As the United States Golf Association continues to roll out future tournament venues, the distinct possibility of a huge star in the field for an upcoming U.S. Senior Open is being brought to light.
Officials for the USGA announced that Scioto Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio; Oak Tree National, in Edmond, Okla., and Crooked Stick Golf Club, in Carmel, Indiana, will be the host sites for the U.S. Senior Open Championship in 2026, 2027 and 2028, respectively. Each club has previously hosted the championship. Scioto also will host the 2036 U.S. Amateur Championship.
“The USGA is pleased to be returning to Scioto Country Club, Oak Tree National and Crooked Stick Golf Club as host sites for the U.S. Senior Open,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “Each club has a distinguished history of hosting national championships and promoting professional and amateur competition. We know each course will challenge the world’s best players and the communities will be welcoming and supportive.”
Although the dates have yet to be announced, this introduces the possibility of Tiger Woods playing in his first senior major in Ohio.
According to this story from our network partner, the Columbus Dispatch, the course might present a natural fit for Woods to debut in the event.
The Donald Ross-designed course in Upper Arlington also is scheduled to host the 2036 U.S. Amateur, last played at Scioto in 1968, when Bruce Fleischer won by a stroke. Scioto, where Jack Nicklaus learned to play the game, has hosted other significant national tournaments, including the 1926 U.S. Open, won by Bobby Jones, the 1931 Ryder Cup, won by the United States, and the 1950 PGA Championship, won by Chandler Harper.
Woods turns 50 on Dec. 30, 2025, enabling him to narrowly meet the minimum age requirement for entry into the U.S. Senior Open. The 15-time major championship winner has enjoyed great success in central Ohio, having won the Memorial Tournament five times. He has eight victories in events played at Firestone Country Club in Akron. Ohio has been good to him.
Scioto last hosted the Senior Open in 2016, when Gene Sauers defeated Miquel Angel Jimenez and Billy Mayfair by one stroke. Sauers finished the final round with three straight pars to finish 3-under for the tournament. It also hosted the event in 1986, when Dale Douglass defeated Gary Player by one shot.
Sauers’ victory in 2016, his first on the Champions Tour, marked a sentimental comeback story for the then 53-year-old from Georgia. Nearly a decade earlier, he battled Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare illness in which the skin on the extremities burns from the inside out. The medical condition nearly killed him, and kept him off the golf course for seven years.
The 2024 U.S. Senior Open will be held at Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island, with the 2025 event to be held at The Broadmoor (East Course) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.