Tag: Billy Mitchell

2022 Golfweek Senior Challenge Cup features stacked field

The 2022 Golfweek Senior Challenge Cup is more than just the penultimate event of the season.

The 2022 Golfweek Senior Challenge Cup is more than just the final ranking tournament of the season. It’s an opportunity to share camaraderie, stories and plenty of healthy rivalries.

The 54-hole stroke play event will be at Jacaranda Golf Club just outside of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and features four different age groups ranging from 55 to over 75 years old. Aside from crowning individual medalists in each age division, the Challenge Cup features a team aspect as well.

Not only are bragging rights and player of the year points up for grabs, but crucial World Amateur Golf Rankings points. The top 20 ranked senior amateur men in WAGR are exempt into the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur. Although the points race for the U.S. senior am ends in August, every event matters.

Captaining the two teams are 2022 Golfweek/USA Today Sports Player of the Year Rusty Strawn and 2020 Golfweek/USA Today Sports Player of the Year Craig Hurlbert. Strawn is coming off an incredible year that was highlighted by wins at the U.S. and Canadian senior amateurs. Hurlbert is getting back in the playing saddle after taking time off to upstart a venture, raising over a billion dollars in investment capital for his newest company, Local Bounti.

Backing them is plenty of firepower: 2021 U.S. Open low amateur Billy Mitchell, Golfweek No. 2-ranked senior am Kevin Vandenberg and 2022 Yancey Ford Award winner Joe Pavoni.

If you want to play premier courses across the country and test your skills against the best senior amateur golfers, check out the 2023 Golfweek senior amateur golf schedule.

Jerry Gunthorpe wins Golfweek Senior Division National Championship

Jerry Gunthorpe tracked down 36-hole leader Jerry Slagle to claim the championship.

The Firecliff Course at Desert Willow Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, played host to an eventful and dramatic Golfweek Senior Division National Championship.

The 54-hole event was graced by some of the best senior amateur golfers in the nation, with one man claiming his title and 1,200 points towards the year-long race for the Golfweek Player of the Year honor.

In the final round, Ovid, Michigan’s, Jerry Gunthorpe tracked down 36-hole leader Jerry Slagle on Tuesday to claim the championship. Behind by three strokes to start the final round, Gunthorpe made easy work of the front nine, carding a 2-under 34.

“Things were clicking,” Gunthorpe told Golfweek. “It started out easy right away.”

Slagle was not as fortunate with double bogeys on Nos. 5 and 8, erasing a birdie on No. 2, for an opening 39.

The five-shot swing put Gunthorpe in the driver’s seat at the turn. He relied on previous experiences on big stages both at the state level in Michigan and the national level as he came up just short to Gene Elliott in the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur.

“When I have a little bit of adrenaline, that means it matters to me,” Gunthorpe said. “If it doesn’t matter to me, I don’t do as well. When I feel the butterflies, or whatever that feeling is, that means it matters to me.”

Finding his why helped Gunthorpe stave off a late run by Slagle. Sitting at 4 over through 13 holes, Slagle turned on the jets, birdieing three of his last five holes in an attempt to make Gunthorpe feel the pressure. Gunthorpe stayed the course, swapping a birdie and bogey to close out a round of 2-under 70 and the championship.

In an interview following Sunday’s first round, Gunthorpe foreshadowed a bit saying that he always felt like he belonged in competitive senior golf.

“I always knew that I would [belong in competitive golf],” he said. “Every time I’ve competed, I’ve done well. I haven’t competed a lot, but when I have, I’ve been successful I feel.”

Well, to come back against one of the hottest hands of the week, in Slagle while also holding off the rest of the field is a success in anyone’s book.

Gunthorpe is expected to make a big jump in the Golfweek senior amateur rankings from his current spot at No. 37.

Slagle makes the trip back to Southlake, Texas, with much to be happy about as he recorded a tournament-high 16 birdies. Billy Mitchell, the 2021 U.S. Senior Open low-am, took home a solo third-place finish after a 1 over to finish at even par.

Greg Sanders (1 over) of Anthem, Arizona, and Steve McPherson (2 over) of San Jacinto, California, round out the top five.

The next Golfweek Senior amateur event will be a full-field event at the Golfweek Senior Amateur Championship at PGA West in La Quinta, California starting March 31.

