In senior amateur golf, the new year begins with a tribute to the top players who just finished. That said, not much changes as the calendar flips over. After the first round of the Golfweek Player of the Year Classic on Friday, many of the top players in the 2025 class are lingering atop their respective age-group rankings.
Take the Legend and Super Legend divisions for example. Last year, Greg Osborne (Legend) and John Osborne (Super Legend) accomplished the historic feat of becoming the first brothers in history to top their respective age groups in the Golfweek National Senior Amateur Rankings. The Osbornes will compete this week at the Omni Resort in Orlando (Fla.) and both are within striking distance of the lead.
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Gregg shot a 1-over 73 on a cold Florida winter day and was just two shots off the top of the Legends bracket. The Lititz, Pa., resident was two strokes behind leader Terry Tyson of Perrysburg, Ohio.
Tyson, who started 10th and was 2 under at the turn, might have had a bigger advantage if not for a rough start on his second nine. He had bogeys on Nos. 1, 2 and 6 and ended his day with a 1-under 71.
In the Super Legend category, John Osborne is undoubtedly at the top of the leaderboard, but the competition is tougher. Two men – defending POY Classic champion Don Donatoni of West Chester, Pa., and Jack Marin of Durham, N.C. – are tied for the lead at 1 under. Two other players were at 3-over before Osborne reported at 4-over, part of a three-way tie for fifth.
In some ways, the super-premium group is also unchanged. 2025 Player of the Year Greg Goode may be out with hip surgery, but perennial super senior Marcus Beck of Tallahassee, Fla., is in a very familiar spot on the leaderboard. Baker is the top player in the class in 2023. He shot a 1-under 71 at the Omni on Friday, two strokes ahead of Scott Ray of Center City, Ky., and Richard Kerper of Oldsmar, Fla.
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Copper won his class in this event a year ago.
As for the deep senior division, the top eight players on the leaderboard are all at par or better. Danny Nelson of Savannah, Ga., shot 5-under 67 to top the list. Nelson started his day with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 3, then had seven straight birdies the rest of the way.
Notably, Nelson finished runner-up at last year’s British Senior Amateur and competed in match play at the U.S. Senior Amateur later this summer. At Omni, he leads Dave Bunker, who has already won the Plantation Senior Invitational this year. Bunker, who hails from Ontario, Canada, is another experienced international player who, in addition to excelling at several senior events in Canada and the United States, also had strong results at senior events in the UK last summer.
Tony Wise of Georgetown, Ky., tied with Nelson for second.
This article originally appeared in Golfweek: Golfweek Player of the Year Classic kicks off Senior Amateur season