After three days of battling wind and rain conditions in Ft. Meyers (Florida), four golfers emerged victorious. They won the final Golfweek Senior Amateur tournament of the season.
Seniors (55-64)
Vance Welch had a two stroke advantage going into the final round on Thursday. He was 1 over par for the championship.
Welch had to finish the championship by playing the last three holes at par or higher. Double bogey at No. Welch dropped from the top spot after a double bogey at No.
Patrick Stayer, a native of Ft. Meyers, slid by Welch with a bogey free final round 71. Stayer’s final-round 71 was the only round without bogeys of the week, and also the lowest round in the senior age group.
Patrick Stayer of Ft. Meyers in Florida won the 2023 Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions. (Photo: Golfweek(
No. Kevin VandenBerg was the Golfweek No. A t-10 result in the Player of Year rankings helped Kevin VandenBerg move closer to the No. The Golfweek Senior Players of the Year will be determined by the Society of Seniors Ralph Bogart Tournament next week. Both VandenBerg, and No. No. 2 Jon Lindstrom is also in the field. Due to the absence of Bob Royak, ranked No. Lindstrom and Vandenberg, who are ranked No.
Super Seniors (65-69)
Steve Humphrey was five shots behind 36-hole leader Greg Goode when he entered Thursday’s final round. Humphrey needed to finish at least second place in order to surpass No. Humphrey, who is ranked No. 1, knew that he would have to play his best golf in order to get ahead of Marcus Beck.
Humphrey awaited the arrival of the rest to see if they would match his 72. Humphrey finished the event with 8 over par. After a birdie at No. Goode, who had birdied the previous hole, bogeyed No.
Humphrey, knowing what was at stake in the tournament, took advantage of it and won the tournament on hole two. Not only does he take home the Tournament of Champions Trophy, but he also sits at the top of the 2023 Super Senior Player of the year rankings.
Humphrey’s playoff victory counts as a title defence for him, since he won the TOC Super Senior division at PGA National in 2022.
Legends (70-74)
North Carolina’s Pete Allen wins the championship at The Forest. He was one of only two Legends who broke 80 on all three days.
Allen, who had a four stroke lead going into the final day, coasted to a 79 in the final round, maintaining his lead. He closed the event with a total of 229, 13 over. Vince Scarpetta, Bob Casamento and their combined score of 17 over was good enough for second place.
Super Legends (75+)
After shooting at least his age the first two days Gary Hardin (11-over) battled the difficult conditions to win his age group by a hair.
Hardin’s 80-point score, which was birdie free, was enough to keep Jack Marin at bay, who finished in second place with 14 over. John Blank (15) is in the top five, followed by Gil Stenholm (16) and Henry Cole (16).
