40th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship

40th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship supported by Srixon - Cleveland Golf – XXIO

When: Oct. 27-30, 2016

Where: PGA Golf Club (Wanamaker Course), Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Defending Champion: Andy Mickelson, Romeoville, Ill.

Format: 72 holes of stroke play. Following the first 36 holes, the field will be reduced to the lowest 70 scorers and ties. In the event of a tie for first place after 72 holes, there will be a hole-by-hole playoff.

What's at Stake: $100,000 will be distributed among the 2015 field of 126 competitors. The champion will receive $9,000 and a spot in the 2017 PGA Professional Championship.

Who's playing: The 2016 Assistant PGA Professional field (as of Oct. 24) | Scoring

 

Day 1: Evan Wartgow leads with opening-round 68

Day 2: Jack Lempke leads at 7-under through 36

Day 3: Danny Lewis leads by 1 stroke heading into final round

Day 4: Ben Polland holds off crowded leaderboard

 

TWITTER: Join the conversation at #PGAAssistant

 

PHOTO GALLERIES: 2016 PGA Assistant Championship

 

Andy Mickelson, the apprentice at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, Illinois, won the 2015 PGA Assistant Championship by two shots over Adam Rainaud.

About the National Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship supported by Srixon - Cleveland Golf – XXIO

For the 21st consecutive year, PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., will host the 2016 PGA Assistant Championship, a national championship for 126 PGA assistant professionals and apprentices. For nearly 40 years, this tournament has produced outstanding PGA Professionals who have gone onto successful careers in teaching and administering the game, as well as competing at the highest level. Past competitors or champions include: Loren Roberts (Champion, 1979); Fred Funk (Champion, 1984); Rich Beem (Third, 1998); and Tim Thelen (Champion, 2009).

The Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida

Designed by legendary architect Tom Fazio, the Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club has long been hailed as one of Florida’s most picturesque layouts since it opened in 1996. Named in honor of Rodman Wanamaker, who inspired the birth of the PGA of America in 1916, the classic Floridian design plays through native wetlands, palm trees and palmettos.

Stretching to 7,123 yards from the back tees, the par-72 layout opens with a medium length par 5 that eases golfers into their rounds with a wide fairway and gentle green complex. Among the Wanamaker’s unforgettable holes is the short par-4 8th which features a double green that drastically changes how the hole is played depending on which is in use. The final two holes provide plenty of fireworks; the long par-3 17th plays slightly uphill to an undulated green while the demanding, 462-yard, par-4 18th features a massive beach bunker down the right and a green guarded by water.

The Wanamaker Course re-opened in 2014 following a significant re-grassing project that introduced new, modern turf to fairways and bunker surrounds. Celebration Bermuda, a highly popular strain lauded for its durability, was installed on all 14 fairways. Additionally, ornamental grasses including Burgundy and white fountain grasses, dwarf fakahatchee and muhlenbergia were installed to reframe hole corridors.

Conditions have never been better as evidenced by the Wanamaker Course vaulting five spots to No. 16 in Golfweek’s 2016 “Best: State-by-State Courses You Can Play” list for Florida. GOLF Magazine also recently agreed on the Wanamaker’s impressive enhancements, ranking the beloved layout No. 23 on its 2016 edition of the “Best Courses Near You” list.