2015 Tennessee Senior winner Neil Spitalny (TGA photo)

Spitalny was one of two round-one leaders after opening with his 1-under par 69 on Wednesday. Followed by a second round 72, Spitalny was tied with fellow Chattanoogan and friend Richard Keene at 1-over par. Friday brought tough scores at Lookout Mountain Golf Club and it was Spitalny who came out on top with his third-round 3-over par 73.

Keene finished in second place, but only by a stroke with his final-round 74, though he bogeyed two of his last four holes. Third place went to Buzz Fly, two shots behind Spitalny at six-over par 216. In the 8th Annual Tennessee Super Senior Amateur Championship (65+), Mike Nixon of Nashville captured the championship with his three-round performance of 5-over par 215.

Nixon painted a masterpiece in round two with his 4-under par 66 and had an 11 shot lead heading into the final day. While round three wasn’t his best performance, Nixon was able to capture the 2015 championship by five strokes over Jim Brown of Loudon.

HISTORY: The inaugural State Senior Amateur Championship was played in 1965 at the original Colonial Country Club in Memphis. Curtis Person, a Colonial member, shot 211 to easily outdistance Earl Pate by seven strokes.

When Chattanooga’s Lew Oehmig won five straight championships from 1969 to 1973, the tournament was discontinued. It was revived in 1980 and Oehmig won two more for a record seven. It was 1993 before Tennessee came into compliance with USGA rules by limiting senior play by amateur men to 55 and older. In 2008 the Super Senior division was added for players 65 and over.

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