It’s an area that will be bustling with activity in roughly 100 days, when the U.S. Senior Open pays a visit to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs during the resort’s centennial year.

But last month, there was no sign of any such activity at The Broadmoor’s golf shop and surrounding area. Indeed, much of that area was off limits to visitors.

And it wasn’t just because it was mid-winter. Instead, much of the area was obviously in the midst of a construction project.

But what will emerge — probably sometime in April if things go according to plan — will be an homage to the long and storied golf history of The Broadmoor. Plus, there will be a newly redone and improved golf shop and golf club dining area and grille.

The historical portion of the project will result in an area dubbed the Heritage Hallway.

“We’re doing panels to celebrate all the championships we’ve had here; the seven golf professionals that were here; architects Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones; the Trans Mississippi; the Broadmoor Invitation …,” Russ Miller, The Broadmoor’s director of golf since 1998, said during the recent G4 Summit held at the resort. “It’s kind of a history hallway. It goes from the minute you walk in the clubhouse all the way down to the grille room — both walls.”

As was noted in a trade magazine — Colorado Construction & Design — in January, about 25,000 square feet of public spaces will be involved overall.

The idea is similar to the Hall of Champions in the Cherry Hills Country Club clubhouse that has displayed — since 2012 — some of the memorabilia from that club’s rich history. 

In the case of The Broadmoor’s Heritage Hallway, featured will be display cases (left) devoted to the 1959 and 1967 U.S. Amateurs, won by Jack Nicklaus (bottom, in a USGA photo) and Robert Dickson, respectively; the five NCAA men’s Division I Championships held at the club; the 1962 Curtis Cup matches between the best amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland (the U.S. team included locals Judy Bell, Barbara McIntire and Tish Preuss, plus JoAnne Gunderson Carner); the Broadmoor Men’s Invitation tournaments that were held from 1921-94, with Hale Irwin winning in 1967 (the event was resurrected in 2014 as a four-ball championship); the Broadmoor Women’s Invitation, won three times each by Coloradans Babe Zaharias and Bell; the 1982 U.S. Women’s Amateur won by Juli (Simpson) Inkster; the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open won by Annika Sorenstam (pictured at top); the 2008 U.S. Senior Open claimed by Eduardo Romero; the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open won by So Yeon Ryu; and the upcoming 2018 U.S. Senior Open.

Nicklaus, Sorenstam, Zaharias, Irwin, Carner, Inkster and Bell are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. In addition, former head professionals/directors of golf at The Broadmoor Ed Dudley and Dow Finsterwald each won more than 10 times on the PGA Tour, with Finsty capturing the 1958 PGA Championship title.

The 2018 U.S. Senior Open will mark the eighth USGA championship hosted by The Broadmoor. It’s also been the site of the Trans-Miss six times (including the 1949 event won by Charlie Coe); and the World Seniors on many occasions.

“We just didn’t feel like we’ve been doing a good job of promoting our history here,” Miller said. “We’ve had eight USGA championships. If you look at the members here — Judy Bell, Tish Preuss, Nancy Syms, Barbara McIntire (all Colorado Golf Hall of Famers) … We just haven’t done a good job promoting our history. We’ve been talking about it for three or four years now. We just decided to go ahead and do it. It’s going to be awesome.”

Also getting done, from a golf perspective, is a new golf shop. “We’re gutting it and redoing it A to Z — lighting, fixtures, counters, the whole thing,” Miller said.

It was 1991 — the 75th anniversary year for the CWGA. And, personally for Moore, it was when she won the first of her five CWGA Stroke Play titles during the 1990s. That was a decade-long feat matched only by CWGA Golfer of the Century Carol Flenniken during the 1970s. And that ’91 victory also brings back a cherished family memory for Moore, who is married to fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore.

“Kent’s mom brought (Janet and Kent’s son) Steven out because my parents were watching and she was babysitting,” Janet recalled recently. “I have pictures holding Steven when he was probably four months old. And now Steven is here at my house with my granddaughter. That shows you how time passes. Here I am playing 25 years later and there’s another baby in the mix, and it’s a grandchild. That’s a huge blessing and a lot of fun.”

