Latest news with #U.S.SeniorAmateur
USA Today
7 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur returns to Wine Valley GC, where owner Jim Pliska will tee it up
Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur returns to Wine Valley GC, where owner Jim Pliska will tee it up It's important to Jim Pliska that there are opportunities for the top seniors in the Pacific Northwest to showcase their talent locally, get World Amateur Golf Ranking points and play with the best talent in the world. Luckily Pliska, the owner of two top courses in Washington and Oregon, is in a position to do something about that. Pliska runs Space Age Fuel, one of the largest independent fuel marketers in Oregon, and is also the owner of Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington, and Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon. The courses, roughly 350 miles apart, frequently host championships – and that was one of Pliska's motivations for getting involved in the golf industry as a course owner. Tournaments range from Oregon Golf Association events to Pacific Northwest Golf Association events to college events, considering Emerald Valley is home to the University of Oregon Golf teams. Perhaps most notably, Wine Valley served as a U.S. Open Final Qualifying site on June 2. Next month, Wine Valley will host the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur for the fourth time. The 54-hole event draws top amateurs from around the country. Last year, former U.S. Senior Amateur champion Doug Hanzel took home the trophy. 'I like to give back in that respect because I feel supporting the competition and competitive golf helps overall golf in general,' Pliska said. 'I think it's such a great game I want to keep it in existence.' Pliska, at 66, is an accomplished player himself. He competes six or seven times a year and is constantly working on his game. Lately, that means working out daily and also working through swing issues with instructor Mike Mitchell in La Quinta, California. 'My game, I can feel it's getting better but getting it consistently better,' Pliska said, 'it's still got work to be done.' Pliska, who will tee it up at the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior, played on the University of Oregon roster for a year in the late 1970s after transferring in from Mt. Hood Community College. He continued to stay sharp in the game and has won the OGA Tournament of Champions a handful of times. Pliska, a veteran of several USGA championships, is still pursuing a U.S. Senior Amateur berth. As he works to get his game to the level that he can meet that goal, the majority of his time continues to go to Space Age. Meanwhile, the day-to-day of golf course operation largely falls to the general manager at each facility. 'I've got some good people that have worked for us for a long time,' Pliska said of his golf course staffs. And despite being hands-off in most respects, he's still involved in major decisions. Pliska's history with Emerald Valley goes back to his days at Oregon but Wine Valley, site of the Golfweek event, is a relatively new course. Wine Valley opened in 2009 and was designed by Dan Hixson. It is ranked No. 3 in the state of Washington on the Golfweek's Best Public Courses list and also appears on the Golfweek's Best Top 200 Modern Courses list. Pliska thinks golfers love playing Wine Valley because it's a challenging-but-fair layout. He calls it a second-shot golf course. Because many holes have multiple sight lines, a player can be out of position and still have a chance to recover. That there's no standard way to play the course is one thing that Pliska thinks makes it great. 'It gives you a lot of different opportunities out there,' he said. 'There's not a tree on the golf course so it's kind of open, big features, big greens, lot of movement on the greens. It's a fun course to play because you can play different shots, it's not standard shots – it's not a traditional golf course. It's more of the newer links type of golf course. I think the beauty of it, too, is great.' The Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur will be played July 1-3 at Wine Valley and registration remains open across all four divisions: Senior (age 55-64), Super Senior (Age 65-69), Legends (age 70-74) and Super Legends (age 75 and over).
