U.S. Senior Amateur: Three storylines heading into the match play portion
8/25/2024 | by Sean Melia of AmateurGolf.com
see also: U.S. Senior Amateur, a USGA Championship, Baltimore Country Club: East
Paul Simson's legacy, the Honors Course challenge, and past runner-ups are in the mix
After 36 holes in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, the field has been cut to 64 players. The Honors Course has punched hard, which was expected from the challenging, exacting course.
Here are three takeaways after the opening two rounds of the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Paul Simson adds to his legacy
The 73-year-old, who has won this title twice, was granted a special exemption to play at one of his favorite venues. For a player like Simson, who has competed all over the world, to call the Honors Course one of his favorites is high praise. He shot an opening round 70 and followed it up with a 76 to finish T7.
Simson is currently ranked No. 12 in the AmateurGolf.com Super Senior Rankings.
Simson’s record is unassailable. He’s won 45 Carolinas Golf Association events and is one of three players to win the U.S. Senior Amateur, R&A Senior Amateur, and Canadian Senior Amateur. He has a staggering 36-12 record in the U.S. Senior Amateur and has never lost in the Round of 64; he won’t know his opponent until the 9-for-8 playoff is settled on Wednesday morning.
Honors Course creates quite the spread
Since 2019, the typical medalist score in the U.S. Senior Amateur is around 2-under par. The only outlier is the 2021 event at CC of Detroit, where 10-under-par won medalist honors. Last year at Martis Camp, the medalist, Todd White, shot even par. He ended up winning the event.
What does stand out about The Honors Course is the spread from medalist to the 64 seed. It’s 15 shots, as 13-over par made the playoff.
Now that the event shifts to match play, it will be interesting to see if the players who were successful in medal play can make that transition. Last year, Todd White was able to win as a No. 1 seed at a tough course.
Related: Roger Newsom and John Kemp Share Medalist Honors
Former runner-ups in the mix
There are four players who have finished as runner-ups who finished in the top 12 after stroke play: Doug Hanzel (2022), Jerry Gunthorpe (2021), Roger Newsom (2019), and Matthew Sughrue (2016). Former champion Paul Simson also finished as runner-up in 2017 when he lost to Sean Knapp.
That’s quite a collection of players hoping to break through and win a USGA event.
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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