Chip Sullivan Captures Gulf States Senior PGA
Professional Title; Earns Berth in 28th Senior PGA
Professional Championship
Chip Sullivan of Brandon,
Mississippi, winner of the Gulf
States Senior PGA Professional
Championship August 22-23
at Shell Landing Golf Club,
will lead three Section PGA
Professionals to compete Nov.
17-20, in the 28th Senior PGA
Professional Championship.
The
National
Championship, presented by
Mercedes-Benz USA, returns
to PGA Golf Club in Port St.
Lucie, Florida.
Sullivan turned in a winning
total of 8-under-par 136
to capture the Gulf States
Senior PGA Professional
Championship supported by
Mercedes-Benz USA. Emlyn
Aubrey of Shreveport, La.
finished 2 strokes back at 138.
Reed Hughes of Senatobia,
Mississippi, with 5-under-par
139, joins them.
The
Senior
PGA
Professional
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. The first two rounds
will be conducted on the Ryder
and Wanamaker Courses. The
Wanamaker Course will host
the Championship’s final 36
holes.
Mercedes-Benz USA is
returning as a presenting
sponsor.
In the Super Senior Division,
Jerry Covich of Ocean Springs
took top honors with a one over
par total of 142. Ed Selser of
Patterson, Louisiana finished 3
shots back at one over par 145.
The Wanamaker Course,
designed by Tom Fazio, is
named in honor of Rodman
Wanamaker, who in 1916
inspired the birth of the PGA
of America. A classic Florida
layout, the Wanamaker Course
plays to a par-72 and will be set
at 6,725 yards. It is set against
a backdrop of wetlands, palm
trees and palmettos, and is
considered one of Florida’s
most beautiful courses.
The Ryder Course is named
in honor of Samuel Ryder, the
namesake and founder of the
Ryder Cup, the pre-eminent
event in golf. The par-72,
6,733-yard layout with rolling
hills, majestic pine trees and
challenging water hazards has
a distinctive Carolina-feel.
Begun in 1989, the
Senior PGA Professional
Championship is modeled
after the PGA Professional
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 in May 2017, at
Trump National Golf Club –
Washington, D.C., in Potomac
Falls, Virginia.
The top five finishers
earn an exemption into the
final stage of the 2017 PGA
Tour Champions National
Finals. Since its debut, many
participants in the Senior PGA
Professional
Championship
have used their success in the
event as a springboard to a
PGA Tour Champions career.
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