There’s a reason Arnold Palmer is front and center on the “Century of Golf in Colorado” poster that the CGA commissioned for last year as part of its 100th anniversary celebration.

When it comes to the unforgettable fashion in which Palmer won the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club — overcoming greats of the past (Ben Hogan) and the future (Jack Nicklaus) — it doesn’t get much bigger in the history of Colorado golf — or golf in general.

It pretty much says it all that a book about that tournament was titled, “Golf’s Greatest Championship”. Golf World magazine later called 1960 “The Greatest Year in Golf”.

There are plenty of places around the world that can draw a major connection with Palmer (pictured in 2009 at Cherry Hills), who passed away on Sunday at age 87. But suffice it to say Colorado would be near the top of the list.

Here are some of the memories which Palmer specifically left us in the Centennial State: 

— My most indelible personal recollection came during a one-on-one interview with Palmer in the player lockerroom at Cherry Hills. In essence, this was The King in his castle, the place where he was coronated.

As we were chatting, Palmer was fiddling with the biggest wad of cash I’d ever see a person carry. It was several inches thick, tightly bound by rubber bands that were stretched considerably. That was Arnie — bigger than life in so many ways.

— Though Palmer won six major championships as a professional besides the 1960 U.S. Open, that event — and the final round on June 18, specifically — seemed to define his career. 

Trailing by seven strokes going into the second 18 of a 36-hole Saturday, Arnie hitched up his pants and let ‘er rip with a drive on the 346-yard first hole at Cherry Hills. 

Despite the green that year being totally surrounded by rough, Palmer’s tee shot found the putting surface and he two-putted for birdie from about 20 feet. He chipped in for birdie on No. 2 and ended up making six birdies on his first seven holes en route to a final-round 65. That was good enough to leave the closest of his late-tournament challengers — Nicklaus and Hogan — in his wake, along with the rest of the field. The 47-year-old Hogan, who had hit his first 34 greens in regulation that day, finished bogey-triple bogey to finish ninth. Nicklaus, a 20-year-old amateur paired with Hogan that day, placed second. In that remarkable final round, the lead changed hands a dozen times.

Palmer punctuated the victory with his famous visor toss on the 18th green. Skip Manning, an 11-year-old at the time, grabbed the visor and held onto it for 48 years until presenting it to Palmer in person in 2008. The headwear then went to the USGA Museum.

Palmer later said of driving the first green that day in 1960, “It took me four days to find that green — but when I did, the whole thrust of my life was altered.”

And it put Cherry Hills, already one of the country’s most notable courses, on another level.

When Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Ron Moore was the general chairman of the 1985 PGA Championship hosted by the club, he called Arnie driving the first green in 1960 “one of the three or four most famous (shots) in golf history. It put Cherry Hills on the map and was one of the most significant features of Arnold’s career. That was the only U.S. Open he won.”

And, of course, Palmer driving the first green has since been commemorated with a plague beside the first tee at Cherry Hills.

Palmer talked about his go-for-broke style on the eve of the 1985 PGA Championship at Cherry Hills.

“My father always told me to ‘go get ’em. It’s not going to come to you,'” Arnie said then. “I would much rather suffer the consequences than to not go at all.

“I always took a shot at whatever I saw. I never thought of it as that big a gamble. I just felt that you did what you had to to win. And that’s the only thing that’s ever mattered to me in golf — winning.”

In the wake of claiming the title at the 1960 U.S. Open, Palmer later in the ’60s became a member at Cherry Hills and he paid periodic visits over the years to the historic club. That included one in 2010, when Cherry Hills celebrated the 50th anniversary of his victory. 

As he said in his 1985 apperance, “I came here for the first time in 1960 and have been a member for about 20 years. There is definitely some sentimentalism to it. I’ve certainly gotten a lot of support here.”

He also was on hand when the Palmer Cup — a Ryder Cup-style competition between college players from the U.S. and Europe — was held at Cherry Hills in 2009. The matches are named for him.

“(1960) was my only (U.S.) Open win; it was the highlight of my career,” Palmer said during that visit seven years ago. “I’d won the Masters in 1958 and 1960 in squeakers, then I won the Open by two shots, and it was a good shot (in the arm) for me.”

Palmer told the story countless times, but he never failed to entertain audiences with his recollections of the final day of the ’60 Open at Cherry Hills.

Trailing leader Mike Souchak by seven shots after the third round, Arnie encountered Pittsburgh Press sports writer Bob Drum, a good friend of Palmer’s, in the locker room before the final 18.

