Ashland, NE – The Nebraska Section PGA annually hosts the Legends of Golf Classic to honor and celebrate the PGA Professionals who have paved the way for future generations. The event is only eligible for PGA Members who have served for 20 or more years or that are 50 years of age and older. 32 Nebraska PGA Professionals were in the 2023 field and the group represented 949 years of PGA Membership. The format of the event is two-person teams with one best-ball on the par 3’s and a shamble on the par 4’s and 5’s.
Off to a quick start, Mike Antonio, PGA of Happy Hollow Club and Ty Stewart of Lost Rail Golf Club birdied three of their first four holes to take the early lead. Joining that duo with a hot start was our back-to-back defending champions, Jon Petersen, PGA of Tiburon Golf Club and Jim White, PGA MP of The Fairways at Lincoln. Petersen and White began birdie-birdie before playing holes 6-9 at 4-under thanks to an eagle on No. 7, one of their two eagles on the day.
Petersen and White went out in 29 (6-under) and began their back nine with a birdie on the challenging 10th hole before their round stalled out. The two of them let the rest of the field back into contention with five consecutive pars and they stood on 16 tied for the lead. The two of them looked at each other and put it into a different gear to finish their round.
After a birdie on No. 16, White lasered a tee shot and found the green on the par 4 – 17th setting up a long eagle attempt. The read was confusing for both players, but Petersen settled for a line and let it roll. The ball tracked the flag the entire way form just about 40 feet before it found the bottom of the cup. The eagle was their second of the round and they went on to birdie No. 18 to close a winning round of 60 (11-under). Petersen and White became back-to-back-to-back champions of the event.
We would like to thank our supporting sponsors Nebraska Golf & Turf (Club Car), FootJoy, Coors Light, White Claw Hard Seltzer and PGA Tour for helping us make this event possible. We would also like to thank General Manager Brian Kuta, PGA, Superintendent Nevin Kotera and the entire staff at Iron Horse Golf Club for hosting us. We look forward to next week’s Pro-Pro/Scratch-Scratch event at Omaha Country Club.
CLICK HERE for 2023 Nebraska Section PGA Legends of Golf Classic Result
