Mansfield golfer Chad Scott wins PGA Senior Men's Division national championship
The city of Mansfield has produced a PGA champion!
Chad Scott, of Westbrook Country Club in Mansfield, won the PGA National Senior Club Championship last month at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. The event was a part of the Men's Division of the 2022 PGA National Club Championships that took place from Feb. 15-17 on three different courses — Ocean, Cougar and Turtle Point. The men competed in three divisions: Open (any age), Senior (50 years or older) and Champion (60 years or older).
The tournament featured champions from clubs around the country who were invited by their facility's PGA professional to compete in the event. Scott qualified last August by winning the 2022 Senior Club Championship at Westbrook Country Club.
"I'm speechless, completely speechless," Scott said after his victory in February. "Nobody's more surprised than I am."
The event lasted for three days, with Scott shooting a 4-under 68 on the first day at Cougar Point. He followed that with a 4-over 76 at the Ocean course.
"Chad played extremely well on the first day shooting 68 with a bogey and a double bogey," said Greg Smith, the PGA professional at Westbrook Country Club. "Tons of birdies. The next two days were extremely difficult weather conditions. He said he was grinding out par by par to maintain his first-round lead."
The majority of the field had to cope with "limited visibility and strong winds" on that Friday.
"The last few days were survival mode," Scott told PGA.com. "The first day at Cougar Point was very scorable. Thankfully, I got off to a hot start and hung on. The guys are all so good."
Scott carded a 4-over 76 on the last day to win by one shot at 4-over 220. Brian Lovett (Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, Missouri) and the 2020 Senior Men’s champion Coleman Tidwell (Idle Hour Country Club, Macon, Georgia) tied for second at 221.
"I knew Chad had a chance to be in the top 10. He is a very consistent player with an extremely good short game," Smith said. "I never thought about if he could win or not since these are all the club champions from various country clubs across the country. After the first round 68, yes I knew he could win. Surprised? No, since he is the co-owner of the course record at Westbrook Country Club with me at 62."
After the victory, Scott recognized Smith.
"We’ve got the best pro on earth in Greg Smith, PGA,” Scott told PGA.com. “He has the all-time greatest personality and is a hard worker. I can’t say enough good things about him, and everything the PGA of America puts on is first-class.”
A couple of weeks later, Smith summed up what it meant to have a PGA champion from the city of Mansfield and the Westbrook Country Club.
"100 percent great for our club, our area golfers and Northern Ohio golfers," Smith said. "His trophy will be one of the first ones on the new Hall of Champions in Westbrook's new clubhouse."
jsimpson@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield golfer Chad Scott wins PGA senior national championship
