2024 Middle Atlantic National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship

 

Jon Moles won the 2024 MAPGA National Car Rental Assistant Professional Championship at Columbia Country Club with a total score of eight-under par (132). He demolished the field by 5 strokes.

 

There were no blemishes on Moles’ scorecard in round one. He shot a bogey-free 65 (-5) which tied the male competitive scoring record at Columbia CC (Rose Zhang shot a 62 at the USGA Girls Amateur).  Moles led the 2nd place competitor, Larkin Gross (Westwood CC) by four strokes and 3rd place Alex McGonagle (Columbia CC) by 5 strokes after the first round.

 

“Things went smoothly. There weren’t too many fairways missed, and when I did, I seemed to find good lies and was able to get on the putting surface. I was able to make a few,” Moles said. “Overall, it was a clean day, and I’m very satisfied.”

 

He followed up his 65 with a 3-under par 67 during his second round, and he did not make a bogey until his 31st hole, when he had a significant lead. He was leading by four shots over Larkin Gross headed to the sixteenth hole, but to Moles, the job was not finished yet.

 

“There are a lot of good players in this event,” Moles said. “And this isn’t a golf course where you can just limp it in on the closing stretch.” He birdied the par three 16th hole, and narrowly missed his birdie try on 17. He closed his round with a two-putt par on 18. 

 

“I was nervous with all of the people watching on 18 green,” Moles said. “My playing partners both finished the hole and let me be the last to putt even though I was out, and once they had both finished I felt more calm.”

 

This was Moles’ first victory in an MAPGA event. This event also served as a national qualifier for the PGA of America Assistant Professional Championship.  Larkin Gross, Paige Gross (Club at Creighton Farms), Alex Hoffman (Columbia CC) and Anthony DeFrank (TPC Potomac) were the top 4 finishers who were eligible to advance to the National Championship.  The National Car Rental PGA Assistant Professional Championship will be held Nov 14-17 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL. National Car Rental was our title sponsor for this event supported by Srixon Golf, Cleveland Golf & Asics.