Sylvester resident Sonny Skinner qualifies for Senior PGA Professional National Championship

Sylvester resident Sonny Skinner qualified for the the 32nd Senior PGA Professional National Championship with his finish Tuesday in the Georgia PGA Senior Professional Championship at Ansley Golf Club at Settindown Creek.

The 59-year-old finished the two-day tournament at 7-under-par 137 and in second place, just a shot behind champion Tim Weinhart, who shot 8-under 64 in the final round.

Skinner, playing out of Spring Hill Country Club in Tifton, opened with a 2-under 70 and followed it with a 5-under 67. With the finish, he qualified for the Senior PGA Professional National Championship, scheduled for Oct. 15-18 at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker and Ryder Courses in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Begun in 1989, the Senior PGA Professional National Championship is modeled after the PGA Professional Championship with a field of 50-and-older senior PGA Professionals who advanced through 41 Section Championships. The top 35 finishers in the National Championship earn a berth in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, which will be conducted May 25-30, 2021, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

Skinner is a graduate of Worth County High, where he played golf and football. He enjoyed a long career in pro golf, including stints on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour (where he won twice. He began playing Champions Tour events when he turned 50.

He has qualified for the PGA Championship three times in his career and is in the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Athletic Hall of Fame, the Shorter College Athletic Hall of Fame and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.

Skinner is the only individual in the history of the PGA of America to earn both the PGA Professional of the Year (2008) and the Senior PGA Professional of the Year (2010, 2011, 2012). He also finished as low club professional at the 2011 Senior PGA Championship.

Photo: Georgia PGA Section