Sports fans are rightly impressed by such aging-but-still-dazzling athletes as LeBron James and Aaron Rodgers, but golf fans long have known that mastery is attainable in the sport into middle age and beyond.
“I’m 41, and I just picked up skateboarding. I don’t have a very long skateboarding career in front of me,” says Jesse Ghiorzi, director of marketing at the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. “But I started golfing seven or eight years ago, and I can golf for as long as I can physically do it. … You can pick it up at any age and play it for a really long time.”
Connect with the Columbus you don’t know. Subscribe to Columbus Monthly’s weekly Top Reads newsletter.
The proof may be in the U.S. Senior Open, which on July 2-5 at the Scioto Country Club will invite golfers 50 and older to prove their mettle.
“The cool thing about open tournaments is they’re open, by definition,” Ghiorzi says. “It’s not just professional players or former champions. It’s anybody with a handicap index under 2.4.”
The pool of 2,780 entrants will be reduced to a 156-player field.
“Then we’ve got one person that will ultimately lift the trophy in July,” says Ghiorzi, noting that recent champions include such impressive players as Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer and Steve Stricker.
“There are a lot of good golfers still out there,” he says.
This year’s tournament will take place for the third time at the Scioto Country Club, whose storied past—and first-class maintenance—made it a logical landing spot for the U.S. Senior Open in 1986 and 2016.
“It was designed by Donald Ross in 1916, and it’s obviously been updated since then,” Ghiorzi says. “It’s got ties to Jack Nicklaus, learning to play there as a kid. There’s not a whole lot of golf courses that can claim they had the greatest champion golfer learn the game there.”
Various ticket packages can be found at the USGA website. With the popularity of golf skyrocketing, Ghiorzi says, it’s an especially good year to follow the game in Columbus.
“It’s the 50th anniversary of the Memorial Tournament,” he says. “It’s a really special year for golf in Columbus.”
More sports activities in Columbus this summer
Columbus Recreation and Parks sports leagues
Sports are not just for spectators, so for those who wish to spend their summer doing some sweating, the recreation and parks department offers numerous adult sports leagues, including pickleball (six-week season begins July 12), tennis (five-week season begins July 19) and indoor volleyball (five-week season begins Aug. 16). columbusrecparks.com/wellness/athletics/adult
Columbus Clippers
In keeping with Columbus’ tradition of not being home to Ohio’s Major League teams but having the state’s coolest teams, the Clippers—the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians—will be in the swing of their season all summer long. Don’t miss out on promotions that make going to home games at Huntington Park easier, including Family Day Sundays, Tuesday Dime-aDog Nights and $5 Wednesdays. milb.com/columbus
Columbus Crew
For professional soccer fans residing in the Columbus region, summertime is synonymous with the Columbus Crew kicking their way to another playoff berth and, ideally, their first MLS Cup since 2023. The club plays at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. columbuscrew.com
Columbus Eagles FC
The Crew is not the only game in town. Support women’s soccer by making yourself a regular attendee of the home games of the Columbus Eagles FC, who will play Greater Toledo FC on June 19 and Corktown WFC on June 27. Games are played at Fortress Obetz. columbuseaglesfc.com/wp
WWE Monday Night RAW | May 25
Professional wrestling is the sort of sport where you buy a ticket claiming that it’s for a friend or perhaps a relative—but, in actuality, you’re the one who wants a front-row seat to all the mayhem. It’s OK: There’s no shame in checking out the pummeling and trash talking sure to unfold at the Schottenstein Center. $57.95 and up, schottensteincenter.com/events/detail/wwe-raw-2
The Memorial Tournament | June 1-7
Fifty years have elapsed since the founding of Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, but there’s nothing stodgy about watching the nimblest and most talented golfers globally converge on Dublin’s Muirfield Golf Club. Multiple ticket options are available for those who wish to take in the talent. thememorialtournament.com
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire | Aug. 22-23
Surely the drivers behind the wheels of monster trucks count as athletes of a kind? Whether they are or not, no one could argue that watching their oversize vehicles navigate the terrain at Nationwide Arena sounds like loads of fun. After all, some of the trucks have names like Bone Shaker and Mega Wrex. $32.50 and up, ticketmaster.com
This story appeared in the June 2026 issue of Columbus Monthly as part of the Summer Entertainment Guide feature package. Subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on Columbus Monthly: U.S. Senior Open is Returning to Scioto Country Club This Summer
Reporting by Peter Tonguette, Columbus Monthly / Columbus Monthly
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
