Former Mines golfer Jertson opens with 70 in national PGA Professional Championship; Coloradans need to rally to make 36-hole cut
By Gary Baines – 04/28/2019
Former Colorado School of Mines golfer Marty Jertson owns a very strong record in the national PGA Professional Championship, and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down now.
Jertson, the 2001 CGA Amateur champion, shot a 1-under-par 70 in Sunday’s opening round of this year’s PPC in Bluffton, S.C., and shares 19th place in the 312-person field.
Last year, Jertson placed ninth in this event, qualifying for his third PGA Championship in the process. He’s finished in the top-10 three times in the national PGA Professional Championship.
On Sunday, the director of product development for Ping made two birdies and one bogey. Relative to par, he trails leader Ron Philo by five.
The top 20 finishers after four rounds will earn berths in this year’s PGA Championship, set for May 16-19 at Bethpage Black in New York.
To read a 2017 feature story on Jertson (pictured), CLICK HERE.
Meanwhile, the eight Colorado PGA players who are competing in Bluffton will need to rally in Sunday’s second round to avoid missing a 36-hole cut to the top 90 players and ties. There will be a second cut after three rounds, to the top 70 and ties.
The top two Coloradans after round 1 are reigning Colorado PGA Professional champion Patrick Reidy of Littleton and Remington Post of Keystone, both of whom shot 6-over-par 78s and share 185th place.
Two of the four women competitors in this year’s field are from Colorado — Sherry Andonian-Smith of Centennial and Alexandra Braga of Denver, who are the first female Colorado PGA members to play in this event. Andonian-Smith, the first female to compete in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship last fall, was the Colorado PGA’s inaugural Women’s Player of the Year in 2018.
Braga opened with an 80 on Sunday and Andonian-Smith with an 83.
Here are the scores for the eight Coloradans, plus Jertson:
19. 2001 CGA Amateur champion Marty Jertson of Phoenix 70 (-1)
185. Remington Post of Keystone 78 (+6)
185. Patrick Reidy of Littleton 78 (+6)
207. Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale 79 (+7)
242. Caine Fitzgerald of Parker 79 (+8)
242. Dustin Miller of Highlands Ranch 80 (+8)
242. Eric Bradley of Steamboat Springs 80 (+8)
265. Alexandra Braga of Denver 80 (+9)
298. Sherry Andonian-Smith of Centennial 83 (+12)
For complete scores, CLICK HERE.