Local golf: U.S. Senior Challenge returns to NM next week

For the first time since 2018, one of senior amateur golf's premier competitions is set to return to New Mexico. The U.S. Senior Challenge, a 54-hole tournament pitting four-person teams from states against each other, will be held at The Canyon Club at Four Hills, starting with a practice round on Monday and competitive rounds Tuesday through Thursday. The event was last hosted in New Mexico at Paako Ridge Golf Club in Sandia Park. With both team and individual champions crowned following the tournament's conclusion, the lowest three of a team's four scores per hole will be counted during the first round and the lowest three of four 18-hole rounds will be scored during the final two rounds. Florida and Craig Hall (Arkansas) are the event's reigning team and individual winners, respectively. The only time a New Mexico-based team has ever won the 38-year-old event was when it was held at Paako Ridge in 2018. No New Mexico-based individual has ever won the event outright. LOCAL HOLE IN ONE: Isaac Cota, Albuquerque, Puerto del Sol No. 7, 187 yards, 8-iron, his first.