Polland Finds Redemption with PGA Club Pro Title

National

FRISCO, Texas -- Ben Polland outplayed the field this week in the PGA Club Pro Championship and won the tournament on Wednesday at PGA Frisco's Fields Ranch East Course, a victory that was profitable (he received $60,000) and therapeutic.

Nine years ago, in 2015, the then 24-year-old assistant pro at Deepdale Golf Club -- a club with a membership described as "strictly limited" (it was founded by the Vanderbilt family and its past members included the Duke of Windsor and the 34th president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower) -- had a three-stroke lead on the final day of this same tournament, and he still led by two when he reached the 18th tee. But he made a double-bogey 6, and Matt Dobyns birdied the 18th, a three-shot reversal that gave the title to Dobyns. 

Polland, who was born in St. Paul and went to high school at Bloomington Jefferson, is now the Director of Golf at Shooting Star of Jackson Hole (Wyoming). On Wednesday, he started the final round with a three-shot lead. There were some shaky moments. He bogeyed the fourth hole and doubled the fifth, and his lead was down to one shot a couple of times. But he recovered with crucial birdies just when he needed them, and the course was so difficult that he was able to shoot a 4-over-par 76 and still win by three. His 72-hole total was 286 (2 under).

Jared Jones, the Director of Instruction at River Oaks CC in Houston, and Andy Svoboda, who splits his time giving lessons in New York and Illinois, tied for second at 289. Svaboda got there with a 74, and Jones with a 76. 

How difficult was East Course the last two days? Wyatt Worthington shot a 7-under 65 on the West Course at PGA Frisco on Sunday in the first round (everyone played both the East and West courses during the first two rounds), and followed it with a 70 at the East Course. With a 36-hole aggregate of 135, Worthington was in first place, four ahead of Polland and Jones, who were tied for second. Then the wind picked up. Worthington shot 78 in his third round, and he had 80 on Wednesday. In other words, he lost 16 strokes to par and wound up at plus 5, 293.  But almost everyone else was struggling, too, and Worthington was able to hang on and tie for 16th place. By finishing in the top 20, he earned a spot in the PGA Championship next month at Valhalla GC in Louisville, Ky.

No one broke 70 in either of the last two rounds. Jeremy Wells was the only player who broke par. He shot 80 on Tuesday and dropped into 45th place, but came back with 70 on Wednesday and moved up 37 places, all the way to an eight-way tie for eighth at 292. 

If you simply made the cut and then put together a couple of rounds at or near par, you could make a big move up in the standings. That was what Jesse Mueller, the head pro at Grand Canyon University Golf Course, did. He survived the cut on the number (147) and then shot 71-72 the last two days. The resulting 290 earned Mueller a tie for fourth place, along with John Somers, who closed with a 73.

Polland was paired with Worthington on Tuesday and Wednesday. He didn't get off to the best start in Tuesday's round, bogeying the second hole and then dumping his ball in the water at the 593-yard, par-5 third. But he escaped with a par, and began to gain ground on Worthington. He birdied the 299-yard seventh hole and the par-3 eighth and was closing in when they made the turn. Polland took the lead -- for good, as it turned out -- when he parred the par-4 13th hole and Worthington made a double bogey.

He moved further ahead when he birdied the 353-yard, par-4 15th, and he overcame what seemed like a psychological barrier when he parred the 16th. The 16th hole at Frisco Fields East is a monster, a par 4 that plays over 500 yards. Polland bogeyed it in the first round and doubled it in the second, but on Tuesday he made a clutch 11-foot putt for par. His 71 in the third round matched matched Mueller for low round of the day.

Polland's final round could have gone off the rails after the bogey at the fourth and double at  the fifth, but he settled himself with a par at the sixth and birdied the seventh for the second day in a row. Things got a little shaky when he bogeyed the 11th and 12th, both par 4s, but he parred the 13th and made a reassuring birdie at the par-5 14th. By the time he walked off the green at the 16th hole, his lead was up to four, which meant that his bogey at the par-3 17th didn't make that much difference.

At the par-5 18th, he kept his ball in the fairway, hit his third shot to 15 feet and had an easy two-putt for par. 

In addition to the money and the trophy that he got Wednesday for winning, Polland will also get a crack at the PGA Tour, in the form of entry into six PGA Tour events. 

Other than his family and fiancee, the first person to congragulate Polland after he finished was Matt Dobyns, who ended up seven shots behind Polland this time, tied for 16th at 293 after closing with a 73.

There was an element of relief in what Polland said after the round. He conceded that he'd thought about what happened nine years ago a lot, and that he'd had "a lot of people asking me about that tournanment."

But he also noted that in 2015, "Matt Dobyns, when he won that, when we were shaking hands on the 18th green afterward, he told me that I was going to win it one day."    


PGA Professional (Club Pro) Championship

At PGA Frisco Fields Ranch

East Course (par 72) and West Course (par 72)

Frisco, Texas

Final results (players played both East and West courses the first two rounds, and those who made the cut played the last two rounds at the East Course.)

1. Ben Polland, Jackson, Wyoming       $60,000                 68-71-71-76--286 (-2)

T2. Andy Svoboda, Ryslyn NY                  $42,725                  73-69-73-74--289

T2. Jared Jones, Houston                         $42,725                 69-70-74-76--289

T4. John Somers, Clearwater, Fla.            $28,750                 69-76-72-73--290

T4. Jesse Mueller, Phoenix, Ariz.              $28,750                 72-75-71-72--290

T6. Tyler Collet, Vero Beach, Fla.              $22,500                  74-68-77-72--291

T6. Brad Marek, Berkeley, Calif.                $22,500                  72-71-74-74--291

T8. Evan Bowser, Estero, Fla.                   $13,344                   73-71-76-72--292

T8. Jeremy Wells, Estero, Fla.                  $13,344                   73-69-80-70--292

T8. Jeff Kellen, Rockford, Ill.                      $13,344                  73-67-80-72--292

T8. Josh Speight, Locust Hill, Va.              $13,344                  70-74-75-73--292

T8. Larkin Gross, Center Cross, Va.          $13,344                   71-73-74-74--292

T8. Preston Cole, Charlotte, N.C.              $13,344                   72-71-74-75--292

T8. Tracy Phillips, Tulsa, Okla.                   $13,344                   72-70-75-75--292

T8. Josh Bevel, Nashville                           $13,344                    69-72-75-76--292

T16. Matt Dobyns, Glen Head, NY              $9,030                     70-70-80-73--293

T16. Zac Oakley, King of Prussia, Pa.         $9,030                     71-69-77-76--293

T16. Kyle Mendoza, Oceanside, Calif.        $9,030                      69-70-78-76--293

T16. Braden Shattuck, Glen Mills, Pa.         $9,030                     76-69-70-78--293

T16. Wyatt Worthington, Reynoldsburg, Oh. $9,030                    65-70-78-80--293

T49. Alex Beach, Stamford, Conn.             $4,850                    76-70-78-75--299

Cut -- 147

Eric Chiles, Excelsior                                                                        75-73--148

Jeff Sorenson, Blaine                                                                         71-79--150

Derek Stendahl, Maple Grove                                                            79-71--150

Thomas Campbell, Savage                                                                  74-77--151

Eddie Wynne, Oakdale                                                                         73-81--154

Brent Snyder, Hudson                                                                          80-79--159

Eric Rolland, Rogers                                                                             86-77--163

Matthew Sandquist, St. Paul                                                                 77-86--163