PRESENTING
MEN’S senioR Amateur
FIRST TEAM
Martin Birkholz
Germany
Winner, European Seniors’ Championship
Top Individual, European Senior Men’s Team Championship
Winner, International Amateur Senior Championship
Birkholz played a limited competitive schedule, but it was hard to ignore his performances when he did tee it up this year. The German won the European Seniors’ Championship, the International Amateur Senior Championship and was the top individual in the European Senior Men’s Team Championship.
Dave Bunker
Canada
Semifinalist, U.S. Senior Amateur
Winner, Florida Senior Amateur
Winner, Gateway Senior Invitational
After playing almost all of his competitive golf in Canada in recent years, Bunker ventured south of the border and had one heck of a year including wins in the Florida Senior Amateur, the Gateway Senior and the Ontario Mid-Amateur along with a semifinals appearance in the U.S. Senior Amateur, a runner-up in the Senior Porter Cup and top-10 finishes in the Timuquana Cup Senior and the Jones Cup Senior.
Keith Decker
Martinsville, Virginia
Qualified, U.S. Senior Open (Pro)
Runner-Up, SOS Spring Classic
Winner, Dave King Senior Legends
Decker’s first-team inclusion is a nod to his body of work, which includes eight top-10 finishes, qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open, making match play in the U.S. Senior Amateur and finishing runner-up in the SOS Spring Classic and SOS Jack Hesler.
Gene Elliott
West Des Moines, Iowa
Winner, U.S. Senior Amateur
Winner, Senior Amateur Championship
Made Cut, The Senior Open (pro)
Elliott’s amateur golf legacy reached a new level this year as the Iowan pulled off the unlikely combo of winning the U.S. Senior Amateur and the Senior Amateur in the UK, especially in the midst of pandemic travel inconveniences. He didn’t stop there, either. Elliott made the cut at the Senior Open, won the Golfweek Senior Amateur, the Iowa Mid-Amateur and the Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown while adding runner-up finishes in the George C. Thomas, the Timuquana Cup, the Jones Cup and the Iowa Senior Am.
Randy Haag
Orinda, California
Winner, California Senior
Winner, Moot Thomas Invitational
WINNER, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SENIOR
Haag enjoyed a great run, winning three times and picking up runner-up finishes at the Trans-Miss Senior and the SOS Senior Masters. He also had a top-five at the Carlton Woods Senior and the Northern California Senior to go with a top-10 at the Florida Senior Azalea.
Doug Hanzel
Savannah, Georgia
Winner, Jones Cup Senior Invitational
Winner, Timuquana Cup Senior
Winner, SOS Jack Hesler
Hanzel was his usual sensational self in 2021, winning at the Jones Cup Senior, the Timuquana Cup Senior, the SOS Jack Hesler, the Florida Senior Azalea and the Georgia Senior Match Play. He also was runner-up at the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame, made the round of 32 in the U.S. Mid-Am and made the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Amateur before running into the buzzsaw that was Gene Elliott.
Steve Maddalena
Jackson, Michigan
Winner, Trans-Miss Senior
Winner, Senior Porter Cup
Top 5, SOS Spring Classic
Maddalena had two solid wins where he beat some of the best senior amateurs in the country. In the Trans-Miss Senior he had to beat the likes of Gene Elliott, Mike McCoy, Randy Haag and Michael Mercier. In the Senior Porter Cup, it was players like Dave Bunker and Brian Keenan. Maddalena also had top-10 results in the SOS Spring Classic, the SOS Senior Masters and the SOS Dale Morey, rated favorably among national events.
MIKE McCOY
Norwalk, Iowa
Winner, George C. Thomas Senior
Made Cut, U.S. Senior Open (pro)
Winner, Crump Cup Senior
After a 2020 where McCoy had to rehab from a torn rotator cuff, the amateur golf stalwart came back with a vengeance. McCoy won the George C. Thomas, the Crump Cup and the Iowa Senior Am, while also making the cut in the U.S. Senior Open in Omaha, Nebraska, not far from his home. Add in a round-of-32 appearance at the U.S. Senior Amateur and a top-5 in the Iowa Amateur and McCoy had a tremendous year.
