Suzy News

Whaley achieves yet another milestone at the CPC

06.24.2005

Suzy Whaley wrote another chapter in the amazing story of her golf career on Friday, as she easily made the cut at the PGA Club Professional Championship. On a day when no one broke par at the ferocious Ocean Course at Kiawah, Whaley grinded her way to a 74 that only about two dozen of her competitors bettered, and is position for a memorable weekend.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (PGA.com) -- The Ocean Course, which had its reputation for difficulty besmirched for one day, bared its 18-hole teeth Friday in the second round of the 38th PGA Club Professional Championship.

Suzy Whaley just smiled right back.

The 38-year-old from Farmington, Conn., grinded her way to a 2-over-par 74, made the 36-hole cut and added another milestone to her historic run through the nation's showcase event for PGA Professionals.

Earning her way to The Ocean Course as an alternate, Whaley had vowed to erase the disappointment of missing the cut by five strokes in 2002 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

She finished a windswept round on Friday with a 36-hole total of 8-over-par 152, two strokes above the cut line. She becomes part of a 75-player group that will play the weekend.

"I'm really proud of the way I played. I hung in there, and I feel like I shot 4-under-par in this weather today," said Whaley, a PGA Golf Clinician at Blue Fox Run Golf Club in Avon, Conn. "I'm really psyched to be here on the weekend."

Things didn't look as rosy for the sweet-swinging professional with the megawatt smile several hours earlier.

"I started out with a double [bogey]. I hit a good drive, and hit what I thought was a great golf swing, and it must have been in a little hole," she said. "It came out dead right and went into the water. I thought, 'Six!' And it's blowing 40 miles per hour and I'm going 'Six!' And I have 17 more holes to play!"

The PGA of America set up the par-72 Ocean Course with a two separate yardages to accommodate both men and women professionals. Whaley competed from 6,229 yards, which is approximately 90 percent of the distance of the men's 7,355 yards.

Because Whaley competed from the shorter distance at the Section through Regional CPC levels to earn a CPC berth, she is not eligible for a PGA Championship berth. The low 25 scorers after Sunday's final round gain a trip to the season's final major, Aug. 11-14, at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

But Whaley is eligible now to share in the overall CPC purse of $500,000.

Heading into the final four holes, Whaley was the only player in the field under par on a day when nobody broke par. She may have hit only eight greens, but she needed only 24 putts overall, including 10 on the back nine. She closed with bogeys at 14, 16 and 18 on the rugged final stretch home.

"I'm really proud of the way I played," Whaley said. "I did make reservations for the weekend. I really wanted to play four rounds of golf here. I'm ready for this. I worked my way to it and I feel like I have the experience to play the weekend. It was just getting there, getting to it."

When asked if she felt she thought she had a chance to win, Whaley didn't dodge and weave.

"I wouldn't be playing if I didn't," she said. "On this golf course, anything can happen."

The 38th PGA Club Professional Championship, featuring a $500,000 purse, is being contested for the first time in South Carolina. The field of 156 players is composed of players representing 39 states and 39 PGA Sections.

The 38th PGA Club Professional Championship is presented by Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra; Buick; Club Car and Amstel Light and Buckler. The Greg Norman Collection is the Official Golf Apparel of the CPC, and The Golf Channel an exclusive media partner and the PGA Tour a contributing partner.

The PGA of America, founded in 1916, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

"Article written by Bob Denney , PGA of America"

Courtesy of PGA.com