ROSWELL — James Mason of The Orchard Golf and Country Club in Clarksville qualified for the 28th Senior PGA Professional National Championship to be held in November after finishing fifth in the Georgia Senior PGA Professional Championship Tuesday.
Drew Pittman of Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro won the two-day event at Glen Arven Country Club in Thomasville and will lead seven Georgia Section PGA Professionals, including Mason, to compete November 17-20, 2016 in the 28th Senior PGA Professional National Championship.
The national Championship, presented by Mercedes-Benz USA, will be conducted at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL.
Pittman turned in a winning total of eight-under-par 136 and then survived a nine-hole sudden death playoff over Clark Spratlin of the Currahee Club in Toccoa to capture his first Georgia Senior PGA Professional Championship supported by Mercedes-Benz and the PGA Tour.
Stephen Keppler of the Marietta Country Club finished alone in third place at 137. They are joined in the national championship by Sonny Skinner of Spring Hill Country Club in Tifton, James Mason of The Orchard Golf and Country Club in Clarksville (5-under, 139), Mark Anderson of Brunswick Country Club and Craig Stevens of Brookstone Golf and Country Club in Acworth.
The Senior PGA Professional National Championship brings together a field of 264 contestants representing The PGA of America’s 41 nationwide Sections, and features a total purse of $285,000 on both courses over the first two rounds: Mercedes-Benz USA is returning as a presenting sponsor.
Begun in 1989, the Senior PGA Professional National Championship is modeled after the PGA Professional National Championship, with a field of 50-and-older senior PGA Professionals who advanced through 41 Section Championships conducted from July through September this year.
The top 35 finishers in the national Championship earn a berth in the 78th Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, which will be conducted May 23-28, 2017, at the The Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.
The top five finishers earn an exemption into the final stage of the 2016 Champions Tour National Finals. Since its debut, many participants in the Senior PGA Professional National Championship have used their success in the event as a springboard to a Champions Tour career.
Other top professionals from the northeast Georgia area posted some solid results as well. Roger Hogan of Chattahoochee Golf Course finished tied for 11th and Randy Brooks, also playing out of The Orchard in Clarkesville, finished tied for 20th.