Four New Champs Crowned at 2025 Clark County Senior Golf Amateur at Boulder Creek
Joe Sawaia (Senior) and Jeff Duncan (Silver) won gross titles in the 2025 Clark County Senior Amateur, the SNGA’s final major of the year. Phil Erickson (Senior) and Brent Bingham (Silver) won net titles in the tournament held Oct. 23-24, 2025, at Boulder Creek Golf Club.—by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Senior
Joe Sawaia held off a hard-charging Brady Exber to win his first major in the Senior Division. His most recent major came in the Championship Division in the 2024 SNGA Championship.
Sawaia held a four-shot lead after the first day of play only to see Exber birdie four of the first six holes in the final round to pull into a tie. Sawaia then birdied the par-5 seventh and went on to post a four-shot victory.
Sawaia said standing on the seventh tee tied with Exber did send different thoughts through his mind.
“I kind of expected Brady to make a charge,” Sawaia said. “I could see him getting more and more comfortable yesterday to keep me within striking distance.”
One of Sawaia’s other thoughts was that he was now going head-to-head with one of Nevada’s best to ever play the game.
“He’s just incredible,” Sawaia said. “I always call him the GOAT. That term is overused a lot in sports but not in this case. I learn from him every time we play and it’s just fun to watch him do his thing.”
Sawaia added it was certainly great to be able to play well and close out the victory.
“I really like the fact I was patient out there, kept my emotions in check and executed the shots I needed down the stretch,” he said.
He said majors are always great to win.
“Those bring out the best players and it’s always an impressive field,” he said. “And any time you can win a golf tournament it’s special but there’s a little bit extra when it’s a major.”
Senior
Joe Sawaia, 65-69—134
Brady Exber, 69-69—138
Laurie James Warder, 73-69—142
Senior Net
Phil Erickson posted two eagles in the tournament’s first round–one natural and one net–in winning an SNGA title, as well as a major, for the first time.
And, just for good measure, he added a birdie (net eagle) on the 18th hole of the final round to put an exclamation point on the victory.
“The first day, everything was clicking,” Erickson said. “I had solid irons into the greens and my putting stroke was working, I didn’t think I could miss. I was in the zone.”
But then came the second day.
“Today was tough,” he said. “I only had one birdie and that was the net eagle on 18. But playing with Brady (Exber) and Joe (Sawaia) was amazing. It was just so much fun being in the mix for the overall win and getting to play with those two really helped my confidence.”
He said his game wasn’t nearly as sharp the final round.
“I was just trying to hold it together,” he said. “I just kept grinding. I made a good birdie on 18 and the rest is history.”
He added he’s looking forward to being in the mix more often.
“This definitely gave me something to look forward to going forward,” he said. “I want to get right back into it and hope to find this same game…if not better.”
Senior Net
Phil Erickson, 65-72—137
Mark Dudenake, 78-69—147
John Bobroski, 74-73—147
Silver
Jeff Duncan survived a roller-coaster first round (six birdies, six pars and six bogeys) and posted a bogey-free second round to rally to win an SNGA major for the first time.
Duncan won the Nevada State Senior Amateur title three straight years in the Silver Division—2022, 2023 and 2024—but this was his first SNGA major.
“Today was the kind of weather you hope to play in…it was perfect,” he said of his no-bogey effort. “Yesterday it was a solid two-club wind and that made it tough.”
Duncan said the opening round was a matter of survival.
“You definitely had to just hang in there,” he said. “I had a couple of pretty good streaks today and that got me into contention. I didn’t know this was a major. It was a very good field so being able to win is great”
Duncan joined the SNGA this year and had hoped to make more trips down to Vegas but was limited in his tournaments for various reasons. But he has had success when he has teed it up.
“In March, I won the San Francisco City Super Senior Amateur at Harding Park,” he said. “So, with this win, it was a nice beginning and nice ending to 2025.”
Silver
Jeff Duncan, 72-67—139
Chris Cookson, 68-72—140
Steve Fink, 72-69—141
Silver Net
Brent Bingham survived a final-hole double bogey en route to winning his second SNGA major of 2025.
It was Bingham’s third win of 2025 and he also won the first major of the year, the 2025 SNGA Championship.
Bingham said the last hole was tough to take.
“It really left a bad taste in my mouth,” he said. “I hate finishing like that. Up until that disaster I had played pretty well.”
Bingham said he knew exactly where he stood.
“I saw on the live scoring on 16 and knew I led by a couple of shots but then I pulled that nonsense on the last hole,” he said. “I knew I still had a chance but I didn’t make it easy on myself.”
He said his work on the greens helped him post the win.
“I putted pretty well,” he said. “And at Boulder Creek that’s not always easy. These greens are a challenge. You can hit putts you think you’ve made and at the last second it will turn. But if you make those putts it can motivate you and get you moving in the right direction.”
He said making putts kept his spirits high.
“I just tried to stay positive all weekend and didn’t let the bad shots bother me…well, except for that last hole,” he said with a laugh.
Overall, Bingham added a major victory is always one to cherish.
“The majors are always the ones you want to win,” he said. “You’ve got great fields…everyone shows up for these tournaments.”
Silver Net
Brent Bingham, 72-73—145
John Steele, 74-72—146
Ken Dilorio, 78-70—148
