The Enstrom’s Rocky Mountain Open has been a fixture on the Colorado golf schedule since 1939, but the tournament is proving this year that it’s not too old to change.
Some of the change was planned, and some was a welcome byproduct of other change.
This year’s RMO, the 72nd consecutive, will run Friday through Sunday (Aug. 20-22) in Grand Junction. But for the first time, Lincoln Park Golf Course won’t be a host site for the event. Bookcliff Country Club, a newcomer to the RMO, will join Tiara Rado Golf Course as a tournament venue.
One of the reasons organizers gave for leaving Lincoln Park was that it’s a 9-hole course, which limited the field. It was hoped switching to the 18-hole Bookcliff facility would dramatically increase the number of players competing in the RMO, and in that regard the move certainly hasn’t been a disappointment.
A year after drawing 192 golfers for the event, the 2010 tournament will feature 256 players — a 33 percent increase.
“We don’t know all the reasons it’s grown, but we think it has to do with a few (things),” RMO director Mike Knode told the (Grand Junction) Daily Sentinel this week. “First, we added Bookcliff, so that drew some attention. But we also went to an online entry process, which made it much easier.”
It’s also anticipated that a larger field will help the RMO — Colorado’s oldest continuously run golf tournament open to both pros and amateurs — raise more money for college scholarships funded by the Western Colorado Golf Foundation. Over the years, more than $170,000 has been raised for those scholarships, which benefit former high school and junior golfer from Western Slope schools.
The other notable change that relates to the RMO is that Tiara Rado has undergone a $3.5 million renovation. About 250 yards have been added to the course, the 10th hole has been markedly re-routed, and there’s more water on the back nine.
The field will be split between Bookcliff and Tiara Rado on Friday and Saturday, with competitors alternating courses. After a 36-hole cut, the professionals and top amateurs will conclude the tournament Sunday at Tiara Rado.
Though defending champion Jason Allen of Pueblo isn’t back this year, plenty of notable competitors will play in the 2010 RMO. In the field are 2009 HealthOne Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan (pictured); Pat Grady, a two-time winner on the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series this year; 2007 RMO champion Scott Petersen, once a winner on the Nationwide Tour; Kane Webber, who won an Asian Tour event in 2006; two-time Big Eight champion Bob Kalinowski; former national PGA Club Professional Championship winner Steve Schneiter; 2008 RMO champion Kyle Daniell; and Grand Junction amateur Melissa Martin, winner of the last two CWGA Stroke Play Championships.
Professionals in the open division will compete for a $41,000 purse, with $8,500 going to the winner. There will be $2,520 up for grabs for senior pros, with the champion receiving $1,000.
The Rocky Mountain Open boasts a rich history in Grand Junction. Orville Moody, the 1969 U.S. Open champion, won the RMO in 1975, and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler captured the title in 1996. World-renowned athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who lived in the Denver area at the time, placed third in the 1946 RMO as an amateur and played in 1950 as a professional.
