PREVIEW: 68th Senior Amateur Championship Presented by Dunning
KENILWORTH, N.J. –– The 68th New Jersey Senior Amateur Championship Presented by Dunning will be held September 2-3 at Suneagles Golf Club in Eatontown. 132 of the Garden State’s top Senior Amateur golfers, age 55 and older, will compete for the Chuck Smith Championship Trophy.
Dunning, the Official Apparel Partner of NJ Golf, enters its second year as the title sponsor of the Senior Amateur Championship. The field is expected to feature a strong mix of past champions and highly accomplished players from across New Jersey, along with new contenders entering the Senior division for the first time.
Designed by renowned golf course architect A. W. Tillinghast, Suneagles Golf Club opened in 1926 and has a rich history dating back nearly a century. Originally built on land owned by Max Phillips of the Phillips Van Heusen Clothing Company, the club was purchased by its members in the 1930s before being acquired by the U.S. Army in 1942. The Army later restored the Suneagles name, and the club has maintained its connection to Fort Monmouth ever since.
Known for its excellent playing conditions, the course is laid out across a rolling landscape in the bucolic Navesink Highlands of Monmouth County. The combination of generous fairways and smaller, contoured putting surfaces places a premium on approach play and precision around the greens, while its deep bunkers add another layer of challenge for players.
The championship will mark the club’s first NJ Golf Championship of the 21st century. Suneagles most recently hosted the 1997 W.Y. Dear Junior Championship. Suneagles also boasts a notable place in New Jersey Golf history. When the New Jersey Open was held at the club in 1935, a young Byron Nelson captured the championship in his first professional victory. Nearly 90 years later, Suneagles will welcome another accomplished field of New Jersey golfers for the 68th Senior Amateur Championship.
68th Senior Amateur Championship Program
Pairings & Starting Times
Format
The Championship will be contested over two days and 36 holes of stroke play. Round one will be played on Wednesday, September 2, after which the field is cut to the low 40 scorers (plus ties). Those who make the cut will play 18 holes on Thursday, September 3.
A Look Back
Patrick Pierson, 62, returns to the field as the 2025 champion. Pierson finished with a two-day-total 9-over par 153 before outlasting Gregg Angelillo and Nick Desai in a playoff to capture the title. In a thrilling final round, Pierson started the day four back from the lead and then fired in three birdies through his first five holes to take a commanding charge up the leaderboard. Before that, his best finish in the event was a T-5 in 2024.
Previous Senior Amateur Champions in the Field:
Bill Charpek, 2015 & 2017
Anthony Fioretti, 2018
Norman Lewis, 2019
Morten Gotterup, 2022 & 2023
Mike Paduano, 2024
Patrick Pierson, 2025
Player Notes
Morten Gotterup, 59
The father of PGA Tour player Chris Gotterup, Morten enters the field as a two-time Senior Amateur Champion, having captured back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. He also teamed up with Christopher Housen to win the 29th Senior Four-Ball Championship in 2024.
Peter Kozubal, 56
Kozubal is a proven championship performer across multiple NJ Golf championships. The 2015 Public Links Champions, Kozubal also captured the 33rd Senior Open Championship in 2021 and the 61st Pre-Senior Championship in 2019. With a T-17 finish in last year’s championship, Kozubal looks to build on that performance as he continues his run through New Jersey’s senior championship ranks.
Mike Paduano, 57
Paduano enters Suneagles as one of six former Senior Amateur Champions in the field, having captured the 66th Senior Amateur Championship in 2024. He followed that championship performance with a T-14 finish last year and now returns looking to reclaim the Chuck Smith Championship Trophy and add a second Senior Amateur title to his resume.
Christopher Housen, 61
Housen won the 29th Senior Four-Ball Championship alongside Morten Gotterup in 2024 at Atlantic City Country Club. The son of New Jersey Golf Hall of Famer Robert Housen, Christopher finished T-10 in the 2025 championship, T-5 in 2023, and T-6 in 2022, with his best finish at runner-up in 2020 at Suburban Golf Club.
Tom Gramigna, 56
Gramigna enters the Senior Amateur Championship having captured back-to-back Senior Four-Ball Championships alongside Jamie Slonis in 2025 and 2026. A former New Jersey Amateur Champion in 2008 and a three-time Mid-Amateur Champion (2002, 2003, 2005), Gramigna has already established himself as one of the state’s most accomplished golfers and will look to add another title to his resume at Suneagles.
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