Holden Wisener Wins the 113th Texas Amateur

TYLER – SMU junior Holden Wisener poured in a 16-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the 113th Texas Amateur at historic Willow Brook Country Club on Sunday. As the ball dove into the cup, Wisener gave an emphatic fist pump and yelled, “Let’s go!”

The Dallas native finished at 14-under-par 270 for the 72-hole championship. That was good for a tie with Bobby Massa from Dallas and Jake Doggett from Hutto. The big-hitting Massa, who led for the first three days, just missed his birdie try from 18 feet on the extra hole. Doggett missed his attempt at a chip in from about 25 feet. The Midwestern State senior took runner-up honors for the second straight year.

For Wisener, the Father’s Day victory tripped a flood of emotions. His grandfather, who taught him the game, passed away earlier this year. His mom and dad were greenside for the win, and the three shared a big, sweaty family hug.

“It’s tough, but to be able to celebrate this with my dad is really special,” Wisener said, fighting through tears. “This is the biggest win of my career, and I’m just so honored that it was a TGA event. I grew up coming out to TGA events and caddied in a Texas Am for one of my best friends when I was 14 years old. I’ve always been around the TGA, and I grew up on the Legends Junior Tour. This means so much to me.”

On the 72nd hole, Holden missed a putt from about 4 feet. In the playoff, his birdie putt to win was on almost the same line, just longer.

“It was about 4 feet, same line, and I left it low,” said Wisener, who went 68-66-68-68 for the week. “In the playoff, some sort of clarity came over me. I rolled it really well and it found the bottom thankfully.”

And now Wisener goes into Texas golf history, and his name will go onto the H.L. Edwards Memorial Trophy.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “I’ve never been more nervous on a golf course. To come out on top, it feels insane. It’s awesome. When I got to the playoff, all I did was pray. And it paid off.”

Former Texas Amateur champion Zach Atkinson from Colleyville, Hayes Hamilton from Kingwood, and Francois Jacobs from League City shared fourth place at 12-under 272. Atkinson, who won the 95th Texas Amateur at the Club at Carlton Woods, fired a final round 65 to climb up the leaderboard.

“I was just trying to hang on,” Atkinson said. “I got everything out of my round I could. I don’t get to play a ton, so to get to come out here and walk four rounds in this heat, and finish like this is an accomplishment for me.”

Making the 113th Texas Amateur extra special, this year is the 100th anniversary of Willow Brook Country Club. Founded in 1922 as a nine-hole course, the tricky, shot-maker’s course has gone through many renovations, including mostly recently in 2016-18 when Tripp Davis & Associates modernized the thrilling track with rebuilt and reshaped tee boxes, greens, and bunkers.

The rolling, tree-lined fairways dogleg both left and right, which puts a premium on strategy and accuracy off the tee. The well-guarded, thoughtfully contoured green complexes demand precise irons shots to find the optimal sections of the putting surfaces.

PGA Tour winner and longtime Texas-based instructor Marty Fleckman attended the final round. Fleckman won the 1964 Texas Amateur, which was the last time the prestigious championship was contested at Willow Brook. The proud club also played host to the 1967 and ’96 Women’s Texas Amateur, the 1993, 2003, and ’13 Texas Senior Amateur, the 2019 Texas Shootout, and the 2020 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play.

The TGA extends its warmest appreciation to Willow Brook Country Club, including its members and staff, for their hard work in delivering such an enjoyable championship week. From the primo condition of the golf course and the quality of the food to the hospitality and general good vibes from all the members who attended and assisted during the championship throughout the week, we can’t thank them all enough.

Extra special gratitude goes out to General Manager Lana Adams, Head Golf Professional Chris Hudson, Superintendent Ken Bowman, Executive Chef Melvin Guevara, Director of Events Niki Self, Assistant Golf Professional Katelyn Sepmoree, and Club President Clay Cavender for all their efforts in creating a successful week.

We’re also grateful for our TGA Volunteers, who give their time and expertise to ensure the competitors in the Texas Amateur receive a world-class championship experience.

