Players to Watch at the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur

August 21, 2019 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

As the biggest championship in senior amateur golf begins Saturday at Old Chatham in Durham, NC, here are some of the key players

The 156-player field for the 65th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship is set, and players will tee it up at Old Chatham Golf Club as stroke play begins on Saturday with the biggest title in senior amateur golf on the line.

Related: U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying Roundup

Here is a look at some of the key players to watch:

Greg Condon

Greg Condon, 58, of Monte Vista, Colo., won the New Mexico state amateur for the second time in three years this summer. The win earned him a spot in the Pacific Coast Amateur where, against many of the top amateurs in the world, he finished tied for fifteenth. This is Condon's third straight U.S. Senior Amateur appearance and has made match play in each of the last two years. He was the co-medalist in last year's U.S. Senior at Eugene CC in Oregon.

Craig Davis

Craig Davis, 57, of Chula Vista, Calif., won this year’s British Seniors Amateur, conducted by The R&A, when he made a 5-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole at North Berwick Golf Club in Scotland. He advanced to the quarterfinals in last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur at Eugene Country Club. Davis, who is a software engineer for an aerospace company, has played in five USGA championships, including the 2012 U.S. Senior Open. Davis, who was chosen 2018 Southern California Golf Association Senior Player of the Year, played from 1980-83 at the University of Arizona , where one of his teammates was John Ashworth, who founded the Ashworth golf apparel company.

Keith Decker

Keith Decker, 59, of Martinsville, Va., is the three-time defending Senior Porter Cup champion and this summer won the Dave King Senior for the fourth straight time. He was also the runner-up in the Golfweek Player-of-the-Year Classic and was third in the Society of Seniors Spring Classic. A member of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame, Decker has won over 20 state championships at every level. He also was a member of Virginia's winning team in the first-ever U.S. State Team Championship in 1995.

Peter Detemple

Peter Detemple, 57, of Lexington Park, Md., won the 2019 Golfweek Senior Amateur and the 2018 Senior Masters. He finished runner-up in the Maryland State Amateur and is a two-time U.S. Senior Open qualifier. His tournament wins include the Virginia Senior Stroke Play, the Maryland and Virginia Four-Balls, the Washington Metro Senior and the Fox Puss Invitational. DeTemple works in construction at Great Mills Trading Post and has been framing houses most of his life.

Gene Elliott

Gene Elliott, 57, of West Des Moines, Iowa, was the AmateurGolf.com Senior Player of the Year with five national senior wins in 2018. He has competed in 32 USGA championships and has reached match play in his two U.S. Senior Amateurs (Round of 32, 2017 and Round of 16, 2018). Elliott was the runner-up to Craig Davis in this year’s British Seniors Amateur. Elliott, who has played in 14 U.S. Mid-Amateurs and was a quarterfinalist in 2006, owns a sanitation and street equipment company, and recovered from open-heart surgery 19 years ago. He was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

Doug Hanzel

Doug Hanzel, 62, of Savannah, Ga., is a three-time AmateurGolf.com Senior Player of the Year and won the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur. He was a semifinalist in 2012 and twice a quarterfinalist (2016, 2018). A graduate of Kent State University, where he played on the golf team and now has a golf scholarship in his name, Hanzel is a retired pulmonologist. He has qualified for the U.S. Amateur in five different decades and has competed in 35 USGA championships. He was the low amateur in the 2012 and 2013 U.S. Senior Opens. In 2013, he became the only player to qualify for match play in the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur. He is a Type 1 diabetic and plays golf with an insulin pump.

Steve Harwell

Steve Harwell, 56, of Mooresville, N.C., has played in 13 USGA championships and twice advanced to the Round of 16 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur (1993, 2010). Harwell, who works in a life insurance company’s finance division and was NAIA All-America selection at Guilford College, has won four championships in 2019. He captured the North Carolina Senior Amateur with a 54-hole score of 213 (3-under), the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame and Carolinas Golf Association Four-Ball. Harwell also won the George L. Coleman Invitational by one stroke over Chip Lutz and Jeff Knox at Seminole Golf Club on April 27.

Tim Jackson

Tim Jackson, 60, of Williston, Tenn., won the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in 1994 and 2001. He represented the USA in the Walker Cup in 1995 and 1999 and was the low amateur in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 U.S. Senior Opens. Jackson has competed in 55 USGA championships, including five U.S. Senior Amateurs. He advanced to the semifinals in 2015 and 2016. He is a nine-time Tennessee Player of the Year and has served as president of the Tennessee Golf Association. Jackson was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Ken Kinkopf

Ken Kinkopf, 57, of Jupiter, Fla., has had a breakout season and comes into the U.S. Senior as the top-ranked senior in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings. So far this season he has won the North & South Senior, The Hesler, the Golfweek Player of the Year Classic, and the Senior Masters. Kinkopf, who has played in six USGA championships, was the runner-up in the Golfweek Senior National Match Play and finished third in the Lowcountry Senior. He also won last week's Ohio Senior Amateur.

