2026 Universal Retirement Senior North American Championship Recap — Grayhawk Golf Club & Eagle Mountain Golf Club

For players searching for senior amateur golf championships, competitive senior golf tournaments near me, or the premier amateur golf tour for players 50 and over, the Amateur Players Tour’s 2026 Senior North American Championship, presented by Universal Retirement, brought the national senior title to the Scottsdale desert Tuesday and Wednesday, September 22–23. A field of 227 players from APT chapters across the continent, many of them fresh off the North American Championship at We-Ko-Pa the weekend before, competed for more than $27,000 in prizes across five gross divisions and the Senior Net competition, with 36 holes split between two of the Valley’s most celebrated layouts.

Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course in Scottsdale, a Tom Fazio design that opened in 1995, is one of Arizona’s marquee public tests, with generous rolling fairways, sprawling bunker complexes, and large, undulating bentgrass greens set against the McDowell Mountains. Grayhawk has hosted both PGA Tour events and the NCAA Championships, and the Raptor’s signature 8th, “Aces & Eights,” demands an all-carry tee shot over three deep bunkers to a double-tiered green. Eagle Mountain Golf Club in Fountain Hills, opened in 1996, is a Scott Miller design, the same architect behind We-Ko-Pa’s Cholla Course, that winds through the box canyons and ravines of the McDowell foothills as a par-71, 6,800-yard layout with dramatic elevation changes and sweeping views of the Valley below. Divisions 1, 4, and 5 opened at the Raptor on Tuesday and finished at Eagle Mountain on Wednesday, while Divisions 2 and 3 took the reverse rotation, with the Raptor playing to par 72 and Eagle Mountain to par 71.

The desert delivered two beautiful days of championship weather, with clear skies and calm conditions at both venues, and with nothing in the forecast to hide behind, the leaderboards reflected pure execution from tee to green.

Universal Retirement, the Official Retirement Savings Partner of the APT, served as title sponsor of the championship, and the Senior Net competition carried the deepest purse of the week with 192 players entered. Worldwide Golf added to the stakes with the Worldwide Golf Par 3 and Par 5 Challenges, contested across all five divisions.

In Division 1, Matt Ross (Florida Southwest) made the trip from Brooksville count, opening with a three-birdie 75 at the Raptor and closing with a 3-over 74 at Eagle Mountain for a 149 total and a six-stroke victory. Brett Coddington (Myrtle Beach) and Stuart Wallin (Utah) shared second, with Coddington charging home in 75 on Wednesday and Wallin adding an eagle to his final round at Eagle Mountain. Donald Bradham (Houston) finished fourth and produced the shot of the championship, a hole-in-one at the 183-yard par-3 5th at Eagle Mountain on Wednesday that earned him a place in the APT Hole-In-One Club.

Division 2 belonged to Mark Ballew (Myrtle Beach), who added the senior title to the Division 2 championship he won at We-Ko-Pa three days earlier. One shot off the lead after a five-birdie 75 at Eagle Mountain, Ballew closed with a 1-under 71 at the Raptor, the low final round among the contenders, for 146, 3-over par, and a four-stroke win. Christopher Denz(Virginia Capital), who shared the first-round lead with a 74, finished runner-up at 150 after an eagle in his Wednesday 76. Mike Vawter (Maryland), Paul Hess (Central Pennsylvania), and Sean Newsom (Virginia Capital), the co-leader after Tuesday’s 74, tied for third. Scott Sacchi (Seattle) took sixth, and John Wayne Parrish (Carolina Triad), Michael Goulet(Phoenix), and Shawn Larsen (Utah) shared seventh.

In Division 3, Nolan Elenz (Charlotte) turned the Raptor’s teeth to his advantage. One back of Dale Hotop (Kansas City) after a 76 at Eagle Mountain, Elenz posted a 78 at the Raptor on Wednesday, the best closing round among the division’s top finishers on a day when scores climbed across the board, and won going away by eight at 154. Hotop, whose opening 75 led the 70-player division after Tuesday, finished second. Daniel India (Chicago) took third, and Clay Marsh(Augusta) and Pat Ryan (Myrtle Beach) tied for fourth. Dan Sadler (Central Pennsylvania) rallied from an opening 86 with a Wednesday 80 to finish sixth, Christian Benavides (St. Louis), Keith Muraoka (Southern California), and Steve Winnick (Central Pennsylvania) shared seventh, and Mike Paubel (St. Louis), who sat fourth after an opening 77, placed tenth.

Division 4 saw James Plaire (Las Vegas) lead from start to finish. His Tuesday 85 at the Raptor was the best opening round in the 60-player division, and an 83 at Eagle Mountain on Wednesday sealed a 168 total and a five-stroke victory over Gary Barth (Atlanta), who matched Plaire’s 83 on Wednesday to finish second at 173. John Moyle (Portland), Peter Robinson (St. Louis), and Syed Fazil Ali (Metro New York) tied for third, Scott Jackson (Utah) finished sixth with an eagle in his final round, and Chung Coles (Tucson), whose Wednesday 82 at Eagle Mountain was the low round of the day among the paid finishers, tied for seventh with Martin Vermillion (Phoenix) and Roger Morito (Canada).

Division 5 was a wire-to-wire performance from Michael Elder (Denver). Elder’s Tuesday 94 at the Raptor gave him a two-shot cushion, and his Wednesday 86 at Eagle Mountain was the best final round among the division’s contenders, producing a 180 total and a five-stroke win. Steve Johnson (Utah) finished second at 185, Garye LaFevers (Phoenix) took third, Billy Jones (Carolina Triad) was fourth, Steven Ellis (Tulsa) placed fifth, and Aaron Holman (Columbus) rounded out the top six.

The Senior Net competition ended with a split championship. Clay Marsh (Augusta) opened with a net 64 at Eagle Mountain, the low net round of the championship, and Michael Goulet (Phoenix) ran him down with a net 68 at the Raptor on Wednesday to finish level at 140, and the two share the title. Mark Ballew (Myrtle Beach) and Scott Sacchi(Seattle) tied for third at 141, one stroke back, after closing in net 68 and 69 respectively at the Raptor. Christopher Denz(Virginia Capital) and Mike Vawter (Maryland) shared fifth at 142, Dale Hotop (Kansas City), who opened with a net 66, and Daniel India (Chicago) tied for seventh at 143, and Sean Newsom (Virginia Capital) placed ninth at 144. Brian Vance (Iowa), Christopher Randolph (Nashville), Keith Muraoka (Southern California), and Steve Johnson (Utah) tied for tenth, and a seven-player group shared fourteenth: Charles Long (Augusta), Eric Drucker (Denver), Gary Barth(Atlanta), Garye LaFevers (Phoenix), Paul Hess (Central Pennsylvania), Shawn Larsen (Utah), and Tim Graves(Tucson). Christian Benavides (St. Louis), Michael Elder (Denver), and Scott Jackson (Utah) tied for twenty-first, while Brad Dirks (Phoenix), Brett Coddington (Myrtle Beach), John Moyle (Portland), Michael Blunt (Phoenix), and Michael Lingenfelter (St. Louis), who closed with a net 70 at the Raptor, rounded out the paid places in a tie for twenty-fifth.

The 2027 APT season opens October 1, and the first major of the new year arrives October 19–20 at The Omni Homestead, where the road back to the North American Championship begins all over again.