The Honors Course will serve as the site of the Lupton Memorial 20 years after the tournament's introduction in 2005.
photo by Darren Reese, Tennessee Golf Foundation
As part of its commitment in providing quality events to honor amateur golf, The Honors Course initiated a tournament in 2005 that attracted some of the top mid-amateur and seniors in the country.
Now 20 years later, the John T. Lupton Memorial continues to rank among the top invitational tournaments nationwide, celebrating the vision of the club’s late founder and the event’s namesake.
Hosted at the majestic golf course designed by Pete Dye in the Ooltewah community, the Lupton Memorial begins three days of play Friday morning with 42 golfers in each division vying to add their name to the list of legendary winners prominently displayed on the clubhouse wall.
Defending mid-amateur champion Joseph Deraney returns after advancing to the Round of 32 earlier in the week at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Edison, N.J. The Belden, Miss. native is seeking his fourth Lupton Memorial title, having also claimed victories in 2021 and 2016.
Deraney is currently listed at No. 13 in the AmateurGolf.com Mid-Amateur world rankings, joined in the Top 40 by fellow participants Brett Patterson of Oxford, Miss. (19), Ryan Terry of Brentwood, Tenn. (21), and Nick Maccario of Atlanta, Ga. (39).
Whit Turnbow, the president of the Tennessee Golf Foundation, is the only other returning champion in the mid-amateur field, having won the event in 2019.
The senior division is littered with former champions who have amassed 13 titles at the Lupton Memorial led by five-time winner Paul Simson of Raleigh, N.C. Simson won three straight beginning in 2007, then added back-to-back crowns in 2013-14.
Also participating is Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga., who claimed a mid-amateur trophy in 2008 followed by a pair of senior titles in 2012 and 2016. Billy Mitchell of Atlanta, Ga. also has two Lupton Memorial championships on his resume’, winning in 2019 and 2021 that could have been a trifecta had the 2020 tournament not be canceled.
Defending champion Mike Combs of Savannah, Ga. joins two other past senior champions in Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Ga. (2023) and Rick Cloninger of Rock Hill, S.C. (2018).
A total of 17 golfers will be returning to The Honors Course after battling the challenging layout in last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur. John Kemp of Bedford, England shot 2-under 142 to earn co-medalist honors in stroke play before falling in the Round of 16.
Robert Nelson of Fairhope, Ala. also has fond memories of his visit last summer where he advanced to the semifinals before being eliminated by eventual champion, Louis Brown, who won by a 1-up count.
The senior field at the Lupton Invitational is well-represented in the AmateurGolf.com Senior rankings with Royak checking in at No. 2. Three golfers who hail from Savannah are listed among the Top 10 in Hanzel at No. 5, Jack Hall at No. 6 and Combs at No. 9.
Other seniors ranked in the Top 40 include Jack Larkin Sr. of Atlanta (12), Mitchell and Chad Branton of Cartersville, Ga. (20), Cloninger (22), Kemp (23), Rusty Strawn of Eatonton, Ga. (26), Robert Gerwin of Cincinnati, Ohio (28) and Jerry Gunthorpe of Ovid, Mich. (35).
Tennessee Amateurs Qualify For U.S. Open
A pair of Tennessee amateur golfers punched their ticket to the U.S. Open earlier this week.
Rising University of Tennessee senior Lance Simpson of Knoxville and Ole Miss golfer Cameron Tankersley of Dickson tied for fourth at 8-under par 134 at final qualifying held at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas on Monday.
Simpson, the 2022 Tennessee Amateur champion, fired a final round 65 to climb 18 spots, finishing inside the top seven to advance to the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, Pa. from June 12-15.
Tankersley rose 14 notches to finish inside the cutline of 7-under with a closing round of 66.
Those failing to advance included 14-year-old Raymond Rebell of Maryville (11-over 153), PGA TOUR member Peter Malnati of Knoxville (6-under 136), and former Tennessee golfer and current LIV member Caleb Surratt (4-under 138).
The remaining final qualifiers will be held June 2 at ten different locations across the country. Those with Tennessee ties who will be competing after making it past local qualifying include Cleveland’s Steven Locke, who was medalist with 67 at the Madison, Ill. qualifier. Others include former UT golfer Jake Hall of Knoxville; amateur Christian Pardue of Arlington, amateur Kaleb Wilson of Knoxville, amateur Lowery Thomas of Old Hickory, and reigning Tennessee Open champion Jackson Herrington of Dickson who completed his freshman year at Tennessee.
Those advancing from the earlier local qualifier at Towhee Club in Spring Hill were Dawson Armstrong of Spring Hill, Nicklaus Sutton of Nashville, amateur Billy Boroughs of Chattanooga who recently graduated from McCallie School, and Jacob Sherlin of Hendersonville.
Nashville’s Blades Brown, who turned 18 on Wednesday after announcing his plans to bypass college in order to pursue the professional path, will be competing in final qualifying along with former UTC players Garrett Engle and Samuel Espinosa-Trueba,
Snedeker Named President’s Cup Captain for U.S.
Nashville’s Brandt Snedeker was recently named captain for the U.S. Team for the 16th Presidents Cup to be contested at Medinah Country Club’s Course #3, Sept. 22-27, 2026.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be named U.S. Team captain for the 2026 Presidents Cup by my peers, and I’m looking forward to leading our guys into Medinah for what will certainly be an amazing week of golf,” said Snedeker. “Representing my country in team competition has been a highlight of my PGA TOUR career, and I will lean on those experiences to ensure we are prepared and ready to compete against what I know will be a unified and determined International Team.”
Snedeker, 44, represented the U.S. Team in the 2013 Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, compiling a 2-3-0 record. The Tennessee native also played for the United States in the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cups, where he amassed a 4-2-0 record. Snedeker, who was a captain’s assistant in the 2024 Presidents Cup, is slated to serve as a vice captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
“Brandt Snedeker is among the game’s most respected players and one who has garnered the utmost admiration from his peers throughout his 21-year career, which was most recently recognized as he received the 2024 Payne Stewart Award for his outstanding character and sportsmanship,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Brandt is a proven leader on and off the golf course, from his years representing the United States in team competition to building a family foundation benefiting children in his home state of Tennessee. I know he will be a tremendous captain and asset for the U.S. Team in 2026.”
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com