hole In One USA, JumboMax Grips, and Toptracer. The Rookery at Marco is led by PGA Director of Golf, Scott Lien, PGA Head Professional, Phillip Ott and PGA Assistant Professionals, Tony Kelley and Nicholas Fairneny. Hammock Bay is led by PGA General Manager, Anthony Schmid and PGA Assistant Professionals, Raymond Miron and Brandon Rowcliffe. Leaderboard