Woodstock Golf Club head professional Chris Sanger took an important step in achieving his goal of competing in one of golf’s four major championships with a runner-up finish in a big Northeastern New York PGA Section tournament Wednesday.
Sanger earned a spot in the 2023 national PGA Professional Championship for the country’s best club pros with a runner-up finish in the 36-hole NENYPGA Professional Championship at Albany Country Club.
Sanger posted a score of 2-under-par 140, two strokes behind the winner, Justin Hearley of Burden Lake Country Club in the Northeastern PGA Section event.
The top two finishers in the Northeastern PGA Section tournament earned a berth in the national club pro
championship, which will take place April 30 to May 3, 2023, in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM The top 20 finishers in the New Mexico tournament for club pros will earn spots in the 2023 PGA Championship. That takes place May 18-21 at the fabled Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY The PGA Championship is the second major of the year, preceded by The Masters in April.
This will be Sanger’s first trip to the national club pro tournament. He competed in the National Assistant PGA Professional Championship three times.
“It was my main goal this year since I fell short last year,” Sanger said of advancing to the national club pro tournament. “Of course, it would be a dream to play in the PGA Championship.”
Sanger has had a solid season in Northeastern PGA Section tournaments, currently standing in third place in the Player of the Year points race with 1,490 points. He trails Hearley (1,917.5) and Scott Berliner (1,677.17) of Eagle Crest Golf Club.
“I’ve been playing pretty well this year,” said Sanger, who hasn’t finished outside the top five all year in section tournaments. “But my game has really turned a corner these past few weeks.”
The Player of the Year race will come down to the final months of the season. The Match Play Championship is up next on Sept. 20 and 21 at Wolferts Roost Country Club in Albany. Sanger is the defending champion at the match-play event, which he has won twice.
Another big tournament is the section’s Tour Championship on Oct. 4-5 at the Country Club of Pittsfield in Massachusetts. Sanger has also won that event previously.