Near Miss

Colorado Mesa grad Brandon Bingaman falls just short of another PGA Championship berth, but notches third top-35 finish — out of 312-player field — at national PGA Professional Championship

By Gary Baines 

Brandon Bingaman has become a fixture at the PGA Professional Championship — which is no small feat considering it’s the national tournament for PGA club pros.

Bingaman, a graduate of Fruita Monument High School and Colorado Mesa University, this week competed in his sixth straight national PPC. But it’s not like he’s just taking up a spot in the 312-player tournament. On three of his six appearances in the championship, he’s finished in roughly the top 10 percent of the field.

In fact, he placed fifth last year and 11th in 2022. And on Wednesday, he drew some national air time in the final round at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, where he ended up 34th despite a double bogey on his 72nd and final hole.

With top-20 finishers at the event qualifying players for the PGA Championship, Bingaman has twice competed in that major championship. And on Wednesday, after making a 15-foot birdie on his 17th hole, he gave himself an opportunity at qualifying for his third PGA Championship, though he needed to birdie the par-5 18th to advance.

Alas, that 18th hole at Bandon Dunes proved Bingaman’s nemesis this week. He finished with a double-bogey 7 there on Wednesday after bogeying the hole on Monday and parring it on Tuesday.

For the four rounds, the 35-year-old finished at 5 over par at Bandon, where wind blew in the 20-25 mph range on the back nine on Wednesday.

Bingaman, now a PGA assistant professional at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas, went 73-70-74-75 at Bandon.

Big numbers down the stretch also took a toll on the PGA Championship bid of former Golden resident Andy Svoboda. Svoboda double bogeyed two of his final seven holes on Wednesday and finished at 6 over par, in 38th place.

As it turned out, 2 over or better for the tournament was needed to qualify for next month’s PGA Championship.

Here are all the scores for players with strong Colorado ties at the national PGA Professional Championship:

34. Former Montrose/Grand Junction resident Brandon Bingaman 73-70-74-75—292

38. Former Golden resident Andy Svoboda 71-71-76-75–293

Missed 54-Hole Cut

85. Chris Hyten, Castle Rock 70-76-79–225

92. Dan Sniffin, Broomfield 74-71-83—228

Missed 36-Hole Cut

135. Micah Rudosky, Cortez 77-72–149

150. Ben Lanting, Highlands Ranch 74-76–150

164. Geoff Keffer, Lakewood 75-76–151

164. Former CO School of Mines golfer Marty Jertson 75-76–151

190. Matt Schalk, Erie 78-74–152

218. Caine Fitzgerald, Parker 76-77–153

278. Henry Bernard, Loveland 81-77–158

292. Bill Hancock, Parker 79-82–161

302. Robert Grall, Louisville 88-75–163

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com