MEMPHIS — Memphis Country Club, founded in 1905 as a 9-hole golf course is no stranger to hosting premier amateur golf events. It has hosted the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1937 and again in 1979, the U.S. Amateur in 1948, and the U.S. Men’s Senior Amateur. The course has played host to a number of Tennessee Golf Association championships, including nine State Amateurs and the 1988 Tennessee Senior Amateur. Expanded to 18-holes in 1915 by Donald Ross, Memphis Country Club is a true Ross design. Not a long course, the par-70 plays 6589 yards from the tips but features key elements of Ross-designed courses, with long sloped greens and tough greenside bunkers.
To follow the event live, click here for the 2024 Tennessee Senior & Super Senior Amateur Leaderboard.
Strackaline Spotlight, Hole 15 (Par 4, 448 yards):
At Memphis Country Club, the 15th is the first point of the three-hole stretch known as the “Triangle of Terror.” From the back tees, the 15th plays at nearly 450 yards, though this week at the Tennessee Senior Amateur will play from 430 yards with the Super Seniors and Legends playing from 370 yards. Precision off the tee is paramount with the landing area only stretching 22 yards wide. Miss to the left or right and you’ll quickly discover why it’s part of a terrorizing trifecta.
Trying to hold this quintessential Donald Ross volcano green will be tricky and puts a premium on hitting your spots. Three of the four sides fall off away from the green and will test a player’s short game like only Ross can. Gcompetitors will also have to be weary of the two greenside bunkers which will collect any shots that come up short of just about any hole location. To borrow from Dante, “abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
TGA Members get 20% off Strackaline Yardage Books
Players in the Field:
Senior Division:
Mike Albonetti (Williston) - Albonetti won his first TGA Championship in 2020 at the Senior Match Play at The Country Club, Inc. Albonetti finished in the top 20 at the 2023 Tennessee Senior State Open.
Todd Burgan (Powell) - Following the state Senior Amateur, Burgan will tee it up at the Honors Course in Ooltewah for the 69th U.S. Senior Amateur just two days after the event’s conclusion. The 6-time TGA event winner is seeking his 7th TGA title, but first one as a senior.
Steve Golliher (Knoxville) - A long-standing competitor in many TGA Events, Golliher looks to enter the double digits in TGA Championships won at the 2024 Senior Amateur. Golliher won the same event in 2018 at Oak Ridge Country Club.
Tim Jackson (Williston) - The 27-time TGA Champion and Tennessee Golf Hall of Famer, Jackson’s name is synonymous with amateur golf in the state of Tennessee. Jackson has competed at the highest level in amateur golf for decades, which include two U.S. Mid-Amateur titles in 1994 and 2001. He's especially fond of Memphis Country Club, having won their twice at the 2005 and 2014 Tennessee State Amateur. Jackson’s most recent TGA title came at the 2022 State Senior Amateur at the Blackthorn club.
Steven Mann (Franklin) - Mann comes into the 2024 Tennessee Senior Amateur as the defending champion, winning the event last year at Rarity Bay Golf & Country Club. That win marked Mann’s first TGA title.
Joe Markham (Cleveland) - Markham enters the 2024 Senior Amateur as the winner of the Tennessee Senior State Open earlier this year. Markham is looking for his first TGA Championship win at Memphis Country Club.
Mike Poe (Loudon) - The 2023 Tennessee Men’s Player of the Year is seeking his fourth TGA event win at the 2024 Tennessee Senior Amateur. Poe has won an event in each of the last two years, winning the Senior Match Play Championship in 2022 and the Senior Four-Ball Championship in 2023 with partner Tim Dinwiddie.
Super Senior Division:
Tom Baird (Signal Mountain) - Baird looks to claim his first stroke-play title at the 2024 Super-Senior Amateur. Baird is a 4-time TGA Champion, and currently the 3-time defending champion of the Super-Senior Match-Play championship, winning the event in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Buzz Fly (Memphis) - Fly comes into the Super Senior State Amateur as the defending champion. Fly, a multi-time TGA champion has won the event in each of the last three years, and is seeking his fourth consecutive Super-Senior Amateur title.
Danny Green (Jackson) - Inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in the class of 2009, Green is record 10-time TGA Men’s Player of the Year. Green has amassed 19 TGA titles, as well as competed in numerous national amateur events. Green is the only player in golf history to play in the finals of the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur, and the U.S. Amateur Public Links. Green won the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur to earn his spot at the 2000 Masters Tournament. Before then, Green captured the first of his three Tennessee State Amateur titles at Memphis Country Club in 1993.
Tony Green (Kingsport) - Green comes into the 2024 Tennessee Super-Senior Amateur fresh off a win at the Super-Senior Four-Ball earlier this year. Green and Garry Siddons, won the event in both 2024 and 2023. That win marked TGA title number six for Green.
Mike Nixon (Franklin) - Seeking his sixth TGA event win, Nixon won the legends division at the Super-Senior Amateur last year. Nixon also won the Super-Senior Amatuer for the first time in 2015 at Lookout Mountain Golf Club.