Billy Mitchell
Roswell, Georgia
Low-Am, U.S. Senior Open (pro)
Winner, John T. Lupton Memorial Senior
Quarterfinalist, U.S. Senior Amateur
Aside from being the low-am in the U.S. Senior Open and winning the John T. Lupton Memorial, Mitchell also made a deep run at the U.S. Senior Amateur, was runner-up in the Carlton Woods Invitational and registered top-5 finishes in the Timuquana Cup, the Golfweek Senior Amateur and the Georgia Senior Championship.
Bob Royak
Alpharetta, Georgia
Winner, National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame
Winner, Georgia Mid-Amateur
Top 5, Timuquana Cup Senior
Royak raced past Doug Hanzel and Steve Harwell to win a big title at the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame, beat a loaded field of relative youngsters in the Georgia Mid-Am and qualified for the Senior Open Championship. Top-5 finishes in the John T. Lupton Senior, the Timuquana Cup Senior and the Georgia Match Play Championship made this a no-brainer.
Rusty Strawn
McDonough, Georgia
Winner, SOS Spring Classic
Winner, Golfweek Senior National Match Play
Winner, SOS Dale Morey Senior
Strawn played a ton in 2021 and he was in contention virtually every time. Strawn won the Golfweek Senior National Match Play, the Golfweek Player of the Year Classic, the SOS Spring Classic, the SOS Dale Morey and the Reynolds Senior Invitational while nearly winning a handful of other times. Also notable were a deep run in the U.S. Senior Amateur and a top-10 in the Gasparilla Invitational, a tournament dominated by top mid-ams.
SECOND TEAM
Trever Foster
England
Low-Am, The Senior Open (PRO)
Top 5, The Senior Amateur
Robert Funk
Menifee, California
Qualified, U.S. Senior Open (PRO)
Winner, Northern California Senior Amateur Match Play
Jack Hall
Runner-Up, Senior Azalea Invitational
Runner-Up, Florida Senior Azalea Amateur
Steve Harwell
Mooresville, North Carolina
Top 5, Jones Cup Senior Invitational
Top 5, National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame
Tim Hogarth
Northridge, California
Medalist, U.S. Senior Amateur
Rupert Kellock
Winner, English Senior Men’s Open
Richard Kerper
Oldsmar, Florida
Top 5, John T. Lupton Senior
Top 5, SOS Dale Morey
Jack Larkin
Atlanta, Georgia
Winner, Georgia Senior Championship
Runner-Up, Jones Cup Senior Invitational
Joe Palmer
Winner, Iowa Match Play
Winner, Iowa Senior Match Play
Paul Simson
Raleigh, North Carolina
Winner, North Carolina Senior Amateur
Winner, SOS National Super Senior Amateur
Pat Thompson
Asheville, North Carolina
Winner, Chanticleer National Senior Invitational
Top 10, National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame
HONORABLE MENTION
Marcus Beck
Tallahassee, Florida
Tom Brandes
Bellevue, Washington
Sherrill Britt
West End, North Carolina
Craig Davis
Chula Vista, California
John Derrick
Waco, Texas
Pete Detemple
Lexington Park, Maryland
Brigham Gibbs
Salt Lake City, Utah
Jay Gregory
Lineville, Iowa
Jerry Gunthorpe
Ovid, Michigan
Eddie Hargett
Blythewood, South Carolina
Stephen Jensen
Brian Keenan
Tampa, Florida
Michael Mercier
juno Beach, Florida
Allen Peake
Macon, Georgia
Robert Polk
Parker, Colorado
Greg Sanders
Anchorage, Alaska
Kevin VandenBurg
Pulaski, New York
John Wright
Fairhope, Alabama