Next summer, the 114th Texas Amateur heads to the Clubs at Houston Oaks in Hockley. For more information on this year’s championship, including complete scoring, click here.

Massa’s Lead Trimmed to One at 113th Texas Amateur

TYLER – Bobby Massa from Dallas shot a second consecutive 2-under-par 69 on Saturday in the third round of the 113th Texas Amateur to hold on to his lead in the state’s oldest, most prestigious amateur championship. That advantage, however, continues to shrink.

Through 54 holes, Massa has posted 13-under 200, which is one shot better than Hutto’s Jake Doggett and Francois Jacobs from League City. Massa, a reinstated amateur who played collegiately at the University of Texas at Arlington, held a four-shot lead after Round 1 thanks to his dazzling 9-under 62 that broke Willow Brook Country Club’s course record.

Headed into the third round, Massa was three strokes clear of the field. He turned in another red number on Saturday, but the field gained some ground on him again.

“It was a kind of a struggle for most of the day,” he said. “I didn’t drive it great. I got in some unlucky spots and made a couple bad bogeys. I’m still hitting the irons OK. I just need to get it going tomorrow.”

Doggett, the runner-up in last summer’s 112th Texas Amateur at Midland Country Club, had no problems getting it going early in his third round. He birdied the par-4 first hole, then chipped in for eagle on the second to go 3-under through two holes.

“I started off really good,” said Doggett, a Midwestern State senior who was recently selected to represent the U.S. at the Palmer Cup in Switzerland. “It was one of those days. The putter was hot. I hit a lot of greens and kept giving myself looks.”

Doggett has been doing a lot of that lately. He won five times for the Mustangs this season and was named to the PING First-Team All-American squad by the Golf Coaches’ Association of America.

On Saturday, Doggett made seven birdies and the eagle against one lone bogey. He said he’s eager to get another chance at winning the H.L. Edwards Memorial Trophy after last year’s close call.

“I didn’t have the round I wanted in the final round last year,” Doggett said.  “I’m excited to get a little revenge on that and put my name on that trophy.”

Doggett shares second place at 12-under 201 with Jacobs, an Arkansas Tech senior. Jacobs, whose twin brother Andre missed the cut and caddied for Francois in the third round, rolled in five birdies to offset one bogey for his 4-under 67.

Holden Wisener, a junior at SMU, holds fourth place at 11-under 202. The Dallas native  came in with a 3-under 68 in the third round. Hayes Hamilton, an Arkansas Tech teammate of the Jacobs’, is alone in fifth place at 10-under 203. Hamilton has a twin brother, too. Holden Hamilton missed the cut on Friday and caddied in the third round for his brother, who bounced back from a double-bogey on No. 16 to birdie the final two holes.

Nine players are within five shots of the lead with 18 holes to play. Sunday has the potential to be a shootout on the pristine, shot-maker’s Willow Brook course.

It was another Heat Advisory day in Tyler with temperatures hovering in the mid-90s with heat indexes bumping up against 100. The best amateurs in Texas handled the conditions well and played Willow Brook to a stroke average of 71.26. For the first 54 holes of the championship, Willow Brook’s stroke average is 72.53.

The final round of 113th Texas Amateur begins Sunday at 8 a.m. For more information, including complete scoring, click here.

Massa Maintains 113th Texas Amateur Lead through 36 Holes

TYLER – They say one of the hardest things to do in golf is follow a great round with another one the very next day. Bobby Massa faced that pressure Friday in the second round of the 113th Texas Amateur at Willow Brook Country Club. Massa wouldn’t call his 2-under-par 69 a “great” round, but it certainly was good enough.

Paired with his spectacular 9-under 62 in Thursday’s first round, Massa through 36 holes sits at 11-under 131 for the 72-hole major championship. The 34-year-old reinstated mid-amateur from Dallas leads by three shots over a trio of talented college players.