USA Today
03-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Uber-competitive Bryan Hoops gets redemption at Golfweek Senior Division National Championship
Uber-competitive Bryan Hoops gets redemption at Golfweek Senior Division National Championship Allow Bryan Hoops to annotate the leaderboard from the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship with just a few notes. Though his three rounds of 69-74-69 might suggest a second-round fumble to set up a final-round charge for the victory, Hoops didn't see a lot of difference in his game from start to finish at Desert Willow Resort's Mountain View Course in Palm Desert, California. Hoops, the 56-year-old from Tempe, Arizona, felt he struck the ball well and missed few shots – but for some putts, he admits. He won the event at 4 under, one shot ahead of Trae Cassell of Rancho Santa Fe, California. John Brellenthin of Dallas was third at 1 over. But the story is nuanced. 'One thing you can't see on paper that people don't see when they're looking at scorecards is the wind blowing 25, 30, 40 mph,' he said. 'Yesterday, no different from any other day, I hit it really well but two separate holes, medium par 3s, I just hit shots into the wind that I guess I just miscalculated. I thought the wind was going to do one thing and it didn't and I put myself in a bad spot and made a double on one of them and another one I made a triple.' Scores: Golfweek Senior Division National Championship Hoops played his first Golfweek senior event in February, the Pirates Classic at TPC Tampa Bay (Florida). He went five extra holes with Bob Royak, the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur champions, before Royak eventually won. Hoops now has a little bit of redemption after winning in Palm Desert, and he's about to tee it up again at the Golfweek Senior Amateur, which starts at Desert Willow's Firecliff Course on Friday. Hoops turned 55 on Feb. 28, 2024, which aged him into most senior national competitions. Some players have that milestone circled and starred on their calendar, but for Hoops, it took a bit of adjusting. Hoops has carved out his place in elite amateur golf and hated to give up his spot in the amateur, mid-amateur and partner tournaments he has played for years. He has competed in plenty of USGA championships and still feels competitive outside the senior circuit. 'To add a big full senior schedule wasn't an easy thing for me to do,' he said. As a result, Hoops felt 2024 was a thin year of competition. He played the Trans-Miss Senior Amateur, where he finished second, and also competed in the Canadian Senior Amateur and qualified into the U.S. Senior Amateur for the first time. At the latter, he lost in the first round of match play to a talented Canadian amateur, Dave Bunker, when he made bogey on the last hole. That one still stings and he vowed not to make the same mistake again. Hoops recognizes that, like all competitors, he has a short window of advantage early in his senior career. Where Hoops may be different, however, is that distance is in no way a challenge. 'I do things that I feel are stretching my career,' Hoops said. 'I don't know anybody that hits it farther than I do constantly. It's a big advantage.' One of those things is competitive environment, and the sheer distance (nearly 1,000 more yards than the average senior tournament setup) that has become the norm in his everyday rounds. Hoops, whose career has been in commercial IT, is a member at Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, where many professionals from all tours (PGA, Champions and Korn Ferry) test their games. It is not uncommon for Hoops to tee it up with Jon Rahm or Wyndham Clark, and that has gone a long way in sharpening his game and his competitive drive. 'These guys are great guys, they are down to Earth and they're also very generous with their information and support,' Hoops said. 'Like today, winning, I'm getting text messages from guys that are getting ready for the Masters. That's really cool.' Hoops truly loves this life of competing as an amateur, as evidenced by the way in which he talks about playing his favorite events as well as the way he spent the hours after his Golfweek victory at Desert Willow. It was important for Hoops to gather with fellow competitors, have a drink and catch up. That's tradition, as far as he's concerned. Interestingly, Hoops has made it to the final stage of PGA Tour Championship Q-School five of the past six years. Five full tour cards are awarded at the end of that tournament and Hoops has twice finished sixth. He finds himself in the odd spot of being motivated to test his game on that highest level, but also feeling conflicted when he came close to earning a card – and thus facing the very real prospect of going out on the road for half the year as a touring pro. 'It was actually stressful for me to sit there and think … what if they give me a full card for 27 events?' he said. 'This is a problem. I got work, I got things, I got commitments, I got family. I have to give up my amateur stuff that I'm exempt into? That I play in?' The experience gave Hoops some pause about whether he would enter Q-School again. Amateur golf and all the wonderful people he's met playing it may be too much a part of him at this point. He's too invested in his family and the freedom he has to choose which events he plays and when. 'I have so much on the amateur side and I have so much fun and I have so many friends and commitments,' Hoops said, 'it would be hard.'
