When 36 holes of stroke play concluded last week at the U.S. Senior Amateur, just four competitors were in red figures on the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.
With a stroke average of 79.6 and the cut at 13-over 157, the highest score in 24 years, the Pete Dye-designed Honors Course, which played 6,848 yards, proved to be a challenge for the best 55-and-older golfers. Roger Newsom, a 60-year-old ophthalmic surgeon from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and John Kemp, 56, of England, shared the medalist honor at 2-under 142. Each posted a 2-under 70 on Sunday as they were among five players who bettered par on Day 2, three more than in Saturday’s opening round.
Defending champion Todd White advanced to the quarterfinal round before coming up short.
White, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, comfortably qualified for match play after signing for 5-over 149, good for a T12 finish. He defeated Curtis Holck (5 and 4), Todd Burgan (1 up) and Roger Newsome (5 and 4) on the way to a quarterfinal match with Robert Nelson.
White didn’t bring his best stuff against Nelson. He bogeyed two of the par-5s (Nos. 2 and 11), made another critical bogey on No. 15 to lose the hole after having held a 2-up lead, and missed a 10-footer for birdie on the 17th that would have tied the hole and maintained his 1-up lead.
Then on No. 18, White clubbed down to a gap wedge for a 129-yard approach shot that sailed just long and into light rough. His pitch rolled 3½ feet past the hole, and he missed the comebacker to extend the match.
“Last year I rode my putter to victory,” White said. “Well, this morning my putter sent me home. I didn’t putt well today.”
One of the greatest streaks in U.S. Senior Amateur history has ended.
Paul Simson of Raleigh, North Carolina, who had never lost a round-of-64 match in his 14 previous appearances, fell to David Tassell, a first-time USGA competitor, via a dramatic birdie on the 18th hole.
With the match tied, Tassell, 67, of Jupiter, Florida, rolled in a 25-foot downhill putt to eliminate the two-time champion who played on a special exemption from the USGA. Simson, at 73 the oldest player in this year’s field and the first-day co-leader in stroke play after a 2-under 70, is now 36-13 in match play.
“All good things must come to an end,” Simson said. “I played pretty solid. When I got some momentum, I stubbed my toe a few times. We gave a few back and forth.”
Gene Elliott, the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur champion, survived a playoff and advanced to match play, winning his round-of-64 match against Jerry Gunthorpe in 21 holes before falling to Tim Dunlavey, 3 and 2.
In the past three years, Elliott, of Norwalk, Iowa, has fought off a series of health challenges, including a broken foot and, more recently, shoulder surgery in November. His rehab went well, so much so he resumed playing in March and won the Seminole Golf Club championship. Before the Senior Amateur, he got a nasty summer bug that prevented him from preparing properly. He didn’t feel well last week, so advancing to the round of 32 was no small achievement.
Nonetheless, he said: “I didn’t play worth a damn.”
The Honors Course is well known for its tremendous commitment to the amateur game since opening in 1983. Evidence lies in the club’s having hosted six USGA amateur championships.
In the previous USGA visits, Mitch Voges won four of the first seven holes en route to a 7-and-6 victory over Manny Zerman in the 1991 U.S. Amateur. Janice Moodie posted a 1-up decision against Carol Semple Thompson in the final singles match as Great Britain and Ireland tied the U.S., 9-9, in the 28th Curtis Cup. Kevin Marsh built a large lead after the first 18 holes in his 2005 U.S. Mid-Amateur triumph, a 10-and-9 decision over Carlton Forrester. In 2011, Terri Frohnmayer posted a 2-and-1 win over Mina Hardin to capture the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Min Woo Lee made a 3½-foot championship-clinching par putt following a 47-minute weather delay to defeat Noah Goodwin, 2 and 1, in the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur. Still to come are the USGA’s seventh and eighth stops, respectively, at The Honors Course: 2026 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 2031 U.S. Amateur.
SCORING
Staff and wire reports