“I got off to a rough start,” Massa said of his play Friday. “I hit a bad drive on No. 1 and made a bogey, then I three-putted the fourth green for another bogey. I couldn’t get it going early.”

Massa steadied himself with an eight-foot birdie on No. 7. Then he chipped in for eagle from about 60 feet on the par-4 eighth hole.

“That turned things around, and I kind of coasted home from there,” he said. “I didn’t have my best stuff today, but I still got it to the house.”

Massa was a standout collegiate player at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2006-10. He turned professional and was named the 2012 All Pro Tour’s Player of the Year with five Top-25 finishes in six starts. He broke through for his first professional win at the 2014 Golfcrest Classic in Pearland, but the good vibes didn’t last long.

“I got the swing yips. I couldn’t break 80,” Massa said. “I stopped playing in 2015. I wasn’t hitting it very good; I was over-practicing and super-stressed. The harder I practiced, the worse I was getting.”

He didn’t quit the game completely – he played casually about once a month – but he went more than three years without playing competitively. Massa turned his attention to fitness in the meantime. He’s a speed trainer now; he works with golfers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area gain greater swing speeds. Massa leads by example in the regard. His driver swing speed is around 128-130 mph.

In 2020, Massa regained his amateur status from the USGA and has only recently started playing in tournaments again.

“I never stopped thinking about the game,” he said. “I just love golf.”

One of his first events was the 2022 North Four-Ball at Tempest Golf Club with his buddy Chris Wheeler, who was the 2021 Texas Player of the Year. Massa and Wheeler combined to shoot 12-under over 36 holes and got into a three-team playoff. Massa drained a birdie putt on the third extra hole to get the victory with Wheeler, who this week is T52 at 2-over 144 at Willow Brook.

Now he’s 36 holes away from his second amateur win this summer. To get his name etched on the H.L. Edwards Memorial Trophy, however, he’ll have to fend off a herd of spirited competitors. Most notably, Holden Wisener, an SMU junior from Dallas, and two Arkansas Tech teammates: Francois Jacobs from League City, and Hayes Hamilton from Kingwood.

Wisener, Jacobs, and Hamilton are tied for second place at 8-under 134. They trail Massa by three shots. Wisener and Jacobs both shot 5-under 66s in the second round, which were the low scores of the day. Hamilton shot 68 on Friday.

Matthew Griggs, a Louisiana-Monroe University junior from McKinney, and Jason Schultz, another reinstated mid-amateur, are tied for fifth place at 7-under 135, four shots back from Massa.

Thirty-three players are in red numbers through two rounds, and 58 competitors advanced through Friday’s 36-hole cut at 2-over 144. The classic, old school Willow Brook course played to a stroke average of 72.81 in the second round.

Friday’s weather started off a lot like Thursday, which is to say it was hot. By 11:30 a.m., it was 91 degrees with a heat index of 98. By 3 p.m., it was 96 degrees and a heat index of 104.

Things changed around 4 p.m., when some pop-up showers and lightning moved in. The TGA Staff had to suspend play at 4:14 p.m. for a dangerous situation with lightning in the area. After a quick rain shower that included a little small hail, play resumed at 5:59 p.m. The suspension of play lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes. The golf course received a half-inch of rain during the delay.

NOTES

What’s In a Name?

The winner of the Texas Amateur receives custody of the H.L. Edwards Memorial Trophy, named in honor of Harry Lee Edwards, also known as the “Father of Golf in Texas.”

Edwards earned the nickname because he helped to establish the TGA in February of 1906, served as its first president, and won the inaugural Texas Amateur Championship. Edwards also was a founding member of Dallas Country Club and Brook Hollow Golf Club.

PGA Tour Success

Nine former Texas Amateur champions have combined for a remarkable 57 wins on the PGA Tour. Ben Crenshaw, the 1972 Texas Amateur champ, leads the way with 19 PGA Tour victories. Bruce Lietzke (who won the Texas Am in 1971) has 13 PGA Tour wins.

