Allow Bryan Hoops to annotate the leaderboard from the Golfweek Senior Division National Championship with just a few notes. Though his three rounds of 69-74-69 might suggest a second-round fumble to set up a final-round charge for the victory, Hoops didn’t see a lot of difference in his game from start to finish at Desert Willow Resort’s Mountain View Course in Palm Desert, California.
Hoops, the 56-year-old from Tempe, Arizona, felt he struck the ball well and missed few shots – but for some putts, he admits. He won the event at 4 under, one shot ahead of Trae Cassell of Rancho Santa Fe, California. John Brellenthin of Dallas was third at 1 over.
But the story is nuanced.
“One thing you can’t see on paper that people don’t see when they’re looking at scorecards is the wind blowing 25, 30, 40 mph,” he said. “Yesterday, no different from any other day, I hit it really well but two separate holes, medium par 3s, I just hit shots into the wind that I guess I just miscalculated. I thought the wind was going to do one thing and it didn’t and I put myself in a bad spot and made a double on one of them and another one I made a triple.”
Scores: Golfweek Senior Division National Championship
Hoops played his first Golfweek senior event in February, the Pirates Classic at TPC Tampa Bay (Florida). He went five extra holes with Bob Royak, the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur champions, before Royak eventually won. Hoops now has a little bit of redemption after winning in Palm Desert, and he’s about to tee it up again at the Golfweek Senior Amateur, which starts at Desert Willow’s Firecliff Course on Friday.
Hoops turned 55 on Feb. 28, 2024, which aged him into most senior national competitions. Some players have that milestone circled and starred on their calendar, but for Hoops, it took a bit of adjusting. Hoops has carved out his place in elite amateur golf and hated to give up his spot in the amateur, mid-amateur and partner tournaments he has played for years. He has competed in plenty of USGA championships and still feels competitive outside the senior circuit.
“To add a big full senior schedule wasn’t an easy thing for me to do,” he said.
As a result, Hoops felt 2024 was a thin year of competition. He played the Trans-Miss Senior Amateur, where he finished second, and also competed in the Canadian Senior Amateur and qualified into the U.S. Senior Amateur for the first time. At the latter, he lost in the first round of match play to a talented Canadian amateur, Dave Bunker, when he made bogey on the last hole. That one still stings and he vowed not to make the same mistake again.
Hoops recognizes that, like all competitors, he has a short window of advantage early in his senior career. Where Hoops may be different, however, is that distance is in no way a challenge.
“I do things that I feel are stretching my career,” Hoops said. “I don’t know anybody that hits it farther than I do constantly. It’s a big advantage.”
One of those things is competitive environment, and the sheer distance (nearly 1,000 more yards than the average senior tournament setup) that has become the norm in his everyday rounds. Hoops, whose career has been in commercial IT, is a member at Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, where many professionals from all tours (PGA, Champions and Korn Ferry) test ...
