Club professionals in the spotlight at this week’s PGA Championship

This week’s final major of the year has a flavor much different than The US Open, a tournament that has visited the Baltusrol facility seven times, The Open and The Masters.

This is the second time the PGA Championship has visited the course in Springfield, NJ. Phil Mickelson won in 2005 with a 4-under, 276 total.

Twenty club professionals will compete in the 2016 championship, all qualifying at the PGA Professional Championship. Local PGA professionals have a chance to play in three of the four major championships, but none welcomes golf shop denizens more openly than the PGA Championship. Rightly so.

The Masters offers invitations to amateurs who win major amateur events. Local golfer Steve Wilson hoisted the Robert T Jones Trophy when he won the 2008 US Mid-Am and accepted an invitation to the Masters in 2009. The US Open and The Open allow anyone, professional or amateur, to qualify for their events.

The PGA Championship welcomes club professionals who finish in the Top 20 of their national tournament. Class-A pros qualify at the local level. Hickory Hill Golf Professional Jerry Covich has played in two PGA Professional Championships and three Senior PGA Professional Championships, qualifying in 1999 for the PGA Senior Championship, a PGA Tour Champions major.

Covich offered this trivia question: Who won the most money in the 1999 Senior PGA Championship, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer or Jerry Covich? Answer: “Covich and Palmer tied after both missed the cut.” Nicklaus didn’t play.

The underdogs this week are certainly the twenty club professionals who will try to grab the Wanamaker Trophy from Jason Day, No 1 in the World. However, even if they miss the cut, these behind-the-counter professionals are No 1 at their clubs.

Timberton’s Ron Hickman is the 2016 Rules Chairman, a testament that local golf pros do so much more than give lessons and sell golf balls.

Each major offers a taste that compelling, and this year’s PGA Championship has fans rooting for the twenty guys who make the game more fun for us. Thank a PGA Professional today.

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Club professionals in the spotlight at this week’s PGA Championship."