For the past several years, Bob Tennant has had a front-row seat to one of the top senior amateurs in the game: his wife Lara Tennant. It’s funny what that can inspire.
Bob Tennant, 68, grew up on the fairways of Waverly Country Club in Portland, Oregon, where he met his wife and remains a member to this day. He played high school golf, played sporadically throughout his career as an orthopedic surgeon at one of Portland’s largest groups and entered the occasional club championship or member guest. But national competition? Well, that came many years later.
“I just got really interested because I was watching Lara play and do well at the national stage and it just kind of piqued my interest – and my game was getting a little bit better, had more time to practice and what not,” said Bob, who resides with Laura in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Tee times: Golfweek Senior Amateur
Lara, who re-emerged on the national scene after she and Bob raised their five children, won the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 2018, 2019 and 2021. She won the British Senior Women’s Amateur in 2019 and this past summer, added titles at the Scottish and Irish Senior Women’s Amateurs. Bob has caddied for her plenty – notably for those three overseas titles – and it was a combination of the thrill that comes from watching Lara compete and the extra time he had to devote to his game that motivated him to compete nationally, too, albeit on a low-key level.
Both Tennants effectively shelved the game while raising their children – all of whom played high school golf and keep the game in their lives to some degree – but Bob had never been one to crave a tournament or even an 18-hole round.
“I’d go out there on weekends if I wasn’t on call and play with an early morning group,” he said. “I didn’t play a ton and I still don’t – I’m more of a range rat.”
Bob retired from operating in December of 2019, though he still sees patients in an office setting. His first foray into national competition came at the Ojai Senior Cup in 2022. He met Bruce Loman there, a longtime Callaway representative, and Loman talked Bob into filling in as his partner at the NCGA Super Senior Four-Ball played at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, California.
Senior golf being somewhat of a small circuit, Bob met more players, competed more and will tee it up at the Golfweek Senior Amateur beginning Friday at Desert Willow’s Firecliff Course in Palm Desert, California. Last year, he finished 37th in this event, which annually features a deep field.
“I’m just playing in a few of these things – it’s fun,” Bob said.
Bob tells his own golf story with bits of Lara’s intertwined naturally. He has never tried to qualify for a USGA event, mostly because he remembers being at the British Senior Women’s Amateur with Lara in 2022 when the men’s and women’s events were played concurrently at Royal Dornoch in Scotland.
Lara finished second that year and Bob, meanwhile, spent some time watching the men on the range.
“They’re much better than I am,” he concluded. “I have no chance.”
This story, of course, reminds him of the fact that Lara won all her Great Britain events in playoffs – a fact he relays proudly. He has caddied for Lara in several major events (Lara’s father, George Mack, has been another frequent caddie), and describes her as ...
