Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction will host the Rocky Mountain Open Friday through Sunday (Aug. 17-19).

As usual, a strong field will be on hand.

Two-time CoBank Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan will be one of the bigger names competing. The former University of Colorado golfer won the Navajo Trail Open in Durango in June.

Also entered are three-time champion Monte Montgomery, a former Grand Junction resident; Doug Rohrbaugh, who has played in two PGA Tour Champions majors this year; 2017 champion Justin Keiley, a former BYU golfer; 2017 CGA Amateur champion Glenn Workman, the low amateur at the RMO last year before turning pro; former University of Colorado golfer Derek Fribbs, the 2015 RMO runner-up; Dillon Stewart, the reigning Junior America’s Cup individual champion; three-time Wyoming State Open winner Kane Webber; and University of Denver men’s coach Erik Billinger.

The RMO has a rich history in western Colorado. Among the winners of the tournament is Orville Moody, who captured the 1975 title six years after claiming victory at the U.S. Open. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, named the top female athlete of the first half of the 20th century, finished third in the 1946 RMO as an amateur and competed in 1950 as a pro. Nate Lashley, a rookie on the PGA Tour this season, won the RMO in 2014.

For the Rocky Mountain Open field, CLICK HERE.
 

When it comes to sheer candidness, there are few players who have won on the PGA Tour who are more forthright than Jonathan Kaye.

The former University of Colorado golfer seldom hesitates to voice his true opinions — good, bad or otherwise.

Last year, in the week in which he won his second CoBank Colorado Open title, Kaye was talking about the subject of money and purses on the PGA Tour. And he said something that was both illuminating and candid.

“I passed Jack Nicklaus (in career PGA Tour earnings) my third year on the Tour,” Kaye said. “There’s no way I should ever pass Jack Nicklaus.”

With the Masters on tap this week, we decided to take a look at where the most prominent players in the history of Colorado golf stack up in a statistic seldom mentioned anymore: career money leaders on the major professional tours.

It’s not surprising that the PGA Tour competitors in the Tiger Woods era have received a disproportionate boost in money earnings compared to their earlier counterparts. What was eye-opening was just how much an effect that had.

For instance, regarding Nicklaus and Kaye, the Golden Bear may be the greatest player of all time, with 18 majors among his 73 PGA Tour victories. Kaye, meanwhile, has won twice in his PGA Tour career.

Yet look at the PGA Tour career money list and Nicklaus is No. 271 ($5.734 million) and Kaye is No. 164 ($10.585 million, just ahead of Bernhard Langer). Many people debate whether Nicklaus or Woods is the greatest golfer ever, but on the PGA Tour’s career money list the Bear is a pauper compared to Tiger, who has won more than 19 times as much money ($111.183 million).

Hale Irwin (pictured above), a Boulder High School and University of Colorado graduate, is unquestionably the most successful golfer the Centennial State has produced from an early age, with three U.S. Open victories among his 20 PGA Tour wins. But you’d never know it by looking at all-time PGA Tour money won. The World Golf Hall of Famer checks in at No. 263 ($5.966 million).

Another former CU golfer who won the U.S. Open is just a little ahead of Irwin. Steve Jones, whose eight-win career included the 1996 U.S. Open title, is No. 249 ($6.519 million).

As for other prominent players who grew up in Colorado and have had extensive PGA Tour careers, Brandt Jobe is 195th in career money at $9 million and one-time winner Kevin Stadler is 180th at $9.698 million. Both played their high school golf at Kent Denver.

Others with strong Colorado connections in the top 200 are Evergreen resident Craig Stadler (Kevin’s dad), winner of 13 PGA Tour events including a Masters (174th at $10.022 million); former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird, a three-time PGA Tour champion (91st at $16.155 million); and Colorado resident David Duval, winner of 13 PGA Tour events including a British Open (78th at $18.984 million).

And, the top PGA Tour career money winner with major Colorado ties is Aspen resident Justin Leonard, who owns a dozen Tour wins including a British Open (22nd at $33.885 million).

