Albany pro ready for shot at PGA Championship
The last time Sonny Skinner was at Whistling Straits, he was carrying clubs for a friend. So while the club professional from Albany has never played the course that will this week host the PGA Championship, he knows what’s awaiting him as a competitor.
“It is the most visually intimidating golf course I’ve ever seen,” Skinner said. “You stand on the tee and you see all the obstacles – the bunkers, the high grass. It’s mesmerizing at times.”
Skinner got a first-hand look at Whistling Straits in 2007, when he caddied for Allen Doyle at the U.S. Senior Open. Skinner spent that week getting the yardages for each hole, taking note of hole locations and learning the optimum targets to hit the ball. It was an ideal opportunity to conduct some advance scouting.
“I feel like I know it,” Skinner said. “I know where to hit it, but you’ve still got to go out and hit it there.”
This time, he won’t be dragging his own bag. His buddy Craig Taylor, a member at River Pointe Golf Club in Albany where Skinner is a PGA teaching professional, will be the caddie. Skinner is one of 20 PGA club professionals who qualified for the championship by finishing second at the PGA Professional National Championship last month in French Lick, Ind.
It will be Skinner’s second crack at the PGA Championship. He made the field in 2008 at Oakland Hills (also after finishing second in the PNC) and missed the cut by four shots, shooting respectable rounds of 78 and 75. He beat 37 other players in the field, including Lee Westwood, Woody Austin, Hunter Mahan and Kenny Perry.
“I love the atmosphere, I really do,” Skinner said. “I love playing because I love to challenge myself and compete against the best players in the world.”
Born and raised in the small South Georgia town of Sylvester, Skinner turned professional in 1982. After negotiating the mini-tours for a few years, Skinner qualified and played on either the PGA Tour or the Nationwide Tour from 1990 through 2004. He won twice on the Nationwide Tour (the 1993 Shreveport Open and the 1994 Dominion Open).
He joined the Georgia PGA and started to compete in section events. He was the Georgia PGA player of the year in 2009. He credited the competition among Georgia’s top professionals for helping keep his game sharp.
Skinner, who turns 50 on Aug. 18, is considering whether to compete on the Champions Tour. It’s tough to break through into that arena; only a half-dozen qualifiers get a chance each season.
“I’ll probably give it a shot,” he said. “I’ve been to qualifying school for 28 years in a row, so I’m used to the big challenges.”
The immediate challenge is the PGA. Skinner’s plan is to eliminate mistakes, hit greens in regulation and two-putt a lot of greens.
“I’d like to make a whole bunch of pars and a dozen or so birdies,” he said.
His first goal is to make the cut, something only two club professionals did a year ago. He’ll play the first two rounds with PGA Tour winner George McNeil and young European Tour player David Horsey.
“Making the cut is my goal and it would be awesome to have a top-25 or better finish,” he said. “I realistically have no chance to win and I know that. To make the cut is doable – not probable, but doable. And once you make the cut you never know how good you’ll do.”
