FULTON, Mo. (July 31, 2025) – After four days of competition among Missouri’s top senior amateur golfers, Brian Haskell (St. Joseph) was crowned the 2025 Senior Match Play Champion on this morning at Tanglewood Golf Course in Fulton.
The Senior Match Play Championship, now in its third year, is one of the top events for senior male amateur golfers in the state. The championship is open to MGA members age 50 and older and features a unique match play format. The event began Monday with 18 holes of stroke play qualifying, where the top 32 players advanced into the match play bracket.
Haskell, the No. 2 seed, posted an impressive 5-under 67 in stroke play qualifying to enter the bracket with momentum. From there, he rolled through the field with wins over Barry Yehling (1 up), Harry Roberts (3 & 1), Tony Nolfo (2 & 1) and John Moore (4 & 2) before meeting No. 8 seed BJ Curry (Sunrise Beach) in Thursday’s 18-hole championship final.
Curry, who entered match play as the 8th seed after shooting an even par 72 in qualifying, authored his own strong run to the final. After surviving a Round of 32 playoff win in extra holes, Curry went on to defeat Mike O’Neil (1 up), Jamold Little (3 up), and Wayne Fredrick (2 up) en route to the title match.
Today’s final began with promise for Curry, who birdied the opening hole to take a quick 1 up lead. But Haskell, unfazed, responded with steady play. A bogey from Curry on hole 2 tied the match, and then Haskell rattled off birdies on holes 4, 5 and 6 to win three straight and go 3 up.
Curry narrowed the lead with a birdie on the par 3 8th, but Haskell bounced back immediately, making par on hole 9 while Curry bogeyed, sending the match to the back nine with Haskell again 3 up.
From there, Haskell never looked back. He maintained at least a 3 up advantage throughout the back nine, fending off Curry’s comeback attempts. A birdie on the par 3 16th ultimately clinched the title for Haskell, securing a 4 & 2 victory.
This marks Haskell’s first Senior Match Play Championship title and caps off a strong week of golf in Fulton.
The MGA extends its sincere thanks to Tanglewood Golf Course and its entire staff for their continued support in hosting this championship.
For full results from the third annual Missouri Senior Match Play Championship, click here.
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FULTON, Mo. (July 30, 2025) – After three intense days of match play at Tanglewood Golf Course, just two players remain in the hunt for the 2025 Senior Match Play Championship title: BJ Curry (Sunrise Beach) and Brian Haskell (St. Joseph).
Curry, the No. 8 seed, earned his spot in tomorrow’s final with two more commanding victories today. He opened the day by taking down the Cinderella story of the bracket, No. 32 seed Jamold Little (Columbia), 3 up in the quarterfinals. Curry made a birdie on the final hole to close out the match, never trailing throughout the round.
In the afternoon semifinals, Curry faced No. 12 seed Wayne Fredrick (Springfield), who had cruised through his earlier rounds. The two battled closely on the front nine, but Curry pulled ahead on the back nine and held off a late push to secure a 2 up victory.
On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Brian Haskell continued his consistent march to the final. Haskell edged past No. 23 Tony Nolfo (Festus) 2 & 1 in the quarterfinals in a back-and-forth match with multiple lead changes. Haskell took the lead for good on the 13th hole and held steady to close it out.
In the semifinals, Haskell squared off with No. 30 John Moore (Hannibal), who had previously knocked out the No. 3 and No. 11 seeds. Moore led early, but Haskell tied the match on hole 7 and took control with a win on 10. From there, he extended his lead to close out a 4 & 2 win and advance to the championship match.
Curry and Haskell will square off tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. in an 18-hole final for the title of 2025 Senior Match Play Champion.
Click here to view the full bracket for this event.
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FULTON, Mo. (July 29, 2025) – The second day of the 2025 Senior Match Play Championship at Tanglewood Golf Course brought some major upsets as the field narrowed from 32 to just eight players after a full day of match play.
The story of the day came from Jamold Little (Columbia), who entered match play as the No. 32 seed and shocked top-seeded Paul Neeman (St. Louis) with a 3 & 2 victory in the Round of 32. Little kept the momentum going in the afternoon, taking down veteran Steve Groom (Raytown) 3 & 1. After going 1 up on the second hole, Little never trailed in the match. He’ll face BJ Curry (Sunrise Beach), the No. 8 seed, in tomorrow morning’s quarterfinal.
