Temperatures and Scores Are High at U.S. Senior Am; Newsome and Kemp Are Co-Medalists

OOLTEWAH, Tenn. -- The temperatures were in the 90s over the weekend at The Honors Course for the first two days of the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. Some of the scores got there, too, and no one broke 70 during the two rounds of stroke play.

That gives you a pretty good idea of how well Roger Newsom and John Kemp had to play to be the co-medalists with identical scores of 72-70-142 (2 under par). Only two other players broke par in 36 holes of qualifying for the match-play portion of the tournament. Jerry Gunthorpe and Louis Brown tied for third, and they also matched scores both days, shooting 73-70--143. There were only seven sub-par rounds shot during the two days, five of them on Sunday. In addition to the 70s by the top four stroke-play finishers, the fifth was produced by Jack Larkin, who qualified fifth, one behind Gunthorpe and Brown at 144.

Doug Hanzel was solo sixth at 145 (72-73), and there were two guys -- both notable -- tied for seventh at 146. One of them, Bob Royak, won this tournament in 2019, when he beat Newsom 1 up in the final. The other 146 belonged to Paul Simson, and It could be argued that the most impressive performance over the weekend was turned in by the 73-year-old Simson, a former two-time Senior Am champion and four-time medalist. He was a co-leader after opening with a 70, but slipped back with a 76 on Sunday. Nevertheless, he advanced easily to match play, which begins Monday, when he will try to keep his record in Round of 64 matches (15 for 15) perfect.

Newsom, 60, is an opthalmolical surgeon from Virginia. Not only was he the runner-up to Royak in this tournament five years ago, but he made deep runs each of the last two years, making it to the quarterfinals in 2022 and to the semis in '23, when he lost to the eventual champion, Todd White. (White came back from a first-round 77 with a 72, and tied for 12th with the resulting 149.)

Kemp, 56, is a British businessman who turned professional at age 50 and qualified to play on the European version of the PGA Champions Tour -- but hated the life out there. Playing against the best 50-and-overs in Europe and trying to run his business at the same time was a headache -- literally.

"I played two events with a migraine," he remembers grimly. "I said to my wife: 'I've had enough. My health is going to go,' and I didn't enjoy my golf."

The top 64 from the stroke-play portion of the tournament will advance to match play, and the magic number was 157 (+13) the highest cut score siince 2000. There was a nine-way tie for 57th at plus 13; so there will be a 9-for-8 playoff early Monday morning.

No one from Minnesota got through.

Dave Carothers, who won the State Amateur in 2017, thanks to a final-round 66 at Interlachen, was in the best position to advance. He shot 77 on Saturday and was tied for 40th going into the second round. Starting on the back nine Sunday, he was 1 over after four holes, and that moved him up to 30th. But The Honors Course is a mine field, filled with bogeys, double bogeys and worse, and the former University of Minnesota captain went 9 over par in the next seven holes on the way to an 85 and a 36-hole aggregate of 162.

If it's any consolation, Carothers beat former U.S. Amateur champ (1981) and two-time Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby by 23 shots. Crosby, who turned professional after graduatiing from the University of Miami in 1984, and played on the European Tour for three years (his best finish was a third in the 1985 Portuguese Open), shot 93-92--185.


U.S. Senior Amateur Championship

At The Honors Course

Par 72, 6,848 yards

Ooltewah, Tenn.

Stroke-play results

Final (the top 64 advance to match play, which begins Monday

T1. Roger Newsom 72-70--142 (-2)

T1. John Kemp 72-70--142

T3. Jerry Gunthorpe 73-70--143

5. Jack Larkin 74-70--144

6. Doug Hanzel 72-73--145

T7. Bob Royak 74-72--146

T7. Paul Simson 70-76--146

T9. Jon Brown 76-72--148

T9. Brent Paterson 73-75--148

T9. Ronald Ewing 70-79--148

The cut -- 157 (there will be a 9-for-8 playoff at that score Monday morning)

Failed to advance

Dave Carothers 77-85--162

Jerry Rose 84-80--164

John Husband 78-87--165

Austin Eaton 85-81--166