Surviving the Slopes: 2025 Senior Amateur Championships

The 11th green at Juniper Hills Country Club in Pocatello, Idaho.

Juniper Hills Country Club is likely named for the dramatic foothills that tumble through Pocatello Idaho, but it might as well be named for its greens — and the bitter taste they leave with you. Even on the club’s classically flat layout, putts from above the hole seem to zip away from players like a toddler sledding away from their parents on the first snow day of the year. They are small. They are fast. And they tend not to listen. Then, the tight, trouble-rich back nine doubles down, ramping up the contours while robbing you of the security you once had off the tee. The recipe for double-bogey is simple.  

“I was just trying to survive,” three-time champion Gary Vanier said after finishing his second round with a two-stroke lead. “The greens are tough — really tough.”  

One needs no further explanation as to why the golf course delivered such high scores — protecting par like the Hope Diamond — but there is much more to say about Brett Rupert and Melinda Howard, each leaving with Senior Amateur titles thanks to final rounds pulled from the gut and fueled by the community that continues to bring them back.  

SENIOR MEN’S DIVISION:  

Round one of the senior men’s division saw no better than three-over 74, as Dean Park and Gary Vanier pinned themselves at the top of the leaderboard with a stable of talent behind them. But as Park faded in round two, Vanier turned in another 74 to roll into the final round two-shots clear of Juniper Hills member and defending champion Darren Kuhn (+8). 

Vanier and Kuhn were joined by Brian Swenson in the final group, whose 75-76 start matched the penultimate pairing of Rick Carosone, Robb Price, and Bret Rupert. But as each group made their way through the turn, it was Rupert who had turned nine-over into five-over with a bogey-free 31. Swenson’s 33 put him two-shots back, alone in second place as Vanier struggled. 

“The biggest difference was that I drove the ball into the fairways,” Rupert said, reflecting on a front nine that had given him trouble the first two rounds. 

Rupert avoided his first hiccup on the 10th, where he sent his first long putt of the day some 15 feet by the hole. He poured the comebacker right in the middle and moved onto the notorious par-5 11th that had ravaged score cards all week.  

A driver down the right side. Great start. A tidy-draw three wood just a handful of paces off the front edge of the green. Ideal approach. Sand wedge skips into the hole for three, sending Rupert to six-under through 11 with a four-shot lead.  

“I didn’t know where I stood; I didn’t know how anybody else was doing,” Rupert said. “It was just kind of stay in the moment, just one shot at a time like the pros always say. But it’s hard to do that and you definitely think about it.” 

Thinking about it or not, Rupert continued to play a level of golf that nobody in the field could replicate all week. After another birdie at the 16th, Rupert missed the 18th green left and chipped it long of the hole. A two putt would give him the only bogey of the day, a round of 65, a six-stroke victory, and his name on the Joe Malay Cup.  

“Joe and I have been buddies dating back to 1972 when I first met him,” Rupert said. “I was just a young kid at the time — I’m a little younger than him — but he’s been a dear friend. And to have his name on the trophy and get it presented to me is absolutely amazing and I’m ecstatic about it — and a little giddy.” 

Rupert credits Malay with playing an essential role in an evening range session before the final round where the longtime friends found some magic that turned into one of just two under par rounds all week. The other belongs to Scott Masingill, who shot 70.  

SENIOR WOMEN’S DIVISION:  

Things were tightly packed amongst a familiar crowd after the opening round of the Women’s Senior Amateur. Stacey Camara, who’s had several close calls over the last few years, led the way with a round of 76 (+3). Right on her heels was Kris Fenwick (77) — another player still looking for her first Senior Amateur title — followed by defending champion Jennifer Harper and Melinda Howard (78).  

Following the second round, Camara said the second warmup she was afforded after being pulled off the course for lightning helped her settle in for a round of 78. But her housemate for the week, Melinda Howard, made even better use of the extra warm up, firing 76 to tie her at the top.  

Fenwick struggled, firing 83, along with Harper who posted 80. Nine-time champion Karen Darrington, competing for the first time since she spent 18-months away from competition, opened with back-to-back scores in the 80s.  

Through the early goings of the final round, it was Harper who was looking poised to make a move. With a par on the 9th as Howard and Camara made bogey, Harper moved within two of the lead after starting the day four shots back. But Harper’s back nine would be par-less, making two birdies to pair with 7 bogeys, drifting away from the lead.  

In her place, Howard rose to the occasion. After getting up and down from a short-sided bunker on the 10th, Howard played her next six holes in two under par, making birdie at the par-4 13th and the par-3 15th.  

“I knew the rest of the field was going to bring some low scores,” Howard said. “I knew I had to keep it tightened up.”  

After chipping out of the trees on the 17th — where she hit an adrenaline-juiced three wood through the corner of the dogleg — Howard knocked in a putt for bogey to move into the final hole with a four-stroke lead. Kris Fenwick, who was out in front of her, was on her way to turn in a low score, but Howard had more room than she realized to finish, making par on the last to polish off the win.  

“I’m still trying to manage the adrenaline; it kicked in on 17 and it was rough,” Howard said after the round. “I just gutted it out; I wasn’t sure if it was going to be enough.” 

This is Howard first IGA title amongst a group of women who have been playing IGA events together for decades.   

“Some of my best friends are golf friends,” she said. “These are the people I want to be around if I’m not around my family, and this is such a great bunch of women. They root for you, they don’t wish ill on you, but they are fierce competitors — they don’t want to give you an inch.”