Gary Koch becomes the oldest ever US Senior Open qualifier, over five decades after US Junior Amateur win

Gary Koch has become the oldest qualifier to play in the US Senior Open Championship. Koch is currently 71 years old. The 2024 US Senior Open is scheduled from June 27 to 30 at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.

The NBC golf broadcaster qualified for the 2024 US Senior Open through sectional qualifying at Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club in Tampa, Florida on Thursday, May 23. Koch qualified after carding a round of 2-under 68 and secured one of two qualifying spots in the field.

While talking about his experience with USGA, Gary Koch said (via SB Nation):

"As I look back over my life of golf, the [United States Golf Association (USGA)] and their competitions have been a huge part of that, no doubt about it."

Koch won his first USGA competition more than five decades back in 1970. He won the US Junior Amateur Champion at the age of 17. He further talked about his first USGA competition (via SB Nation):

"The very first one was in 1968, the USGA Junior at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. I was 15 years old. So here we are 56 years later, getting to compete in another USGA Championship. I can’t think of any other sport where something like that could happen."

Gary Koch hasn't played competitive golf since 2018. In his last tournament, he tied for the 50th at the Senior Open.

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How did Gary Koch perform in the first round of the 2024 US Senior Open?

Gary Koch has had a very dismal start at the 2024 US Senior Open. He carded 3-over 73 in the first round at the Newport Country Club on Thursday, June 27. He is currently tied at the 104th position in a field of 156 players.

Koch started the round with five straight pars and then scored a bogey on the sixth hole on the front nine. He started the back nine with a bogey on the tenth hole, then two more bogeys on the 14th and 18th holes. His lone birdie in the round came on the par-5 16th hole.

Hiroyuki Fujita and Richard Green were tied for the first position and were on the top of the leaderboard after a bogey-free 7-under 63 in the first round. Both scored seven birdies each.

Gary Koch joined broadcasting for ESPN in 1990 when he was in his 40s. He talked about it before the tournament and said (via SB Nation):

"One of the reasons I got into television in my 40s is because I figured out it’s a lot easier to talk about some guy making a six-foot putt than me doing it."

While talking about similarities between being a golf broadcaster and a player, he said:

"You're hoping as a broadcaster to be able to communicate to the viewer hopefully what the player is thinking or maybe the game plan they’ve put together, or we read comments they make about how they’re trying to play the golf course. We spend a lot of time on the golf course, even as broadcasters, checking out the conditions. So I would say there are some similarities, no doubt. But talking about it is a lot easier than doing it."

Koch will have to considerably improve his performance to make the cut at the 2024 US Senior Open. He'll tee off at 07:31 AM EDT with Jody Fanagan (a) and David Berganio, Jr.