Opening Golf to the World
Championships
Hoops and Tennant claim victories in The R&A Senior Amateurs
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Lara Tennant and Bryan Hoops enjoyed a double success for the United States of America at The R&A Women’s Senior Amateur and Senior Amateur championships at Frilford Heath.
Tennant won her second Women’s Senior Amateur title when she outlasted England’s Emma Brown in a thrilling encounter in Oxfordshire. Fellow American Hoops won the men’s Senior Amateur on his second appearance. Tennant, who is ranked 357th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), returned a closing two-under-par 72 over Frilford’s Red Course for a two-over-par 296 total to defeat Brown by five shots. Brown’s fellow 2002 Curtis Cup team-mate Kerry Smith placed third, six shots adrift of Tennant. “It feels great,” Tennant said. “This is my fourth time playing in this event and I’ve won twice and finished second so I’m more than happy.” Hoops finished 11th at Walton Heath last year on his debut in the Senior Amateur. He closed with a six-under-par 66 to finish on ten-under-par 278, six shots better than England’s John Kemp and Richard Heath of Australia. “This is the best win of my career,” said Tempe, Arizona native Hoops. “I’ve won tournaments in the United States and internationally but to win a national championship like this is my best.”
Bryan Hoops put in a winning performance at Frilford Heath.
Tennant, who won the 2019 Women’s Senior Amateur at Royal St David’s, was three shots adrift of Brown after nine holes of the final round. However, the three-time US Senior Women’s champion played the inward nine in one-under-par 36 to Brown’s 44 to get her hands on the trophy again.
“I wanted to shoot two-under today and I did that,” added Tennant, who won three straight US Women’s Senior Amateur Championships between 2018 and 2021. “I did a good job of just focussing on my own game. I knew I was behind Emma but not by how much. I just stuck to my game plan and tried to do my best on each shot.”
The 59-year-old won thanks to the way she played the 15th and 16th holes compared to Brown. Tennant found a fairway bunker off the tee on the 15th and couldn’t advance the ball to the green. However, she got up and down from 100 yards to save par. Then her approach shot to the 16th hit the flag and ended up two-and-a-half feet away.
“After I hit it in the bunker I said to myself ‘I’m going to make par’. I had a 25-foot putt, but I saw the break, hit a good putt and luckily it went in the hole. That was definitely a turning point to keep moving forward. So was the 16th because it was a hard shot out of the rough. I knew it was going to be hard to stop the ball, so for it to hit the flag and end up close was a big break.”
Brown, meanwhile, dropped seven shots over the last five holes, including double bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes.
“There wasn’t anything I did that was too drastically wrong, but little misses rack up and that’s what happened,” said Brown, who now has two second-place finishes to go with a pair of third-place performances. “But look, it’s another silver medal and I am more than happy. Congratulations to Lara. She played great and fully deserves the trophy.”
Lara Tennant claimed the title after a thrilling encounter.
While the women’s event came down to Tennant and Brown, Hoops ran away with the men’s trophy. The 57-year-old's closing 66 was the second lowest score of the week behind Kemp’s 65 in round two.
Hoops, who at 308th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) table is the world’s highest ranked senior, said, “I played so well all week. I missed a little two-foot putt on 18 yesterday and that was the only three-putt I had, so I didn’t have a lot of stress over the four days.
“It is tough to adapt to playing over here with the conditions, the weather and the grasses so this validates the travelling, working hard and winning in the United States.
“To put my name on this trophy with names like Mike McCoy, Gene Elliott, Paul Simson and other great players I know from the US makes me very proud. I will treasure this win for a long time.”