Packed leaderboard at Golfweek Senior Amateur features familiar names
With yet another tournament victory in the desert freshly under his belt, Jerry Gunthorpe just keeps on going. The Ovid, Michigan, resident, who won the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship on Sunday, opened the Golfweek Senior Amateur on Tuesday in much the same way he closed the last tournament. Gunthorpe used an opening 3-under 69 at Desert Willow Golf Resort’s Firecliff Course in Palm Desert, California, to position himself in a tie for third, one shot behind a pair of players leading at 4 under.
Gunthorpe has good history on the Firecliff course, having won there in 2022, back when that layout hosted the first stop on Golfweek’s desert double-header. “I love desert golf, I always have,” said Gunthorpe, who also won the Golfweek Desert Senior Showdown in Las Vegas in November. Gunthorpe shares third with Michael Hammett of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Todd Doss of Mandeville, Louisiana.
Thomas Brennan of Covington, Louisiana, and Greg Sanders of Anthem, Arizona, share the lead after equally impressive rounds of 4-under 68. Brennan started on No. 10 and bogeyed his first hole of the day.
But beginning with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 17 and 18, he turned it around, making four more birdies on the front nine after making the turn. Sanders, meanwhile, was bogey-free for the day.
The top Californian so far is Randy Haag, whose 2-under 70 landed him in solo sixth. After making a powerful final-round run at the Senior Division National Championship title on Sunday, and coming up a shot short, Kevin VandenBerg of Pulaski, New York, is among the seven players tied for seventh at 1 under. Mark Strickland, who won this event in 2024, is also at that number.