Maricopan wins Arizona Senior golf tourney in playoff

Maricopa resident Jim Whisman, 68, won the Arizona Senior Stroke Play Championship Tuesday at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club.

Whisman shot 71-83 in the two-day event, besting Tom Eastlack (72-82) with a par on the first hole of a playoff.

Arizona Golf Association, the official governing body of amateur golf in Arizona, hosted the tournament, which took place on Monday and Tuesday.

Whisman took home the trophy in the 65-plus Legends division. Scott Smith of Tucson won the Masters division for ages 45 to 54 and Mark Coward of Scottsdale won the Senior division, ages 55 to 64.

Whisman, who taught high school in Sparks, Nev. for 30 years, won three senior state championships in Nevada. He and his wife, Paula, moved to Maricopa in 2006.

This is the fifth time Whisman has competed in this Arizona tournament.

“I was glad to finally win it,” he said. “It’s a prestigious thing to win.”

Whisman played minor league baseball for six years before taking up golf at age 25.

Whisman said he competed in three U.S. Senior Opens, though he did not make the cut. “I’ve always been one of the top amateur players … It was quite an honor to play in those.”

AGA tournament manager Alex Tsakiris said the tournament had 107 players in the three divisions.

“Jim competed against the best players in his age division – it was quite an accomplishment,” Tsakiris said, noting the challenging course and high winds Tuesday affected a number of players.

***ADVERTISEMENT***Whisman said the way to deal with the wind is to “focus on every shot and try to get the lowest of the higher scores.”

“Having Jim win it was near and dear and special to everyone here," said Brady Wilson, Southern Dunes' general manager. "He was a member here for a long time. There is probably not another golfer alive that knows the course as well as he does. We try not to have favorites, but there is not another person we would rather have won than Jim.”