‘Big 3’ set battle it out at Golfweek Senior National Championship

First-round leader Jerry Gunthorpe posted 17 pars and a bogey in Monday’s round.

A star-studded trio are set to duke it out in the final pairing of the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship at Desert Willow Golf Club in Palm Desert, California.

Jerry Gunthorpe, 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur runner-up, and 2021 U.S. Senior Open low-am Billy Mitchell have a tough test ahead of them as they are set to chase down 36-hole leader Jerry Slagle.

With conditions playing completely different than the first round and practice rounds, the Firecliff Course played tougher than usual on Monday.

First-round leader Gunthorpe was able to keep damage to a minimum with 17 pars and a lone bogey on the hardest hole of the tournament, the par-3 No. 17. He now sits two shots back of Slagle who picked up where he left off Sunday.

Slagle continued his onslaught of birdies, picking up five more in Monday’s second round to lead the tournament with 12 total.

“I made birdies where you’re supposed to,” Slagle told Golfweek following his 2-under 70. “I was pretty happy.”

Rounding out the final group is Billy Mitchell. Playing out of Atlanta, Mitchell was most notably the low-amateur at the 2021 U.S. Senior Open. Using five birdies to scrub away at an opening round 2-over 74, Mitchell is now 1 under for the tournament and looks to challenge his playing partners for the title on Tuesday.

Mitchell is tied for third alongside Greg Saunders who is in the penultimate pairing with Joe Palmer and Walker Taylor who sit at 3 over in a four-way tie for fifth.

As for Slagle, he’s not putting too much thought into being chased by two of the top senior amateur players in the world.

“I don’t want to think about anything,” Slagle said about being five under and leading the event. “I just want to go out and play golf.”

With a win and 1,200 points on the line, any of the three men in the final group can jump into the top-10 in the Golfweek Senior Amateur rankings. Slagle is currently No. 97, Gunthorpe is No. 37, and Mitchell, who is No. 17 in the rankings, all can make huge strides in the year-long race for the Golfweek Senior Player of the Year honor.

Billy Mitchell storms up leaderboard to take lead at Golfweek Player of the Year Classic

“I guessed right more often than I didn’t. Probably the most solid round I played in a while.”

Tampa Palms Country Club in Tampa, Florida is playing host to some of the best amateur senior players in the world this week. With four age groups teeing it up to kick off the Golfweek Player of the Year race, 18 holes separate four players from 1,000 points which will give them quite a head start over their peers vying for Player of the Year honors.

In the senior division, first-round co-leader Rusty Strawn stumbled down the back nine which included an 8 on the par-4 16th to go from the solo lead to a tie for seventh place. Rising from the pack today was Atlanta’s Billy Mitchell.

“[I] made birdie on 1 which is kind of a hole that doesn’t fit my eye,” Mitchell told Golfweek after his round. “It’s a hard driving hole to start out on.”

The birdie kick started a fantastic front nine for Mitchell who went out in 32 at four under par.

It wasn’t until the par-3 13th, where Mitchell missed his lone green of the day, where he also made his lone bogey of the round.

“I kind of got confused with the wind, hit in the bunker, short sided myself and made bogey,” Mitchell said. “I guessed right more often than I didn’t. Probably the most solid round I played in a while.”

Mitchell leads by three shots over round one co-leader Miles McConnell, who is even for the tournament. Three more golfers are within seven shots of Mitchell who tees off at 11:50 a.m. ET in the final round.

Day 1 Super Senior leader Steve Humphrey was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard, opening the door for Georgia’s Mark Benefield. Improving on his opening round of 78 with a 2-over 74, good for a three shot lead over Duke Delcher. Four more golfers trail by seven shots or less heading into Tuesday’s final round.

Pete Allen maintained his four stroke lead in the Legends flight. The North Carolinian went 73-77 for a 6-over total with 18 holes separating him from claiming the Player of the Year Classic. Don Marsh leads the pack that will be on the hunt to chase Allen down.

Super Legend Dennis Adkins slid past 2021 Player of the Year Walt Martin and round 1 leader Jim Pfrogner for a two shot lead heading into the final round. Adkins’ 1-over 73 is the lowest score of the tournament out of the Super Legends division so far. He will look to hold off Martin and Pfrogner as well as G.M. Bingman who trails by six.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]