Decorated champion Massie adds to resume with most prestigious victory to date.

BOWLING GREEN, KY (September 13, 2022) – For nearly a decade, Jesse Massie, PGA has been a force within the Kentucky PGA Section collecting trophy after trophy. But on Tuesday, he earned his biggest one to date by winning the 71st Kentucky PGA Professional Championship from The Club at Olde Stone. The Director of Instruction from Woodhaven Country Club posted the only even-par score of the championship, winning by two strokes with 144 (E).

Starting the day one shot behind 18-hole leaders Brad Maynard, PGA and Bruce Oldendick, PGA, Massie’s start to the final round was far from ideal as three bogeys in the first five holes increased the amount of ground he needed to make up. A birdie on the 7th later followed by consecutive birdies on the 11^th and 12^th were the recipe to get back in the thick of things. Another one on the 15^th gave him the outright lead for the first time all day amidst lots of jockeying at the top between Maynard, Mitchell Moore, PGA and Andrew Stephens, PGA. With Massie going to the 18^th one in front, a final birdie to seal the deal coupled with a fist pump assured him of a two-stroke margin of victory over Moore.

“Words can’t explain how this feels,” said Massie after the awards presentation. “I got into the PGA of America for this reason – to compete professionally. Along the way, I found out how much I love teaching and sharing the love of the game with others. It’s a special victory and being able to compete in the PGA Professional Championship now will be the pinnacle of tournament experiences for me. I’m not getting any younger and my old dreams of being a tour professional are well behind me, so to have a home now with the PGA and getting to compete at that level is going to be special.”

Massie will head to New Mexico for that tournament on April 30 – May 3, 2023. The top-twenty finishers that week will gain exemptions into the PGA Championship a couple of weeks later in New York. Joining Massie in the travel out west will be Moore and Chad Douglas, PGA. Moore clinched the second of three exemption spots on the line with his solo runner-up finish. This week marked the third straight year of him earning one of those spots.

Douglas will be a PGA Professional Championship rookie like Massie and got the last exemption spot in a sudden-death playoff against Tom Walters, PGA. After they each tied for third, three extra holes of golf were needed before Douglas prevailed.

Should Massie, Moore or Douglas be unable to compete in New Mexico next spring, three alternate spots were also determined. Walters received the first of those while John Mullendore, PGA got the second alternate spot. Andrew Stephens, PGA has the third and final alternate position from the Kentucky Section.

NOTES & STATS

• Only one eagle was made in the championship and it came on Tuesday from Jacob Schakat, PGA. The Assistant Professional from Indian Hills Country Club did so on the par-four 14^th.
• For the second straight day, the 14^th also played as the easiest hole at Olde Stone with a stroke-to-par average of +0.08.
• The par-four 9^th came in as the hardest hole in the final round. It played to +0.92 and was the site of ten double bogeys or worse.
• Factoring in scores from both rounds, the opening par-four 1^st was the hardest hole of the competition at +0.75.
• The gap in score differential closed on Tuesday, but the front nine was still the harder side by a considerable margin. Holes 1-9 averaged 40.16 strokes in the final round versus 39.45 on the inward half.

Click here to view the final results

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The Kentucky PGA extends its thanks to Kevin Childers, PGA Director of Golf plus the entire staff from The Club at Olde Stone for their assistance in conducting this championship. Additionally, the KPGA lends its appreciation to each player who competed in the tournament.

Up next on the Section’s tournament schedule is the Titleist | FootJoy Team Championship which will be on Monday, September 19 from Gay Brewer, Jr. Golf Course at Picadome. Competitors that day will be in teams of two with one PGA Member/Associate competing alongside an amateur in the 36-hole extravaganza.

About the Kentucky PGA:
The Kentucky PGA Section (KPGA) is one of forty-one Sections across the country representing the PGA of America and its Members. It is also one of three organizations encompassed within Golf House Kentucky, which also includes the Kentucky Golf Association (KGA) and Kentucky Golf Foundation (KGF). The KPGA contains more than 275 Members and more than 30 Associates working in various roles across Kentucky; all of whom share the goal of bettering the game and its players. The KPGA and its Members assist with the organization of many chief growth-of-the-game initiatives including PGA HOPE and PGA Jr. League among others. The Section also operates more than thirty tournaments throughout the golf season, including the three State Open championships and qualifiers for the Barbasol Championship.

Media Contact:
Ethan Fisher, PGA | Golf House Kentucky | efisher@kygolf.org | (502) 792-9703