By: Michael Cawley
On September 9, 2026, Tim Hogarth of Northridge, California, an already legendary 60-year-old California golfer, ascended to the #1-ranked senior amateur in the world, according to the updated World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). The news was a really big deal for a variety of different reasons.
For context, the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) is the ultimate, globally recognized ranking system for amateur golf. WAGR rankings are dynamic, adjusted each week to reflect rolling performance over the latest 104 weeks (2 years). Fully implemented in 2011 and endorsed by both the USGA and R&A, WAGR rankings cover every conceivable event over the four corners of the world, weighting tournaments by strength of field and event prominence. Subgroups within WAGR cover both mid-amateurs (26 years old and over) and senior amateurs (55 years old and up). As well as possible, WAGR attempts to provide a ranking on an “apples and apples” basis. Undeniably, however, ratings are skewed - the more bites at the apple (e.g., events played), the better your chances are to climb in the rankings.
The latter point, the dispersion in the number of tournaments played, made the Tim Hogarth news of September 9 all the more remarkable. By way of example, the occupant of #1 senior just prior to September 9 (Bryan Hoops of Arizona) had played in 33 point- accumulating events over a 104-week period. Tim Hogarth, by contrast, rose to #1 on the basis of a mere 18 events.
Think of a marathon race (26.2 miles) where one person starts at the 10-mile marker.
But that was the exact uphill battle that muni-hardened Tim Hogarth knew, understood and accepted the day he set the WAGR senior #1 goal for himself some five (5) years earlier, when he turned 55 years old. It was a challenge made to order for a blue-collar guy introduced to the game by his father as a 12-year-old on the most municipal of all municipal golf courses – a 27-hole track (18-hole par 3 and 9-hole executive course) called Van Nuys GC.
Hogarth vowed to pursue that WAGR senior #1 objective on his terms, in the same manner he had set his yearly amateur schedule, ever since winning the US Public Links Championship 30 years ago (1996). No living out of a suitcase for Tim Hogarth. The golfing journey has always been simple. Family, job, and then golf – in that order. Direct and unflinching: stay in California, no matter what, except for the 45 (or so) USGA events he has qualified for.
“I made a decision a long time ago not to travel around the country playing golf tournaments. If it wasn’t for the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) I wouldn’t have had a golf career. The SCGA made it possible for me to compete in great tournaments and still live up to my family responsibilities. I am very grateful for the SCGA. Without it my life would be very different.”
The concept of gratitude – as expressed towards the SCGA - is a consistent and heartfelt one that runs deep with Tim Hogarth. It was born from a public golf environment where a guy named Tim – wearing shorts, a T-shirt and carrying his own sticks – has always been most at home playing golf with buddies, perhaps in a trash-talking skins game on Tuesday evening at Brookside GC. Over the last several years, at the exact time he was directing his laser focus on the #1 WAGR ranking goal, gratitude has driven Hogarth to take action of a different, and even more important, type.
“Tournament entry fees have become exorbitantly expensive; people are finding themselves priced out of tournament golf. Something has to change, so I decided it was time to stop complaining and use my 50 years of golf to try and provide competitive golf at great courses for a reasonable price. That is why the Public Links Golf Club (PLGC) was formed”
Rolled out in late 2026, PLGC’s mission is to provide monthly (or more frequent) 18-hole competitive golf tournaments at great courses for an affordable price. Modest membership ($70) includes SCGA affiliation and handicap establishment. Monthly tournaments will be held on Mondays, with preferred tee times on great private courses, like The Saticoy Club, Valencia CC, Wood Ranch CC etc. A select number of weekend events will be scheduled at the best public courses in the area, like Soule Park, Olivas Links and Los Robles Greens. Every tournament will pay gross and net prizes and have an optional skins game. PLGC club champions, both gross and net, will represent the club in the SCGA Tournament of Champions. Player of the Year (POY) points will be awarded for each tournament.
The cherry on the sundae? Full-year POY winners (gross and net) will win a round of golf with a guy named Tim Hogarth.
Not too shabby.
On September 9, 2026, when Tim Hogarth learned that he had reached #1 senior ranking, he immediately thought of two things.
“First, I thought about how my #1 WAGR ranking might be able to help propel the PLGC mission forward, in whatever small way. I have no illusions about being able to retain the #1 WAGR status, given the nature of my schedule, but I’ll always be able to say I reached the top of the mountain, at least once. I’d like to use that achievement, not to strut my own stuff, but to benefit PLGC going forward.”
Secondly, Hogarth thought about his late father.
“My father loved to watch me compete and definitely saw some of my victories. I miss him every day. A long time ago, I was asked whom I’d play with and where I’d want to play, if I had one round. My answer has not changed through the years. I wish I had one more round to play Van Nuys with my father. I’m sure he’d be thrilled by my having reached #1 ranking with WAGR. I think he’d be even more proud of the PLGC initiative. PLGC, at least in part, is me paying homage to my dad.”
