Tag: pga golf club

Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth becomes first woman to win PGA Tournament Series Event

“It feels wonderful to win. I have finished second a lot this year.”

For the first time in its 46-year history, a woman has won a PGA Tournament Series Event.

Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth of Fleming Island, Florida, tapped in for bogey on the final hole to sign for a final-round 4-under 67 at the Ryder Course at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and a one-shot victory over Tyler Collet of John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Florida.

“Oh, really? That’s cool!” said Connelly-Eiswerth, a PGA Teaching Professional in Jacksonville. “There’s not many of us (women) playing in the PGA Tournament Series, but there’s been more lately. That’s really cool.

“It feels wonderful to win. I have finished second a lot this year.”

Connelly-Eiswerth finished at 10 under. In these events, women play at 83.7 percent of the yardage that men do. At PGA Golf Club, the men played 6,702 yards, while the women played 5,614.

“It’s a pitch-and-putt golf course for Stephanie,” said Collet. “If I knew the yardage going into this week, I would have bet on her to win. That’s actually a compliment to her. She’s that good of a player.”

“I knew a lot of the guys would be out chasing,” Connelly-Eiswerth said. “There were definitely some opportunities to make birdies. I just said to keep chasing and play like I’m behind.”

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Where to play golf around South Florida: Golfweek’s Best 2023 public-access courses

Thanks to Golfweek’s Best rankings, we break out the top courses around South Florida.

Call it South Florida or be more specific and call it southeastern Florida, one thing is for certain: The area stretching south along the coast from Port St. Lucie to Miami is packed with golf courses.

But which are the best? If you’re willing to drive a bit, there are several courses in this region that appear on the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top public-access layouts in Florida. All the courses listed below are within reasonable driving distance of cities such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Jupiter.

But it’s not as easy as pulling up our state-by-state rankings, which list Florida courses that might be a full day’s drive away from South Florida (which is not to be confused with southwest Florida, such as Naples, which is considered by most Floridians to be a distinct region).

None of this is to say there aren’t plenty of other worthy public-access courses to play around South Florida. There are. These are only the layouts ranked among the very best in the whole state that happen to be in South Florida.

There is one course worth mentioning that isn’t on the best-in-state list yet, but surely will be in years to come. Architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner recently renovated the former West Palm Beach Golf Course into the Park, complete with 18 holes and a short, lit  par-3 course. The main 18 didn’t open in time to appear on various Golfweek’s Best lists in 2023.

Included with this list is a general map of where to find all these courses. Each one on the list below is represented with a number on the map – keep scrolling to see the numbers.

Included with each course is its position in Florida on the Golfweek’s Best public-access list. For any course that appears on our other popular rankings lists, those positions are included as well.

A little background: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.

South Florida map golf
(Google Earth/Golfweek)

Photos: 2023 United States Disabled Open at PGA Golf Club

Chad Pfeifer failed to record a birdie in the final round but did collect 16 pars.

The United States Disabled Open was held for a fifth time in 2023, and for the second time, Chad Pfeifer came out victorious.

Pfeifer fell behind by three strokes through eight holes Wednesday at PGA Golf Club. But he stayed the course while he failed to record any birdies, he did card 16 pars, to go along with two bogeys, to shoot a 73 and ultimately win by two shots over Jeremy Bittner.

Pfeifer lost part of his right leg while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2007.

“It means a lot to win,” he said. “I know I have a target on my back because a lot of guys are looking to try and beat me. That doesn’t always make it easy.”

Bailey Bish, of Tucson, Arizona, won the women’s division, her first win in a 54-hole disabled event. Her 88 on Wednesday was her best round of the week. Kelsey Koch was second, eight shots back.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Bish, who suffers from dystonia on her right side and uses crutches to get around the course. “Three years ago, I couldn’t even play nine holes, much less win a 54-hole tournament. I am so proud because I have worked really hard the last three years.”

World Golf Hall of Famer Dennis Walters of Jupiter, Florida, won the Seated Division by 18 shots.

The United States Disabled Open is run by the US Disabled Golf Association with the PGA of America serving as Presenting Partner of the Championship.

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Deaf golfer Kevin Hall erases eight-shot deficit to win APGA Tour event at PGA Golf Club

Hall started the day eight strokes back and proceeded to go 4 under after five holes.

With birdies on his final two holes, longtime APGA Tour standout Kevin Hall captured the APGA at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on Tuesday.

Hall shot 8-under 64 in the final round to card a two-shot victory, his second win of the season. It’s his sixth APGA Tour victory and second time he has won twice in a season. The first time was in 2016, when he was named Player of the Year.

The 40-year-old from Cincinnati overcame complete hearing loss resulting from a childhood case of H-flu meningitis. He went on to become the first Black golfer to play on Ohio State’s golf team, even winning medalist honors at the 2004 Big Ten Championship.

Hall started the day eight strokes back and proceeded to go 4 under after five holes, highlighted by a 10-foot eagle putt on the 495-yard par-5 fifth.

“My mindset is always the same, but I’m more consistent now. My putter has awakened,” said Hall through his mother, Jackie Hall, following the round. “I knew I had to go get it, make as many birdies as I could. After the hot start, I told myself, ‘No stupid mistakes.'”

A four-way tie for second included Chase Johnson, Varun Chopra, Salvador Rocha Gomez and Andrew Fernandes, all finishing at 4 under.

The victory vaulted Hall to first place in the Lexus Cup Point Standings with 1,498 points after four regular-season events. He moved ahead of APGA star Marcus Byrd, who has a sponsor exemption at the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship starting Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

His 74-64—138 earned him the winner’s check of $7,500 from the purse of $25,000.

APGA at TPC Scottsdale May 7-9 in Arizona is the sixth event of the 2023 season with APGA at TPC Deere Run to follow May 28-30 in Silvis, Illinois.

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Omar Uresti sets 72-hole record, captures 32nd Senior PGA Professional Championship

Omar Uresti won the 32nd Senior PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and did so in style.

Omar Uresti won the 32nd Senior PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on Sunday, and did so in style.

Uresti tapped in for bogey for a final-round 69 on the Wanamaker Course but still set the 72-hole scoring record of 18-under-par 269. He won by six shots.

Uresti, 51, is a PGA Life Member based in Austin, Texas. His win was good for $26,000. He is the fourth golfer to win both a PGA Professional Championship (2017) and a Senior PGA Professional national title.

“It’s always fun to come here, it’s comfortable,” said Uresti. “I like the golf courses and they seem to like me a little bit. I’m honored to do that (set a scoring record). It’s been a long time since I’ve had four good putting rounds together.”

Defending champion Scott Hebert of Traverse City, Michigan, shot a final-round 67 and finished second. His 67 tied Mike Fergin for low round of the day.

Paul Stankowski and Bob Sowards finished T-3 at 11 under, seven shots back. Jeffrey Schmid and Walt Chapman were T-5 at 8 under.

Uresti’s PGA Professional Championship and Senior PGA Professional Championship victories place him in an elite foursome that includes Steve Schneiter (1995 and 2016), Sowards (2004 and ’18), and Hebert (2008 and ’19).

The top 35 finishers earned berths in the 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, which will be next May at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.