Around the Green

Randall Conn Wins North Senior Amateur; Tom Takes Claims Super Senior Division

Briefly: Trophy Club’s Randall Conn wins the North Senior Amateur title with a final round 72 to finish at five-over-par 145 for the tournament, to claim the win over the field by five strokes.  This is Conn’s first Texas Golf Association championship.

Tom Takes of Weatherford, claimed the Super Senior Division at 7-over-par 147, a one shot victory over second place Sam Manning of Dallas.  This is Takes first Texas Golf Association victory as well.

Final Results

Golf Course: This is the third Texas Golf Association regional championship at Walnut Creek Country Club. Most recently they hosted the 2019 North Four-Ball, won by Jason Schultz and Dru Fenimore. Located in Mansfield approximately 30 miles southwest of downtown Dallas, Walnut Creek Country Club opened in 1974 and was designed by Don January and Bill Martindale.  Walnut Creek Country Club has been rated as one of the best clubs in the DFW area by Avid Golfer every year since 2020.

Weather: Tuesday’s opening round of the North Senior Amateur presented an extreme challenge to the players with overcast skies and strong winds out of the northwest blowing at 25-30 mph all day with gusts up to 40 mph. Tuesday’s high reached into the upper 60s. Wednesday welcomed the players with slightly better conditions, the wind continued to blow out of the northwest at about 8-10 mph and gusts up to 20 mph. The final round temperature reached the low 70s.

Top Finishers: Conn fired a very impressive three-over-par 73 in the first round of the North Senior amateur in brutal conditions with wind gusts reaching upwards of 40 mph.  Conn recorded one birdie during his first round on the par 3 fourth hole.  Conn shot 72 in the final round, running away from the rest of the field by taking advantage of much better playing conditions.  Conn put a stamp on his victory with an eagle on hole 18.

Tim Mauser, of Aledo, fired rounds of 74-75-150.  Mauser entered the final round one back of Conn after the tough first round playing conditions and started strong with a birdie on the first hole of the final round but Conns stellar play was enough to pull away from the field. 2022 and 2023 North Senior Amateur Champions Neal Barfield of Dallas and Jon Schaefer of Plano finished in a tie for third place after round of 79-72-151 and 76-75-151, respectively.  Rounding out the top five were David Johnson of Trophy Club and Lee Sandlin of Dallas who both finished at twelve-over-par for the tournament.

Super Senior Division: Takes played consistent golf over the two days with rounds of 74-73-147 to claim the Super Senior Division of the North Senior Amateur by one stroke over Sam Manning.  Takes and Manning were neck and neck throughout the entire final round with Manning firing four birdies to make a strong run at Takes.  However, it would end up being a par on hole 16 that would be the deciding factor in Takes’ win as Manning finished bogey, bogey, birdie versus Takes par-bogey-birdie. Finishing in third place Michael Puls of Irving, shot 76-74-150.  Gary Kirwan of McKinney and Russell Cox of Woodway rounded out the top five with tournament totals of 152 and 153.

Player of the Year: Senior and Super Senior Player of the Year points will be awarded to the top finishers at the 2024 North Senior Amateur. The winning player in each division will receive 500 points, followed by 400 for second, 300 for third, 200 for fourth, and 100 for fifth. For Senior and Super Senior POY information, click here and here.

 What’s Next: The next event in the Regional Series will be the 96^th West Texas Amateur at Quicksand Golf Course in San Angelo. Registration will open to players from all over Texas on May 22^nd and the event will have three divisions – Open, Senior, and Super Senior. The final event in the North Regional Series will be the North Amateur held at Tempest Golf Club in Gladewater, TX. Registration for the North Amateur will open on June 12^th.

More Info: The Texas Golf Association extends its sincere appreciation to the staff, members of Walnut Creek Country Club, and our volunteers for their integral part in making the North Senior Amateur a memorable and successful event. For more information on the North Senior Amateur, click here.