Mark Brooks (1979, 1981) won seven times on the PGA Tour. Three-time Texas Am winner Scott Verplank (1982, 1984-85) had five wins. Bob Estes (1988) won four times on the PGA Tour. Charles Coody (1959) won three times. Earl Stewart, Jr. (1947) also won three times on the PGA Tour.

Don Massengale (1958) won twice on the PGA Tour, and Marty Fleckman, winner of the 1964 Texas Amateur at Willow Brook, won once on the PGA Tour.

Round 3 of 113th Texas Amateur begins Saturday at 8 a.m. For more information, including complete scoring, click here.

Bobby Massa’s Sizzling 62 Leads 113th Texas Amateur

TYLER – With his prestigious length off the tee, Bobby Massa turned Willow Brook Country Club into his own private playground during Thursday’s opening round of the 113th Texas Amateur. The reinstated amateur from Dallas eagled three of the iconic course’s four par-5s and broke the course record with a score of 9-under-par 62. He leads the championship by four shots headed into Friday’s second round.

Massa said he carries his driver about 330-340 yards off the tee on average. He planned to “bomb and gauge” his way around Willow Brook, which is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year. So far, Massa’s plan is working quite well.

“I started hitting the driver pretty good early on, and that gives me an advantage,” said Massa, who played collegiately at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2006-10. “I just kept hitting it in the fairway, and things kept going the way I wanted. I made a lot of putts.”

Massa’s 62 broke 2013 Texas Mid-Amateur champion Clay Hodge’s previous record of 7-under 64 at Willow Brook. After starting his day with four consecutive pars, Massa made his first birdie on his fifth hole. Two holes later, he made his first eagle, about a 10-footer on his seventh hole.

“That really got me going,” he said.

Matt Van Zandt, a longtime TGA competitor, played in Massa’s group Thursday. Van Zandt said Massa had much more to his game than just his big stick.

“Everyone is going to talk about how far he hits it, but his wedge game was amazing today,” said Van Zandt, who shot 3-over 74. “He was in complete control. His driver is incredible, though. I lasered it on a couple holes, and I was 52 and 60 yards behind him in the fairway.”

Five players share second place at 5-under 66, four strokes behind Massa. That group includes Hutto’s Jake Doggett, who finished second last summer at Midland Country Club for the 112th Texas Amateur, and Colleyville’s Zach Atkinson, who won the 95th Texas Amateur at Carlton Woods in 2004. Doggett went bogey-free and made five birdies; Atkinson had five birdies and an eagle to offset a pair of bogeys to arrive at 66.

Tied with Doggett and Atkinson for second place are Kingwood’s Hamilton Hayes, Truett Burns from Fredericksburg, and McKinney’s Hunter Millsap.

Willow Brook played to a stroke average of 72.88 in the first round. Thirty-nine players broke par. Players who posted rounds of 1-over 72 were rewarded with a tie for 55th place.

This is the ninth TGA championship contested at Willow Brook, but just the second Texas Amateur. Houston’s Marty Fleckman won the 1964 Texas Amateur at the old school, shot-makers course. That was the last time the Texas Amateur was played in a match play format.

Willow Brook also has played host to the 1967 and ’96 Women’s Texas Amateurs, the 1993, 2003 and ’13 Texas Senior Amateur, the 2019 Texas Shootout, and the 2020 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play.

Founded in 1922, Willow Brook originally was a nine-hole course. Texas Golf Hall of Fame architect Ralph Plummer stretched the routing to 18 holes following World War II. The pristine course has been updated and modified over the years, including renovations in 1978 by another Texas Golf Hall of Famer, Joe Finger, and again in 2002 by PGA Tour veteran Mark Hayes.

In 2018, with the 100-year anniversary on the horizon, Tripp Davis & Associates completed an extensive renovation that included rerouting several and reshaping greens, tees, and bunkers to revive some of Plummer’s original strategic design elements.

The tight, tree-lined fairways rise and fall with the rolling terrain. The best amateurs in Texas played the par 71 course from 6,630 yards in the first round. With plenty of doglegs bending both ways, Willow Brook demands precision off tee. The TifEagle Bermuda greens, meanwhile, call for patience and caution with their speed and subtle breaks.

