Reynolds Wins 2002 USGA Senior Amateur Championship
Jacksonville, Fla. – Greg Reynolds, 55, of Grand Blanc, Mich., captured the 48th USGA Senior Amateur Championship Thursday with a 4-and-3 victory over Mark Bemowski, 56, of Mukwonago, Wis., at the par-72, 6,596-yard Timuquana Country Club.  

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Interesting Player Notes From The 2002 USGA Senior Amateur
Brodie Baker, 63, of Bermuda Run, N.C., is right-handed in everything he does save one – play golf. That’s because he chopped wood and cotton with a hoe left-handed.  

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Groupings and Starting Times Saturday, 9/28 and Sunday, 9/29, 2002

2002 USGA Senior Amateur Championship
Fact Sheet

Sept. 28 - Oct. 3, 2002
Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville, Fla.

PAR AND YARDAGE - Timuquana Country Club will be set up at 6,596 yards and par is 36-36-72.

VENUE - Timuquana Country Club was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1923. Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Bobby Ross did later renovations.

TICKETS - Admission and parking are FREE for all six days of the Championship.

HISTORY - The USGA Senior Amateur Championship was first played in 1955. The 2002 Senior Amateur Championship will be the 48^th.

SCHEDULE - Stroke play rounds will be played Sept. 28-29 (Saturday-Sunday). Following two days of stroke play, the field of 156 golfers will be reduced to the lowest 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. The match play portion of the Championship runs from Sept. 30-Oct. 3 (Monday-Thursday). The 18-hole, match-play semifinals and final are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 3.

DEFENDING CHAMPION - Kemp Richardson, 55, of Laguna Niguel, Calif., followed in the footsteps of his father as he won the USGA Senior Amateur Championship at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, Mo., beating Bill Ploeger of Columbus, Ga., in the final match, 2 and 1.

Richardson's father, John, won the 1987 Senior Amateur at Saucon Valley (Pa.) Country Club at age 66. They are the first father-son winners in USGA history.

The long-hitting Richardson won holes 15 and 16 by sinking 10-foot putts on each before the two players halved the 17^th to end the match.

CAN I PLAY? - The USGA Senior Amateur Championship is open to amateurs who will have reached their 55^th birthday on or before Sept. 28, 2002, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 7.4.

WWW.USGA.ORG - Log onto the USGA Internet site (www.usga.org) for the latest USGA Senior Amateur information during the Championship.

ENTRIES – The USGA accepted a record 2,357 entries for the 2002 USGA Senior Amateur Championship, the fourth consecutive year entries have topped 2,200.  The previous record of 2,275 entries was set in 1993.

EXEMPT PLAYERS – Ten golfers are fully exempt from sectional qualifying for the 2002 USGA Senior Amateur Championship.  They are:

John Baldwin, New York, N.Y. – 2002 British Seniors Open Amateur champion

O. Gordon Brewer of Pine Valley, N.J. – 2001 Senior Amateur semifinalist

Bob Clark of Troy, Mich., - made cut at the 2002 U.S. Senior Open

Cliff Cunningham of Monroe, N.C. – 1997 Senior Amateur champion

Marvin Giles III of Richmond, Va. – Former U.S. Amateur champion (1972)

E. Thomas Jung of Chicago, Ill. – 2001 Senior Amateur semifinalist

Bill Ploeger of Columbus, Ga. – 1999 Senior Amateur champion and 2001 Senior Amateur semifinalist

Kemp Richardson, Laguna Niguel, Calif. – 2001 Senior Amateur champion

Fred Rowland, Leawood, Kan., 2002 Canadian Senior Match Play champion

Bill Shean Jr. of Hinsdale, Ill. – 1998 and 2000 Senior Amateur champion

THE 60-SOMETHING CROWD – There are 35 players in the field of 156 who are age 60 or older.  The oldest player in this year’s championship field is Ellsworth Hall of Macon, Ga., who is 69.  The youngest player in the field is Skip Warren of Houston, Texas, who turned 55 on Aug. 29 .

HOMESTATE PLAYERS – 14 players are from Florida.  They are:

Stephen Beckett, Palatka

Earl Daniell, Tallahassee

Thomas Danluck, Miami Beach

Raleigh Hackstadt, Tampa

Tom Hayes, Pensacola

Robert Keller, Palm Beach Gardens

Curt Madson,Mount Dora

John McKey Jr., Hobe Sound

Jim McKnight, New Port Richey

Fred Peel, Chipley

Jack Richey, Winter Park

Mikel Rollyson, Boca Grande

Jack Ruhs, Palm City

Gary Verble, Ponte Vedra

MULTIPLE VICTORIES - Ten players have won this championship more than once. They are: J. Clark Espie (1957, 1959); Dexter H. Daniels (1961, 1966); Merrill L. Carlsmith (1962, 1963); Curtis Person Sr. (1968, 1969); Lewis W. Oehmig (1972, 1976, 1985); William Hyndman III (1973, 1983); William C. Campbell (1979, 1980); R.S. Williams (1986, 1989); Clarence Moore (1988, 1992); O. Gordon Brewer Jr. (1994 and 1996); and Bill Shean Jr. (1998 and 2000). Carlsmith, Person and Campbell are the only three champions who won the title in consecutive years.

THE WINNER RECEIVES - The champion receives a gold medal and custody of the Frederick L. Dold Trophy for the ensuing year. He also receives an exemption from local qualifying at the next U.S. Open, as well as exemptions from sectional qualifying at the next two U.S. Senior Opens, the next U.S. Amateur, the next U.S. Mid-Amateur, the next U.S. Amateur Public Links, and the next five USGA Senior Amateurs, if otherwise eligible.

HOLE BY HOLE -- 6,596 yards, par 36-36--72;

 

 

FUTURE SENIOR AMATEURS - The USGA Senior Amateur will be conducted at at The Virginia Golf Club in Bristol, Va., Sept. 6-11, 2003; and at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., Oct. 9-14, 2004.

FOR MORE INFORMATION - Beth Murrison is the USGA media relations contact on site. The media center phone number is (904) 387-4857. The media center fax number is (904) 387-4987. Prior to the championship, call the USGA office at (908) 234-2300.