Join us for the 2021 Player of the Year Classic where we will honor Golfweek’s top three nationally ranked players in each division, The Senior, Super Senior, Legends and new for 2021 the Super Legends Divisions. Just outside of Tampa in Dade City …
Join us for the 2021 Player of the Year Classic where we will honor Golfweek’s top three nationally ranked players in each division, The Senior, Super Senior, Legends and new for 2021 the Super Legends Divisions.
Just outside of Tampa in Dade City Florida sits beautiful Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club home to two of Florida’s finest golf courses. All three rounds will be played on the tournament South Course. The South Course was designed and built on 220 beautiful acres of rolling landscape by former US Open Champion Tom Lehman, along with renowned course architect, Kurt Sandness. Their strategy was simple, take full advantage of the uniquely hilly terrain and create a golf course that is PGA tour quality in every sense.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All Golfweek senior amateur tournaments are counting tournaments leading to 15 exemptions into the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur at The Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe, MI.
Gene Elliott, the top-ranked senior amateur in the game, scored a pair of wins at the Golfweek Challenge Cup at PGA National.
When the playing captain wins the tournament, chances are good his team will, too. That was Gene Elliott’s story on a soggy week at the Golfweek Challenge Cup. Elliott captained his team to a 46-shot victory at PGA National. The event was shortened from 54 to 36 holes because of rain, but Elliott’s path to individual victory took on one extra hole.
The Challenge Cup pitted teams of top seniors captained by Elliott, the No. 1-ranked senior player in the world, and Ken Kinkopf, Golfweek’s 2019 Senior Player of the Year, against each other at PGA National, a PGA Tour venue. The best 10 scores on each man’s team counted toward the total.
At the top of the senior division leaderboard, however, it felt like a match-play tournament. Elliott actually went head-to-head on the final day with a member of his own team, Bob Royak. Elliott had a one-shot lead at the beginning of the day, turned it into a five-shot lead by the fourth hole then watched as it evaporated over the back nine. He fired a 73 to Royak’s 72 and after both men finished at 3 under, Elliott defeated Royak in an extra trip up the 18th hole.
“I felt like I had the tournament all day long and then all of a sudden, a bogey and double bogey by me and a birdie by him, and then here we are, it’s a real horse-race,” Elliott said. “He’s a great player, I have a lot of respect for Bob Royak. He’s a wonderful guy.”
The two men already did battle at the Jones Cup in March, with Royak, the defending U.S. Senior Amateur champion, coming out on top of that. Because of that experience, and many others, Elliott knew he couldn’t just walk through the final round with Royak chasing him.
Gene Elliott
After the second round of the Challenge Cup was washed out, players returned to tough, wet conditions. PGA National showed its teeth regardless.
“You have to hit golf shots. There’s no faking it around there,” Elliott said. “Getting to know that course over the last few days, I have a lot of respect for it.”
Royak felt like the wet conditions may have helped him a bit because of his long game.
“I do feel like it favors me,” he said. “I think it favors good ballstrikers, I kind of consider myself a pretty good ballstriker. When the wind is blowing like that you just have to hit it really solid.
“I’m pretty steady and concentrate on hitting the ball flush, solid every time.”
Royak also knows what to expect out of Elliott. He doesn’t often have a bad hole and opponents know he’ll be right at par or better by the end of the round.
While Elliott and Royak played a starring role on the winning team, Team Kinkopf got a big boost from Doug Hanzel, T-4 in the senior division, and Johnny Blank, who won the legend division. Ultimately, it just wasn’t enough.
From here, Elliott and Royak both plan to plan another team event next month: the East West Matches at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas. Royak will play on the East team while Elliott is on the West. The teams are made up of elite senior amateurs, mid-amateurs and four top collegians.
eam Elliott was leading after the first day at PGA National and by 33 shot.
When Gene Elliott was asked to captain a team of top senior amateurs for the Golfweek Senior Challenge Cup, he used his Iowa connections. Elliott, the top-ranked senior in the world, got 10 captain’s picks. He worked the phones to secure commitments.
“I had some Iowa guys and some of them came down and played,” he said. “It kind of got some guys playing that might not have played in this Golfweek event.”
Outside of the Iowa Cup, an in-state event that pits pros against amateurs, Elliott doesn’t have much experience as a captain. Regardless, Team Elliott was leading after the first day at PGA National and by 33 shots. Each team’s score is made up of the low 10 players’ scores on that team.
