The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is doubling up on celebrations this year as the 100th anniversary of its founding coincides with the resort hosting the U.S. Senior Open at the East Course from June 28-July 1.

With that in mind, we decided to take a trip down memory lane, looking back on milestone anniversaries of big golf tournaments held in Colorado or of feats accomplished by local golfers. In other words, things that happened exactly five, 10, 20, 25 years ago, etc.

So without further ado …

— 80 Years Ago (1938): Colorado hosted a major championship for the first time as the U.S. Open came to Cherry Hills Country Club. Only six men’s majors have been contested in the Centennial State to this day, so this was no small matter.

The 1938 U.S. Open marked the first Open held west of Minneapolis. Will Nicholson Sr., a future mayor of Denver and the father of a future USGA president (Will Jr.), played a key role in luring the Open and was general chairman of the championship. He served on the USGA Executive Committee at the time.

Ralph Guldahl rallied with a final-round 69 to win by six strokes, successfully defending his title. His victory margin was the largest at the U.S. Open since 1921 and he’ll go down as the last person to win a U.S. Open while wearing a necktie. Guldahl went on to supplement his two U.S. Open victories with a win in the Masters and three titles in the Western Open, which at the time was considered a major championship of sorts.

Cherry Hills drew about 37,000 people for the week, a big success at the time.

— 70 Years Ago (1948): A PGA Tour event, the Denver Open, was held in the city on and off from 1947 to ’63. Ben Hogan was by far the biggest name to win the event when he prevailed in 1948 at Wellshire Country Club.

The victory was Bantam Ben’s sixth straight on the PGA Tour, and one of 10 he posted that year on the circuit, including the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.

One oddity from that Denver Open: Hogan failed to show up for the trophy presentation. Believing his total wasn’t going to be good enough for the title, he left shortly after finishing his final round, saying, “I can’t win.”

— 70 Years Ago (1948): Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who moved to Colorado in 1943 with her Pueblo-born husband, George, won the first of her three U.S. Women’s Opens in 1948. That year’s Women’s Open, conducted in Northfield, N.J., was just the third ever held.

Zaharias, a six-time AP Female Athlete of the Year who previously excelled at track and field, cruised to an eight-stroke victory over runner-up Betty Hicks. Zaharias, sometimes dubbed “Denver’s Queen of the Fairways”, recorded an even-par 300 total.

Zaharias, a co-founder of the LPGA, won 17 consecutive tournaments in 1946 and ’47 while representing Park Hill Country Club. She also spent plenty of time at Lakewood Country Club.

In 1950, Zaharias prevailed at the Women’s Western Open, a women’s major at the time, at Cherry Hills.

— 60 Years Ago (1958): Dow Finsterwald, who would later become a fixture as the director of golf at The Broadmoor, scored his lone victory in a major, winning the PGA Championship in Havertown, Pa. That was the first PGA conducted with a stroke-play format to determine the champion, but Finsty was also the runner-up in 1957 (to Lionel Hebert) when a 36-hole match play final was held.

Finsterwald (left), the 1957 Vardon Trophy winner as the tour player with the best season-long stroke average, finished two strokes better than Billy Casper in 1958. Finsterwald closed with a 67 for a 4-under 276 total and later that year earned the PGA’s Player of the Year award.

— 40 Years Ago (1978): Cherry Hills Country Club hosted the last of its three U.S. Opens to date. Two future World Golf Hall of Famers had won the 1938 and ’60 editions (Ghezzi and Arnold Palmer), but this time around Andy North recorded the second of what would be just three PGA Tour victories, though two of them were in U.S. Opens. Few people can say they won more majors than non-majors on the PGA Tour, but North is one such person.

North tied Billy Casper’s record (set in 1966) by needing just 114 putts over 72 holes, winning with a 1-over-par 285 total. He led outright after each of the final three rounds.

Also finishing in the top 10 in a star-studded leaderboard were University of Colorado alum Hale Irwin and Tom Weiskopf (tied for fourth), and Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller (tied for sixth).

— 40 Years Ago (1978): The player with the most career wins on any major U.S. tour, Kathy Whitworth, earned one of her 88 LPGA Tour victories right here in the Centennial State.

Colorado hosted LPGA events for 16 consecutive years starting in 1972, and a dozen of the winners here became World Golf Hall of Famers. But none is higher on the totem pole than Whitworth, who won the 1978 National Jewish Hospital Open at Green Gables Country Club.

