Amateur Joe Markham Jr. Wins the Tennessee Senior State Open By Brian Weis

Amateur Joe Markham Jr. Wins the Tennessee Senior State Open

By Brian Weis

The 2024 Tennessee Senior Open Championship on the picturesque Cumberland Plateau was a spectacle that brought together 100 of the finest senior golfers. The air was thick with excitement and anticipation as these veterans of the green took on the daunting Stonehenge Golf Course. With its challenging layout, only three players managed consecutive rounds under par over the grueling 36-hole competition.

As the championship boiled down to its final three holes, the tension was palpable. Joe Markham (a) led at -6, with Jeff Lyons hot on his heels at -5, and Henrik Simonsen and Tim Jackson (a) lurking at -4. The drama peaked on the 17th hole when Markham missed a crucial short putt that would have given him a two-stroke cushion, leaving him with a precarious one-stroke lead.

The 18th hole was the ultimate test. Markham found himself in the greenside bunker, Jackson faced a daunting 20-foot birdie putt, and Lyons had already finished in the clubhouse at -5. Markham's nerves of steel showed as he delivered a masterful bunker shot to within 4 feet of the pin. Jackson narrowly missed his birdie attempt, and Markham sank his putt to clinch the Tennessee Senior State Open.

In the end, it was amateur Joe Markham, Jr. from Cleveland, TN, who emerged victorious, carding rounds of 68 and 70 to finish at 138 (-6). His final round was a testament to steady, composed play, featuring a birdie on the front nine and back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. Markham's six straight pars to finish sealed a hard-fought and well-deserved victory.

Revised: 06/14/2024 - Article Viewed 711 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the Publisher of GolfTrips.com, a network of golf travel and directory sites including GolfWisconsin.com, GolfMichigan.com, ArizonaGolfer.com, GolfAlabama.com, etc. Professionally, Brian is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA) and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG). In 2016, Brian won The Shaheen Cup, an award given to a golf travel writer by his peers.

All of his life, Brian has been around the game of golf. As a youngster, Brian competed at all levels in junior and high school golf. Brian had a zero chance for a college golf scholarship, so he worked on the grounds crew at West Bend Country Club to pay for his University of Wisconsin education. In his adult years, his passion for the game collided with his entrepreneurial spirit and in 2004 launched GolfWisconsin.com. In 2007, the idea for a network of local golf directory sites formed and GolfTrips.com was born. Today, the network consists of a site in all 50 states supported by national sites like GolfTrips.com, GolfGuide.com and GolfPackages.com. It is an understatement to say, Brian is passionate about promoting golf and golf travel on a local, regional, national and international level.

On the golf course, Brian is known as a fierce weekend warrior that fluctuates between a 5-9 handicap. With a soft fade, known as "The Weis Slice", and booming 300+ drives, he can blast it out of bounds with the best of them.