Indeed, next week, Denver Country Club again will host the CWGA Stroke Play — and a 100th-anniversary luncheon celebration that will immediately follow the final round of the championship on Aug. 4. And, just as when DCC hosted during the CWGA’s 75th year, Moore will be competing in the Stroke Play in the summer when the association turns 100.

In fact, Denver Country Club has been a fixture on the schedule for the biggest CWGA championships each time the association has celebrated a major anniversary.

When the CWGA turned 25 in 1941, the Match Play was held at Denver Country Club, with Mrs. Murray Gose claiming the title. In 1966 when the CWGA celebrated its 50th “birthday”, the CWGA Stroke Play (then known as the Denver Women’s Invitational) was contested at DCC, and, appropriately, club member Joan Birkland won the event for the third straight time. Then, as noted, Moore prevailed at the CWGA Stroke Play in ’91 when the association hit 75 years old.

And now, with the CWGA hitting 100, the Stroke Play is back at the historic Denver club, with the 54-hole tournament scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday (Aug. 2-4).

“It’s a wonderful tradition that’s continuing at Denver Country Club,” said Laura Robinson, the new executive director of the CWGA.

“The club has been very supportive,” said Maggie Giesenhagen, the CWGA’s executive director in 1991 when the 75th-anniversary event was at the club, and who’s now a member at DCC. “And the club has been appreciative of the fact that the CWGA has requested the championship there on special occasions and has been willing to host at those times.”

As a member — and as someone who still assists the CWGA on occasion — Giesenhagen helped plant the seed for the Stroke Play and 100th-anniversary luncheon celebration to be held at Denver Country Club. And she’s lending a hand in organizating practice rounds and in course set-up. And Giesenhagen and Birkland, another DCC member, will present the prizes at the luncheon on Aug. 4.

That luncheon, which will immediately follow the conclusion of the final round of the Stroke Play after a two-tee start that morning, will double as the wrapup for the 69th Stroke Play and one of the major celebrations of the CWGA’s 100th anniversary.

During the Aug. 4 event, USGA regional affairs director Mark Passey is scheduled to present the CWGA with a plaque acknowledging its milestone. Scrapbooks with historical clips and photos, and the 75th-anniversary program from 1991, will be on site. Memorabilia from the 100th anniversary will be available. And, of course, the Stroke Play winner will be crowned.

With Birkland having won the CWGA Stroke Play (nee Denver Women’s Invitational) 50 years ago for the third consecutive summer, she still remembers a detail or two from her performance at Denver Country Club, where she’s been a member for basically her entire life.

The history of the Stroke Play is a bit confusing because, as noted earlier, the tournament was originally known as the Denver Women’s Invitational. And sometimes the format for that event was stroke play, and sometimes it was match play, including 1966 when Birkland prevailed. But in 1980, the CWGA adopted the Denver Women’s Invitational and renamed it the CWGA Stroke Play Championship.

During the 1966 event, “I remember a shot I hit from behind a tree that went 150 yards and into the hole for an eagle,” said Birkland, both a golf and tennis standout who has been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. “It was the sixth hole and I was down to someone I had never heard of, and I thought, ‘This is crazy. I should be beating her and I’m behind.’ I hit the ball behind a tree on the sixth hole. I thought, ‘I have a little room to hit this.’ And it went into the hole. (Birkland’s opponent) never recovered. I don’t blame here. It was a career shot, one where you just say, ‘Oh, come on.'”

Besides presenting the trophy this year, Birkland said she’ll likely be a spectator during the final round.

“I’m so glad Denver Country Club could host it,” she said. “I think it’s fabulous to have it there. It’s a great course for women. It’ll be interesting mostly to see the difference in length that the kids hit that ball now. It’s a whole different game from the ’60s. They just nail it. It’ll be interesting to see how they play the Denver Country Club because it isn’t that long a golf course.”

Indeed, for the top players DCC will play about 6,221 yards next week.

Of course, Denver Country Club is no stranger to hosting big-time golf events, including various women’s national and international championships. Among them have been the 1982 Curtis Cup Matches between the best women’s amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland (participants included Juli Inkster and Carol Semple), and the Women’s Trans National in 1929, ’36 and ’46 (when Babe Zaharias won).

“For the 100th anniversary, and with the rich history that Denver Country Club has — having held great championships there not only at the state level, but the national level — it’s a great course, and they’re so gracious to let us come out and play there,” Moore said. “It makes it very special, and it’s a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversary.”