— 25 Years Ago (1993): Speaking of the aforementioned Nicklaus and Weiskopf, two former Ohio State golfers, they finished 1-2 when Cherry Hills hosted the U.S. Senior Open in 1993.

Nicklaus, arguably the greatest golfer of all time, prevailed for what would be his last title in a USGA championship. Coincidentally, the first of his eight USGA championships also came in Colorado, in the 1959 U.S. Amateur at The Broadmoor.

Nicklaus (pictured at top with son/caddie Jackie) fended off Weiskopf by one stroke, recording a 6-under-par 278 total. It was the Golden Bear’s second U.S. Senior Open title in three years.

— 25 Years Ago (1993): Cherry Creek High School product Jill McGill made quite a run at USGA amateur championships in the early 1990s, winning two national titles. A quarter-century ago, McGill captured the trophy at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Then in 1994, when she was runner-up to Wendy Ward in the Women’s Amateur, McGill earned the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championship.

McGill (left) went on to a long career on the LPGA Tour, and though she never won on that circuit, she finished second three times and third twice.

Also in 1993, the Dunes Course at Riverdale in Brighton hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links, with David Berganio taking home the title.

— 25 Years Ago (1993): Phil Mickelson, who three years earlier won the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills in Colorado, claimed the first of his two International PGA Tour events at Castle Pines. He scored an eight-point victory in Stableford points over Mark Calcavecchia.

— 20 Years Years Ago (1998): Vijay Singh, like Mickelson now a World Golf Hall of Famer, beat Mickelson and Willie Wood by six points to put his name on The International trophy. All told, a half-dozen Hall of Famers won The International at least once.

— 20 Years Ago (1998): Former CU athlete Hale Irwin won three U.S. Opens from 1974-90, but that wasn’t the extent of his success in USGA championships. In 1998, the World Golf Hall of Famer won the first of his two U.S. Senior Opens, giving him five USGA championships in all.

In ’98, Irwin withstood a formidable test at Riviera Country Club outside of Los Angeles. Since 1984, just two winners of the U.S. Senior Open have finished with over-par totals, with Irwin’s 1-over tally in ’98 joining Nicklaus’ 2-over in ’91.

Earlier in 1998, Irwin also won another one of his seven career senior majors, the Senior PGA Championship — by six shots over Larry Nelson.

— 10 Years Ago (2008): It’s a rarity that Colorado hosts two USGA championships in the same year, but 2008 was such as year as the U.S. Senior Open came to The Broadmoor and the U.S. Amateur Public Links paid a visit to Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora.

In a U.S. Senior Open perhaps most remembered for the bear that ran across the course on national TV in the midst of play at The Broadmoor, the 2008 championship drew close to 130,000 people for tournament week. Eduardo Romero of Argentina claimed the trophy at the picturesque resort.

At Murphy Creek, Jack Newman won the title, but the field included Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel, the latter of whom would go on to win the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship at Cherry Hills in 2014.

— 5 Years Ago (2013): The Solheim Cup, the female version of the Ryder Cup, came to the western U.S. for the first time, with Colorado Golf Club in Parker playing host. The course proved a formidable test, with the European squad handling the conditions best.

The Euros (left) won the Solheim Cup on American soil for the first time, and the 18-10 score was the largest final victory margin in the history of the event.

— 5 Years Ago (2013): Then-Colorado resident Mark Wiebe won the first major championship of his career, claiming the title in the Senior British Open at Royal Birkdale in England.

To earn the win, Wiebe had to overcome one of the greatest senior players of all time, Bernhard Langer, beating the German in a playoff that lasted five holes. Wiebe closed with a 66, while Langer double bogeyed his final hole in regulation.

It marked the first Monday finish in Senior British Open history.

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the third 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 1935-44. For a list of all the installments to date, CLICK HERE.

The decade from 1935 to ’44 was certainly a tumultuous time in the country, with the Great Depression lasting through the ’30s and then World War II posing one of the biggest challenges the U.S. has ever faced.

Ironically, it was during this same period that Colorado golf burst onto the national scene.

Twice in a remarkably short timespan of less than three years, Cherry Hills Country Club hosted major championships — the first two of what is now a half-dozen men’s majors that have come to the state. Five of those six have been held at Cherry Hills.

The club was the site of the 1938 U.S. Open — the first Open staged west of Minneapolis — and the 1941 PGA Championship, the first PGA held in the Mountain Time Zone.

Will Nicholson Sr. (left), a future Denver mayor, was a member of the USGA Executive Committee from 1937-41. He served as general chairman of the ’38 Open after playing an integral role, with prominent local insurance man Clarence Daly, in bringing the tournament to Colorado.

