It isn’t the most prestigious tournament on the 2010 CGA championship schedule, but next week’s Four-Ball marks the season opener, and there’s no lack of notable names in the field.
Among those competing Monday and Tuesday at the Heritage at Westmoor and Legacy Ridge Golf Courses in Westminster are a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer (Kent Moore), the 2004 CGA Player of the Year (Steve Irwin), a couple of Mid-Amateur Players of the Year (Jon Lindstrom and Michael Harrington) and some Senior Players of the Year (Robert Polk, Scott Radcliffe and Moore).
But by far the biggest name in the field is a member of a Hall of Fame that has nothing to do with golf. Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Broncos quarterback John Elway is among those entered in the open division of the CGA Four-Ball. There is also a senior division, and a Net Four-Ball competition.
While Elway has competed in the Colorado Open three times — finishing 37th in 2001 — this is believed to be his first foray into a CGA event, per se.
“It’s exciting,” CGA executive director Ed Mate said. “It’s like when he’s played in the Colorado Open; it’s the story of the tournament (because of Elway’s status in Colorado). Not only that, but he’s competitive. To have him play is one thing, to have him win would be another. Maybe that would whet his appetite to play more CGA events.”
Don’t be surprised if Elway and partner Tom Hart (both pictured) are indeed in the hunt for the Four-Ball title. After all, it was just last September that the two teamed up at Cherry Hills Country Club to win the Trans-Mississippi Four-Ball, a national tournament. In both cases, the best ball of the twosome is the only thing that counts, so Elway’s occasional shortcomings can be negated by a solid partner such as Hart.
At Cherry Hills, Elway and Hart claimed the mid-amateur division of the Trans-Miss by combining for a 17-under-par 199 total for three rounds, which was good for an eight-stroke victory. On the final day, Hart shot a 6-under-par 29 on the front nine with his own ball.
As Elway said then, “I had a great partner. The way he was playing, it was pretty much pressure-free.”
Elway certainly has some game — he’s won four club championships at Castle Pines Golf Club and one at Cherry Hills — but Hart has plenty of high-level tournament experience. After attending Kent Denver High School, he played collegeiately at the University of Denver. And golf is definitely in his blood as his father Stacey, and uncle, Scott, have been prominent members of the Colorado golf community for decades.
Tom Hart played in the CGA Four-Ball last year with a different partner, Jonathan Marsico, and finished third.
This year, Elway and Hart — and all the open-division competitors — will play the Heritage at Westmoor course on Monday and Legacy Ridge on Tuesday, while senior-division players will be at the opposite sites each day.
Irwin and Alex Buecking, both former pros who played on mini-tours, joined forces to win last year’s CGA Four-Ball, prevailing in a four-hole playoff over Lindstrom and Dean Clapp. Irwin, the son of three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, birdied the fourth extra hole to clinch the victory. Irwin and Buecking will defend their title next week, and also back in the field are Lindstrom and Clapp, who recently teamed up to finish 11th at an international tournament in Peru.
With the CGA and CWGA championship seasons starting in the next two weeks — the CWGA Niblick tournament is set for May 11 at Kissing Camels — the question comes up: What to do for an encore?
That’s the dilemma after 2009 proved to be one of the more memorable years for Colorado amateur golf championships in recent history.
In the next five months, the CGA and CWGA will have tough acts to follow in trying to match the storylines from the 2009 season. Here are a few of the highlights from last year:
“¢For the first time since 1985, one player (Steve Ziegler of Broomfield) swept the CGA’s two most prestigious titles, its Stroke Play and Match Play. Ziegler also went to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur and the round of 16 in the British Amateur, played on the U.S. Palmer Cup team and won a college tournament as a Stanford sophomore.
“¢As for the CWGA, Kim Eaton of Greeley became the first woman to win Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year honors in the same season — or ever, for that matter. In 2009, Eaton set a standard for lifetime achievement by winning a CWGA Senior Stroke Play title to go with her victories in major CWGA events at the junior and open-age levels. She also advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and to the round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.
“¢In the CGA senior ranks, Robert Polk of Parker became the first player since 2002 to claim the Senior Stroke Play and Senior Match Play in the same year. He subsequently was named CGA Senior Player of the Year for the third straight time.
“¢In junior events, nationally ranked Wyndham Clark of Greenwood Village at age 15 won the CGA Junior Stroke Play by 11 shots and advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Junior Amateur. And Somin Lee of Denver swept the CWGA Junior Match Play and Stroke Play in 2009 and pushed her streak of consecutive CWGA junior victories to three.
No one knows how the 2010 CGA and CWGA seasons will unfold, but some new wrinkles should add spice to the stew.
First, the one-year-old CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, owned and operated by the CGA and the CWGA, will host major state-wide events for the first time. On the CommonGround schedule this year are the CGA Match Play (July 5-9) and CWGA Match Play (Aug. 2-5), as well as the Class 5A girls state high school tournament (May 24-25) and the finals of the inaugural CGA Team Interclub event (Sept. 25).
Second, a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier will come to Colorado this year — on May 31 at Broadmoor East in Colorado Springs. Having a U.S. Women’s Open qualifying tournament in the state certainly isn’t an annual occurrence, but with the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open coming to the Broadmoor, it’s a natural as a lead-up to the USGA championship.
