Salina’s Greg Goode has been stalking Player-of-the-Year honors for the past three years. Having won that title among Kansas Seniors three times (2018, ‘19 and ‘21), he set his sights on national ranking points a few years ago.

In 2023 and 2024 he was the “Top Gun” in the Society of Seniors (a prestigious independent national organization) Super Senior Division. This year he emphasized tournaments and venues he hadn’t played before. That meant hop-scotching around the country, battling time zones, course conditions and cancelled flights in pursuit of his goal.

His 2025 campaign resulted in championships in three national events: the Moot-Thomas Super Senior (Florida), the National Hall of Fame Classic (No. Carolina) and the Sunnehanna Super Senior (Pennsylvania).

He was runner-up in four other events on the national stage: the Florida Azalea, the Golfweek (Super) Senior Amateur, the Society of Seniors (Super) Senior Masters and the Golfweek (Super) Senior National.

Of the 16 events he played around the country, he had eleven top five finishes. He was also invited to play in the Canadian Senior Amateur in which he finished 51st of 154 players and was 11th among the field’s Super Seniors.

The results? As of this writing, he has an unassailable lead in the Golfweek.com and the Amateur Golf.com rankings for 2025. Despite only playing in four Society events this year, he stands in fourth place. He is also number ten on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points list for players 65 and over.

Not bad for a guy who has had to alter his schedule (and his swing!) since late September because of a nagging hip problem which will result in surgery in early December.

Goode credits his success this year to three things: PGA Professionals Randy Syring and Dan Winters of Salina for their instructional leadership; changing his ball flight from a draw to a controlled fade; and the foundation laid by Central Links Golf and the excellent, competitive tournaments they run.

“I have been very fortunate to have built a foundation of competitive golf here, in Kansas. Playing in CLG tournaments, from the Senior Series to the state Amateur, has not only made me more competitive, but it lit a fire that nudged me into these national events,” he said. “And being able to rely on Randy and Dan when I needed a little ‘tune-up’ has meant a lot, too.”

For the record, Goode has won 9 times on that national stage; won a total of 18 state events (13 in CLG and 5 in Colorado) and has racked up 31 top-5 finishes in national tournaments.

– Article written by Don Kuehn