Big names highlight the field at Golfweek International Senior Invitational

There are 28 teams from the United States, three from Europe and one from Canada.

CARTERSVILE, Ga. – Ninety-six of the world’s best senior amateur golfers are set to duke it out for team and individual glory at Cartersville Country Club.

Twenty-eight teams from the United States, three teams from Europe and a team from Canada have descended on CCC. Among them are some of the biggest names in the senior amateur game.

Reigning Walker Cup captain Mike McCoy is captaining Team Iowa alongside teammates Terry Cook and Joe Palmer. Doug Hanzel (Georgia), Jon Lindstrom (Colorado) and Bob Royak (Georgia) are the top three ranked seniors in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). The field boasts 10 of the top 50 WAGR seniors and two of the top 20 European seniors.

This week, it’s not just about the golf legends. Former NFL quarterbacks Stan Humphries and Billy Joe Tolliver are also teeing it up this week. Tolliver and Humphries, who played in Super Bowl 29 with the then-San Diego Chargers, both are feeding their craving for competition as they tee it up with the best in the game.

Nine Europeans have made the trip across the pond to test their game against a stacked field of Yanks.

Leading the charge is Team Scotland, who have No. 4 ranked WAGR European senior Ronnie Clark and are captained by No. 20 ranked Derek Patton.

Team Ireland, Germany and Canada are all vying for the upset to take home the International crown.

As the Golfweek senior amateur season begins to come to a close, the Golfweek Player of the Year race is just heating up. With 16 players inside the top 100 of the Golfweek player rankings, individual PoY points are on the line, making this week just that much more important.

Golfweek No. 1 Bob Royak has less than a 900 point lead on Doug Hanzel. No. 3 ranked Rusty Strawn, No. 6 Jon Lindstrom and No. 10 Mike Combs can all make a huge jump in the rankings this week with a strong finish or even a win.

Combs (1990 Public Links), Hanzel (2013 Senior Am), Royak (2019 Senior Am), Strawn (2022 Senior Am) and Mike McCoy (2013 Mid-Am) are the five USGA championship winners in the field this week with another near countless amount of USGA championship starts among them as well as their fellow competitors.

Play begins Thursday, Oct. 5 at 8 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available on Golf Genius (GGID: 23GWISI).

Packed leaderboards at 2022 International Mid-Am/Senior Championship after first round

Plenty of big names are near the top of the leaderboard after the first round.

A weekend of top tier mid-am and senior golf officially teed off in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, on Friday, and the competition got fierce fast. With both team and individual titles on the line, there’s no time to waste against the best. The 2022 International Mid-Amateur & Senior, Team and Individual Championship has yet to crown champions but has plenty of contenders vying for their shot at being crowned champion.

Rod Baronet and Jon Lindstrom are paving the way for the senior division. Both at 6 under, the duo matched each other shot for shot with seven birdies and a bogey. Leading the pack by three shots, the pair is being chased by Wes McNulty and John Wright at 3 under.

Behind them lurks Tony Wise at 2 under and a pack of five golfers at 1 under, led by Rusty Strawn and Doug Hanzel.

In the team portion, Lindstrom is once again leading the way. Team Colorado leads by two in large part because of Lindstrom. His round of 6 under, accompanied by Chris Carson’s 2-over 74, is good for a two stroke lead over Team Arkansas. Richard Bradsby fills out Colorado’s roster but was not counted in the team score with a 4-over 76.

Team St. George, Team Georgia (South), and North Carolina (East) trail by less than five heading into the second round.

In the mid-am competition, Marc Engellenger carded a bogey-free 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over the field.

Beginning the day on a hot steak, Engellenger coasted on the back nine with pars on eight of his final nine holes. Just one shot back, the trio of Philip Reale, Travis Woolf and Justin Young will all seek to stay in contention in the second round.

Reale has teamed up with Pat Carter, Cam Roam, and Sam O’Dell to form Team West Virginia. Combining for a team score of 6-under 210, they lead Team North Texas by a single stroke.

Team South Texas is the only other team under par at 2 under. Team Mississippi is six shots back at even par.

Saturday’s second round begins at 7:30 am on both of Pawleys Island’s premier courses: True Blue and Caledonia.

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