Event Preview Courtesy of Gary D’Amato and Wisconsin.Golf
For PGA club and teaching professionals who take tee times, give lessons and run events — and still manage to play the game at a high level — the PGA Professional Championship is their “major.”
Five accomplished golfers will represent the Wisconsin PGA Section at the 2024 PGA Professional Championship, Sunday through Wednesday on the Fields Ranch East and West courses at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas.
Michael Crowley of Fox Point, the head PGA professional at Morningstar Golfers Club and the reigning WPGA Player of the Year, leads the Wisconsin quintet.
The others are David Bach of Cleveland (Whistling Straits), Jamie Christianson of Egg Harbor (Horseshoe Bay Golf Club), Ryan Helminen of Menasha (Ridgeway Country Club) and Mick Smith of Summit (Mick Smith Golf Academy).
All five qualified via their finishes in the 2023 Wisconsin PGA Professional Championship.
The PGA Professional Championship, the national championship for PGA of America professionals, features a 312-player field representing all 41 sections.
The top 20 finishers will earn a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team to compete two weeks later in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., from May 13-19.
Last year, Smith, Crowley and Christianson played in the PGA Professional Championship in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., with Smith finishing 70th on rounds of 74-71-74-79. Crowley (77-70-76) missed the 54-hole cut and Christianson (79-76) missed the 36-hole cut.
Crowley won the 2023 Wisconsin PGA Professional Championship on the Links Course at the Golf Courses of Lawsonia, shooting 66-69 and edging Christianson and Smith by one shot. He also finished T-3 in the Wisconsin State Open and won three one-day WPGA events.
Helminen, an eight-time WPGA Player of the Year and two-time State Open champion, is making his 12th appearance in the PGA Professional Championship. He qualified every year from 2008 through 2018.
Helminen also will have a chance to advance to the PGA Championship at Valhalla for a second time. In 2014, he missed the 36-hole cut by one stroke in the championship won by Rory McIlroy.
Christianson is making his fourth appearance in the PGA Professional Championship and his second representing the WPGA Section.
Bach, who finished fourth in the 2023 Wisconsin PGA Professional Championship, is the reigning and three-time WPGA Assistant Player of the Year.
Brent Snyder, who teaches at Kilkarney Hills Golf Course in River Falls, also qualified to play at Fields Ranch. Snyder is a member of the Minnesota PGA Section.
Others with Wisconsin ties in the field are Brookfield native Tim Cantwell (South Florida PGA), Chippewa Falls native Tony Rohlik (Southwest PGA), Fond du Lac native Pat Steffes (Northern California PGA), Middleton native Derek Stendahl (Minnesota PGA) and Ripon native Eric Mabee (New England PGA).
Rohlik won the 2023 Wisconsin Senior Open at Maple Bluff CC, beating Stendahl by one stroke.
Braden Shattuck of Springfield, Pa., will attempt to defend his PGA Professional Championship title. He is one of 15 past champions in this year’s field.
For scoring and several other features visit https://www.pga.com/events/pga-professional-championship
Wisconsin PGA Round 1 and 2 Tee Times
David Bach – Sunday – 7:11 AM / Monday – 12:31 PM
Jamie Christianson – Sunday – 2:36 PM / Monday – 9:01 AM
Michael Crowley – Sunday – 1:14 PM / Monday – 7:44 AM
Ryan Helminen – Sunday – 12:46 PM / Monday – 7:11 AM
Mick Smith – Sunday – 7:55 AM / Monday – 1:15 PM
The championship will also be televised on the Golf Channel at the following times (CST);
Second Round, Monday, April 29: GOLF Channel 4:00 – 7:00 PM
Third Round, Tuesday, April 30: GOLF Channel 4:00 – 7:00 PM
Fourth Round, Wednesday, May 1: GOLF Channel 3:00 – 6:00 PM