With the Great Depression still plaguing the country, and with the U.S. Open never having ventured west of Minneapolis, the USGA was concerned about ticket sales and therefore required Cherry Hills to raise money for a $10,000 bond to assure profitability. Nicholson and Daly took the lead in that effort so the championship could go on.

“It was the first time that (major) championship golf had ever come to Colorado, and it wouldn’t have come to Colorado if it wasn’t for one person, and that person is Will Nicholson Sr.,” current Cherry Hills head professional John Ogden noted in a 2013 speech. “He had the vision and the determination to bring championship golf not just to Cherry Hills but to Colorado. Since then, we know what has happened. Cherry Hills has had numerous championships, the Broadmoor, Columbine (and) The International kind of sprung from that. Without the vision of Mr. Nicholson, none of this would be possible.”

At the ’38 Open, Ralph Guldahl (pictured at top) rallied with a final-round 69 and won by six strokes — the largest margin at the U.S. Open since 1921 — in successfully defending his national title. He holds the distinction of being the last U.S. Open champ to win while wearing a necktie. Ironically, shortly after prevailing at the U.S. Open, Guldahl lost by three strokes at his home course in the New Jersey State Open.

The 1938 U.S. Open also will be remembered for the tournament’s single-hole-record 19 that competitor Ray Ainsley recorded on the par-4 16th hole, where he kept whacking at his ball in the creek near the green.

Guldahl was one of the top golfers in the world in the late ’40s, supplementing his two U.S. Open victories with a Masters title and three straight wins in the Western Open, which then was considered a major championship of sorts.

Overall, the ’38 Open proved a big success, drawing about 37,000 spectators for the week to Cherry Hills.

Three years later, another of the current Grand Slam events visited Cherry Hills. Through 1957, the PGA Championship was a match-play event, and the ’41 version was the last time the 36-hole final went extra holes.

At Cherry Hills, defending champion Byron Nelson defeated Guldahl, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen to reach the final, but Vic Ghezzi foiled Nelson’s run to the title by outlasting him in 38 holes. Nelson missed a 30-inch putt on the second green. It would be the only major championship for Ghezzi, who rallied after being 3 down after 27 holes in the final match.

Here are some of the other Colorado golf highlights from the period 1935-44:

— In 1936, the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association was founded, with the goal of improving golf course management practices through education, sharing knowledge and networking.

— Starting in 1937, the Denver District Golf Association conducted a stroke-play championship. For more than two decades, what are now known as the CGA Match Play and Stroke Play championships were conducted by separate organizations. Nate Grimes won the first Stroke Play title in 1937. Babe Lind captured two of his three Stroke Plays during World War II (1941 and ’42), sparking a career that would culminate with his being inducted in the inaugural class of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1973. In 1943, Claude Wright won the first of his four Stroke Plays. He also claimed two Match Play titles (1944 and ’56).

— In 1939, the first Rocky Mountain Open is played in Grand Junction. The event has been held each year since, making it the oldest continuously-conducted golf championship in Colorado that is open to both professionals and amateurs.

— In 1942, a group of African-American golfers based at City Park Golf Course formed the East Denver Golf Club. East Denver GC, which wasn’t allowed membership in the CGA until the early 1960s, became a member of the Central States Golf Association, a group of golf clubs with primarily African-American members.

— Several of the nation’s top amateur championships were held in Colorado in the decade beginning in 1935. The Western Amateur was hosted by the Broadmoor in 1935 and ’41, the latter being one of three Western Ams won by Bud Ward in the 1940s. The Broadmoor was also the site of the 1939 Trans Miss — won by Chick Harbert, who would go on to earn seven titles on the PGA Tour — while Cherry Hills hosted the ’37 Trans Miss. And the Women’s Trans National came to Denver Country Club in 1936.

In addition, Sam Snead played an exhibition at Boulder Golf Club (now the site of Flatirons Golf Course) in the late 1930s. A photo with a scoreboard from that day notes that Snead went 9 under par.

Next up: 1945-54, when legends Babe Zaharias and Ben Hogan made their mark in Colorado golf.
 

This week marks the diamond anniversary of the first U.S. Open ever held in Colorado, the 1938 version that Cherry Hills Country Club hosted.

In fact, the final two rounds of that tournament were held exactly 75 years ago today (June 11).

