Kentucky teacher playing in U.S. Senior Open this weekend with ‘biggest names in golf’

Henry Clay High School teacher Tony Wise is competing in the 2023 United States Senior Open with “some of the biggest names in golf this weekend,” Fayette County school district officials said this week.

Wise qualified for this year’s Senior Open in Wisconsin after carding a 4-under 67 in a qualifying competition at Cascades Course at the Homestead in Virginia last month, the district statement said.

“He finished the tournament in first place with four birdies under his belt,” the statement said.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported professional golfers Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly also were scheduled to play.

There are five former U.S. Open champions on the start list: two-time champions Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004) and Lee Janzen (1993, 1998), as well as Michael Campbell (2005) and Jim Furyk (2003).

There are major champions in the lineup: Vijay Singh, Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara, Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington, Davis Love III, Y.E. Yang, Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke, Justin Leonard, Tom Lehman and Jeff Sluman.

NBC reported that 20 hours of championship live coverage is presented Thursday and Friday from noon-3 p.m. ET and in primetime from 6-8 p.m. ET on Peacock and the GOLF Channel. Weekend coverage will feature seven hours on the NBC broadcast network beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday.

The State Journal reported in 2021 that Wise resigned as head Franklin County High School Boy’s Basketball Coach to become a business instructor at Henry Clay High School.