Rich Buckner (Gainesville, Va.) shot a final-round 72 to win the Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions at the PGA National Resort (Palmer Course) in Florida.
It was a tight three-way battle between Buckner, Craig Hurlbert (Rollins, Mt.) and Ken Kinkopf (Jupiter, Fla.). Kinkopf started the day one ahead of Buckner but dropped four shots in the first six holes. Hurlbert too started slowly, and by the turn Buckner had a three-shot lead.
Both of the chasers broke par on the final nine, but despite a final-hole bogey, Buckner held on for a one-shot win at 2-over 218, with Hurlbert and Kinkopf tied for second one shot back.
Buckner has long been one Virginia's top seniors. He was the 2017 Virginia State Golf Association senior player of the year, and earlier this year won the Northern Virginia Amateur, a title he had also won 26 years prior.
For Kinkopf, it was the last in a long string of high tournament finishes in 2019. He won five senior ranking events including the North & South Senior and three Society of Seniors (SOS) championships; plus three runner-ups and three third-place finishes. He will finish the year No. 2 in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Player-of-the-Year points race.
Allen Peake (Macon, Ga.) and Owen Joyner (Bonita Springs, Fla.) rounded out the top five.
In the Super Senior division, Stephen Fox (Barboursville, W.Va.) picked up his second win in as many weeks, closing with a 72 for a one-shot win over Peter Van Ingen (Palm Beach, Fla.). Fox won last week's SOS Ralph Bogart tournament.
Jack Marin (Durham, N.C.) won the Legend division by four shots over John Blank (Frostburg, Md.).
ABOUT THE
Golfweek Senior TOC
54 hole, Medal Play with Senior (55-64),
Super Senior (65-69), and Legends (70+) Divisions.
The Golfweek Senior
Tournament of Champions is open to all winners of
senior events in the last calendar year.
View Complete Tournament Information