Britton seeks to defend Senior PNC crown against strong field in SoCal

After rewriting the Senior PGA Professional National Championship record books and holding off Texan Perry Arthur in 2009, Bill Britton of Rumson, N.J., knows a second consecutive title against a strong field in the 22nd edition of the Championship will be no easy task. What’s more, Britton will have to face two challenging venues in the Coachella Valley of Southern California -- Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells and Rancho La Quinta Country Club on Oct. 7-10. “This Championship always features a very strong and talented field of golfers,” says Britton, who is bidding for a fifth consecutive top-10 finish. “I am looking forward to playing with guys I have been playing with for 20 or 30 years and competing at a high level.” Britton’s record-setting 72-hole performance of 18-under-par 270 during last year’s Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., was good for a one-stroke victory, and a stroke better than the previous record held by Jeff Coston of Blaine, Wash., who won in 2006. Britton, 54, a PGA director of instruction at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck, N. J., made a five-foot par-saving putt on the 18th green to preserve the victory. “Perry (Arthur) played a great front nine and I knew I needed to play well coming down the stretch,” recalls Britton. “I knew he was two back on No. 18 and I needed to at least save par. I did that and won.” Britton tied for 75th at the Senior PGA Championship in May, and is satisfied with the state of his game heading into this year’s Senior PGA Professional National Championship. “I have played well, but it hasn’t been anything too great so far this year,” says Britton, who has made the cut in the last four Senior PGA Championships. “I really like Toscana (Country Club) -- it’s different from New Jersey courses, I liked it there in 2008 and am looking forward to it again.” The Championship was last contested in Southern California in 2008, when Kirk Hanefeld of Acton, Mass., captured the title by a four-stroke margin. Hanefeld, however, will not be competing this year, having surpassed the minimum Champions Tour starts over the past season. Britton will be joined by eight past Champions in the field: Coston (2006); Bob Irving (1995) of Sarasota, Fla.; Tom Joyce (1990, ‘91) of Huntington, N.Y.; Bill Loeffler of Castle Rock, Colo.; Ed Sabo (2000, ‘01) of Tequesta, Fla.; Mike San Fillipo (2002, ‘05) of Hobe Sound, Fla.; Jeff Thomsen (2003) of Boise, Idaho; and Jim White (2004) of Lincoln, Neb. The field will also feature Lindy Miller of Fort Worth, Texas, who earned Low PGA Club Professional honors at the Senior PGA Championship in May at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo. -- the 53-year-old PGA teaching professional at Shady Oaks Country Club finished 29th after a 4-over-par 292 performance. Miller was also the Low PGA Club Professional in the 1991 PGA Championship, where he tied for 57th at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. The 22nd edition of the Championship features a 264-player field of PGA Professionals at least 50 years of age, who have qualified through one of the 41 PGA Sections or finished in the top eight in the 2009 Senior PGA Professional National Championship. The low 35 finishers earn a berth in the 72nd Senior PGA Championship, May 24-29, 2011, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. The top eight finishers, including ties, will receive exemptions into the 2011 Senior PGA Professional National Championship and the top five finishers will be exempt into the Champions Tour National Finals at TPC Eagle Trace.