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 5-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 1-under-par after matching 73s.
Royak is looking to add the Senior Amateur to the U.S. 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 16th) 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 U.S. 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.