“I said, ‘Bob, if I shoot 65, do you think that will win?'” Palmer recounted. After at first ignoring Palmer, Drum said, ‘”‘Nothing’s going to help you.'”

Palmer noted that at the 1960 Masters, Hogan gave Palmer the Hogan driver that The King used for his famous shot at Cherry Hills. But given his endorsement deal at the time, Palmer admitted “making it look like a Wilson driver.” Then he added, “I’m not sure how I did hit it that far.”

After winning the U.S. Open, Palmer took the step — unusual back then for many American players — of going to the British Open. On his way over to St. Andrews in Scotland, Palmer traveled with Drum, and Arnie noted in a conversation that no amateur was going to duplicate Bobby Jones’ feat of winning the Grand Slam — claiming the U.S. Amateur, British Amateur, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year. So Palmer brought up the idea of a new Grand Slam — the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Drum wrote about the notion shortly before the 1960 British Open and “it caught on right away,” said Palmer, noting that that was the genesis of the modern Grand Slam.

Palmer gave that Grand Slam a run in 1960, winning the Masters and the U.S. Open before finishing a shot behind winner Kel Nagle in the British Open. Palmer would win the British Open each of the following two years.

Add in Arnie’s huge charisma quotient in those early days of TV, and he was a figure that may very well never be matched in golf.

“Some guys have got it,” two-time major champion and NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller said once during a TV special on Palmer. “He’s certainly the John Wayne of golf, with a little Clint Eastwood thrown in. … He was the perfect guy at the perfect time to bring in televised golf. We needed a superstar. Arnie was the man.”

— Arnie in Other Colorado PGA Tour Events: Palmer played in The International at Castle Pines exactly once — in the inaugural year of 1986. In fact, the then-56-year-old was done after one official round — and on Wednesday, no less. He scored minus-4 Modified Stableford points that day and failed to advance in the daily-cuts format that was then in place. … Palmer also competed in another PGA Tour event in Colorado during his 50s — the 1985 PGA Championship at Cherry Hills. The previous year, the PGA of America had given The King a lifetime exemption into the PGA Championship. Palmer made the cut in ’85 at Cherry Hills, but finished in 65th place. … At the 1967 PGA Championship at Columbine Country Club, Palmer was more of a factor, placing 14th. … Palmer missed the cut in the 1978 U.S. Open.

— A Colorado King as a Senior Too: Although — for obvious reasons — when people think of Palmer and Colorado, they mostly associate him with the 1960 U.S. Open, that wasn’t his only tour-sanctioned victory in the state. The King also won the first Denver Post Champions of Golf, in 1982 at Pinehurst Country Club, and finished fourth in the same Senior Tour event each of the next three years.

In the last tour-sanctioned tournament he played in the state, Palmer placed 52nd at Cherry Hills in the 1993 U.S. Senior Open that Nicklaus won.

In 2007, Palmer would return to Colorado to be the first recipient — outside Will Nicholson Jr., himself — of the Nicholson Award, given in the Centennial State for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf. (At left, Arnie signed a program for the event.)

— Grandson Lived in Colorado: Sam Saunders, grandson of Palmer and a PGA Tour player himself, lived in Fort Collins from late 2012 until earlier this year, when he and his family moved back to Florida — St. Augustine, to be exact.

— Courses Designed in Centennial State: Palmer designed — or co-designed with Ed Seay — several courses in Colorado. Included are Bear Creek Golf Club in west Denver, Lone Tree Golf Club, Eagle Ranch Golf Club in Eagle, and the old South Course at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs.

During this month, when March Madness in college basketball is all the rage among sports fans, USGA.org has been running a U.S. Open Bracket Challenge that recently concluded.

The USGA asked readers to rank the most memorable moments in U.S. Open history. Sixteen videos of the top candidates were set up, bracket style, and over the course of eight days, the field was narrowed down to one.

And the winner was none other than the ’60 Open at Cherry Hills, where three generations of golf greats battled it out down the stretch. Forty-seven-year-old Ben Hogan, a four-time U.S. Open champ, was tied for the lead on the 71st tee, But he found water on both 17 and 18, going bogey-triple bogey to finish ninth. Twenty-year-old Jack Nicklaus, winner of the U.S. Amateur the previous year in Colorado, placed second, two back of the champ.

