HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Sept. 9, 2020) – The first round of the 2020 Alabama–NW Florida PGA Professional Championship, presented by Club Car and OMEGA, began at 8:00 a.m. this morning. Defending Champion, Eric Williamson of Shoal Creek has been playing exquisitely all season and showed, once again, some magic around The Ledges – ending his day with a two-shot lead over Dominic Diaz of RTJ Golf Trail at Ross Bridge going into the Final Round.
The Section PGA Professional Championship boasts one of the best fields of the year, which makes Williamson’s play that much more impressive. He got off to a dream start making three birdies and no bogies on the front nine. His back nine was steady, producing mostly pars and an eagle on the par-five fifteenth hole. He finished with a bogey on number seventeen to turn in a solid round of 67.
Dominic Diaz of RTJ Golf Trail at Ross Bridge began his round on the back nine, making birdies on three of his first seven holes. He made a double-bogey on his eighth hole to turn in one-under par 35. He was able to maintain his momentum on his back nine for a Round One score of two-under par 69.
Rounding out the tied for third position are five other players who finished their first round at one-under par 70 – Steve Cutler (Wynlakes G & C.C.), Jeff Jordan (Mountain Brook Club), Jordan Debonis (The Ledges), Todd McCorkle (Old Overton Club) and Curtis Ohrn (FarmLinks G.C.).
The big picture going into the final round is all about opportunity. As depicted in Round One, The Ledges presents only so many opportunities to score well. Additionally, if the wind picks up on a property which already sits at 1,582 feet above sea level the players will surely have their hands full coming down the stretch.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Sept. 10, 2020) – Very few times do we see something as special as what we saw yesterday in Huntsville. Eric Williamson, PGA Director of Golf at Shoal Creek Club in Birmingham, has defended his title at the 2020 Alabama–NW Florida PGA Professional Championship, presented by Club Car and OMEGA.
The Final Round brought with it more beautiful weather on property as the leaders teed off around 9:00 a.m. Williamson had a two-shot lead over Dominic Diaz (RTJ Golf Trail at Ross Bridge) heading into the final round – all the players vouching for three spots to qualify for the 2021 PGA Professional Championship to be held at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. on April 25-28, 2021.
Williamson got off to another solid start making two birdies on his front nine to turn in two-under par. Meanwhile, Steve Cutler (Wynlakes G & C.C.), playing in the same group as Williamson was lurking as he made birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12. Further, Todd McCorkle (Old Overton Club) made an even more impressive run by birdieing six holes on his back. An unfortunate double-bogey on the par-four sixteenth tripped him up, and he wasn’t able to recover from the significant lead already created by the leaders. Williamson continued his no-bogey streak and birdied holes 15, 16 and 17 to coast to a title defense, and seal the victory by four shots over Cutler.
Rounding out the top six spots, and those who will serve as alternate qualifiers for the 2021 PGA Professional Championship, are David Pilkington (Pensacola C.C.), Dominic Diaz (RTJ Golf Trail at Ross Bridge) and Jeff Jordan (Mountain Brook Club). Pilkington was able to claim the first alternate spot over Diaz by defeating him in a sudden-death playoff.
The Alabama–NW Florida PGA would like to extend its thanks to Rob Clark, PGA Director of Golf and the rest of The Ledges staff for providing a superb venue for this year’s Section Championship. Additionally, thank you to Wesley Pate, Michael Jersey, Casey Cleghorn and Robbie Duncan for all they do to their support our PGA Professionals and Section events.
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Media Contact: Hayden Lewis, PGA | hlewis@pgahq.com
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