Roger Newsom (USGA Photo)
The mercury at The Honors Course on Sunday reached into the mid-90s, and the scores at the 69th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship seemingly rose with the temperatures.
When stroke play concluded, just four competitors were in red figures. Many of the other players were simply red from too much sun or the punishment doled out by the 6,848-yard, par-72 layout designed by Pete Dye and hosting its sixth USGA championship.
With a stroke average of 79.6 and the highest cut for match play in 24 years (13-over 157), The Honors Course proved more than a challenge for the best 55-and-older golfers. When the sun set on the stroke-play portion of the competition,
Roger Newsom, a 60-year-old ophthalmic surgeon from Virginia Beach, Va., and
John Kemp, 56, of England, shared medalist honors at 2-under 142. Each posted 2-under 70s on Sunday and was among the five players who bettered par on Day 2, three more than in Round 1 on Saturday.
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A pair of 61-year-olds, Jerry Gunthorpe of Ovid, Mich., and Louis Brown of Marietta, Ga., each finished one stroke back of the medalists at 1-under 143. Both carded second-round 70s.
Kemp is ranked No. 34, and Newsom is ranked No. 27 in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings.
Jack Larkin Sr., 62, of Atlanta, Ga., also shot a 70 on Sunday to post even-par 144, one stroke ahead of fellow Georgian and 2013 champion Doug Hanzel, 67, of Savannah, who has now made match play in all 12 of his U.S. Senior Amateur starts. In 2012, Hanzel became the first player to qualify for match play in the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur in the same year, while also earning low-amateur honors in the U.S. Senior Open.
First-round co-leaders Paul Simson, 73, of Raleigh, N.C., and Ron Ewing, 56, of Merced, Calif., both struggled on Sunday, shooting 76 and 78, respectively. Simson, the oldest player in the field and a two-time champion (2010, 2012) playing on a special exemption from the USGA, has now made match play in 15 of his 17 starts. He finished at 2-over 146, while Ewing, a former tour pro who got his amateur status back 17 years ago and is playing in his first USGA championship in 16 years, posted 4-over 148.
Defending champion Todd White, 56, of Spartanburg, S.C., shot even-par 72 for a 36-hole total of 5-over 149.
Since 2019, when he lost a tough final match to Georgian Bob Royak at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C., Newsom has made runs to the quarterfinals (2022) and semifinals (2023), losing to Royak in ‘22 and White last year at Martis Camp Club, in Truckee, Calif.
While his work schedule doesn’t permit him to play in a lot of events, Newsom did make it a point to compete in this year’s John T. Lupton Memorial Tournament at The Honors Course in May to get acclimated to the course and conditions. He also defended his 2023 title at the Coleman Invitational at Seminole Golf Club (fifth) and played in the Virginia State Open (missed cut).
“I think I have as good a chance as I have had in the past,” said Newsom. “I get emotional about it. My wife says I am on the five-year plan. She is tired of living with a crazy man. I am just trying as hard as I can try [to win this title].”
Six years ago, Kemp’s wife, Mandi, convinced him to try Legends Tour Qualifying School, which is the European equivalent to the PGA Tour Champions. A lifetime amateur who runs a packaging company, Kemp not only won the first stage, but finished second at final qualifying to gain his tour card.
But he quickly discovered he hated the lifestyle. Trying to play professionally against top 50-and-over pros while simultaneously operating a successful business turned into a headache.
“I played two events with a migraine,” said Kemp, who qualified for successive British Opens in 2001 (Royal Lytham & St. Annes) and 2002 (Muirfield). “I said to my wife, I’ve had enough. My health is going to go, and I didn’t enjoy my golf…I was a hobby pro.”
Kemp regained his amateur status from The R&A in 2021 and the 56-year-old competed in his first U.S. Senior Amateur a year ago at Martis Camp, thanks to his high standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®. Kemp advanced to the Round of 32 before running into a mental/physical wall known as altitude fatigue in the picturesque Sierra Nevadas.
This year, Kemp and his wife came to the U.S. a week early and toured Graceland in Memphis – Mandi is an Elvis buff – and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville before arriving at The Honors Course. Adjusting to the bermudagrass putting surfaces and rough as well as the searing heat has been a challenge, but Kemp managed himself nicely through the two stroke-play rounds.
Like Ewing did a day earlier, Kemp reached 4 under par with consecutive birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 – his 10th and 11th of the day – before giving two shots back with bogeys on Nos. 4 and 8, the latter the result of a “clumsy” chip.
But a nice up and down on No. 9 gave Kemp some positive thoughts heading into match play.
“I kind of just found something on 18,” he said. “I’m making a longer, slower putting stroke. I’ve been a bit sort of short and quick. I’m making it longer and more silky. I had that little [4-foot par] putt there [on my 18th hole] and figured I would try it. I’ll keep that going for match play. You can be a bit more positive in match play as well.”