NOTES

Dignitaries & Awards

During Wednesday night’s Players’ Reception at Willow Brook, the TGA memorialized a legend and handed out some awards.

“When you think of Willow Brook Country Club, you think of A.J. Triggs,” the TGA’s Director of Competitions John Cochran said it best when he addressed the players and Willow Brook staff Wednesday night.

Triggs, a longtime Willow Brook member who was club president in 1989, also was a two-time past TGA President who spent more than 30 years as a director. The winning captain of the 2009 Texas Shootout, Triggs was steward of the game in every aspect. He won 55 amateur tournaments and was part of the 1949 and ’50 University of North Texas national championship teams. He was best known, however, for his volunteerism and passion for growing the game.

Triggs was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. He passed away in 2015.

“No one would be more excited for the Texas Amateur to come to Willow Brook than A.J.,” Cochran said.

Triggs’ Willow Brook president’s jacket, along with a Texas Amateur hat and the medal from the 2009 Shootout, were on display at the Players’ Reception. The makeshift Triggs memorial also was present on the first tee for Thursday’s opening round.

The 2021 Texas Player of the Year Chris Wheeler picked up his hardware Wednesday night. Last year’s South Texas Player of the Year, Padden Nelson from Houston, and North Texas Player of the Year, Gant Bills of Plano, also were honored.

The TGA’s two 2021 regional Volunteers of the Year were acknowledged as well: Richard Bargon (North Texas), and Craig Branson (South Texas).

Don Warren, the mayor of Tyler, was on hand for the festivities, too. A longtime Willow Brook member himself, Warren said the club was eager and enthused to welcome the best amateurs in Texas to their historic club, especially during their centennial celebration.

Record-Breaker, Almost

The TGA this year accepted 982 entries for the 113th Texas Amateur, just three shy of the record 985 established at last summer’s 112th Texas Amateur. Forty-four players received exemptions to the championship. To determine the remaining 100 spots in the 144-player starting field, 18-hole qualifiers were held at 14 sites across the state from April 2-June 6.

Round 2 of 113th Texas Amateur begins Friday at 7:30 a.m. For more information, including complete scoring, click here.

Hickman Claims Top Seed at Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play

Briefly: Aaron Hickman earned the top seed headed into the Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play after a Stroke Play Qualifying Round of 6-under-par 65 at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler, his home course. Friday begins the marathon 32-player, single-elimination bracket to crown a state champion. Hickman enters the Mid-Amateur Match Play as a six-time Club Champion at Willow Brook CC.

Leaderboard:

1          Aaron Hickman           Tyler                -6                     65

T2        Charles White             Houston          -5                     66

T2        Zach Atkinson             Colleyville        -5                     66

4          Todd Albert                 Katy                 -4                     67

5          Scott Maurer               Dallas              -3                     68

Stroke Play Qualifying Results

Match Play Bracket Pairings

Golf Course: Organized in 1922, the course at Willow Brook CC was designed by Ralph Plumber and recently renovated by Tripp Davis. The newly renovated 6,782-yard, par-71 layout stretches across a pristine land and features a great variety of shape and length of holes, ample fairways, artistic bunkering and small, elevated greens. Willow Brook CC maintains a long tradition of providing players with a top-flight course.

Weather: Partly cloudy with a high in the lower-90s and a slight breeze out of the north.

In contention: Charles White and Zach Atkinson posted Qualifying Rounds of -5 under, finishing in a two-way tie for second. After all of the scores were verified, there was a playoff at 3-over 74 for the 32^nd position in Match Play. The one-hole playoff saw 10 players vying for one spot. Elliot Thompson birdied the first play-off hole to clinch the 32nd seed.

What’s Next: Friday morning’s Round of 32 begins at 7:30 a.m., and the Round of 16 takes place tomorrow afternoon at approximately 1 p.m.

More Info: For more information on the Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play, visit the tournament homepage here.