There’s no question what the highlight is of the 2013 Colorado golf season. With the Solheim Cup coming to Colorado Golf Club in Parker Aug. 16-18 for its first visit to the western U.S., much of the golf world’s attention will be focused on the biennial matchup between the best women’s golfers the U.S. and Europe have to offer.
But this year’s Colorado tournament schedule isn’t just a one-hit wonder.
Here are some of the other highlights and/or notable golf tournaments the state will host in 2013:
— On May 29, the West Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs will be one of just 20 sites nationally where Sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open will be held. Competitors will vie over 36 holes for spots in the 2013 Women’s Open, set for Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., June 27-30.
Last year, the Broadmoor qualifier produced two U.S. Open contestants from Colorado: Becca Huffer and Kelly Jacques (pictured).
— The Broadmoor’s West Course also will host U.S. Senior Open Sectional qualifying. The 18-hole test on June 17 will be one of 34 conducted across the country for the Senior Open, which is scheduled for Omaha Country Club July 11-14.
And though Colorado lost its U.S. Open Sectional qualifier several years ago, three Local qualifying tournaments are set in the state: May 6 at Desert Hawk in Pueblo West and May 13 at Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster and Collindale in Fort Collins.
— Some of the best female junior golfers from the U.S. and Europe will compete against one another in a Solheim Cup-related event in Colorado. The seventh Ping Junior Solheim Cup will be held Aug. 12-14 at Inverness Golf Club in Englewood.
Each team will include 12 players, age 12-18, with the contestants being finalized in July.
World Golf Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth will captain the U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team, while Scotland’s Janice Moodie will lead the European squad.
— The PGA Junior Series, which features strong national and local fields for both boys and girls, will return to Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy June 25-27.
Last year’s PGA Junior Series event at Eisenhower Golf Club was canceled at the last minute due to the Waldo Canyon Fire that burned near Colorado Springs.
— The Colorado Cup matches, where some of the best CGA/CWGA amateurs face their counterparts from the Colorado PGA, will be played on just one day this year after traditionally being a two-day affair. The 2013 Cup matches are set for June 5 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.
— In hopes of improving the field for both events, the typical dates of the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open and the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open have been flopped this year. The seniors will compete May 29-31, with the women set for Sept. 4-6, and Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver again will host both tournaments.
The HealthOne Colorado Open will remain in its usual date slot, with the tournament scheduled for July 25-28 at GVR.
— As for the state’s top amateur championships, here’s the lineup: the CGA Match Play, first held in 1901, July 8-12 at Bear Creek Golf Club; the CGA Stroke Play, which dates back to 1937, Aug. 8-11 at Pinehurst Country Club; the CWGA Stroke Play, originally held in 1948, June 26-28 at the Ranch Country Club; and the CWGA Match Play, first contested in 1916, July 15-17 at the Club at Rolling Hills.
— Neither the boys nor girls Junior America’s Cup will be held in Colorado this year, but four of the state’s best boys players will have quite a treat this summer.
A year after the Colorado Girls’ Junior America’s Cup team got to compete in Maui, it’s the boys’ turn this time to head to Hawaii. The squad representing the CGA will play in the event July 30-Aug. 1. The girls, meanwhile, will be in Albuquerque this year, on the same dates.
— For the first time in recent years, the Colorado PGA Professional Championship — the highlight of the Colorado PGA tournament schedule — will be contested on the Western Slope. This summer’s tournament is set for Sept. 9-11 at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott.
— The Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, which combines a college tournament with a high school all-star event, is set for Sept. 23-24 at Erie’s Colorado National Golf Club. The University of Colorado will host the tournament, which includes a separate competition — the CJGA Collegiate High School Invitational — featuring about 10 of the best boys players in the state.
— Top CJGA players will have the pleasure of competing at Cherry Hills Country Club — home of the PGA Tour’s 2014 BMW Championship — for the CJGA Tournament of Champions Oct. 5-6. A couple of months earlier, the CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship will go out of the norm in being held at two sites: Colorado Springs Country Club Aug. 5 and the Country Club of Colorado Aug. 6.
