Wilson makes history, co-medals with Condon at U.S. Sr Am

August 26, 2018 | by United States Golf Association

Greg Condon (left) and Jeff Wilson (USGA photo)

Jeff Wilson is now the only competitor in USGA history to medal in a U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur

EUGENE, Ore. (Aug. 26, 2018) – Jeff Wilson continued to add to his ever-growing treasure chest of USGA medals on Sunday at Eugene Country Club.

Wilson, 55, of Fairfield, Calif., carded a 2-under-par 70 for a 36-hole total of 5-under 139, good enough to share medalist honors in the 64th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship with 56-year-old Greg Condon, of Monte Vista, Colo.

Wilson is now the only competitor in USGA history to have medaled in the U.S. Amateur (twice), the U.S. Mid-Amateur (three times) and the U.S. Senior Amateur. He’s also one of two players to earn low-amateur honors in the U.S. Open (2000) and U.S. Senior Open (2018), joining Marvin “Vinny” Giles III, who at 75 years of age was the oldest competitor in this week’s Senior Amateur – Giles missed the cut.

“It’s not something that you start out to get, but they are sure nice to have,” Wilson said of his now eight medals. He also earned a bronze medal for being a semifinalist in the 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur. “I was just happy I played solidly, and I’m looking forward to match play.”

The only thing seemingly missing from Wilson’s remarkable portfolio is a USGA title. In addition to Wilson’s semifinal run in the U.S. Mid-Amateur, he reached the quarterfinals of the championship in 2000 and 2004. Earlier this summer, he won the Southern California Golf Association Mid-Amateur and lost in a playoff in the Northern California Golf Association Mid-Amateur, both stroke-play competitions. He also was the runner-up in the 2009 California Amateur at Pebble Beach, which is a combination of stroke play and match play.

“It’s hard,” said Wilson of match play. “I think I made it to the semifinals [once] in the [U.S.] Mid-Am and in the U.S. Amateur. I’m either the medalist or down the road somewhere. I don’t know. Hopefully this year will be different.”

Both Condon and Wilson will be looking to end a 31-year medalist drought in the U.S. Senior Amateur. The last medalist to hoist the trophy was John Richardson in 1987.

But neither competitor is looking past Monday’s first round of match play. Condon will go into the Round of 64 fresh of a two-birdie, two-bogey effort on Sunday.

“I was driving the ball really well yesterday,” said Condon, who has his son, Luke, on the bag. “Today, not so great. So, I need to go fix that. Other than that, it’s really just consistency. There’s a lot of trouble spots out there and I’ve been really good at staying away from those.”

Joe Palmer, 56, of West Des Moines, Iowa, finished three strokes back at 142 after shooting a 4-under 68 on Sunday.

Following two stroke-play rounds, the field was trimmed to the low 64 scorers for match play, which begins Monday.

Results: U.S. Senior Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Jeff Wilson	Fairfield, CA	2000
Runner-up	Sean Knapp	Oakmont, PA	1500
Semifinals	Mike McCoy	W. Des Moines, IA	1000
Semifinals	Chip Lutz	Reading, PA	1000
Quarterfinals	Jerry Rose	Sarasota, FL	700

View full results for U.S. Senior Amateur

About the U.S. Senior Amateur

Wilson makes history, co-medals with Condon at U.S. Sr Am

The USGA Senior Amateur is open to those with a USGA Handicap Index of 5.4 or lower, who are 55 or older on or before the day the qualifying begins, usually in August. It is one of 15 national championships conducted annually by the USGA.