The USGA has accepted 3,066 entries for the 43rd U.S. Senior Open Championship, scheduled for June 29-July 2, 2023, at SentryWorld, in Stevens Point, Wis. Thirteen champions are among the 85 players who are currently fully exempt into the championship.
This year’s entry total surpassed the 3,000 mark for the fourth time and is the second-highest in championship history. The record was established in 2002, when 3,101 applied to play. The USGA accepted entries for the 2023 championship from golfers in 48 U.S. states, including 60 from host state Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia and 46 foreign countries.
The U.S. Senior Open is open to professional golfers, and amateurs with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4, who are at least 50 years of age by the start of championship play.
Qualifying will be conducted over 18 holes at 33 sites across the United States between May 8 and June 8. There are qualifying sites in 25 states, including five in California, three in Florida and two each in Wisconsin and Texas. Additional places in the 156-player field are reserved for eligible winners of official PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions events in the weeks remaining before the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.
Full results appear below. Highlights include:
WOODMONT GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB; Canton, Ga.
Former Florida State standout Christian Raynor, who advanced to match play in last year's U.S. Mid-Amateur, qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open after firing a 3-under 69 and surviving a 3-for-1 playoff at Woodmont.
SOULE PARK GOLF CLUB; Ojai, Calif.
Apparel entrepreneur John O'Donnell took medalist honors at Soule Park Golf Club with a 4-under 68. The founder of Johnnie-O, a branded lifestyle apparel company, had six birdies on his card to edge Rick Garboski.
BIG CANYON COUNTRY CLUB; Newport Beach, Calif.
Scott Almquist returns to the U.S. Senior Open for the second time in three years after he fired a 3-under 69 at Big Canyon CC in Newport Beach.
GOLFCREST COUNTRY CLUB; Pearland, Texas
Joey Gullion qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open at Golfcrest CC, where he survived a 3-for-2 playoff to earn a trip to Stevens Point. Gullion, who reached the Round of 16 of the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2010, has played in two U.S. Opens (1995, 1996) and made the 36-hole cut in both. After earning his MBA from Rice University, he competed on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour before being reinstated as an amateur in 2005.
GOLDEN OCALA GOLF & EQUESTRIAN CLUB; Ocala, Fla.
Mike Finster, who won the Golfweek Senior Player of the Year Classic in January, shared medalist honors with David Branshaw in Ocala, Fla. Finster is no stranger to the U.S. Senior Open, having qualified for the event four consecutive years (2015-18), twice making the cut.
LONG COVE CLUB; Hilton Head, S.C.
Kentucky amateur legend Davis Boland has qualified for his second straight U.S. Senior Open Championship after sharing medalist honors with another amateur, Brian Quackenbush.
WORTHINGTON HILLS COUNTRY CLUB; Columbus, OH
Robert Gerwin, a two-time winner of the Ohio Amateur Championship (1996; 2001) shot a 69 at Worthington Hills CC to earn his trip to Stevens Point. An Ohio Golf Association Hall of Famer, Gerwin has played in 35 USGA Championships including 15 U.S. Amateur Championships and 14 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships. In 1997, Gerwin lost in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur and in 2009 he advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Gerwin has competed in three British Amateur Championships with his best finish being in 1998 at Muirfield. He also competed in and four St. Andrews Links Trophy Championships.
ARCOLA COUNTRY CLUB; Paramus, NJ
Trip Kuehne, arguably most remembered for his defeat at the hands of Tiger Woods in the 1994 U.S. Amateur held at TPC Sawgrass, qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open with a 1-over 73 at Arcola CC in Paramus, N.J. Kuehne has represented the United States on three Walker Cup teams (1995, 2003 and ’07), played in four U.S. Opens and two Masters. Kuehne claimed his only USGA championship at the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Bandon Dunes.
LOST TREE CLUB; North Palm Beach, Fla.
Ken Bakst, the founder of Friars Head, a Coore-Crenshaw design course in Riverhead, NY, qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open by carding a 3-under 69 at Lost Tree Club. Ken Bakst, a real estate developer from New York City, won the 1997 U.S. Mid-Amateur championship at the Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas.
LAKEWOOD NATIONAL GOLF CLUB; Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Miles McConnell will make his first U.S. Senior Open appearance after taking medalist honors at Lakewood National, however the 56-year-old is no stranger to USGA competition. McConnell has played in seven USGA events, including four U.S. Amateurs. He reached the 1987 Amateur quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Billy Mayfair in 20 holes. In 2018, he won the Florida State Golf Association Mid-Senior and reached the Round of 32 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur.
INDIANA COUNTRY CLUB; Indiana, Pa.
Eric Williams will make his first U.S. Senior Open appearance after carding a 2-under 69 to earn the second qualifying spot out of Indiana CC. Rick Stimmel will be the first alternative after an even par round of 71.
VESPER COUNTRY CLUB; Tynsborough, Mass.
Massachusetts amateurs Doug Clapp (68) and Brendan Hester (70) grabbed the two available spots at Vesper Country Club. Clapp, who plays out of Old Sandwich Golf Club in Plymouth, Mass., will be playing in his second U.S. Senior Open after missing the cut in 2021 at Omaha Country Club, while Hester will be playing in his 18th USGA event, but his first since 2006, and it will also be his first appearance in the U.S. Senior Open. His best USGA finish was reaching the quarterfinals in the 2005 U.S. Mid-Amateur in Chattanooga, Tenn.
WYNLAKES GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB; Montgomery, Ala.
Scott Cornette edged fellow amateur Michael Hammett and David Noto in a 3-for-1 playoff after all three players carded 2-under rounds of 70 at Wynlakes.
THE HOMESTEAD; Hot Springs, Va.
Former Kentucky Senior Amateur champion Tony Wise carded a bogey-free 4-under 67 to take medalist honors at The Homestead. Amateurs Greg Earnhardt and Buck Brittain both shot 70 and will be the first and second alternates.
ARIZONA COUNTRY CLUB; Hot Springs, Va.
Brad Wayment will make his second U.S. Senior Open appearance, and first since 2018, after earning medalist honors with a 3-under 68.
2023 U.S. Senior Open Championship Qualifying Results