When he’s not on the bench serving as a municipal court judge in Fairhope, Haymes Snedeker trades his gavel for golf clubs, and he recently came home from a memorable week at the U.S. Senior Open.

Snedeker shot four-over for four days at the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, and became the first amateur to make the cut at the Senior Open since 2023, an experience he called the best week of his life in golf.

“It’s hard to put into words what it really means to me,” Snedeker told GCM. "I’m probably going to appreciate it more and more as the days go by, what I was able to pull off, but it really still has not completely sunk in.”

Snedeker played college golf at the University of Mississippi, where he received All-SEC honors and helped lead them to the NCAA Tournament during his four years playing for the Rebels. His other accomplishments include winning the Golf Channel’s “Big Break” competition in 2008 with fellow Ole Miss alum Bernadette Luse.

Snedeker said he believes one of the things people don’t appreciate with these events is how difficult it is to qualify for them. Having turned 50 in April, Snedeker was eligible to play in the U.S. Senior Open. He qualified by participating in a local qualifier in Montgomery, shooting a 70 before advancing to the next stage in Houston, where he finished as a first alternate with a round of 70.

Snedeker is notably the older brother of Brandt Snedeker, a decorated golfer in the PGA Tour whose accolades include the 2012 FedEx Cup title as well as serving as a captain of the U.S. President’s Cup team this year. He said his younger brother gave him “the best advice” ahead of the tournament, telling him to get there as early as he can, get all of his rounds out of the way early and pace himself.

“He said he was as nervous as he’s ever been and was trying to get refreshed on the U.S. Open app trying to see how I was doing hole by hole and how frustrating it was not to be able to see me play and watch it,” Snedeker recalled. “He said, ‘Now I know what you, Mom and Dad were going through over the years when I was playing in all these tournaments.’”

Haymes also credited his caddy, David French, a friend from Nashville, Tennessee, who is also a five-time club champion at the Scioto Country Club where the Senior Open took place.

“He knows the course as good or better than anybody at that club, and I guarantee you he knew it better than every caddy in the field with every player,” Snedeker said. “The advantage I had with him on the bag was incalculable.”

Snedeker shot a four-day, 72-hole total of 4-over-par on the Scioto Country Club course, finishing tied for 36th. Snedeker remembers sharing the 18th green with Padraig Harrington, who won a record-tying third U.S. Senior Open title. Harrington, who has won three major championships, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2024.

“To be on the center stage with him, it’s hard to even articulate,” Snedeker said.

As a low amateur, Snedeker receives exemptions for three upcoming tournaments, which include the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, next month, the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, this fall, and a return to next year’s U.S. Senior open.

“The support was amazing,” Snedeker said. “I don’t have an entourage, I don’t travel with an instructor, a trainer, a dietician or an agent, but I felt like I had more support than I anybody in that field. From Baldwin County, my court magistrates, the people from my office to family and friends as well as the membership at (Scioto Country Club). I really felt like I was the hometown favorite.”