One reason is the huge increase in the purse announced earlier this year. With the championship being conducted Wednesday through Friday (Aug. 30-Sept. 1) at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, the overall prize money will double from last year, to $150,000. And first prize — among the professionals — will more than quadruple, going from $11,000 in 2016 to $50,000 this year.

The other reason is that Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster will be competing in the tournament for the first time since she finished runner-up as a 17-year-old in 2014.

The three-time CWGA Player of the Year has had a very memorable last 100 days as a competitor. During that stretch, the Wake Forest golfer has finished second individually at the Women’s NCAA Championships, won the CWGA Stroke Play for the third consecutive year, won the Canadian Women’s Amateur and finished 21st overall at the U.S. Women’s Open.

That makes Kupcho a very good bet to contend for the title at GVR. Only one player — Paige Mackenzie in 2006 — has won the Colorado Women’s Open as an amateur.

Also in the CWO field this week are former University of Denver golfer Ellie Givens, a regular on the Ladies European Tour and Symetra Tour; and former champions Erin Houtsma, Joy Trotter, Moira Dunn-Bohls and 2016 winner Lauren Coughlin. Likewise competing will be Colorado-based professionals Ashley Tait and Somin Lee, and Alexandra Braga, who has won the last two Colorado PGA Women’s Championships.

Among the amateurs, in addition to Kupcho, are 2016 low am Jessica Dreesbeimdieke from the University of Denver, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore, DU’s Mary Weinstein and Colorado State University’s Ellen Secor.

There had been a qualifying tournament scheduled for Monday (Aug. 28), but it was canceled as all there was room for all the championship entrants into the field.

As usual, many championship contestants will simultaneously compete in the pro-am, which is similar to what the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am does on the PGA Tour.

Spectators are welcome at the Colorado Women’s Open, free of charge.

For Wednesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.

You could take it to the (Co)Bank.

Almost exactly a year after the purse for the men’s Open jumped to $250,000 — with an amazing $100,000 going to the winner — Colorado Open Golf Foundation officials announced a comparable increase, percentage-wise, for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open. Not coincidentally, CoBank has been the title sponsor for the Colorado Open championships since the beginning of 2016.

For the 2017 women’s tournament, set for Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, first prize will more than quadruple — to $50,000 from $11,000 — and the overall purse will double — to $150,000. In both cases, those are records for a women’s state/regional open and the $50,000 is considerably more than the winner receives for any 2017 event on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s development circuit.

“We’re very excited that we’re a big girls’ game now,” Colorado Open Golf Foundation CEO Kevin Laura said during Thursday’s announcement at Topgolf in Centennial.

Roughly $135,000 of the purse total will be devoted to the championship competition, with $15,000 (the same as in 2016) going for the pro-am.

“This is the best state open and it’s getting even better,” said Denver’s Becca Huffer, a two-time Colorado state high school champion who went on to win the 2013 Colorado Women’s Open.

“This is a huge day for women’s golf in Colorado,” said 2005 CWO champ Erin Houtsma, the tournament’s all-time money leader. “As someone who’s played in this tournament since I was about 16 years old, I love this event so much and this is long overdue. I thank everyone for their hard work and dedication to this process.”

Ironically, Houtsma is in the midst of getting her amateur status back, so even if she wins the 2017 CWO, there will be no $50,000 first prize for her. Instead, the highest-finishing professional would get that payday.

With the substantial increase in money, tournament organizers now feel there will be enough demand for a qualifying event — a first for the CWO — and have scheduled one for Aug. 28 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora. Five to 10 spots will be available through qualifying. Meanwhile, exemptions will be held for select players from the LPGA and Symetra Tours.

Laura indicated the increased prize money for the Women’s Open is being funded by $75,000 in new sponsorships, with another $10,000 coming from a $100 increase in entry fees from the 100 or so championship players. It will now cost those players $400 to enter the championship alone, and $500 for the championship and the pro-am.

(Entries for the Colorado Women’s Open, the CoBank Colorado Open and the CoBank Colorado Senior Open all will open on Monday, March 6. For more information, CLICK HERE.)

The money hike for the Women’s Open — which will continue to feature a format in which the championship and a pro-am are conducted simultaneously — has been on the radar since organizers first started putting a similar plan in place for the men’s Open.

“We knew when we first did the men’s purse increase that shortly thereafter we needed to figure out how to handle the women,” said Pat Hamill, the founder of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation and the owner of GVR. “Alex (Ringsby, who serves on the foundation’s board of trustees) had called me and said, ‘We thought women should come first. Isn’t that the right thing to do?'”

All three of the Colorado Open championships have always been very highly regarded among state and regional opens, but the huge purse increases for the Colorado Open and the Colorado Women’s Open since CoBank became title sponsor certainly take those tournaments’ reputation up a notch.

The Colorado Open “clearly was a premier state tournament, but … we wanted to take it to the next level,” said Bob Engel, former CEO of CoBank. “And we saw the engagement of anyone that has anything at all to do with the (tournament or course). Everyone pulled together on this. And the excitement just kind of continued to grow.

“For me what was really (eye-catching) was when we had these individual clinics with The First Tee kids last year (conducted by Hale Irwin, Ryan Palmer and Paula Creamer). And when I saw the attendance by the young ladies for that (Creamer) event, it was absolutely tremendous. And Pat (Hamill) had whispered to me at the end of the men’s tournament, ‘We’re going to get this going for the women also.’ It really is tremendous. … So (with these increases) we think it brings a whole lot more and that the community will continue to rally around it.”

