Not even a 7 by No. 7 on the seventh hole could discourage the Comeback Kid Wednesday at the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open.
John Elway, No. 7 from his days as a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Denver Broncos, had nothing but misfortune on the par-4 seventh hole at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in the first round of the Senior Open. But despite a triple bogey there — which he said caused him to check his scorecard over seven times before signing it later (there’s that number again) — Elway managed to tie for the low round by an amateur on Wednesday.
His even-par 72 left him in 17th place overall, five strokes behind tournament leader Bob Niger of El Dorado Hills, Calif. Mike Zaremba of Pueblo West, the 2005 champion, fired a bogey-free 4-under-par 68 to stand in second place, one stroke behind Niger. Kirk Maynord of Del City, Okla., Gerry James of Ponte Vedra, Fla., Mark Balen of Orchard Park, N.Y., and Jeb Stuart of McKinney, Texas, share third place at 69. James and Stuart both helped their cause with an eagle on Wednesday.
For Elway, suffice it to say that despite his 7, his score was a considerable improvement over the way he started the HealthOne Colorado Open earlier this summer — with an 82 on the same course.
“I was glad I was able to come back from that 7,” said Elway, who is making his Senior Open debut after turning 50 years old in late June. “It bothered me, razzed me a little bit. But I had a 6-footer for birdie on the next hole. I missed it, but then I made a birdie (on No. 9).”
If nothing else, give Elway credit for honesty, long a hallmark of high-level competitive golf. He hit his ball left on the seventh hole and felt fortunate when he found it, though the ball was half-buried in a tuft of grass. It was a TaylorMade 2, which was what Elway was playing. Though he couldn’t see much of the ball, he assumed it was his and hit it. But when he examined the ball back out on the maintained grass, it didn’t have the logo on the side that his ball had.
Elway called the requisite two-stroke penalty on himself and found his original ball, about 10 yards further ahead “and in much better shape,” he said. He played out the hole and made a triple-bogey 7, including his penalty.
“It was the same number (ball) on the same line that I hit it,” Elway said. “I was a little bit unlucky, but I also should have checked it. “¦ I should have made sure it was mine, but I didn’t do it.”
Playing partner Tim Brauch said he had an inkling Elway was looking for his ball in the wrong area, but couldn’t notify him in time before he hit the wrong TaylorMade 2.
The good news for Elway is that he had only one other blemish on his card, a bogey on the 15th hole, while making four birdies on the day.
“It was a little disappointing, but I was able to come back and I actually played really well,” said Elway, a runner-up in the nationally televised celebrity tournament in Lake Tahoe earlier this summer. “It was just a mistake. Other than that hole, I made a couple of good up-and-downs and for the most part I hit it really well and I didn’t have any three-putts. I was encouraged.”
Elway is in good shape to survive the 36-hole cut to the low 55 players and ties after Thursday’s second round.
“If I play like I did today tomorrow and eliminate the big hole, maybe I can sneak back into it,” said Elway, who has made one cut in four attempts at the Colorado Open.
Zaremba, one of just two players to have won both the Colorado Open (1995) and the Colorado Senior Open (2005), was the only competitor in the 156-man field not to make a bogey on Wednesday. It was not unlike the way he started the Colorado Open this year, when he posted a first-round 66. But Zaremba hopes the rest of this week goes better than it did at the Open, when he dropped to 53rd place.
“Those college kids (in the Open), my gosh,” Zaremba said. “When I played in the (Open) this year, I had a couple of them hitting it by me by 50 (yards). They bomb it. I’ve lost some yardage in the last two years. I’m going one way and they’re going the other. That doesn’t make for a very good deal.”
But in competing exclusively against the 50-plus set this week, the 56-year-old Zaremba has higher expectations.
“I’m playing alright — nothing special, but alright,” he said. “But you never know when you’re going to catch fire. You’ve got to keep plugging along.”
As for Niger, he’s a Northern Californian who’s played in two Champions Tour events this year — and made the cut in both, including the U.S. Senior Open.
The 50-year-old, who was the Northern California Golf Association Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006 before turning pro again, finished his round with a flurry on Wednesday. He not only birdied his last three holes, but played his last 10 holes in 6 under par.
Meanwhile, defending champion Bill Loeffler of Castle Rock shares seventh place at 70 despite bogeying the final hole. Among the other Coloradans at that figure are Tom Woodard and Russell Clark, both of Denver.
The 54-hole Senior Open will conclude on Friday, when the low professional will be awarded $8,500.
