Within four holes on the final day of the SCPGA Professional Championship, Mike Miles of Virginia Country Club had extended his lead from just two shots to eight, and from that point on there was no looking back. Miles, the 2008 SCPGA Professional Champion, finished with his third straight round of 66, and blew away the field by nine shots. Jeffrey Cranford of The Palms Golf Club shot a final round 67 to finish at -3 and in sole possession of second place. Both Miles and Cranford earn exemptions into the Nationwide Tour Soboba Golf Classic, while Miles also earns a spot in the 2012 Humana Invitational (formerly the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic). The top ten finishers will be representing the Southern California Section in the 2012 PGA Professional National Championship, hosted by Bayonet and Blackhorse courses in Seaside, CA.
Miles got off to a quick start, with birdies on his first two holes. Charles DeLorey of Indian Canyons Golf Resort, who started the day just two shots back, went in the opposite direction, with bogeys on his first four holes. The entire field seemed to struggle with the course on Wednesday, with only five of 60 players shooting under par for the day. Miles had the shot of the tournament, as he aced the 233-yard par-3 12th hole, the first hole-in-one during the Section Professional Championship in recent memory. His tee shot landed on the edge of the green, bounced once and rolled about 25 feet into the cup. He was unaware of the ace as he approached the green, even bringing a wedge along with his putter as he thought the ball may have rolled off the green.
Thank you to Annandale Golf Club, General Manager Bruce Pruitt, Head PGA Professional Wade Berzas and the entire membership for hosting an unbelievable championship week. Thank you to all of our sponsors, both local and national, for supporting the SCPGA and the Professional Championship. Without their generosity, the SCPGA would not be able to put on events such as this. Congratulations to Champion Mike Miles and all of the qualifiers who will compete next year in the PGA Professional National Championship!
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Annandale Golf Club will host the 2011 Southern California PGA Professional Championship
Founded 105 years ago, Annandale Golf Club has seen its fair share of change. Through two name changes and two renovations in that time, Annandale is now poised to host the 2011 Southern California PGA Professional Championship.
Annandale Golf Club was founded in 1906 and designed by architect William Watson. In 1922, William Bell completed the first redesign of the course, and that layout stood for 85 years when architect Brian Silva completely reinvented this venerable facility.
The club has hosted Presidents, Hollywood celebrities and the greatest names in golf, including Arnold Palmer, who hosted a golf clinic and exhibition in 1975 to benefit the Methodist Hospital of Southern California. The event continued for two decades. The 1991 clinic featured Palmer with Julie Inkster and Peter Jacobsen, along with Head PGA Golf Professional Pat Rielly, who was at the time the President of the PGA of America, and has served as past President of the Southern California PGA.
Golf’s Little Goliath
No player in the history of golf was a more feared little man than Paul Runyan. His career was the fulfillment of his goal to be the best truly light-hitting player who ever lived.
Slight at 5-7, 125 pounds, Runyan could produce little power with a swing that featured a pronounced sway-in tournaments where his drives were measured, he barely averaged 230 yards off the tee. But Runyan was deadly straight, a tremendously accurate fairway-wood player and reliable with the irons. Around and on the greens he was an absolute a genius. Throw in killer instinct and Depression-bred toughness and you get the golfer known as “Little Poison.”
“Don’t let the bad shots get to you,’’ said Runyan. “Don’t let yourself become angry. The true scramblers are thick-skinned. And they always beat the whiners.’’
Between 1930 and 1941, Runyan won 29 times on the PGA Tour. In 1933, he racked up nine victories and, in 1934, he won six more and captured the money title the first year such records were kept with a total of $6,767.
