Senior Amateur

Royak, Eakin and Stouffer shine in Senior Amateurs at Walton Heath

The R&A

08 Jul 25

6 mins

Bob Royak has been trying to win the R&A Senior Amateur Championship since he made his debut at Sunningdale in 2017. He’ll get his chance this week if he continues to play as he did around Walton Heath’s Old Course on the opening day of this year’s championship.

The Alpharetta, Georgia native returned a best of the day five-under-par 67 and leads the field by two shots. Canadian Shelly Stouffer and Tracy Eakin of Ireland share top spot on the women’s leaderboard on one-under-par after matching 73s. Royak is looking to add the Senior Amateur to the US Senior Amateur he won in 2019. He counts two ninth-place finishes (2017 and 2018) in the Senior Amateur and was in contention after 36 holes at Saunton Golf Club last year until he carded an 86 in the third round. The 63-year-old counted five birdies and two eagles in his round, which was only marred by bogeys at the first and fourth holes. “I played really well today,” Royak said. “I drove it great. I only missed one fairway (the 16^th) and had a scoring club in my hand on nearly every hole. “I hate to say it but it could have been a little better. I three-putted the first and bogeyed the fifth but my day changed when I made eagle at the sixth hole. I hit a really great iron in there (an 8-iron from 149 yards). We didn’t see the ball land and couldn’t see a ball on the green when we got there because the ball was in the hole.

“I want to win this event”

“That’s my best round since I started playing senior golf so my expectations are high for the next three days. But they were high coming in here.” Royak, who sold his recruitment business two years ago to concentrate on playing amateur golf full time, added, “I want to win this event, and so I’ve been working hard for this. I’m just going to keep the pedal down and hope I keep it under par every round. If the putter cooperates then you never know. “I just love playing golf over here. It’s so much fun to see the ball bounce a little bit. Where I play just outside Atlanta we play from point to point, flying the ball through the air and watching it stop. Here you can’t do that because you’ve got to land it short and bounce it into greens, run it into greens. “I’m really lucky because since winning the US Senior Am I’ve been able to play in almost anything I want in senior golf. I sold my business two years ago and play in every senior amateur event I want in the United States, and I’m lucky enough to have played a lot in Britain on great courses like here at Walton Heath.” Fellow American Todd White, who won last year’s Championship at Saunton, is five shots off the lead following a level-par 72 around the Old Course.

The 2nd hole of the Old Course at Walton Heath

Walton Heath is the venue for this year's Senior Amateur Championships

In-form Stouffer

Stouffer is another who is savouring the joys of quintessential heathland golf. Unlike Royak, she is making her debut in the championship. She was sitting on top of the leaderboard on three-under through 14 holes but dropped shots at the 16^th and 18^th holes. The Canadian arrived in England in good form. Last week she won the Irish Senior Women’s Open Championship, a victory that took her to 531^st on the World Amateur Golf Ranking®. She also counts the 2022 US Senior Women’s Amateur, two Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur Championships and two Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships among her list of achievements. “Where I play on Vancouver Island it can be dry but not so much like this and we don’t have any heather,” said Stouffer, who played as a professional between 1997 to 2005 but regained her amateur status in 2011. “This is my first time playing this sort of golf and I’ve learned I need to keep out of the heather, keep it in play and go from there. I hit a low ball so this type of golf suits me. I’m really looking forward to the next three days.” Eakin’s card was far more eclectic than Stouffer’s. She was two-over-par through 14 holes after three birdies and five bogeys, but birdied the 15^th hole and eagled the 16^th to get to the top of the leaderboard. England’s Jackie Foster, champion two years ago at Woodhall Spa, returned a four-over-par 78 around the New Course and is five shots off the lead. The top 30 and ties in the women’s field and top 50 and ties in the men’s after 36 holes make it through to the third round. A further cut after 54 holes dictates that the top 20 women and ties and top 40 men and ties play the final round.

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