From April 16 to April 19 at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, longtime Wellington resident Justin Hicks made his debut in the Senior PGA Championship, which is golf’s most storied major championship for seniors over age 50.
While Hicks didn’t win, he finished in a tie for 17th place after rounds of 69-69-72-73 (283, five under par). His high finish earned him Low PGA of America Golf Professional honors at the 86th edition of the event, which was first held in 1937 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, when it was won by Scotland’s Jock Hutchison.
Hicks, who works as a PGA teaching professional at the Stonebridge Country Club in Boca Raton, played the final round one over par (73). It was his only round above par in the 72-hole tournament. As it turned out, that put him one stroke shy of an automatic invitation to next year’s 87th Senior PGA Championship. Despite that unfortunate news, Hicks was proud of his performance in this year’s event…