USA Today
01-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Bryan Hoops sets the pace at Golfweek Senior Division National Championship
Bryan Hoops sets the pace at Golfweek Senior Division National Championship The last time Bryan Hoops teed it up in a Golfweek event, he came within inches of the title. Hoops went down to the wire with Bob Royak, the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur champion, in the inaugural Golfweek Pirates Classic in February. After five playoff holes, it was Royak walking away with the trophy. Six weeks later, Hoops is again here. The Scottsdale, Arizona, resident took an immediate lead at the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship on Monday, played at Desert Willow Golf Club's Mountain View Course in Palm Desert, California. Hoops birdied his opening hole and added three more throughout the course of the day. A single bogey at the par-4 15th brought him back to 3-under 69, one shot ahead of Craig Miyamoto of Sacramento, California, in second. Scores: Golfweek Senior Division National Championship Hoops, 56, has long been one of the nation's top mid-amateurs, having competed in numerous U.S. Mid-Amateurs throughout his career in addition to having won a handful of Arizona Mid-Amateurs in his home state. More recently, Hoops also qualified for the 2022 U.S. Senior Open and the 2024 U.S. Senior Amateur. The top of the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship leaderboard is West Coast-heavy, with Randy Haag of Orinda, California, and Robert Funk of Canyon Lake, California, part of a three-way tie for third. Chad Branton of Cartersville, Georgia, joined them at 1 under. Haag was recently part of the winning duo at the NCGA Senior Four-Ball while Funk finished runner-up with his partner. Funk also finished runner-up at the San Francisco City Senior Championship in March. Kevin VandenBerg, who has won Golfweek Senior Player of the Year honors each of the past two years, landed as part of a tie for sixth after a colorful starting stretch that included an eagle, two birdies, and three bogeys in his first seven holes. He finished at even-par 72.
USA Today
19-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former U.S. Senior Am champ Bob Royak finds way to top of Golfweek Pirate's Classic leaderboard
Former U.S. Senior Am champ Bob Royak finds way to top of Golfweek Pirate's Classic leaderboard Bob Royak spent Tuesday at the Golfweek Pirate's Classic clawing back into contention. Royak, the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur champion, was the only man in any division to break 70 in the second round at TPC Tampa Bay, and it moved him to the top of the leaderboard in the Senior Division. Royak, of Alpharetta, Georgia, left himself with some work to do after opening this tournament with 74. It was a round in which the 63-year-old played the last two holes in 3 over. He had played the previous five holes in 3 under. Still, on Tuesday, Royak bounced back with only two bogeys to take away from his five birdies. Royak wound down 2024 with a team win at the International Senior Invitational before competing in the prestigious East West Matches. He also reached the third round of match play at the U.S. Senior Amateur last year and was a semifinalist in 2023. This week, Royak is teeing it up at the inaugural Pirate's Classic just days after a T-2 finish at the Gasparilla Senior Invitational, played just down the road at Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club. Even though Royak broke away for the solo lead at the end of the day, the senior division was close for most of the second round, with as many as three players tied for the lead at one point. Jerry Slagle of Southlake, Texas, the second-round senior leader, had a second-round 73 that included an eagle at the par-4 12th. He is 1 over for the tournament and one shot behind Royak. Bryan Hoops of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Brian Keenan of Tampa, Florida, are 2 over and tied for third while Todd Doss of Mandeville, Louisiana, is 3 over in fifth. In the Mid-Master division (for players aged 40-55), Thad Hudgens of Longwood, Florida, only pulled farther ahead. After opening with an eagle on the first hole on Monday, Hudgens cruised to 67. On Tuesday, he came back with 70 and now leads his division by 18 shots. Byron Whitman of Bonita Springs, Florida, leads by one shot in the Super Senior division after back-to-back rounds of 75. The leaders in both the Legend and Super Legend Divisions managed to distance themselves on Tuesday. Greg Osborne of Lititz, Pennsylvania, is 2 over and up by five shots in the Legend Division. Frank Polizzi of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, is 3 over and also has a five-shot cushion among the Super Legends.
