111th Tennessee State Amateur returns to Memphis Country Club
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On June 23, the Tennessee State Amateur will make its return to Memphis Country Club, the founding member of the Tennessee Golf Association. This is the first time the club has hosted since 2014, but it will mark the tenth playing of the State Amateur at Memphis Country Club.
The Donald Ross design will be quite the test for the field of 144 players, with most of the course protection coming from the intricate green complexes. The championship will be played around 6,715 yards at a Par 70, testing players’ accuracy into the greens.
Back to defend his title a second time is Murfreesboro’s Payne Denman. After capturing his second straight Tennessee State Amateur title in 2025 at Holston Hills Country Club in dramatic fashion, Denman looks to become only the third person in the event’s history to win three titles in a row. Eventual three-time major champion Dr. Cary Middlecoff won four straight State Amateurs between 1940 and 1943 was the most recent person to complete the three-peat. Polly Boyd was the first to capture three State Amateur titles in a row between 1920 and 1922.
Tennessee Golf Hall of Famer Tim Jackson was the last player to win a Tennessee State Amateur at Memphis Country Club in 2014. That win made Jackson the oldest player to ever win the State Amateur, and the only player in the field to finish under par.
Notable Players:
Lucas Armstrong (Church Hill): Lucas Armstrong returns to the State Amateur after a top-five finish at the tournament in 2025. Armstrong ended last season on the last step of the podium in the Tennessee Player of the Year rankings, and currently sits in 8th after qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
Payne Denman (Murfreesboro): An introduction really isn’t needed for Denman, considering he’s won this event the past two iterations. He’s looking to complete the three-peat for the first time since the 1940s, which would make him just the third player to ever complete such a feat. Earlier this year, Denman teamed up with Jason Millard to set a Tennessee Four-Ball scoring record where they fired a 36-hole score of 24-under-par.
Ryan Greer (Knoxville): The Knoxville resident and TGA Vice President returns to the State Amateur field with some extra hardware. After 11 years without an individual TGA title, Greer captured his second Tennessee Mid-Amateur championship, defeating Tucker Jenkins in a one-hole playoff last year.
Winburne Hughes (Memphis): Winburne Hughes will make his 2026 TGA debut at the State Amateur, looking to keep climbing the leaderboard after a 16th-place tie in last year’s edition at Holston Hills Country Club. The Memphis native makes his return to TGA competition after a strong season in 2025, where he won the MGA Amateur Championship, placed second in the Memphis Amateur Championship and qualified for the U.S. Amateur.
Drew Madigan (Collierville): Drew Madigan will make the short trip to Memphis Country Club after a top-10 performance at the Junior Amateur Championship in Franklin. So far this season, Madigan tied for a second-place finish at the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur at Franklin Bridge and advanced to the U.S. Open Final Qualifying at Hawks Bridge Golf Club in Balls Ground, GA.
Bennett McNabb (Ringgold): Bennett McNabb makes the trip to Memphis currently tied for fifth in the 2026 Tennessee Player of the Year rankings. The Ringgold native recently finished as a runner-up in the Tennessee Four-Ball at Ooltewah Golf Club, and returns to the State Amateur after finishing tied for fifth at Holston Hills Country Club in 2025 and tied for tenth the year prior.
Brantley and Wils Moore (Memphis): Brothers Brantley and Wils Moore will be competing at the 111th Tennessee State Amateur. Both grew up playing at Memphis Country Club and have continued to compete at the highest levels. Wils plays for Samford University’s men’s golf team, and Brantley is coming off a TSSAA Individual State Title win.
Ryan Terry (Brentwood): This season, Ryan Terry has already qualified for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and is looking to keep the momentum going at Memphis Country Club. The reigning 2025 Tennessee Player of the Year has notched a top-10 finish in four of the last five State Amateur Championships. Terry finished in the top-10 in seven tournaments last season and finished on the top step of the podium at the James Fyke Municipal Championship, landing him a qualifying spot at the 2025 U.S. Amateur.
Local Connections: