11th Texas Super Senior Amateur heads to Tempest Golf Club
The 11th Texas Super Senior Amateur will be held April 27-29 at Tempest Golf Club in Gladewater, marking the first statewide men’s championship of the 2026 season.
“We are excited to get the first state championship underway,” Senior Tournament Director Chris Untiedt said. “This tournament really kicks everything off competition-wise as we head into the championship season, and the players are eager to tee it up.”
The championship will be the second Texas Golf Association state event hosted at Tempest Golf Club, which previously staged the 50th Texas Four-Ball in 2025.
Tempest Golf Club has undergone decades of transformation, evolving through multiple owners, names and course designs while maintaining a loyal following. The property began as a wooded tract near Liberty City that was used for dirt bike riding in the 1970s. It was first developed into a nine-hole course, Shallow Creek, in 1989, before expanding into the 18-hole Southern Hills Golf Club in 1996. Financial challenges and weather-related setbacks led to periods of decline, but the property’s natural elevation and landscape continued to attract local golfers.
A new chapter began when owner Joe Bruno purchased the course in 2006 and later commissioned architect Jeffrey Brauer for a full redesign in 2016. Completed in 2018, the renovation transformed the layout into a par-72 championship course that quickly gained statewide recognition, including a ranking among the top 50 courses in Texas. Today, Tempest Golf Club blends its East Texas roots with modern design, highlighted by an American flag overlooking the ninth green.
“Tempest Golf Club has been a phenomenal host for the Texas Golf Association,” Untiedt said. “Often referred to as an East Texas gem, the course offers features you don’t typically see in Texas, including blind tee shots, sloping fairways and unique green complexes. It will challenge players in a great way, and we know the Super Senior Amateur field is excited.”
Established in 2015, the Texas Super Senior Amateur features two divisions: Super Senior (ages 65 and older) and Legends (ages 75 and older). The event is open to male amateurs who meet the age requirement by the first round and maintain a current WHS Handicap Index of 12.4 or lower, or 16.4 for the Legends division, through a Texas Golf Association member club.
The field is limited to 90 players, including 74 in the Super Senior division and 16 in the Legends division. Competitors will play 54 holes of individual stroke play over three days with no cut. Each division will compete from separate tees and yardages and crown its own champion. Players 75 and older may elect to compete in the Legends division.
The top three finishers and ties in the Super Senior division, along with the Legends division champion, will qualify for this year’s Texas Senior Amateur. Awards will also be presented for the lowest net scores in each division.
At last year’s championship, held at Live Oak Golf Club in Abilene, Dave Davis of Saginaw won the Super Senior division with rounds of 68-70-69 to finish at 6-under par. The victory was the first of two titles Davis claimed in 2025, later adding the West Texas Super Senior Amateur at Abilene Country Club’s North Course.
John Grace of Fort Worth captured his second consecutive Legends division title, posting rounds of 69-67-71 to finish at 6-under and add to his amateur résumé.
Starting times and pairings for the first and second rounds will be posted on the TGA website no later than April 23. Live scoring and daily recaps will be available throughout the championship.
For more information about the 11th Texas Super Senior Amateur, click here.