Kevin VandenBerg, Yancey Johnson share early lead at Golfweek Senior National Championship

Kevin VandenBerg has been perched atop the Golfweek National Senior Amateur Rankings for months upon months for a reason: He always seems to rise to the top of a senior tournament. This week, VandenBerg is a New Yorker among Southeasterners at the top of the Golfweek Senior National Championship.

>VandenBerg, along with Yancey Johnson of Simpsonville, South Carolina, lead the Senior division after the first round. Both opened with even-par 72 on Monday at Benvenue Country Club, a historic Donald Ross design in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

>VandenBerg, who won the Apogee Investment Management Senior Championship a month ago, came out of the gate at Benvenue with two birdies in his first three holes. He lost some ground with bogeys at Nos. 6 and 9 before playing the back nine in even par. Similarly, Johnson, who is coming off a top-10 finish at the U.S. Senior Challenge earlier this month, was 2 under on the sixth tee, made bogey there but birdied No. 7 on his way to an opening 34. He had three bogeys and a birdie on the back nine.

>After his victory at the Apogee event, VandenBerg told the Central New York PGA that he felt he hadn’t played his best this year. He headed to U.S. Senior Open Final Qualifying in Texas the next week but failed to make it into the tournament.

>Bryan Hoops, defending champion in the Golfweek Senior National Championship and another favorite entering the tournament, is tied for fifth at 3-over 75.

>In the Super Senior division, Bob Beck of Allentown, Pennsylvania, leads after a 2-over 74. Beck is the top-ranked Super Senior in Golfweek’s rankings.

>The theme continues into the Legends division, where top-ranked Terry Tyson of Perrysburg, Ohio, leads after day one. Tyson is 1 under, which puts him five shots ahead of Lawrence Daniels in second place.

>Don Donatoni of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is 2 over and three shots ahead of Don Kuehn, winner of the U.S. Senior Challenge earlier this month.

>This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Golfweek Senior National Championship 2026 first round scores