Golfweek Senior Division National Championship: Bryan Hoops picks up where he left off
A year ago this week, Bryan Hoops began an impressive stretch that cemented his reputation as a top-tier player in senior amateur golf. Hoops, the 57-year-old from Scottsdale, Arizona, began a three-tournament winning streak in the California desert by logging a one-shot win at the 2025 Golfweek Senior Division National Championship. One round into his title defense at this year’s tournament, Hoops picked right up where he left off.
An opening 4-under 68 at Desert Willow Golf Resort’s Mountain View Course in Palm Desert, California, on Friday left him on the top of the leaderboard, one shot ahead of chasers Trae Cassell of Riverdale, Georgia, and Jerry Gunthorpe of Ovid, Michigan. Hoops had seven birdies against four bogeys on a 102-degree day in the desert. Already this year, Hoops has finished third in brutally cold weather conditions at the Jones Cup Senior Invitational.
Aside from winning back-to-back Golfweek events in March and April last year, followed by a Society of Seniors event down the road, Hoops won the Trans-Mississippi Senior Championship a month later. He won the Golfweek Senior National Championship later in the summer and made match play runs in both the British Senior Amateur and the U. S.
Senior Amateur. Cassell, who had a colorful round of 69 on Friday, was the runner-up here last year while Gunthorpe, whose 69 included four birdies and a bogey, most recently won the Golfweek Desert Senior Showdown in Las Vegas in November. A tightly packed leaderboard at Desert Willow after Round 1 includes 20 players at par or better.
A group of seven players tied for fourth at 2 under includes California senior amateur legend Randy Haag and Todd Doss, currently the No. 3 player in the Golfweek National Senior Amateur Rankings. Top-ranked Kevin VandenBerg is 1 under while Jason Pridmore, a former professional motorcycle racer, is part of the five-way tie for 16 th at even par.