Both Gunthorpe and Brown used eagles on par-5s to bolster their rounds. Gunthorpe, the runner-up in 2021 to Gene Elliott at the Country Club of Detroit, chipped in from 45 feet on No. 11, while Brown, a former touring and club professional who became a partner in an investment firm, knocked a 6-iron from 200 yards to 5 feet on the 17th hole.
Gunthorpe also managed to avoid being in a playoff for the last match-play spots and a possible No. 64 seed, a number he earned the past two years at The Kittansett Club and Martis Camp, losing to White a year ago in a tight tussle, 1 down. In 2022, he went 19 holes with Miles McConnell.
“It’s really nice to play well because I was not playing good coming into here,” said Gunthorpe, who posted a top-five finish at the George C. Thomas Invitational at The Los Angeles Country Club in June. “I was up and down.”
Before qualifying for the 2018 U.S. Senior Amateur at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club, Brown, 61, had not competed in a USGA championship since the 1985 U.S. Amateur. Four years earlier, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Sunnyside Country Club in Fresno, Calif. He then played at the University of Georgia before trying for professional golf for more than a decade, reaching as high as what is now the Korn Ferry Tour.
Work and family occupied most of his time before he turned 55. He’s still looking to win a match after making match play in the Senior Amateur in 2018 and 2023. He qualified in 2019 but had to withdraw due to a family conflict.
“I don’t play much tournament golf,” said Brown. “When I got into business, I said it was not the time to play tournament golf. I have done that.”
Simson, meanwhile, exceeded his own expectations in stroke play at a venue he lists as No. 1. Now he hopes to continue one of the championship’s more impressive streaks by going 15-for-15 in Round-of-64 encounters. He also validated the USGA’s decision to give him a special exemption and came close to becoming a record five-time U.S. Senior Amateur medalist.
“I was going to be really, really unhappy if I didn’t make match play,” said Simson, the owner of a record 45 Carolinas Golf Association titles and a 36-12 match-play record in the Senior Amateur. “Yesterday was kind of special. Today could have been special. I am still hitting the ball very well. I had a couple of unfortunate breaks. Once the medal got out of the way I was just trying to get in [to match play].”
What’s Next
The 9-for-8 playoff to determine the final spots in the match-play draw will begin at 7:30 a.m. EDT on the 10th hole. The Round-of-64 matches are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Match play continues through Thursday morning’s 18-hole championship match. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Notable
- Prior to this year, the highest match-play cut was 16-over 158 in 2000 at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club.
- Rick Cloninger, a two-time semifinalist (2014, 2019) who tied for 40th in the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, improved by eight strokes from Round 1 to Round 2 to make the cut. Cloninger opened with an 81 and rebounded with a 73.
- Six past champions made the cut: Doug Hanzel (2013), Bob Royak (2019), Paul Simson (2010, 2012), Chip Lutz (2015), Jeff Wilson (2018) and defending champion Todd White. Gene Elliott, the 2021 champion, is among the nine competitors in Monday’s playoff.
- Other notables to advance were Tim Hogarth (1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion), Jack Larkin Jr. (1979 U.S. Junior Amateur champion), Matt Sughrue (2016 runner-up), Jody Fanagan (2023 runner-up and 1995 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cupper), Bryan Norton (2003 U.S. Mid-Am runner-up/2014 U.S. Senior Am runner-up), Brent Paterson (2023 R&A Senior Amateur champion) and Daniel Sullivan (runner-up in 2024 Lupton Memorial).
- Two past U.S. Senior Amateur champions failed to advance to match play: Dave Ryan (2016) and Rusty Strawn (2022).
- Other notables who did not qualify included 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion/2023 USA Walker Cup captain Mike McCoy, 1981 U.S. Amateur champion/two-time victorious USA Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby, 1997 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Kenneth Bakst, 2004 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Austin Eaton, ex-NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver, Joe Hillman (1987 Indiana University NCAA basketball champion) and Tim Rypien (brother of two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Mark Rypien, who was on his bag).
- Despite not advancing, Bakst, had the single-best improvement from Round 1, going from a 92 to a 78.
- Mark Rypien wasn’t the only former professional athlete on a bag this week. Ex-Major-League-Baseball pitcher Rick Helling, who now resides in suburban Minneapolis, is caddieing for Minnesotan Dave Carothers. Helling pitched for six different clubs from 1994-2006. A member of the 1997 and 2003 World Series-champion Florida Marlins, Helling was the Texas Rangers’ first-round selection in the 1992 Major League Draft out of Stanford University. Carothers did not qualify for match play.
- Two of the three Tennesseans in the field made match play: Todd Burgan (Knoxville) and Steven Mann (Franklin). Stuart Smith (Nashville) failed to advance. Also advancing was Steven Johnson, who is from Rising Fawn, Ga., just 44 miles southwest of The Honors Course.
- Jack Larkin Sr., the 1979 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, holed out for an eagle 2 on the 428-yard fourth hole with an 8-iron from 150 yards. Larkin posted a 4-under 32 on the outward nine – he started on No. 10 – en route to a 2-under 70 and a 36-hole total of even-par 144.
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