When Moore won at DCC in 1991 — beating the likes of Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Tish Preuss, a three-time low amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open — she completed a rare family-related feat. Five years earlier, Kent Moore, who she would marry in ’89, won the CGA Stroke Play — at Denver Country Club.

“I was treading new ground there (in 1991) because it was my first one (winning),” Janet Moore said. “Kent was caddying for me. He had played there and won there, so he was a great caddie. On the third day I was so nervous. He said, ‘Janet, get a good song going in your mind to calm yourself down.’ Steven was probably four months old at the time. The only song that came to me was ‘Jesus Loves Me’ because that’s the lullaby I sang to him to get him to sleep. That was literally the song that was going through my mind (during that final day of the tournament). I was singing a lullaby to myself so I wouldn’t be nervous.”

As for this year’s Stroke Play, it’s worth noting that the last two winners of the event (Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch and Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster) competed in the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month.

And, based on last year’s performance, the field will have its work cut out keeping with Kupcho as she defends her title next week. Last year at Pinehurst Country Club, Kupcho won by a remarkable 21 shots, finishing 16 under par en route to her second CWGA Player of the Year award. Earlier this year, Kupcho won the CWGA Match Play for the second time.

Others in the field at Denver Country Club include Moore, fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Kim Eaton and Christie Austin, former 5A state high school champions Mackenzie Cohen, Gillian Vance and Calli Ringsby, 2016 CWGA Match Play runner-up Jaylee Tait, and 2012 Match Play winner Allie Johnston. Ringsby is a Denver CC member.

Like Moore, Eaton won her first CWGA Stroke Play title at Denver Country Club. In Eaton’s case, the first of her four came in 1978 at DCC.

Twelve players, plus ties, will end up competing in the championship flight — based on their scores from the first two days. And there will be seven other flights for the Stroke Play. All told, 96 players will compete.

Being that many people rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to play Denver Country Club, it probably comes as no surprise that the CWGA has a significant waiting list for the Stroke Play. As of this week, the number of golfers on that list was 62.

Next week will mark the 22nd time Denver Country Club has hosted either the CWGA Match Play (16 times, the last being in 1971) or the Stroke Play (five times previously).

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the sixth monthly installment of a series of stories looking back on the last century of golf in Colorado. All the articles are being published on coloradogolf.org. This chapter focuses on the period from 1965-74. For the previous installments, CLICK HERE.

The decade beginning in 1965 featured some new twists on major championship themes in Colorado golf.

For the first time, a Colorado venue other than Cherry Hills Country Club hosted a men’s major. And golfers who grew up in Boulder won not one but two USGA championships, including a U.S. Open, plus an NCAA title.

The PGA Championship was scheduled to be played at Columbine Country Club south of Denver in 1966, but the June 1965 flood of the South Platte River — which runs adjacent to parts of the course — caused a change of plans.

Firestone Country Club in Ohio was set to host the 1967 PGA, but with the flood damage at Columbine, the USGA swapped the years for the two venues, giving Columbine the 1967 slot.

Unlike PGAs in recent decades, the ’67 championship was played in late July. In fact, it took place the week after another major, the British Open, was contested in Liverpool, England.

The ’67 PGA was, at the time, the longest course in major championship history at 7,436 yards, though with the mile-high elevation it played significantly shorter. That year also marked the second and final 18-hole Monday playoff in PGA Championship history, with Don January (below) prevailing over Dan Massengale for his lone victory in a major. The playoff format was later changed to sudden-death, then to a three-hole aggregate. Jack Nicklaus finished a shot out of the playoff, in third place.

A couple months earlier that same year, University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin (pictured at top) started making an indelible imprint nationally as a competitive golfer. In the spring of 1967, Irwin captured college golf’s top honor by winning the NCAA Championship at Shawnee on Delaware, Pa. That same year, Irwin also prevailed at the prestigious Broadmoor Invitation.

Seven years later, after claiming his first two PGA Tour victories in the interim, Irwin would really make some noice in the tournament that would largely define his career, the U.S. Open. In a championship that became known as the “Massacre at Winged Foot,” Irwin claimed the title with a 7-over-par 287 total, giving him the first of three U.S. Open victories.

