South Florida PGA Retains Cup at 17th Annual Senior Challenge Cup.

Palm Coast, FL – The South Florida PGA captures the 17th Senior Challenge Cup, defeating North Florida PGA for the second consecutive year.

Over the two-day stretch of Ryder Cup-style matches, South Florida tallied 18.5 total points compared to North Florida’s 11.5 points at Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa.

Team South Florida finished the first round of four-ball match play with a one-point lead over North Florida before winning three of the five foursome match play matches in the second round, securing a four-point lead going into the final day.

Yielding four points to North Florida in the round three scramble matches, Jerry Tucker, PGA, and Pete Oakley, PGA  maintained their undefeated streak, securing the only point for team SFPGA going into the final round singles matches.

With a two-point lead entering the final round, team SFPGA needed five points to retain the cup successfully.

Tucker and Oakley continued their dominant play taking both their singles matches 3 & 2 and recording a perfect record for team SFPGA throughout the four rounds.

Chris Kaufman, PGA, officially secured the win for South Florida with his 3 & 2 win, solidifying a clean sweep for Kaufman over North Florida in 2022 as he Captained the South Florida PGA Challenge Cup team in late October.

Steve Vecellio, PGA, Tim Cantwell, PGA, Mike San Filippo, PGA, and Joe Kern, PGA all secured wins as well in their singles matches to bring the total tally up to 18.5 points.

The win marks the 12th Senior Challenge Cup victory in just 17 tries for South Florida PGA.
Each team was made up of 12 PGA Professionals who earned an invitation based on ROLEX Player of the Year Points Standings. Roger Kennedy Sr, PGA, captained South Florida’s winning efforts with the following PGA Professionals:

Tim Cantwell, PGA; Mike San Filippo, PGA; Chris Kaufman, PGA; Joe Kern, PGA; David Ladd, PGA; Mike Melton, PGA; Mark Mielke, PGA; Scott Newhouse, PGA; Pete Oakley, PGA;  Jack Shoenfelt, PGA; Jerry Tucker, PGA; and Steve Vecellio, PGA.