Barfield Captures 87th Texas Senior Amateur Title
IRVING – Neal Barfield of Dallas kept his composure Sunday and won the 87th Texas Senior Amateur at The Nelson Golf & Sports Club. His three-day total of 2-over 212 provided him a three-stroke advantage over the field.
Barfield entered the round at even-par and was two strokes behind the 36-hole leader. He went out in 1-over par and got back to even with a birdie on the par-4 11th. He held a slim lead at the time but made bogey on 12 and double-bogey on 14.
“I chunked it in the water on 14 and made double,” said Barfield. “That kind of gets something into your head.”
After dropping three strokes in three holes, he settled down with birdie on the par-4 15th and another on the par-5 16th to get back to 1-over-par and three shots ahead of the field.
“I was very fortunate to make birdies on 15 and 16 so I guess I got a nice bounce back after the mess on 14,” said Barfield. “The course was incredible all weekend and hard.”
This win marks Barfield’s first victory with the Texas Golf Association since the 2022 North Regional Senior Amateur. Barfield picked up 1250 points towards the Texas Senior Player of the Year Standings. He now has the lead in the points race as the season draws to a close.
Finishing in second was Houston’s Sandy Pierce, who won this event in 2022. Pierce started off hot Sunday, making two birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes. He dropped shots on the par-4 ninth and the par-4 10th to get back to even-par on the day but played his last eight holes in 3-over and came up short in his bid to win a second Texas Senior Amateur title.
Irving’s Mark Lindberg, who held the 36-hole lead, never got it going on Sunday. Lindberg did provide the shot of the day as he made a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th. He hit a 7-iron from 166 yards out playing alongside Barfield and Pierce. Lindberg finished third at 7-over 217.
David Johnson of Trophy Club finished fourth at 9-over, while Andrew Hydorn finished fifth at 10-over. A pair of past Champions, John Derrick and Mike Booker, finished tied for sixth along with Mike Lohner, Terrence Miskell and Randy Lance.
The Nelson Golf & Sports Club’s TPC Course was built for championship golf and it provided a true test for the field. The average score for the week was 78.76 with the par-4 third hole playing the toughest. The par-70 layout featured only two par-5s, which combined yielded 128 of the tournament’s 452 birdies.
Temperatures started in the mid-60s on Sunday and crept up to the upper 80s when the sun peaked out. Winds were much calmer today, blowing around eight miles per hour.
For more information on the 87th Texas Senior Amateur and to see all the scores, click here.