The Cookout by seniorgolfHQ Vol 7
The Cookout by seniorgolfHQ
August 2026
What we are cooking this month:
Welcome to the 7th edition of The Cookout by seniorgolfHQ, where the story of the summer has a single, unmistakable headline: Bryan Hoops is on a tear. The American added yet another trophy to a remarkable 2026 campaign with a commanding six-shot victory at the R&A Senior Amateur Championship, played at Frilford Heath Golf Club with rounds of 71-70-71-66 to finish at 10-under 278. It was the kind of blemish-free performance that leaves an entire field playing for second, and it cements Hoops as the game's hottest player over 55 as the season heads toward its major stretch.
That stretch is now upon us, with a loaded late summer schedule that will test the very best in the senior amateur ranks. The action rolls on with the North & South Senior Amateur across three of Pinehurst's celebrated courses, followed by the Sunnehanna Senior Amateur in the hills of western Pennsylvania and the Valentine Invitational at Hermitage Country Club. Each brings a defending champion eager to repeat and a hungry field determined to deny them, setting up a compelling run of championship golf over the coming weeks.
The summer schedule crescendos into the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at historic Baltimore Country Club, where 156 of the world's finest will chase one of the game's most coveted titles. Defending champion Mike McCoy returns as the standard-bearer after his history-making 2025, but he'll face a fierce challenge, not least from Hoops himself, who arrives with a summer's worth of momentum and a target squarely on the trophy. Read on for recaps, results, previews, and the latest senior standings as the race for spots in the East West matches heat up.
2026 July Major Senior-Am Tournament Results
R&A Senior Amateur Championship
July 7-10, 2026
Frilford Heath Golf Club
Champion: Bryan Hoops
The summer of Bryan Hoops continues as the American delivered a commanding performance at Frilford Heath Golf Club to capture the 2026 R&A Senior Amateur Championship, finishing at 10-under-par 278 for a six-stroke victory. Hoops set the tone with an opening 71 and never relinquished his grip on the tournament, following rounds of 70 and 71 before closing with a superb final-round 66, a six-under effort that turned a close contest into a runaway. His consistency across all four rounds left the rest of the field playing for second place.
The battle for the runner-up position produced a tie at 4-under 284 between John Kemp of England and Australia's Richard Heath, who arrived at the same destination by very different routes. Kemp had an electric second round of 65, but bookended it with a 75 and a 74, while Heath opened brilliantly with a 67 and stayed steady throughout. American Mike McCoy took sole possession of fourth place at 3-under 285, powered by a third-round 67, and fellow American Danny Nelson rounded out the top five at 1-under 287.
A cluster of players filled the leaderboard behind the leaders, with Stephen Creed, Brady Exber and 2025 Champion John Kennedy sharing sixth at 1-over 289, and Jody Fanagan and Steve Standing tied for ninth at 2-over 290. The genuinely international character of the field was evident throughout, with competitors from the United States, Australia, Spain, Italy, Colombia, Sweden and across the British Isles all featuring inside the top 25. Not every story ended happily among the contenders, however. Karl Bornemann sat comfortably placed through three rounds before a closing 84 dropped him into a share of 36th.
The 36-hole cut fell at 6-over-par 150. Among those to fall short were a handful of notables. In the end, though, the championship belonged emphatically to Hoops, whose ball control and blemish-free scoring made him a worthy champion at Frilford Heath.
Leaderboard
-10 | Bryan Hoops | 71-70-71-66=278-4 | John Kemp | 75-65-74-70=284-4 | Richard Heath | 67-73-74-70=284
Up Next
North & South Senior Amateur Championship
August 9-12, 2026
Pinehurst No. 4, 5 & 8
Defending Champion: Howard Clendenin
The North & South Senior Amateur Championship returns to the storied grounds of Pinehurst Resort, where competitors will test their games across three of the property's celebrated layouts: the No. 4, 5, and 8 courses. Long regarded as one of the premier events on the senior amateur calendar, the championship draws a deep and accomplished field to the sandhills of North Carolina, with the varied challenges from each course rewarding precision, patience, and course management over raw power. Defending champion Howard Clendenin arrives with a target on his back, seeking to fend off a talented group of contenders eager to claim one of the game's most prestigious senior amateur titles. With firm conditions, subtle greens, and Pinehurst's signature demands on the short game, the stage is set for a compelling test that should reward the most complete and composed player in the field.
