Team Florida takes the early lead at U.S. Senior Challenge
With a local in the lead at the U.S. Senior Challenge, it's no wonder a Florida squad is also setting the pace in the team competition. Thanks in part to Hobe Sound, Florida, resident Rich Buckner's four birdies on the opening day of the senior team event at Hobe Sound Golf Club, his Florida four-man team has a two-shot lead after the first round.
The U.S. Senior Challenge is a unique – and rare – team event in senior amateur golf. Players compete as part of four-man teams representing their home state or region. While one team champion is crowned, individual champions will be named in each of the four age divisions: senior, super senior, legends and super legends. World Amateur Golf Ranking points are also awarded.
Buckner, winner of last year's Florida Azalea Senior and also a past champion of Golfweek's Senior Tournament of Champions, fared well enough with his 2-under 70 to lead the Senior division individually while also playing the lead role for his team.
To help matters, teammate William Boockford of Tequesta, Florida, the team captain, contributed a 1-over 73 and leads the Legends division. Boockford won the Legends division at the Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions in December.
Scores: U.S. Senior Challenge
The U.S. Senior Challenge features a play-four-count-three format, and Doug Clapp contributed the third score – a 3-over 75 – for the leading Florida team that left them with a combined score of 2 over. That was two better than the Michael Arasin-captained team from Alabama and Georgia. Arasin's even-par 72 left him part of a tie for fifth in the Senior division.
A team from Louisiana, captained by Grady Brame, is third at 6 over. Teams from Kansas and Michigan are tied for fourth another shot back.
Hobe Sound, a private golf club in South Florida, rarely opens its doors to outside events, so the venue certainly upped the intrigue for the U.S. Senior Challenge – both in terms of exclusivity and challenge. Hobe Sound underwent a 2019 redesign by Tom Fazio II and as part of that renovation, several native, sandy areas were restored. Those areas, plus undulating greens, can present a challenge for players.'We're on a sand ridge that runs through this area – through several prominent golf courses up here,' general manager Jason Hayes said before the tournament. 'So we have a lot of areas of those exposed native areas, of native sand, which can be very challenging if (players) don't find the fairway because they're in soft, sugar sand.'
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