The Mulligan Tour’s Senior Open returned to Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter on Saturday, June 20th, and from the opening tee shot the outcome was never seriously in doubt. Ken Westerman arrived at the par-71 Gold tees with his game operating at a level that simply couldn’t be matched — and when the dust settled, his gross 76 told the whole story. That’s his age. Westerman shot his age on a Metropark layout and converted it into a net 65 (-6), winning the 2026 MT Senior Open by four strokes in dominant, wire-to-wire fashion.
It’s Westerman’s third Senior Open title overall, having previously won in 2022 and 2024 — and the symmetry is striking: all three victories came with a gross 76 on the card. The man has found a formula, and Hudson Mills had no answer for it. The race for second place was considerably more dramatic. Tom Moran stumbled through a shaky first five holes before something clicked, and over the final 13 he reeled off six birdies to salvage a gross 86 and a net 69 (-2) — good enough for solo second place and $24. A rough front nine that could have spiraled instead became a back-nine showcase, and Moran pockets a meaningful check as the Quad-Tour Challenge looms on July 5th. Jeff Klipa, Helen Puffenberger, and Mike Wassman all finished in a three-way tie at net 72 (+1), splitting the third-place money three ways at $11.67 apiece.
The challenge hole results added some memorable footnotes. Jeff Klipa stepped up on hole 8 and left his approach a mere three feet from the cup — the kind of shot that earns a $10 prize and a lot of envious looks. Hole 12 told a different story: Eric Birkle’s closest-to-the-pin effort ended up well clear of the flagstick, but in a field where nobody got closer, that was enough for the $20 MT account credit. A win is a win. Tom Carroll and Rich Dunmore shared sixth at net 73 (+2), each pocketing $4.50, with Jeff Pasz close behind at net 74 (+3). Greg Kline, Jeff Cubel, and Eric Birkle rounded out the paid positions in a three-way tie at net 76 (+5), earning $1 apiece.
Ken Westerman now stands as a three-time Senior Open champion, his name alongside Don Ward, Scott Wilsey, and Helen Puffenberger among the event’s most decorated winners. The Senior Open has been contested since 2010, and no one has owned it quite like Westerman has in the alternating years he’s claimed it. The Mulligan Tour now looks ahead to a packed final stretch of the regular season — the rescheduled Quad-Tour Challenge at Fox Creek on July 5th, and the Match Play Championship at Huron Meadows on July 11-12. The bracket is taking shape. The money race is tightening. And somewhere in the field, the players who want to be holding hardware in August are going to have to earn it