That left Ken Kinkopf, Golfweek’s 2019 Player of the Year, realizing he needed to stir up his squad for a second-round rally when the tournament switched from PGA National’s Champion course to the Fazio course for the second round.
“Narrow that gap tomorrow and close in on those guys on Team Elliott, hope to give it a good comeback tomorrow so that we can make a nice close match on the third,” he said.
Kinkopf doesn’t have much experience in this team format either. There are a handful of senior-amateur powerhouses in the Challenge Cup field, Kinkopf and Elliott among them. That list also includes reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion Bob Royak and former Senior Am champ Doug Hanzel.
“You just go down the list and you want to make sure you have half the top guys,” Kinkopf said of selecting his team.
Royak went to Elliott’s team while Kinkopf got Hanzel.
Kinkopf, 59, looked at the first-round leaderboard and knew he needed to make up a little ground on his opposing captain. Elliott, 58, fired an opening 68 for the lead in the senior division while Kinkopf posted an uncharacteristic 85.
The Golfweek Challenge Cup medal
Kinkopf has struggled with back pain recently, and has had three back surgeries. He said his back wasn’t the problem in the opening round, but admits that it’s an issue. It hardly seemed to cut into a banner year in 2019 when Kinkopf was winning almost everything.
“Somehow I played well enough last year to become a ranked player,” he said. “I came out of nowhere to win one event and then I won six.”
Because of his play last year, Kinkopf would have been eligible for the U.S. Senior Amateur and the Canadian Senior Amateur in 2020, two of the marquee senior events on the calendar.
As for Elliott, even though he’s miles away from his Des Moines, Iowa, it still feels like a home game because he has a residence near PGA National.
For Elliott, COVID cancellations on the national senior amateur calendar meant more time at home in the Midwest. He played more golf with his wife Dalena at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines.
“It’s been a funny year and with the U.S. Senior Am and all that stuff getting canceled was just too bad,” Elliott said. “Hopefully we can just take off in 2021 and a lot of the tournaments will happen and they’ll figure this thing out and we can get back to normal senior golf.”
The calendar may look anything but normal, but Elliott’s game – and his position at the top – doesn’t look any different at all.
Players teeing it up at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, this week land on one of two teams: Gene Elliott’s or Ken Kinkopf’s.
At the Golfweek Senior Challenge Cup, there’s a tournament within a tournament. Players teeing it up at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, this week land on one of two teams: the one captained by Gene Elliott or the opposing team captained by Ken Kinkopf.
Of course, neither man is a bad choice to lead, given their golf resumes. Elliott is the No. 1-ranked senior amateur in the world and Kinkopf was named the 2019 Golfweek Player of the Year.
In dividing the field into teams, each captain got to make his 10 captain’s picks. The rest of each team was filled by blind draw (if not for COVID, teams would have been filled out in a pairings party). Each team’s score will be made up of the low 25 percent of that team’s individuals scores.
As usual, there are four divisions in which players are competing at the Senior Challenge Cup: Senior (55-64), Super Senior (65-69), Legends (70-74), Super Legends (75+). They are loaded with top senior amateur talent.
At the top of the list, of course, are Elliott and Kinkopf. Elliott was runner-up at the British Senior Amateur and won the Canadian Senior Amateur in 2019. He just won his fifth Iowa Senior Amateur title. Kinkopf racked up several senior victories last season, including the Golfweek Player of the Year Classic, Senior Masters and Jack Hesler titles.
Reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion Bob Royak will play, as well as Doug Hanzel, the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur winner who also won the Jones Cup Senior and the Florida Senior Azalea in 2019.
Craig Hurlbert is currently the No. 1-ranked player in the Golfweek Senior National Rankings. Dan Parkinson remains in South Florida this week after winning the super senior division of last week’s the Golfweek U.S. Super Senior, Legends, and Super Legends National Championship.
In addition to the team challenge, there is an important individual perk on the line this week, too. The Golfweek Senior Challenge Cup is a WAGR counting tournament, and the top 15 in the WAGR rankings get an automatic exemption into the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur at The Country Club of Detroit.
What Walt Martin lacks in instruction he makes up for in sheer tournament experience.
Walt Martin can move it off the tee. The St. Augustine, Florida, resident turned 80 in September. This month, he fended off 14 other players in the super legends division of the Golfweek Super Senor, Legends and Super Legends National Championship to win that title by three shots on Sunday.