Sean Knapp

Sean Knapp, 57, of Oakmont, Pa., won the 2017 U.S. Senior Amateur and was the runner-up to Jeff Wilson in 2018 at Eugene Country Club. Knapp, who caddied at Oakmont Country Club, has competed in 49 USGA championships, including 15 U.S. Amateurs. He has played in 17 U.S. Mid-Amateurs and advanced to the semifinals in 2008 and 2010. Knapp lost to eventual champion Tiger Woods in the Round of 16 of the 1995 U.S. Amateur and tied for 60th in the 2012 U.S. Senior Open. Knapp, who is a 14-time Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Player of the Year, is a member of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania athletic hall of fame.

Chip Lutz

Chip Lutz, 64, of Reading, Pa., is a three-time AmateurGolf.com Senior Player of the Year, and won the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur. Lutz, who has a 25-8 match-play record in the championship, has also advanced to the semifinals on four occasions (2010, 2011, 2013, 2018). He also has won the Seniors Amateur, conducted by The R&A, three times and the Canadian Senior Amateur twice. He and Paul Simson are the lone players who have claimed all three championships. An insurance attorney, Lutz played golf at the University of Florida and is a seven-time Golf Association of Philadelphia Senior Player of the Year. He also was the low amateur in the 2016 U.S. Senior Open.

Michael McCoy

Michael McCoy, 56, of Norwalk, Iowa, competed in his 60th USGA championship earlier this month at the U.S. Amateur. He advanced to the semifinals in his first U.S. Senior Amateur last year at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club. McCoy was the low amateur in the 2014 and 2015 U.S. Senior Opens and in 2013 was the second-oldest winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur when he defeated Bill Williamson, 8 and 6, in the 36-hole final at the Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.). A member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team, McCoy works in the insurance business and is a member of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame.

Roger Newsom

Roger Newsom, 55, of Virginia Beach, Va., became eligible for senior golf earlier this year and won the Lowcountry Senior by five shots. He also qualified for the U.S. Senior Open for the second time. Newsom is a former champion of the Eastern Amateur as well as the Anderson Memorial Four-Ball at Winged Foot. He also won the State Open of Virginia twice. Newsom is an opthamologist in the Virginia Beach area.

Bob Royak

Bob Royak, 57, of Alpharetta, Ga., will play in the same USGA championship as his brother, Paul, for the first time since 2004 when they competed in the U.S. Mid-Amateur. The brothers grew up in Guilderland, N.Y., and each played golf at the University of Tampa. Bob has competed in 15 USGA championships, including three U.S. Amateurs and two U.S. Senior Opens (2012, 2019). Royak, who is vice president for an executive search firm, was chosen 2017 Georgia State Golf Association Senior Player of the Year after winning the GSGA Senior Amateur.

Paul Simson

Paul Simson, 68, of Raleigh, N.C., has competed in 63 USGA championships, including 15 U.S. Amateurs. Simson won the 2010 and 2012 U.S. Senior Amateurs and is one of 14 players to win the title on multiple occasions. He is third all-time with 33 match-play victories and has played in 12 Senior Amateurs. He was the runner-up to Sean Knapp in the 2017 Senior Amateur and was the low amateur in the 2001 U.S. Senior Open. He and Chip Lutz are the lone players to have won the U.S. Senior Amateur, the Seniors Amateur, conducted by The R&A, and the Canadian Senior Amateur championships.

Matt Sughrue

Matt Sughrue, 59, of Arlington, Va., has played in three consecutive U.S. Senior Amateurs, including a runner-up finish to Dave Ryan in 2016 and a quarterfinal finish the following year. Sughrue, who has competed in 17 USGA championships, was the runner-up in the 2015 Seniors Amateur, conducted by The R&A. An insurance professional for more than 25 years, Sughrue changed course to become a psychotherapist. He earned a master’s degree in human development and marriage & family therapy from Virginia Tech in 2012 and wrote his thesis on chronic adult male homelessness. Sughrue is also a performance coach for athletes, including golfers, swimmers and baseball players.

Frank Vana Jr.

Frank Vana Jr., 57, of Boxford, Mass., has played in two U.S. Senior Amateurs, advancing to the semifinals in 2017 and Round of 16 last year. Vana, who has competed in 31 USGA championships, is a two-time Massachusetts Amateur champion and 10-time Massachusetts Mid-Amateur champion. He was inducted into the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame in 2016 and was named the Massachusetts Golf Association’s Player of the Decade in both the 1990s and 2000s. Vana, who grew up on a family-owned driving range, was a three-sport college athlete (football, golf, hockey) and is a member of the Assumption College athletic hall of fame.

Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson, 56, of Fairfield, Calif., is the general sales manager at an automobile dealership. He abandoned a professional golfer’s life, bouncing around mini tours, for a more stable career path. Wilson, who was reinstated as an amateur in 1997, won the 2018 U.S. Senior Amateur, a 2-and-1 victory over defending champion Sean Knapp. He tied for 31st in last year’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor and became the second player to earn low-amateur honors in both the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open, joining Marvin “Vinny” Giles III. Wilson, who was low amateur in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, has competed in 34 USGA championships, including four U.S. Opens.

Information from the USGA used in this report.

About the U.S. Senior Amateur

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.

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