37th Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship set for October 26-28
The Texas Golf Association heads to the Hill Country for the 37th Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship, Oct. 26-28 at Fair Oaks Ranch Golf & Country Club. The championship has a title, a trophy and the Senior Player of the Year race on the line.
“We are excited for another edition of the Women’s Senior Stroke Play,” said Kristi Knight, Texas Golf Associations Director of Women’s Golf. “The combination of Fair Oaks Ranch and the talent of these competitors has the makings of an exciting event.”
First played in 1990, the Women’s Senior Stroke Play brings together the state’s top female amateurs age 50 and older, many of whom have made their mark on Texas golf time and again. Past champions include Texas Golf Hall of Famers Anna Schultz and Mina Hardin, and Carolyn Creekmore, who holds the record with seven titles.
The 54-hole championship splits the field into two divisions. The 16 players with the lowest Handicap Indexes are required to compete in the Championship division, and any other player with an index of 14.4 or lower may choose to join them. The Championship Division will be competing from 5,515 yards.
The overall Senior Champion will be crowned from the Championship tees, along with a Super Senior (65 and older) champion. In the Flights division, a Super Senior (65-69) and a Legends (70 and older) champion will also be recognized.
Two other honors are up for grabs. The Founders Cup trophy goes to the club whose two players post the lowest combined net score in the opening round. The top 10 finishers in the Championship division earn Senior Player of the Year points, and those points often decide the season-long race.
“The Player of the Year race typically comes down to this event,” Knight said. “It makes for an exciting finish knowing what is on the line for the players.”
San Antonio’s Claudia Ramirez enters the week atop the Senior Player of the Year standings with 900 points. Defending champion Jennifer Hoyt, the 2025 Senior Women’s Player of the Year, is second with 750 points. Kelley Nittoli of San Antonio sits third with 400 points, followed by Bryan’s Andrea Gaston and Corpus Christi’s Carol Blackmar with 300 points each.
Hoyt rallied from third place in the final round at BraeBurn Country Club in Houston last year. She closed with an 80 to win the 36th Women’s Senior Stroke Play with a 54-hole total of 242.
Tucked into the rolling hills just northwest of San Antonio, Fair Oaks Ranch has been a cornerstone of Hill Country golf for nearly five decades. The club’s story begins with Ralph E. Fair Sr., the oilman and rancher whose family partnered with developer Don Smith to turn the sprawling ranchland into a residential community built around a private club. When the club opened in 1978, it made its home in Fair’s original 1930s ranch house. That river-rock landmark still anchors the property today, and the community that grew up around it became the city of Fair Oaks Ranch in 1988.
Golf has always been at the heart of the club. Its 36 holes are split between two Gary Player designs, the Live Oak and the Blackjack Oak, which wind through native oaks and rugged terrain that rewards accuracy. The championship will be played on the Blackjack Oak, considered the more demanding of the two. The par-72 layout stretches nearly 7,000 yards from the back tees and features a stout collection of par 5s, highlighted by the 576-yard 15th.
The week also marks a homecoming for the championship. It last visited Fair Oaks Ranch in 2014, when Schultz won the second of her three Senior Stroke Play titles.
“We are grateful to Fair Oaks Ranch Golf & Country Club for their hospitality in hosting the 37th Women’s Senior Stroke Play,” Knight said. “We are excited to see the course challenge the players on a phenomenal layout.”
The first round begins Monday, Oct. 26, with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
To learn more about the 37th Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship, click here. To leanr more about Fair Oaks Ranch Golf and Country Club, click here.