“Driving is my strength,” said Martin, who, when asked a follow-up about working with an instructor, admitted he hasn’t had a golf lesson in 30 years – back when he was still on active duty in the Navy.
What Martin lacks in instruction he makes up for in sheer tournament experience. He estimates he has played over 350 or 400 events since he started competing in national seniors events in 2004 in his mid-60s. He has been named player of the year in the super senior division and the legends division.
“So this year my goal is to be player of the year for super legend,” he said.
The kind of play Martin displayed at the Falls Club in Lake Worth, Florida, over the past three days will get it done. Rounds of 71-77-78 left him three ahead of Tom Toombs in the super legends division. He had seven birdies in 54 holes.
Martin spent his career in the Navy. Standing on steel decks for much of his working life contributed to the back pain he feels now.
“The ability to hit ball after ball is not what I do anymore,” Martin said of pain that leads to limited practice.
Instead, he plays three times a week and often takes a handful of clubs out on the golf course at night to walk a few holes with his wife. The Martins have a condo right on the King and Bear course at World Golf Village.
Super senior winner Dan Parkinson also had a career in service. The retired orthopedic surgeon spent 17 years in the Army.
Parkinson, of Lehi, Utah, had rounds of 68-70-76 to clip Kevin Macy by three shots in the super senior division.
“The harder the course is, the more advantage I have just because I play a lot of golf,” said Parkinson, who transitioned easily from the mountain elevation back home to sea-level conditions in Lake Worth.
Charley Yandell of Cashiers, North Carolina, was the winner in the legends division. Yandell had rounds of 70-74-73 to finish three shots ahead of John Blank, who is currently the No. 2-ranked player in the legend division of the Golfweek Senior Rankings.
There was period when Dan Parkinson was raising his seven children that he simply put the clubs away. Many players can probably relate.
There was period when Dan Parkinson was raising his seven children that he simply put the clubs away. Many players can probably relate.
Parkinson’s off period lasted roughly 15 years. That he’s back, and leading a national senior event 2,500 miles from his Lehi, Utah, home, says it all about this sport.
“What other sport allows a guy, at my age, to have that competitive spirit again?” Parkinson.
At 65, Parkinson falls into the super senior category at the Golfweek Super Senor, Legends and Super Legends National Championship. After rounds of 68-70 at the Falls Club in Lake Worth, Florida, Parkinson is 6 under and on the top of the leaderboard.
Kevin Macy of Tampa, Florida, is second at even par.
“The harder the course is, the more advantage I have just because I play a lot of golf,” said Parkinson, who tees it up three or four times a week at Alpine Country Club in Highland, Utah.
In his Utah home, elevation comes into play. His home course sits right up against the mountains, at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Normally it takes longer for him to make the transition to such different course conditions. Where the elevation change is concerned, Parkinson says he’s not sure he hits it far enough to notice. His short irons are particularly affected, but once you get past 125 yards, it’s roughly a full club length of difference from sea level to his Utah home course.
Parkinson played college golf at BYU his freshman year (1972), on a team that was ranked in the top 5 in the nation at one point. Then he went into pre-med and decided to focus on his studies.
He is a recently retired orthopedic surgeon who spent 17 years in the Army.
Since retiring, Parkinson’s first foray back into competitive amateur golf happened roughly a year ago at the Golfweek Society of Seniors Challenge Cup. He attempted qualifiers for USGA events earlier in his golf life, but his most recent USGA experience has been as a caddie.
Parkinson carried the bag in two U.S. Amateurs for his son, Joe, who also played for BYU.
At the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, the Parkinsons played stroke-play qualifying alongside Bryson DeChambeau.
Dan Parkinson’s goal with his golf game at this point is simply to enjoy it.
“I just want to play good, that’s all,” he said. “I love the competition, it’s great.”
Over the course of two days at the Golfweek Super Senior, Legends and Super Legends Championship, there have been 69 rounds in the 70s with Parkinson’s first-round 68 the low score.
Walt Martin of St. Augustine, Florida, leads the super legend division and Charley Yandell of Cashiers, North Carolina is ahead in the legend division.
Maryland residents John Blank and George Washburn have traded that No. 1 spot in Golfweek’s rankings of senior legends back and forth.
