Except for a one-year blip, Zahkai Brown of Arvada has had plenty of reasons in recent years to take quite a liking to Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.
The former Colorado State University golfer won the HealthOne Colorado Open at GVR in 2013 and finished second in 2012. And after missing the cut last year, he grabbed the lead Thursday after the first round of the 2015 event, shooting a 7-under-par 65.
That brings Brown’s average score in his last 11 Colorado Open rounds — since the beginning of the 2012 tournament — to 68.3.
On Thursday, Brown made eight birdies to go along with a three-putt bogey on No. 16 en route to his 65.
In an ideal day for scoring, 28 players shot in the 60s on Thursday.
And Brown wasn’t the only former CSU golfer among the leaders. Parker Edens of Greeley, twice a CGA Match Play runner-up, carded a 66 and shares second place with Kurt Kitayama of Chico, Calif. Zahkai’s older brother, former Ram Zen Brown, posted a 68. And Riley Arp carded a 69.
Other Coloradans who joined the Browns and Edens in shooting 68 or better were former University of Colorado golfers David Oraee of Greeley and Derek Fribbs of Castle Rock (68), current Buff Ethan Freeman of Denver (68), incoming Buff Ross Macdonald of Castle Rock (68), Tom Whitney of Fort Collins (68), and amateurs Connor Klein of Lone Tree and Tanner Jenson of Parker (68).
“The golf course was there for the taking in terms of rewarding quality shots,” said Notah Begay, the biggest name in the field, having won four times on the PGA Tour. “You had to be in the fairway to get close to the hole, and that’s the way it should be. You want to identify a champion who’s hitting good shots and making putts and scrambling when they need to.”
Begay, competing in his first multi-day tournament in “over a year,” opened with a 73.
“I played rusty,” said the NBC/Golf Channel analyst. “I made a couple of careless mistakes. You make mistakes every day, but it was just stuff if I had a few tournaments under my belt I definitely wouldn’t have made.”
So why did Begay pick the Colorado Open as a tournament in which to knock off the rust?
“This fit really well in the calendar,” he said. “I know they run a great event. And I’m kind of partial to supporting organizations such as HealthOne. I’ve had a heart attack (last year) and I know the importance of some of the cardiac treatment protocols that these hospitals are developing. (HealthOne has) been identified as one of the top facilities in America. There were a lot of positives to be here.”
And Tiger Woods, Begay’s friend and former Stanford teammate, recommended it after the two were playing golf together on a semi-regular basis in the spring.
“Tiger is part of the reason why I’m here,” Begay said. “He encouraged me to play a little this summer because I was playing OK. You can thank Tiger Woods for me being here.”
Notable: Barry Milstead of Castle Rock made a hole-in-one with a 9-iron at the 172-yard 13th hole on Sunday. It was the fourth ace for the Valley Country Club head professional, who shot a 76. … Champions Tour player Doug Rohrbaugh, winner of the 2013 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, caddied for son Tristan on Thursday, having landed just 90 minutes before Tristan’s tee time after returning from Great Britain after trying to qualifying for this week’s Senior British Open. Tristan Rohrbaugh, winner of the CGA Western Chapter Championship on Sunday, shot a 74 on Thursday. … Coloradan Steve “Pepsi” Hale, regular PGA Tour caddie for Keegan Bradley, is caddying at the Colorado Open for Scotland’s Jimmy Gunn, who finished 27th in this year’s U.S. Open. Gunn fired a 69 on Thursday.
For scores from the Colorado Open, CLICK HERE.
