About 100 family members and friends of the late John Hamer, including several fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famers, are expected to attend a celebration of his life on Thursday (Aug. 3) at Boulder Country Club, the golfer’s longtime home club.
Gary Potter, like Hamer a member of the Hall of Fame, helped organize the day for his friend, who passed away in February at age 74. Hamer and Potter won three CGA senior team championships together.
Potter said a number of Hamer’s fellow competitors from the state in the 1960s and ’70s are planning to attend, including Gary Longfellow, Larry McAtee, John Olive and Carter Mathies. After an 11 a.m. lunch gathering of the larger group, about 16 people plan to play a round of golf at BCC.
Hamer (pictured) won 10 CGA championships through the years, including the CGA Amateur (then known as the Stroke Play) in both 1969 and ’70. He’s one of just four players since 1960 to have captured that title in back-to-back years, joining Hale Irwin, Bob Byman and Kane Webber. Hamer, who played golf at both Lakewood High School and the University of Colorado, also qualified for the 1993 U.S. Senior Open that Jack Nicklaus won at Cherry Hills Country Club and he finished third in the Colorado Open in 1969, when he was named state amateur of the year. At BCC, Hamer won 15 club championships.
He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.
