SIMPSONVILLE, KY (August 17, 2021) – The final round of the Kentucky Senior Amateur felt like the final round of the U.S. Open at times when par became a player’s best friend. A challenging and pressure-packed finish at the University of Louisville Golf Club was best handled by Tony Wise of Georgetown, who won the tournament for the first time with a total score of 146 (+2).

When play began in the afternoon for the Senior Division, strong rain and gusty winds greeted players for nearly the first two hours of their rounds, putting low scores at a premium. As the rain ceased, its impact could still be felt long afterwards as the softness of the golf course forced many players to hit longer clubs into greens than what they did in Monday’s first round.

For Wise, that meant two bogeys in the first three holes meant little ground to the field was lost. When he made one birdie and eight pars in the next nine holes, that proved to be as good of a stretch of play that could be found given the difficult conditions. But it also brought many other players into contention, as eight players found themselves in the hunt for the trophy down the stretch.

Wise proved to have the steadiest hand though and came to the final hole one shot ahead needing par to clinch the title. A bogey would have sent him into a playoff with Tom Campbell and Chester Musselman. With the pressure on, Wise struck a perfect tee shot in the fairway and another perfect approach shot within ten feet of the hole to deliver in the clutch. A two-putt for par locked up victory with Campbell and Musselman finishing tied for second. Davis Boland, Buddy Bryant, Lance Lucas, Paxton Song, and Mark Greene all finished two shots back of Wise in a tie for fourth.

“You have no idea how much this win means to me,” Wise said. “All the hard work and learned patience paying off is extremely satisfying. Our Senior Division is very competitive and we have a bunch of great guys I’ve become great friends with. But to look at that trophy knowing my name will be on there forever is so humbling that it’s impossible to describe. Moments like this I think of my mom who passed away eighteen months ago. She always told me to stay focused and that’s what I did coming down the stretch today.”

The net competition of the Senior Division went the way of Greene as his net total score was 142 (-2). He and Wise both finished at that number, but with Wise owning the gross title, Greene receives full honors as the net champion.

An exciting finish in the Masters Division (players aged 60-69) sent Jim Brown home with the title, as a score of 144 (E) earned him a one-stroke victory over Steve Rogers. Rogers had the lowest score of any player from any division in the second round as his 70 (-2) took him from four shots back at the start of the day to leading late in the proceedings. But as things progressed, Brown went to the 18^th in the same situation Wise was in; needing par to win. Brown did just that to claim victory over Rogers with Phillip Harper finishing in third place.

Harper did share first place in the net leaderboard with Greg Grider joining him atop those standings. Both players finished with total scores of 139 (-5), six shots clear of third place.

Jim Caudill got the largest margin-of-victory of any gross champion as he secured the Legends Division (players aged 70 and older) with the only under-par total score of any player in the field with 142 (-2). That produced a four-shot win over Elmo Greer.

Greer did win the net contest with an adjusted score of 144 (E). H.P. McCoy finished in second place to him.

NOTES & STATS

• The pars to secure victory for Wise and Brown on the last hole were made more impressive by the fact the 18^th played as the hardest hole of the day for all divisions. Its stroke-to-par average was +0.87 with only one birdie recorded, courtesy of Rodney Chancey.
• The easiest hole of the day was the par-three 8^th. Fourteen birdies here helped it average +0.19.
• As was the case in round one, the back nine played considerably harder than the front nine did. On average, 1.07 more strokes were needed from the field to play holes 10-18 compared to holes 1-9.
• The scoring average for Tuesday was 81.13, nearly one full stroke higher than Monday’s average score of 80.27.

Click here to view the final results

Click here to view the tournament photo gallery

The Kentucky Golf Association extends its thanks to Todd Christian, General Manager and Chad Stocker, PGA Head Golf Professional along with their entire team at University of Louisville Golf Club for creating a wonderful championship. Appreciation is also expressed towards each player in the field who competed and made the 2021 Kentucky Senior Amateur a massive success.

The KGA will hold another premier championship next week from Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland with the conduction of the 27^th Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Mid-Am. That tournament will take place August 23-24.