Up Next
Sunnehanna Senior Amateur Championship
August 16-19, 2026
Sunnehanna Country Club
Defending Champion: Tony Wise
The Sunnehanna Senior Amateur Championship heads to the rolling terrain of Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where a strong contingent of senior amateurs will battle over one of the region's most respected tests of golf. Carved through the hills of western Pennsylvania, the tree-lined course punishes wayward driving and demands sharp iron play, forcing players to think their way around rather than overpower it. Defending champion Tony Wise brings momentum and confidence into the week, aiming to hold off a hungry field determined to unseat him and lift a title that carries genuine weight among amateur circles. With undulating fairways, quick greens, and the pressure that comes with chasing a repeat, the competition promises to expose any weakness and crown the golfer who grinds out the steadiest, most disciplined week from tee to green.
Up Next
The Valentine Invitational
August 21-23, 2026
Hermitage Country Club (Manakin & Sabot)
Defending Champion: Brian Quackenbush
The Valentine Invitational returns to the polished fairways of Hermitage Country Club, where the senior division will contest one of the mid-Atlantic's most anticipated invitationals. Defending champion Brian Quackenbush of Aiken, South Carolina, arrives fresh off a thrilling one-shot victory a year ago, when a clutch birdie on the final hole sealed the title. He returns eager to defend his crown against a strong and determined field. With firm conditions and a demanding layout awaiting, Hermitage should once again reward the player who brings his sharpest and steadiest golf when it matters most.
Up Next
U.S. Senior Amateur Championship
August 29-September 3, 2026
Baltimore Country Club (East Course)
Defending Champion: Mike McCoy
The summer schedule crescendos into the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at historic Baltimore Country Club in Lutherville, Maryland, where 156 of the world's finest senior amateurs will compete from August 29 through September 3 for one of the game's most coveted titles. The championship unfolds on the club's classic East Course, a par-70 A.W. Tillinghast design that opened in 1898. Measuring 6,564 yards, the layout will demand accuracy and imagination rather than sheer length, its subtle Tillinghast greens and strategic bunkering rewarding players who can plot their way around and control their approach shots. With a slope rating of 137, the East Course promises to identify a champion who commands every facet of his game.
Baltimore Country Club brings championship pedigree few venues can match. The grounds have staged the 1899 U.S. Open, the 1928 PGA Championship, the 1932 U.S. Amateur, the 1965 Walker Cup, and the 1988 U.S. Women's Open, along with three consecutive Senior Players Championships from 2007 to 2009. As one of the first 100 clubs established in the United States, it offers a fitting stage for a national championship steeped in tradition, and its history of testing the world's best across more than a century sets a high bar for the competitors gathering this summer.
All eyes will be on defending champion Mike McCoy of Des Moines, Iowa, who authored one of the more remarkable achievements in amateur golf a year ago. At 62, McCoy became the first player in USGA history to capture both the U.S. Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Senior Amateur, dispatching Greg Sanders 3 and 2 at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio while competing in his 63rd USGA championship. A former Walker Cup player and winning USA captain, McCoy returns as the standard-bearer, and Sanders looms as an obvious threat after last year's runner-up finish. The field features a deep roster of past champions and standouts, including Louis Brown, Todd White, Rusty Strawn, Gene Elliott, Bob Royak, Jeff Wilson, Sean Knapp, and Dave Ryan, ensuring the road to the trophy will be fiercely contested.