And of course, Arnold Palmer rallied from seven shots back going into the final round, driving the green on the par-4 first hole and chipping in for birdie at No. 2 en route to a 65. It would turn out to be his only victory in the U.S. Open — one he punctuated with his famous visor toss on the 18th green (pictured).

Also making the USGA’s final 16 was another U.S. Open with strong local connections. That was the 1990 version, where University of Colorado grad Hale Irwin made a 60-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole and won in a playoff to become the oldest U.S. Open champion at age 45, a distinction he still holds. Irwin, who claimed his third U.S. Open title, made it into the field via a special exemption.

For the entire USGA U.S. Open bracket, CLICK HERE.
 

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the fifth 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 1955-64. For the previous installments, CLICK HERE 

Between what happened, golf-wise, in Colorado and what Coloradans accomplished in golf, it’s hard to top the decade from 1955 to ’64.

After all, these are just a handful of the biggest highlights of that 10-year period:

— Arnold Palmer won his only U.S. Open in Colorado.

— Jack Nicklaus claimed his first USGA title in the state.

— Also at a Colorado site, Bill Wright became the first African-American to win a USGA championship.

— A Colorado Springs resident, Barbara McIntire, earned two U.S. Women’s Amateur titles, along with a British Ladies’ Amateur, and finished second in a playoff at the U.S. Women’s Open.

— And the Colorado Open made its debut, taking a first step toward becoming one of the top state opens in the country.

Yes, it was a heady time for the game in the Centennial State.

Let’s provide a few more details.

— The 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club has been called “Golf’s Greatest Championship” in the title of one book. And why not, with three generations of golf greats battling it out down the stretch? Forty-seven-year-old Ben Hogan, a four-time U.S. Open champ, was tied for the lead on the 71st tee, But he found water on both 17 and 18, going bogey-triple bogey to finish ninth. Twenty-year-old Nicklaus, winner of the U.S. Amateur the previous year in Colorado, placed second, two back of The King.

Of course, Palmer rallied from seven shots back going into the final round, driving the green on the par-4 first hole and chipping in for birdie at No. 2 en route to a 65. It would turn out to be his only victory in the U.S. Open — one he punctuated with his famous visor toss on the 18th green (pictured at top).

— Less than a year before the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, Nicklaus had taken down defending champion and two-time winner Charlie Coe, 1 up in the 36-hole final of the U.S. Amateur at the Broadmoor Golf Club’s East Course in Colorado Springs. (The two are pictured together at left.)

The final was all square going into the 36th hole, and though Coe missed the green, he almost chipped in for birdie, with the ball ending up on the lip of the cup. The 19-year-old Nicklaus then drained an 8-foot birdie putt to become the youngest U.S. Am champion in 50 years. He would go on to capture a second U.S. Amateur title in 1961.

— Also that same summer of 1959, some history was made in another USGA championship in Colorado. Wellshire Golf Course hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links, and in front of a crowd estimated at 2,000, the 23-year-old Wright (left) of Seattle broke new ground as the first black golfer to capture a USGA title.

— McIntire set the all-time standard for success for Colorado women amateurs with her play during the 1950s and ’60s. In 1956, McIntire very nearly became the first amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open as she was tied with Kathy Cornelius after four rounds, but lost an 18-hole playoff the next day (75-82) to finish runner-up.

But that wouldn’t be her only run at a USGA title. Both in 1959 and ’64, McIntire captured national championships in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. And in 1960, she became just the fourth American to win the British Ladies Amateur. (Coincidentally, the first, Babe Zaharias, was also a Coloradan when she prevailed in 1947.) McIntire (below) played on the U.S. Curtis Cup teams in 1958, ’60, ’62, ’64, ’66 and ’72, and as a youngster she was runner-up in the U.S. Girls’ Junior in both 1951 and ’52, losing in the ’52 final 1 up to one Mickey Wright. And for good measure, McIntire also won the 1962 CWGA Stroke Play.

— In 1964, one of the mainstays of the Colorado golf schedule came on the scene. The first Colorado Open was played at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, where it would remain through 1991. Bill Bisdorf, then the head professional at Green Gables Country Club, won three of the first four Opens, the first of which featured no prize money. And by the 1970s, the tournament drew quite a field of players. Among those who have competed in the event are Sam Snead, Phil Mickelson, Billy Casper, Hale Irwin, Fred Couples, Steve Jones, Dave Hill and Jimmy Walker.