When current Cherry Hills head professional John Ogden accepted the Golf Person of the Year Award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on Sunday, he said that June 9, 1938 — the first day of the U.S. Open — “could be one of the most significant days in Colorado golf. … It was the first time that (major) championship golf had ever come to Colorado, and it wouldn’t have come to Colorado if it wasn’t for one person, and that person is Will Nicholson Sr.

“He had the vision and the determination to bring championship golf not just to Cherry Hills but to Colorado. Since then, we know what has happened. Cherry Hills has had numerous championships, the Broadmoor, Columbine (and) The International kind of sprung from that. Without the vision of Mr. Nicholson, none of this would be possible.”

This month also marks a notable anniversary for another Open held in Colorado — the 35th anniversary of the ’78 championship, likewise hosted by Cherry Hills. And three years ago, the club celebrated the 50th anniversary of the unforgettable 1960 U.S. Open, won by Arnold Palmer.

Colorado has also held three PGA Championships (two at Cherry Hills and one at Columbine Country Club), three U.S. Women’s Opens (two at the Broadmoor, one at Cherry Hills), two U.S. Senior Opens (one each at the Broadmoor and Cherry Hills), a Senior PGA Championship (at Colorado Golf Club), along with 23 USGA amateur championships.

With this year’s U.S. Open beginning on Thursday, it’s worth revisiting the three U.S. Opens that have been contested in Colorado. So here are some tidbits from each of those major championships:

1938 at Cherry Hills — This marks Colorado’s first major championship and the first U.S. Open held in the western half of the country. … The USGA required Cherry Hills members to post a $10,000 bond — a huge sum during the Depression — to assure the association a profit in running the championship. … Cherry Hills was just 16 years old when it hosted the Open. … The championship was chaired by Will Nicholson Sr., a USGA Executive Committee member who would go on to become mayor of Denver from 1955-59. Nicholson’s son, Will Jr., would serve as president of the USGA in 1980-81. … Total attendance for the championship was 37,000 over six days, including the practice rounds. … Ralph Guldahl became the fourth back-to-back winner of the Open, posting an even-par 284 total for a six-stroke victory after trailing by four after three rounds. … Ray Ainsley set a still-existing U.S. Open single-hole record by carding a 19 on the par-4 16th hole in the second round, taking whack after whack at his ball, which was submerged in the creek bordering the green. Ainsley shot a 96 for the round. … Paul Runyan, now a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, tied for seventh place. … 1,223 players entered the event. … The total purse was $6,000, with $1,000 going to the winner. … A weeklong ticket to the tournament went for $6.72, including tax.

1960 at Cherry Hills — How big was the 1960 U.S. Open? Author Julian Graubart wrote a book entitled “Golf’s Greatest Championship: The 1960 U.S. Open”. … Arnold Palmer, victorious at the Masters two months earlier, won his only U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, in remarkable fashion. In the final round, he drove the green on the 346-yard, par-4 first hole en route to shooting a 65 after trailing by seven strokes. In the process, he overcame greats of the past (Ben Hogan) and the future (Jack Nicklaus). Nicklaus, a 20-year-old amateur, finished second, two shots back of Palmer. It’s the highest finish by an amateur in the U.S. Open since 1933. … Hogan, 47, hit the first 34 greens in regulation during the two-round final day and was tied for the lead going into 17, but he spun a wedge shot into the water on the 71st hole en route to a bogey, then closed with a triple bogey. He tied for ninth, four behind Palmer. … Palmer (pictured above celebrating his victory) was later made an honorary lifetime member at Cherry Hills. … Dow Finsterwald, now a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, tied for third place, three shots back of good friend Palmer. … H.R. (Potts) Berglund served as the general chairman of the championship. … 2,453 golfers entered the U.S. Open.

1978 at Cherry Hills — Andy North won only three PGA Tour events in his career, but two of them were U.S. Opens. … The first of those Open victories came at Cherry Hills, where North needed four shots to get to the green on the par-4 18th in the final round, then holed a 4-foot bogey putt to prevail by one over Dave Stockton and J.C. Snead. … North finished at 1-over-par 285, which matches the highest stroke total by a U.S. Open champion since 1976. … North led by four with five holes to play, but he went 4 over in those last five holes. … The lowest round posted during the tournament was a 68. … North needed just 114 putts for the four rounds, tying a record set by Billy Casper in 1966. … The prize money for the winner was $45,000. … Former University of Colorado golfer Hale Irwin led after the first round and finished tied for fourth. three back of North. … Also in the top 10 were Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. … The total attendance for tournament week was over 132,000. … 4,897 competitors entered the ’78 U.S. Open.