George Washburn only tells part of the story but luckily John Blank fills in the details. After an opening 79 at the Golfweek U.S. Super Senior, Legends, & Super Legends National Championship at the Falls Club in Lake Worth, Florida, on Thursday, Washburn bemoaned his putter.
“My putting has been a problem all summer,” Washburn said.
Blank, meanwhile, sings the praises of Washburn’s driver. Couple it with short game, and it’s easy to see how Washburn continually lands among the top-ranked seniors in the country. When both those parts of Washburn’s game are humming, Blank said, the man is unbeatable.
Blank, 73, should know. He’s right there with him at the top. So far in 2020, Washburn, 74, is the top-ranked player in the legends division (players age 70 to 74) according to the Golfweek Senior Rankings.
Blank, of Frostburg, Maryland, and Washburn, of Frederick, Maryland, have traded that No. 1 spot back and forth these past two seasons. The top two players in the super senior rankings, John Armstrong and Jim Castagna, also hail from Maryland. Armstrong and Blank live minutes apart in Frostburg. Blank says they practice relentlessly together, compete and push each other.
“We feed off of each other and I guess it’s the competition,” Blanks said of the Maryland senior phenomenon.
Blank’s game shines around the greens.
“I don’t hit the ball that far but if my short game, wedges and chipping and putting is on, then I can compete with anybody in our division,” he said.
His even-par 72 in the opening round of the Golfweek Senior left him in second, behind only Charley Yandell of Cashiers, North Carolina, who came in with an opening 70.
Blank calls Washburn, his fellow Maryland stalwart, the tactician. Washburn is the guy who scouts courses on Google Earth and keeps track of the points standings from one tournament to the next.
“If I have any questions on who’s ahead or how many am I behind, he’ll know the answer,” Blank said.
Elite senior amateurs like Washburn and Blank could find a dedicated tournament to tee it up in nearly every week of the year. Some were canceled or postponed in light of COVID, but Blank will still get in 11 starts this year. He played 19 times in 2019.
Blank, who has never tried to qualify for a USGA event, still works part-time in the family business, Blank’s Tavern. He has lived in Frostburg his whole life, having grown up there and played one year on the varsity team at Frostburg State University.
Washburn, a retired engineer who spent his career working for Bechtel, played three years of college golf at Penn State from 1965-68. He played in the 1967 NCAA Championship. Despite qualifying for the national tournament again the next year, Washburn didn’t play. He was completing ROTC summer camp.
Washburn was born in Alabama, grew up mainly in Ohio before moving to Philadelphia in high school, and has spent 27 years in Maryland. When asked why so many good senior golfers of late have called Maryland home, he references the climate.
“We have usually a reasonably good season,” he said. “Last year, we played all year. We had one day of snow, about an inch of snow. We could play all year round.”
Washburn typically plays in about 20 national senior events through the year and is a force, together with partner Barry Flaer, in the Maryland Senior Four-Ball.
“I’ve been up near the top and won a lot of tournaments so played well,” he said of his goal in this game. “I’m just trying to go out and win a tournament when I enter. That’s about my only goal.”
He competed in the 2002 U.S. Senior Open but has mostly given up USGA qualifiers, feeling like he no longer has the length to compete at that level. Washburn, a formidable competitor in the mid-70s cohort, hopes someday the USGA might create an opportunity for that age group.
“There’s a lot of senior golfers out there, very good golfers, that are over 65 and there’s a world of difference between 55 and 65,” he said. “Fifty-five-year-olds hit it a long way and 65, still a few guys that are long but not that are anywhere near as long as the younger guys.
“It would be nice to have a national championship that supported that age.”
Should that ever come to fruition, there’s a crew of men from Maryland who would be a good bet to carry off the title.
Lance Christensen is one of South Dakota’s best high school golfers. COVID-19 almost wiped out his senior season. But he’s back.
Ask Lance Christensen why he loves golf and he’ll paint you a picture. “It’s such a special game,” the Little Wound senior says, “being outdoors, smelling the fresh-cut grass, birds chirping — all that stuff. I could go on and on.”
That passion — inherited from his father and swing coach, former Bennett County standout Lance Christensen Sr. — comes with a genuine appreciation for the opportunities he has to play.
Hailing from Kyle, a town of about 850 people on the eastern half of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Christensen lives about an hour from the nearest golf course. When he wants to play, he has to drive 49 miles south to Gordon, Nebraska or about 90 miles west towards the Rapid City Area.