Adding intrigue is the presence of Bryan Hoops, the game’s hottest player over 55 and recent R&A Senior Amateur champion, who will look to add to an impressive list of 2026 trophies. He headlines a talented international and domestic contingent that includes Juan Angel, Howard Clendenin, Tim Hogarth, Tony Wise, and Canadian Senior Amateur champion Don Martone, among many others. The championship format will test both consistency and nerve: two rounds of stroke play on August 29 and 30 will trim the field to the low 64 scorers, who then advance to the demanding gauntlet of match play, culminating in the 18-hole championship match on September 3.
Beyond the crystal and the coveted gold medal, the winner earns a wealth of exemptions, among them a place in the 2027 U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree National and the next 10 U.S. Senior Amateur Championships, along with his name engraved on the USGA Champions' plaque in the Hall of Champions. With a proven venue, a decorated defending champion, and a field brimming with talent and ambition, the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur has all the ingredients for a memorable week in Maryland.
2026 “Major” Senior-Am Events
Society of Seniors: Spring Classic - February 2026 - William Mallon
Gasparilla Invitational (Senior Division) - February 2026 - Jeff Frazier
Jones Cup Senior Invitational - February 2026 - Mike McCoy
Society of Seniors: Ed Tutwiler Four-Ball - March 2026 - Fox & Channell
Golfweek Senior Amateur Championship - March/April 2026 - Todd Doss
Society of Seniors: Senior Masters - April 2026 - Bryan Hoops
The Giles Invitational (Senior Division) - May 2026 - Rick Stimmel
The Jupter Invitational (Senior Division) - May 2026 - Mike McCoy
The Walter J. Travis Invitational (Senior Division) - May 2026 - Dave Scialabba
Trans-Mississippi Senior Championship - May 2026 - Jason Pridmore
Huddleston Cup (Senior Division) - May 2026 - Bob Royak
National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame - June 2026 - Vance Welch
Anderson Memorial Four-Ball (Senior Division) - June 2026 - O’Connell & Sargent
C.B. Macdonald Invitational (Senior Division) - June 2026 - Dan Keogh
Golfweek Senior National Championship - June 2026 - Bryan Hoops
George C. Thomas Invitational (Senior Division) - June 2026 - Bryan Hoops
R&A Senior Amateur Championship - July 2026 - Bryan Hoops
North & South Senior Men’s Amateur Championship - August 2026
Sunnehanna Senior Amateur Championship - August 2026
Valentine Invitational - August 2026
USGA Men’s Senior Amateur - August/September 2026
Senior Porter Cup - September 2026
The Crump Cup (Senior Division) - September 2026
International Senior Individual Championship - October 2026
Ojai Senior Cup - October 2026
Reynolds Senior Invitational - October 2026
California Senior Amateur Championship - November 2026
East West Cup Matches - November 2026
Society of Seniors: Ralph Bogart - November 2026
East West Matches
Senior Standings
As of July 27, 2026
Bryan Hoops | West | 2,041.50
Mike McCoy | West | 1,909.00
Bob Royak | 1,650.82
Gene Elliott | West | 1,027.70
Danny Nelson | East | 794.00
Jeff Knox | East | 650.00
Jack Larkin | East | 609.00
Robert Gerwin | East | 578.60
Mike Sposa | East | 545.50
Robert Funk | West | 543.00
Doug Hanzel | East | 530.50
Jerry Gunthorpe | 474.00
Mike Lohner | 463.50
Neal Barfield | 440.50
Greg Sanders | West | 427.50
Kevin Vandenberg | East | 422.15
Miles McConnell | 367.50
Rick Stimmel | East | 361.00
Jason Pridmore | West | 343.80
Tony Wise | East | 337.50
Matt Sughrue | 333.00
Jerry Slagle | West | 328.50
Brady Exber | 302.00
Jim Lehman | 300.00
Jack Hall | East | 292.00
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Until next month…..