Coincidentally, another golfer who grew up in Boulder also claimed a USGA title during the first half of the 1970s. Bob Byman, who would join Irwin as a three-time winner of the CGA Stroke Play (1971-73), won the 1972 U.S. Junior Amateur as a 17-year-old, defeating Scott Simpson in the final match. That year, Byman also qualified for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he was the youngest player in the field. Byman said he won all but two or three of the roughly 15 tournaments in which he played in 1972. The next year, he won the Colorado state high school title. In 1971, Byman had become the youngest winner of the CGA Stroke Play, capturing the championship at age 16.

On the women’s side of things, 1972 was a momentous time as that’s when Colorado began a run of 16 consecutive years of hosting LPGA Tour events. The first of those events, the National Jewish Hospital Open, was held at Green Gables Country Club. Other Colorado venues were Rolling Hills, Pinehurst, Columbine, Lone Tree, Meridian and Glenmoor.

Out of the 16 tournaments held in Colorado, an amazing 12 champions are now members of the World Golf Hall of Fame: Sandra Haynie (1972 and ’74), Judy Rankin (1975), Joanne Carner (1977 and ’81), Kathy Whitworth (1978), Beth Daniel (1980 and ’82), Pat Bradley (1983 and ’85), Betsy King (1984) and Amy Alcott (1986).

Here are some of the other Colorado golf highlights of the decade from 1965-74:

— Every player who won the CGA Stroke Play championship in this 10-year period is now a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame: Irwin (1965), Bill Carey (1966), Ron Moore (1967), Les Fowler (1968), John Hamer (1969 and ’70), Bob Byman (1971 through ’73) and Gary Longfellow (1974).

— In 1965, Colorado hosted two USGA championships, the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Lakewood Country Club (won by Jean Ashley) and the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Hiwan Golf Club (won by Gail Sykes).

— Bob Dickson took a liking to the Broadmoor in the mid-1960s as he won the Broadmoor Invitation in 1966 before returning to the club the following year to capture the U.S. Amateur title. Dickson would go on to win twice on the PGA Tour. Another future PGA Tour champiuon, Grier Jones, earned the Broadmoor Invitation title in 1968.

— In 1968, Jim Haines of Denver Country Club won the national USGA Green Section Award, given to individuals who contribute significantly to golf through their work with turfgrass.

— Evergreen resident Dave Hill captured the Vardon Trophy in 1969, with a season-long scoring average of 70.34 on the PGA Tour. That same year, Hill and fellow Coloradan Dale Douglass played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

— In 1969, for the fifth time in 17 years, the Broadmoor hosted the men’s NCAA Division I golf championships.

— Carol (Sorenson) Flenniken, who won the 1960 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the 1962 Women’s Western Amateur and the 1964 British Ladies Amateur, claims the first of her dozen CWGA Match Plays/Stroke Plays in 1968. She captured eight Stroke Play titles and four Match Plays.

— The CGA took on a bigger role, establishing a Course Rating and Measuring Committee in 1969 and offering handicap computation services starting in 1970.

— From 1971 through ’74, a remarkable total of 33 new courses opened up in Colorado.

— The first Colorado Cup matches, between the best amateurs and professionals in Colorado, was played in 1971, with the pros winning at Lakewood Country Club.

— The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame was founded in 1973, with Babe Zaharias, Babe Lind and Dave Hill the first class of inductees.

— The CGA and Colorado PGA hired a joint executive director in 1971, naming Jerry King to the post.

— Cherry Creek High school golfer Mike Reid won the 1971 CGA Junior Match Play. Reid would go on to win twice on the PGA Tour and two majors on the Champions Tour.

— Larry McAtee won his fourth CGA Match Play title in 1972, defeating Mark Achzinger in a 38-hole final.

— Future PGA Tour player Tom Purtzer won the Broadmoor Invitation in 1973.

— Warren Smith, the head professional at Cherry Hills Country Club, received a prestigious national honor in 1973, being named the Golf Professional of the Year by the PGA of America.

— In 1974, Coloradan Gary Longfellow became the first amateur to win the Colorado Open and the only person ever to pull off the triple crown by winning the Open and the CGA Stroke Play and Match Play in the same year.