“The kid’s like me. We’ll drive anywhere as long as we can golf,” Lance Sr. said of his son, who logged 5,200 miles traveling to meets last year. “When he gets there, there’s that excitement when he steps on the course. That’s one thing I’ve always noticed in raising him. He can’t wait to get that next opportunity.”
Over the years, Christensen’s dedication and passion have melded with his natural ability and relentlessly competitive drive to establish him as one of the state’s elite players.
Last season, he became the second golfer from a reservation school to win an individual state championship in South Dakota history (Corey Jensen, Todd County, Rosebud Reservation, 1998), and the first to do so from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
On Monday, Christensen began his quest to become the first repeat Class A state champion since 2010-11 (Ryan Medhaug, Sisseton), firing an opening round 86 at Southern Hills Golf Course in Hot Springs, his home course.
When it comes to national competition, there’s a void for the 65-and-over age category. Golfweek has taken the lead in filling it.
When it comes to national competition, there’s a void for the 65-and-over age category. There currently is no dedicated U.S. Golf Association event for this group of players. In 2017, Golfweek took the lead in creating a tournament opportunity for a group of players with decades of history in this game. That event – the Super Senior, Legends, and Super Legends National Championship – joined the Golfweek’s Elite Senior Players Series and will continue next month at the Falls Club of the Palm Beaches in Lake Worth, Florida.
Many world-class amateurs over the age of 65 have experienced a point in life where golf was put on the back shelf, behind family responsibilities and business obligations. Tournament glory took a back seat, but the competitive spirit never dwindled.
“We have spent the last several years advocating for this group of talented players,” said Armand Cimaroli, Director of Events for USA Today Sports/Golfweek.
A dedicated tournament for this age group offers a unique opportunity at winning a national championship. Golfweek will continue to crown elite super senior, legend and super legend champions from around the U.S. and give them the opportunity to hoist a national trophy in each of those divisions.
About the event
Super Senior (age 65-69)
Legends (age 70-74)
Super Legends (age 75+)
Dates
October 7-10, 2020 – 54 hole stroke play competition in three divisions.
The venue
The Falls Club of the Palm Beaches, Lake Worth, Florida
In the heart of the golf rich coast of Southeast Florida lies the Falls Club of the Palm Beaches. Known as one of the most exclusive clubs in the Palm Beach area, the Falls Club has opened their doors to the Golfweek Elite Senior Players Series.
Last time
Super Senior champion – Mark Coward, Paradise Valley, Arizona
Legends champion – Russell Randolph, St Simons Island, Georgia
Players to Watch
In the Super Senior Division, Jim Castagna from Sandy Springs, Marlyand, currently sits at No. 2 in the Golfweek National Senior Rankings but is having a career year. Look for him to break out in the Super Senior division.
Also anticipate a Legends division battle between No. 1 George Washburn of Frederick, Maryland, and No. 2 John Blank of Frostburg, Maryland. There must be something in the water in Maryland because both of these players are world class and seemingly battle it out every year.
In the Super Legends Division, Walt Martin of St. Augustine, Florida, sits at the top of the rankings but is being pushed hard by Charlie Busbee of Stockbridge, Georgia. Either player could come out on top but Walt has the momentum going into the tournament.
For more information and to register for the Golfweek Super Senior, Legends, & Super Legends National Championship click HERE!
Due to concerns over COVID-19, the Senior Open Championship scheduled for July 23-26 has been postponed.
Bernhard Langer will have to wait to defend his title in the Senior Open Championship.
The R&A announced Tuesday the championship, scheduled from July 23-26 at Sunningdale Golf Club in England, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. A future date has not been selected for the Senior Open.
“We will continue to investigate alternative options to host the Senior Open later in the year if at all possible and will make an announcement in due course,” said executive director Johnnie Cole-Hamilton.
Last week, the R&A cancelled the Open Championship. Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, will still host the 2021 Open.
“Our priority is ensuring the health and safety of all players, spectators and sponsors, and it is therefore the right decision to postpone the event,” said Mark Aspland, the head of the European Senior Tour. “We will continue to work closely with the R&A, Rolex and other key stakeholders to reschedule the event at a later date when we have further clarity on the global situation.”
Langer’s win last year was his fourth in the championship.
As for other majors on the senior circuit, the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship were canceled. The Regions Tradition was reschedule from early May to Sept. 24-27. The Senior Players Championship to be played July 9-12 remains on the schedule.
