The Professional

Cong, of Germantown, MD, came out firing in the final round. She birdies holes 2, 3, and 4 and holed out for eagle from 90 yards on the par-4 5th. The weather horn blew as she was playing the 6th hole but she didn’t let that slow her down. After the delay, she made another birdie on 6 for 5 straight holes of birdie or better. That run gave her a comfortable lead with three holes to play. Cong made a double bogey on the par-3 8th hole but she still won comfortably by four shots. Her 2-under par 27-hole total also gave a girl the overall championship for the first time since Bailey Davis in 2018.

Dustin Stocksdale and Elsie MacCleery join Caraballo and Cong as qualifiers for the Junior PGA Championship. The national championship takes place August 1 – 4 at Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Santa Ana, NM – The PGA Professional Championship is the biggest tournament of the year for those that qualify. 312 of the best PGA Professionals compete to be crowned the champion and 20 qualifying spots are up for grabs in the PGA Championship.

The event took place at Santa Ana and Twin Warriors Golf Clubs this year. The Middle Atlantic had 14 representatives that qualified through our Section Championship: Chris Abbott (Kinloch GC), Steve Delmar (Columbia CC), Ryan Fellows (Creighton Farms), Kyle Fuller, (CC of Virginia), Ashley Grier (Yinglings Golf Center), Larkin Gross (Springfield G&CC), Billy Hoffman (Westwood CC), David Hutsell (Baltimore CC), Travis Johnson (Kinloch GC), Ian McConnell (1757 GC), Geoff Montross (Farmington CC), Jay Newcomb (Suburban Club), John O’Leary (Trump National GC), and Josh Speight (Club at Viniterra).

Kyle Fuller led the way for Team MAPGA after the first round. He made 2 birdies to 1 bogey for a 1-under 71 at Santa Ana Golf Club and tied for 21st. Larkin Gross also had a strong first round, shooting an even-par 72 at

After a disappointing 4-over 76 in the first round, Josh Speight was a big mover in the second round. His 2-under par 70 at Santa Ana GC moved him up 114 spots into a tied for 58th. Chris Abbott also had a strong second round, shooting even par 72 to move up 46 spots on the leaderboard. Fuller and Gross each shot over par in their second rounds but were in position to

There was a second cut after the third round to the low 70 and ties. Gross and Abbott weren’t able to make it but Fuller and Speight had solid third rounds and earned their way to play the final round. After a third-round 1-under 71, Fuller was tied for 29th. Speight shot an even-par 72 in the third round and was tied for 43rd heading into the final round.

Both players were battling to make it inside the top-20 for an exemption in the PGA Championship. Fuller was never able to get things going, shooting one-over par 73 to finish tied for 43rd. Speight on the other hand got hot