Countdown to the 21st Senior PGA Professional National Championship

In just 23 days, the 21st Senior PGA Professional National Championship will be held at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Championship, originally slated to be played Nov. 5-8, has moved to one week earlier.

Defending Champion Kirk Hanefeld of Acton, Mass., a PGA Life Member, will lead the 264-player field that consists of PGA Professionals at least 50 years of age, as of the Championship, who have qualified through one of the 41 PGA Sections.

Nine other past champions will join Hanefeld including: Jeff Coston (2006) of Blaine, Wash., Bob Irving (1995) of Sarasota, Fla., Tom Joyce (1990, '91) of Huntington, N.Y., Roger B. Kennedy (1992, '94) of Stuart, Fla., Bill Loeffler of Ed Sabo (2000, '01) of Tequesta, Fla., Mike San Fillippo (2002, '05) of Hobe Sound, Fla., Jeff Thomsen (2003) of Boise, Idaho and Jim White (2004) of Lincoln, Neb.

The winner of the Senior PGA Professional National Championship will have his name inscribed on the Leo F. Fraser Trophy and will receive a first-place check for $20,000 from a total purse of $285,000.

The low-35 finishers will qualify for the 2010 Senior PGA Championship, May 24-30, at Colorado Golf Club in Denver, Colo. The top eight finishers, including ties, will receive an exemption into the 2010 Senior PGA Professional National Championship.

In addition, the top-5 finishers will be exempt into the Champions Tour National Finals at TPC Eagle Trace, provided they have submitted an entry by the entry deadline.