Jeff Hart of Solana Beach ran away with the Southern California Senior PGA Professional Championship, winning by six strokes over Gordon Leith of Indio at Oak Valley Golf Club www.oakvalleygolf.com in Beaumont.
Hart set a tournament record by posting a score of 64-64—128, 16-under-par, three shots better than the mark set by four-time tournament champion Chris Starkjohann in 2010.
The 59-year-old Hart, who played college golf at USC before playing on the PGA Tour and what was then the Champions Tour, did not make a bogey over the 36 holes and earned the Joe Robinson–Roy P. Denney Perpetual Trophy.
Leith finished second at 65-69—134, followed by Rick Garboski of Westlake Village at 66-69—135, while Chad Sorensen of Taft shot 70-66—136 to tie for fourth with first-round leader Scott Mallory of Temecula, who finished at 64-72—136, and Paul Dietsche of Redlands was sixth at 67-70—137.
Jerry Crowell of Riverside totaled 68-70—138 to tie with seventh with Mike Fergin of Santa Ana, who had the identical score, while Dave Magdziasz of La Quinta wound up at 72-68—140 to tie for ninth with Ted Parker of Monarch Beach, who came in at 70-70—140.
Starkjohann, of Oceanside, finished 11th at 69-72—141.
The top 11 finishers will represent the SCPGA in the upcoming Senior PGA Professional Championship, while Paul Holtby of Moorpark, Gary Sowinski of San Diego, Scott McCue of San Diego, Mark Fernando of Rancho Bernardo and Jon Fiedler of Camarillo are alternates for the national tournament on Oct. 3-6 at Barton Creek Resort, Austin, Texas.
For complete results, visit https://scpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/scpga19/event/scpga19139/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