Many players like the ones who attended Thursday’s announcement — Houtsma, Huffer and three-time state high school champion and veteran CWO competitor Ashley Tait — have seldom played in a tournament with a $50,000 first prize (though Huffer competed in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open). (Pictured above, from left, sharing a laugh Thursday are Engel, Hamill, Houtsma, Huffer and Tait.)

“I’ve always looked forward to that day that I have a chance to win (the Women’s Open) — and I’ll look forward to that day even more (now),” Tait said with a laugh. “($50,000) could change your life, open up some doors, especially for us having to pay for your own expenses and travel on tour.

“Especially coming down that stretch at Green Valley and those last four holes, which can be brutal, they’ll be even more stressful now with that on the line.”

The hope from the perspective of tournament organizers is a step up in the caliber of field for the Women’s Open like that that happened for the men’s Open, which in 2016 sold out all four of its qualfiers for the first time.

“We know this is going to do for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open what the purse increase did for the men,” said Chris Nordling, a former CGA state amateur champion who now chairs the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “We’re excited about the better field, the lower scores and the more money for the women.”

Just how much of a draw the money increase will be should be apparent this year as both the Symetra Tour and the LPGA Tour have events directly opposite of the CWO. With the top 10 players on the final 2017 Symetra Tour money list earning spots on the 2018 LPGA Tour — and with that being the stretch run for the Symetra schedule — some players will be conflicted about whether to come to Colorado. That’s what happened with Huffer last year when she was high enough on the Symetra money list that she decided to skip the Colorado Women’s Open to further help her cause on the Symetra money list.

“I hated missing this event last year,” Huffer said. “(With the money increase) I can’t imagine people not having it on their radar. It would be a really hard decision not to come here. … I think it will bring anyone who has ever been on the fence about playing in it.

“I can see it being a star on the calendar for everyone.”

The field for the 23rd CWO will feature 104-106 championship players, including probably 18-25 amateurs. With 38-40 net amateurs competing, the total field will number 144.

Big Names Expected for 2 Clinics at GVR: A year after holding three clinics featuring two winners of major championships (Irwin and Creamer, in addition to Palmer), the folks from the Colorado Open Golf Foundation are planning to host a couple of other major winners for clinics at GVR this summer.

Laura said arrangements aren’t yet finalized, but a major champion on the men’s side and another on the women’s are expected to lead the clinics for the kids from the area’s First Tee programs, including the one at GVR.

The clinic with the men’s major champ will likely be held in mid- to late-June, with the women’s LPGA Tour player probably coming two months later.
 

About 1,250 people attended the festivities, which were a culmination of a year of activities and initiatives held in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Colorado Golf Association.

The Gala featured a fireside chat with Jack Nicklaus and the honoring of six Colorado golf People of the Century:

Man of the Century — Will Nicholson Jr.

Woman of the Century — Judy Bell

Male Player of the Century — Hale Irwin

Female Player of the Century — Barbara McIntire

Golf Professional of the Century — Charles “Vic” Kline

Superintendent of the Century — Dennis Lyon

The Colorado Golf Foundation, which was founded three years ago, benefits youth player development, caddie programs, community partnerships, and college scholarships.

For links to Gala-related information:

— Article on the Gala: CLICK HERE

— YouTube: Nicklaus Reflects on Career in Colorado at The Broadmoor: CLICK HERE

— Photos for Download: CLICK HERE
 

Four big-time LPGA Tour-related events have come to Colorado in the last 20 years, and all have been successes in the attendance department.

The biennial Solheim Cup matches between the U.S. and Europe, which concluded Sunday at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, drew about 110,000 fans for the three practice days and the three competition days. That’s a little shy of pre-tournament goals of 120,000 — the Solheim Cup record, set in 2009 in Sugar Grove, Ill. — but it’s still a strong total.

“I can’t tell you how great these fans are out here. It’s amazing,” American player Paula Creamer said.

Added John Solheim, part of the family that lent its name to the Solheim Cup: “What a course, what a place, what an atmosphere.”

Part-time Lakewood resident Hollis Stacy, a World Golf Hall of Famer who takes an active role in promoting the LPGA and women and girls golf, attended both the Ping Junior Solheim Cup at Inverness Golf Club and the main event at Colorado Golf Club.

“It’s gotten a great response,” said Stacy, winner of three U.S. Women’s Opens, three U.S. Girls’ Juniors and 18 LPGA Tour events overall. “The crowds have been very, very, very, very good, even with the Europeans pulverizing us. The fans have been wonderful.”

And that comes on the heels of Colorado-based tournaments setting then-U.S. Women’s Open weeklong attendance records in 1995 (96,000 for seven days at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs) and in 2005 (more than 131,000 at Cherry Hills). And while the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor didn’t break a record, it still drew an impressive total of more than 125,000.

The crowds at the Solheim Cup are a little different. Besides being considerably more boisterous, many more fans come from out of the country — and out of the state — than in a more typical golf event. And, of course, because of the nature of the Solheim Cup, it’s televised in nations worldwide.

“It showcased Colorado golf terrifically,” Stacy said. “The winner of the whole thing is the golf course. It’s extremely tough, especially for the U.S. players. The course looked great.”

And the event could play a role in growing the game in Colorado, especially among women and girls who get the itch to play — or play more — because of what they’ve seen.

“I saw a lot of little girls out there,” Stacy said. “I think it will help little girls in playing golf and being excited about playing.”

And Stacy hopes that the run of big-time women’s golf events in Colorado continues. Starting in 2005, three of the women’s game’s top competitions have been held in the state.

“I think it’s smart to have LPGA events and USGA events here because it does showcase the beauty of Colorado and everything else that’s so wonderful about Colorado,” Stacy said.