PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Reigning Senior PGA Professional National Champion Bill Loeffler of Castle Rock, Colo., heads a 38-PGA member contingent among a world-class 156-player field at the 69th Senior PGA Championship.

The 69th Senior PGA Championship, the most historic and prestigious event in senior golf, opens Thursday, May 22 and continues through May 25, at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

Loeffler, the owner and operator of Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Golf Club, captured the 2007 Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional National Championship at The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Also included in the Championship field are Jeff Coston of Blaine, Wash., the low PGA Professional in the 2007 Senior PGA Championship; along with Jeff Roth of Flushing, Mich., and Bruce Zabriski of Jupiter, Fla., who received one-time exemptions as past PGA Professional National Champions who turned 50 years of age between the 2007 and 2008 Senior PGA Championship.

Roth won the 1993 National Championship and Zabriski the 1997 National Championship.

The PGA Professionals competing in the 2008 Senior PGA Championship:
Bill Loeffler, Castle Rock, Colo.
David Lundstrom, Victoria, Texas
Darrell Kestner, Glen Cove, N.Y.
Bill Britton, Tinton Falls, N.J.
Wayne DeFrancesco, Columbia, Md.
Thomas Herzan, Findlay, Ohio
Chris Starkjohann, Encinitas, Calif.
Freddy Gibson, Orlando, Fla.
Jim Woodward, Chandler, Okla.
Jim White, Lincoln, Neb.
Bob Darling, Lewiston, Maine
Mike San Filippo, Hobe Sound, Fla.
Robert Thompson, Huntsville, Texas
Ralph West, Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Bob Boyd, Wilmington, N.C.
Bob Ford, Oakmont, Pa.
Bill Sautter, Warrington, Pa.
Tommy Brannen, Augusta, Ga.
George Forster, Villanova, Pa.
Mike Barge, Chanhassen, Minn.
Perry Arthur, Plano, Texas
John Mazza, Beaver Falls, Pa.
Scott Spence, Portsmouth, R.I.
Matthew Seitz, Hutchinson, Kan.
Mike Zinni, N. Mankato, Minn.
James Blair, Ogden, Utah
John Calabria, Naples, Fla.
Bob Ralston, Little Rock, Ark.
David Arbuckle, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Glen Stubblefield, Valley Springs, Calif.
Gary Sowinski, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Scott Mahlberg, San Diego, Calif.
Rod Nuckolls, Wichita, Kan.
Gary Robison, Canton, Ohio
Mike Parrish, Guntersville, Ala.
Jeff Coston, Blaine, Wash.
Jeffrey Roth, Flushing, Mich.
Bruce Zabriski, Jupiter, Fla.

The Senior PGA Championship was begun in 1937 at Augusta National Golf Club at the invitation of Bobby Jones, and has since featured the games legendary stars that have reached the age of 50. The Senior PGA Championship will feature 10 hours of live television coverage on NBC and Golf Channel that will be viewed in more than 70 countries and territories worldwide.

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