Jack Nicklaus designed the course. The LPGA staged several profitable occasions there. The PGA Tour Champions held a main there once. Now, it’s the time for the Senior PGA Professional Championship to have a flip at the scenic Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona, Oct. 22-25.
It’s the first time in 9 years that the occasion will be in Arizona. In 2017, Frank Esposito Jr. won at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale.
Early morning golfers on the ninth gap of the Lost Gold Course at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Arizona. Photo by Golfweek
This 12 months there is a 264-player subject of PGA membership and educating professionals 50 and older vying to be one of the prime 35 who will earn spots in the 2027 Senior PGA Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.
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Superstition Mountain has 36 holes, the Lost Gold course as nicely as the Prospector. Both will be used over the first two days after which there will be a cut to the low 90 and ties. Then on the weekend, Lost Gold takes heart stage. There will be a second cut after three rounds with the low 70 and ties advancing to play Sunday’s ultimate spherical.
Justin Hicks is the defending champion. He won a 12 months in the past at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He was later the low PGA of America skilled at the 2026 Senior PGA.
“Really for me it’s the same as last year, my first goal is to find a way towards the top of the leaderboard and find a way to be in that group that qualifies for the Senior PGA,” said Hicks forward of this 12 months’s match. “These senior tees for the most part have been a little friendlier for me. I am a little bit more on the longer side of things amongst these guys and hopefully that gives me a little bit more opportunity to make more birdies because that’s really what it’s all about. You’ve got to have birdies in the tank.”
Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Superstition Mountain, Arizona. (Photo: The Arizona Republic)
There are 13 previous champions taking part in this week: Hicks (2025), Paul Claxton (2021), Jeff Coston (2006), Esposito Jr. (2014, ’17), Kirk Hanefeld (2008, ’11), Scott Hebert (2019), Alan Morin (2024), Matt Schalk (2022), Steve Schneiter (2016), Bob Sowards (2018, ’23), Robert Thompson (2010), Omar Uresti (2020) and Jim White (2004).
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There will be loads of locals competing as nicely, with eight Southwest PGA Section members are in the subject: Jim Carter (Scottsdale), Ross Farley (Queen Creek), J.D. Lindberg (Tucson), Gerry Norquist (Phoenix), Jerry Smith (Scottsdale), Jon Stanley (Phoenix), Dean Vomacka (Tucson) and Ralph West (Surprise, Arizona).
The winner this week receives $37,800 out of the $425,000 complete prize fund. The prime eight finishers robotically qualify for next 12 months’s Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Superstition Mountain opened the Prospector course in 1998 and Lost Gold in 1999. Jack Nicklaus teamed with his son Gary on the Prospector, while Lost Gold designed by Jack Nicklaus and his son Jack Jr.
Todd Kelly is an assistant managing editor at Golfweek.
This article initially appeared on Golfweek: Scenic Arizona golf course hosts Senior PGA Professional Championship this week
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