Curry’s afternoon was less straightforward. Before defeating No. 25 Mike O’Neill (St. Louis) 1 up in a tightly contested match, Curry found himself trailing for most of the round. Down one going into 18, he forced extra holes with a win, and sealed the match on the 20th hole of the day. He then went on to defeat No. 9 seed Ed Brown 4 & 3.
Also advancing is No. 13 seed Brian Hall (O’Fallon), who rolled past Brian Lovett (St. Louis) 2 up in the morning and delivered a 3 & 2 upset against No. 4 seed Buddy Allen (Pevely) in the afternoon. He’ll face No. 12 Wayne Fredrick (Springfield), who dominated both of his Tuesday matches with identical 5 & 4 victories—first over Rodney Dolbeare (Louisiana), then over Bobby Godwin (Poplar Bluff). Fredrick lost only one hole all day.
Second-seeded Brian Haskell (St. Joseph) remains a contender after surviving a tough morning match against No. 31 Barry Yehling (St. Louis), winning 1 up in a round that saw several lead changes. In the afternoon, Haskell defeated Harry Roberts (St. Joseph) 3 & 1 to move on to the quarterfinals.
He’ll face Tony Nolfo (Festus), the No. 23 seed, who upset both No. 10 David Pfeil (Eureka) and No. 7 Kyle Viehl (Maryville) today. Nolfo’s match with Viehl saw a staggering 11 lead changes before Nolfo closed it out 2 up.
In the final quarterfinal pairing, No. 30 John Moore (Hannibal) will square off with No. 11 Tod Rose (West Plains). Moore edged No. 3 Pat O’Neill (St. Louis) with a birdie on the 18th to win 1 up, then advanced automatically when John Bailey (Nashville) conceded the Round of 16 match.
Rose is coming off two decisive victories—a 3 & 2 win over David Johnson (Kirkwood) and a 4 & 3 upset over No. 6 Joseph Malench (Edwardsville).
Quarterfinals and semifinals will be played tomorrow, with the championship match set for Thursday at Tanglewood Golf Course.
Click here for the full bracket and results from today’s matches.
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FULTON, Mo. (July 28, 2025) – The 2025 Senior Match Play Championship teed off today at Tanglewood Golf Course, where 47 of Missouri’s top senior amateur golfers battled through 18 holes of stroke play to secure a spot in the match play bracket.
Only the top 32 players advanced to match play, with the cut line falling at 6-over-par 78. Leading the field was Paul Neeman (St. Louis), who carded a 6-under 66 to earn the No. 1 seed heading into tomorrow’s Round of 32. Neeman’s round included five birdies, a single bogey and an eagle on the par-5 17th.
Just one stroke behind was Brian Haskell (St. Joseph), who posted a 5-under 67 with seven birdies to claim the No. 2 seed. Pat O’Neill (St. Louis) and Buddy Allen (Pevely) tied for the third-best score of the day with matching rounds of 3-under 69.
Only eight players managed to finish under par on a hot and competitive day at Tanglewood.
Notably, defending champion Brad Thielemier (Poplar Bluff) was unable to advance, finishing 10-over and outside the cut line.
The third annual Senior Match Play Championship continues tomorrow with the Round of 32 in the morning, followed by the Round of 16 in the afternoon. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place Wednesday, with the 18-hole championship match set for Thursday.
Click here for full results and more information from this event.
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ABOUT MGA: The Missouri Golf Association is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote the best interests and true spirit of the game of golf throughout the State of Missouri.
The Missouri Golf Association was started in St. Louis in 1905 to run the Amateur Championship. Four founding clubs would be the ones in existence in St. Louis in those early years – St. Louis Country Club, Algonquin Golf Club, Glen Echo Golf Club and Normandie Golf Club. Four years later, the invite-only Missouri Amateur was held in Kansas City at Evanston Club. 1911 marked the real organization of the MGA with Bonner Miller as Secretary and Executive Director. Ever since then, the MGA has striven to provide tournaments and spaces for Missouri golfers to sharpen their skills and enjoy the game.
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