Coston to Team Again with Logan at Senior PGA Championship

Caddie Dudley Logan of Santa Rosa, Calif., was once on the bag for Tour professionals like Tom Lehman. In 1987, Logan toiled for Jeff Coston, who was bidding to earn his playing card at PGA Tour Qualifying School.

"I finished 8-under-par the final 10 holes and earned my card," said Coston, 51, the reigning Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional national champion. "I never forgot how good my caddie was for me that day. I'm going to need him again."

Coston, now a PGA teaching professional at Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club in Blaine, Wash., will call upon his old friend when he competes in the 68th Senior PGA Championship, May 22-27, at The Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.

The Ocean Course, designed by Pete Dye and renowned for its ever-changing wind directions, well-positioned bunkers and dunes, is familiar to Coston. He competed in the 2005 PGA Professional National Championship, which was belted for a week by Mother Nature.

"The National Championship that year was weather-crazy bad," said Coston. "I can't imagine that it could play any tougher. What I can tell you is that I'm looking forward to getting in practice. I believe that there are some par-5s that I can get home in two, and I have to take advantage of those holes."

Coston will be joined by 34 other senior PGA professionals who earned a berth in the oldest and most prestigious event in senior golf. They earned the right to join some of the legends of the game at last fall's Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional National Championship at The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Coston set records at that event, finishing with the lowest all-time winning score of 271.

"I'm looking forward to being in my first Senior PGA Championship," Coston said. "The PGA of America has done an amazing job of keeping the golf courses fair in their championships. It will be fun for me to be in this championship."

Last year was a special year for Coston, including that win at the PGA Golf Club. He became the first player in Pacific Northwest PGA Section history to win Player of the Year honors in the senior and regular (under-50) categories. Overall, he is a 10-time Section Player of the Year.

Coston is in his 13th season at Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club. He has developed a golf academy that has grown into one of the Northwest's most popular learning centers. His golf schools have featured visiting PGA professionals such as Mike Bender, who coaches Masters' champion Zach Johnson. "We have had good success and I can't be prouder of the way the schools have developed," said Coston. "I guess it's true that if you build it, they will come."

Since 1937, golf’s best professionals have been competing for the Senior PGA Championship’s Alfred S. Bourne Trophy. Past champions include Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, as well as returning players Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Gary Player and Tom Watson. The Senior PGA Championship is making its first appearance in South Carolina this year.

For tickets or a spectator’s guide, visit www.SeniorPGA2007.com or contact the PGA office at 843/768-8575. Tickets may also be purchased at any Charleston-area visitor center or at the tournament office on Kiawah Island.