Billy Downes Captures Connecticut Senior PGA Professional Title

Billy Downes Captures Connecticut Senior PGA Professional Title;

Earns Berth in 32^nd Senior PGA Professional Championship

STRATFORD, Conn. (August 12, 2020) – Billy Downes, head professional at GREATHORSE (Hampden, Mass.) won the Senior Connecticut PGA Championship, conducted at Mill River Country Club on Monday and Tuesday this week. Downes of Longmeadow (Mass.) shot rounds of 69 and 72 for a 36-hole, one-under par total 141. Bob Mucha, head professional at Edgewood Golf Course (Southwick, Mass.), finished second with a one-over par total of 143 (73-70).

Jan Wivestad (144- Crestbrook Park GC) was third; and seven time and defending champion Fran Marrello (145 – Canaan CC) finished fourth.

By their finishes, Downes and Mucha qualify for the 32^nd Senior PGA Professional Championship, which will be played at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on October 15-18, 2020.

The Senior PGA Professional Championship brings together a field of 264 contestants representing the PGA of America’s 41 nationwide Sections and features a total purse of $300,000.

Begun in 1989, the Senior PGA Professional Championship is modeled after the PGA Professional Championship, with a field of 50-and-older senior PGA Professionals who advanced through 41 Section Championships conducted from June through August this year.

The top 35 finishers in the national Championship earn a berth in the 82^nd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, which will be conducted in May 27-30, 2021, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.