But all that just scratched the surface of what occurred in the decade in Colorado golf beginning in 1955. Here are some of the other notable happenings:

— After fewer than 10 courses opened in the 25 years beginning in 1930, a dozen came online in the last half of the 1950s, including country clubs such as Columbine, Valley, Colorado Springs, Pinehurst, Bookcliff and Fort Collins.

— Colorado amateur Jim English had a tremendous run during the decade, winning two Broadmoor Invitations (1955 and ’64), three CGA Stroke Plays (1958, ’59 and ’61) and two CGA Match Plays (1957 and ’60). He was also low amateur in the 1959 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

— President Dwight Eisenhower was hospitalized for a heart attack at Fitzsimons Hospital for six weeks in 1955 the day after experiencing pain while playing 27 holes at Cherry Hills Country Club.

— LPGA Tour events were held at Lakewood Country Club during the mid-1950s, with Marilynn Smith winning in 1955 and Marlene Hagge in 1956.

— The Colorado PGA, a Section of the PGA of America, was founded in 1957. Noble Chalfant, who was serving as president of the Colorado chapter of the Rocky Mountain PGA, played a key role in the separation from the Rocky Mountain Section.
The Colorado PGA became the 31st Section of the PGA of America, originally having 30 members in Colorado and eastern Wyoming.

— Lakewood Country Club hosted the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1957, when Judy Eller earned the title.

— Dow Finsterwald, who would become the longtime director of golf at the Broadmoor, won the PGA Championship in 1958, the first year it was contested in stroke play. He was the runner-up in the final match-play version of the PGA, in 1957, the year he won the Vardon Trophy for best season-long scoring average on the PGA Tour.

— Joan Birkland had a stellar run in golf in the 1960s while also being one of the state’s top tennis players. She won four out of five CWGA Match Plays starting in 1960 and three straight CWGA Stroke Plays beginning in 1964. With racket in hand, she captured two women’s open singles titles at the Colorado State Open from 1962-66.

— Two other current members of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame likewise had outstanding decades from 1955-64, with Sally Hardwick winning five state amateurs out of a possible six from 1957 through ’59. And from ’53 to ’56, she earned three CWGA Junior Match Play titles. And Marcia Bailey won the first of four CWGA Match Plays in 1963. She also prevailed in two CWGA Stroke Plays beginning in ’63.

— In 1961, the CGA merged with the Denver District Golf Association, bringing the state’s major amateur tournaments under the CGA’s umbrella.

— A founding member of the City Park Golf Course-based East Denver Golf Club, which was made up of African-American golfers, helped knock down racial barriers in state golf tournaments. After Judge James Flanigan was refused the right to play in the CGA Match Play Championship in 1961 — on the grounds he wasn’t a member of a CGA-sanctioned club — the association the next year changed its policies and admitted minority clubs, including the East Denver Golf Club.

— In 1961, the CGA established the Eisenhower Scholarship, awarded to selected college-bound junior golfers. The CGA merged the Eisenhower Scholarship with the Western Golf Association’s Evans Caddie Scholarship in 1963, and a house for the Eisenhower-Evans Scholars at the University of Colorado was purchased in the late 1960s.

— The Broadmoor hosted the Curtis Cup matches, between the best female amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland — in 1962. Colorado’s Judy Bell and Barbara McIntire, along with the future JoAnne Carner, led the U.S. to an 8-1 victory.

— Beginning in 1962, the CGA started measuring and rating all of the state’s golf courses in accordance with USGA procedures, creating a uniform rating system which laid the groundwork for the association to oversee a state-wide standardized handicap system starting in the late 1960s. 

— Chi Chi Rodriguez won his first PGA Tour event at the 1963 Denver Open at Denver Country Club. It would prove to be the last Denver Open the PGA Tour would hold.

— Larry McAtee won three consecutive CGA Match Plays beginning in 1963 and finished second to University of Colorado teammate Hale Irwin as he went for a four-peat in 1966. McAtee is now a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

— Irwin (left) became the first player to win three consecutive CGA Stroke Plays, beginning in 1963 at age 18. The future World Golf Hall of Famer also won a CGA Junior Match in 1962 and a state high school title in 1963.

— In 1963, future USGA president Judy Bell of Colorado Springs won the Women’s Trans National title at Pinehurst Country Club in south Denver.

— In other prestigious tournaments held in Colorado, Jim Wiechers won the 1964 Western Junior at the Air Force Academy and Wright Garrett prevailed at the 1964 Trans Miss at the Broadmoor.
 

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.