Twenty spots in the 2018 PGA Championship will be up for grabs on Wednesday at the national PGA Professional Championship, but no Coloradans will be in the hunt.
Seven of the eight Colorado competitors missed the 36-hole cut on Monday in Seaside, Calif., and the one professional who advanced to Tuesday fell victim to the 54-hole cut.
Geoff Keffer of Lakewood, a five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year, finished 94th on Tuesday out of the original field of 312. He needed to get into the top 70 and ties after three rounds to make it to Wednesday’s final round, where the remaining players will battle it out for spots in the fourth men’s major of the year.
Keffer (pictured), winner of the 2016 Colorado PGA Professional Championship, recorded rounds of 74-75-79 for a 12-over-par 228 total. The 39-year-old made two birdies, seven bogeys and a double bogey on Tuesday.
(June 20 Update: Marty Jertson, a former Colorado School of Mines golfer who won the 2001 CGA Amateur, finished ninth in the national tournament on Wednesday and qualified for the PGA Championship. A finish in the top 20 earned players a spot in the fourth men’s major championship of the year.
Wednesday marked the third top-10 finish in the national PGA Professional Championship for Jertson, who has played in six previous PGA Tour events, including the PGA Championship in 2011 and ’12.
Jertson, the director of product development at Ping in Arizona, shot rounds of 75-72-74-68 in Seaside, finishing at 1-over-par 289, six strokes behind champion Ryan Vermeer of Happy Hollow Club in Nebraska.
To read a 2017 feature story on Jertson, CLICK HERE.)
Here are the scores for all the Coloradan who played in the national championship:
Missed 54-Hole Cut
94. Geoff Keffer, Greater Golf Development 74-75-79–228
Missed 36-Hole Cut
142. Jordan Gibbs, Denver CC 75-77–152
142. Jack Allen, Cherry Hills CC 77-75–152
142. Micah Rudosky, Conquistador GC 74-78–152
227. John Ogden, Cherry Hills CC 81-75–156
248. Rick Cole, Eaton CC 82-76–158
270. Barry Milstead, Valley CC 77-84–161
304. Derek Rush, Cherry Hills CC 87-81–168
ALSO
Qualifies for PGA Championship
9. Former Colorado School of Mines golfer Marty Jertson 75-72-74-68–289
For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
