Bill Toney is 73, qualifying him as a super senior at the Alaska Golf Association's senior state amateur championship this week. The term "super" is meant to distinguish players over 65, but in Toney's case it might characterize his golf game better than his age.

Toney won the senior-am in 2008 and is one of the people to beat this week, either for the super-senior title or the overall senior titles. His 4-handicap is the third-lowest of any player over 54 in the tournament, which also has a masters division for golfers ages 45 to 54. But they don't contend for senior title.

Toney, who retired from the Air Force in 1982, is known for shooting his age on a regular basis, said Jeff Barnhart, the executive director of the AGA.

Toney missed shooting his age by seven shots with an opening round 80 at Settlers Bay on Friday, good enough to lead the super-senior division and tie for eighth place in the senior division, five strokes behind Gary Murdoch's 3-over-par 75.

Murdoch, a 61-year-old computer drafter from Juneau, finished second in the senior-am the past two years, five shots back of Toney in 2008.

The only place to play in Juneau is the Mendenhall Golf Course, a nine-hole, par-3 course where the longest hole is 192 yards.

"We get to hit driver if there's a 30 mile-per-hour wind in our face," Murdoch said.

Toney said his best round in Alaska this year was a 2-under 70 at Eagleglen Golf Course. He said his handicap has been between 4 and 7 as long as he can remember, something he maintains by playing two or three rounds per week.

"I don't want to play every day," he said. "You kind of get a little stale."

Toney typically hits drives of about 250 yards but said he nearly drove the green on a 285-yard par-4 at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., where he resides in the winter and plays three or four times a week.

Toney hits his drives with a Pat Simmons custom driver, filling out the rest of his bag with Ping G-10 irons and Snake Eyes hybrids. He said he owns about 10 putters but will probably use his Odyssey in the tournament.

"I'd very much like to win," he said. "I generally play better in tournaments than on a usual Saturday round. I keep my focus better."

A licensed commercial pilot, Toney proved his focus is still pretty strong last month when his Cessna 180 blew its engine in midflight, forcing him to make an emergency landing on the Glenn Highway near Peters Creek. He said there was oil all over the windshield, making it tough to see. But he managed to somehow land safely.

The former Air Force navigator will have to successfully navigate his way through Palmer Golf Course today and Anchorage Golf Course on Sunday if he wants his second title.

Toney shot a 73 in the final round at Eagleglen Golf Course to win his first state seniors title in 2008. Last year, he failed to break 80 in any round and finished in eighth place overall.

Toney doesn't play in the state amateur, but he said he has played rounds with Casey Cusack, who won his second straight championship earlier this month. The last time they played, Toney said, Cusack shot a 65 and Toney had a 75.

Many seniors who play in both the state amateur and the senior amateur say it's nice to have their own tournament so they don't have to worry about needing to beat the young hot shots. But Toney makes sure they still have to worry about at least one super-senior.

Friday's results at Settlers Bay

Senior men -- 1) Gary Murdoch, 75; 2) David Barber, 77; 3) Mike Azzara, 78.

Senior women -- 1) Susan Gatewood, 86; 2) (tie) Jamie Berge, Jane Shaw, 87.

Masters -- 1) Greg Sanders, 71; 2) (tie) Benji Sumulong, David Hamilton, 72; 4) Kevin Bernard, 75.