Other PGA Tour winners with strong Colorado ties made less than $1 million in their PGA Tour careers, including Paul Runyan (28 wins), Ed Dudley (15 wins), Dow Finsterwald (11 wins), Dale Douglass (3 wins), Bob Byman (1 win) and Fred Wampler (1 win).

Dave Hill made $1.13 million in a career that included 13 victories, and Mark Wiebe earned $4.314 million in a career that featured two wins.

On the LPGA Tour, part-time Colorado resident and World Golf Hall of Famer Hollis Stacy (left, with Annika Sorenstam) earned $2.58 million in winning 18 times on the LPGA circuit, including four majors. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill earned $2.342 million, though she didn’t win a tournament on that circuit. World Golf Hall of Famer Babe Zaharias, a Denver-area resident in the 1940s, won 41 times on the LPGA Tour but earned just $66,237. Sharon Miller, like Zaharias and McGill a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, won $164,274 on the LPGA circuit, on which she posted two victories. Lauren Howe racked up $236,084 in career LPGA money after winning once. Sorenstam, who won the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, leads the LPGA career money list, with $22.573 million.

As for PGA Tour Champions, Irwin was a check-cashing machine for many years. The former Buff, winner of a career-record 45 PGA Tour Champions events, has won a remarkable $27.089 million on the 50-and-over circuit, putting him No. 1 all-time.

Also ranking among the top 100 in what was once know as the Senior Tour are Craig Stadler (35th at $8.979 million with nine wins); Douglass (56th at $7.019 million with 11 wins), Wiebe (73rd at $5.69 million with five wins) and R.W. Eaks (91st at $4.693 million with four wins). 

This year, those reflections have particularly come into focus.

With the CGA celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, there’s been a concerted look back on the past century of golf in Colorado. That includes a 10-part series of stories on notable people and events from the last hundred years.

Writing that series was illuminating, which brings us back to Thanksgiving. A better understanding of the past can lead to increased appreciation for all we have to be thankful for in Colorado golf.

To wit, here are 10 things that come to mind:

— Rich History of Golf. The Century of Golf Gala held recently at The Broadmoor particulary brought this home, with Jack Nicklaus reminiscing about his strong links to Colorado over the last 60 years. Nicklaus is one of golf’s all-time pantheon to have won significant tournaments in the state, with others being Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Kathy Whitworth, Babe Zaharias, Annika Sorenstam, Gary Player, Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson. For much more about Colorado golf history, CLICK HERE.

— Teamwork. Another thing that the Century of Golf Gala — 1,250 attendees strong — and related activities reinforced is that big things can happen when the Colorado golf community joins forces. Teaming up with the CGA in making it all a major success were the CWGA, Colorado PGA and the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association.

— Great Venues. The day of the Century of Golf Gala, a golf outing held at The Broadmoor (pictured) demonstrated yet again what stellar golf courses Colorado has produced. On a mid-November day, temperatures reached the mid-60s, and the setting was enough to make any golfer take pause. The same can be said for countless other courses in the state — Sanctuary, Arrowhead, Castle Pines, Ballyneal, Red Sky, Eisenhower, etc., etc. Golfers in Colorado are indeed fortunate.

— Good of the Game Partnerships. The recent creation of a partnership between the CGA and the Colorado PGA will result in a new Colorado Junior Tour and many other advantages for all levels of junior golfers in Colorado (READ MORE). It’s yet another example of how the game can be well served by constructive cooperation.

— Local Players Who Excel. Colorado has a long history of homegrown players hitting it big — with Hale Irwin, Steve Jones, Dale Douglass, Jill McGill, Brandt Jobe, Bob Byman, Kevin Stadler, Shane Bertsch, Bill Loeffler and to some extent Mike Reid, to name some. It’s always fun for Coloradans to have one of their own to root for on the national or international level. And we also have some very promising young players potentially in a similar pipleline with the likes of Mark Hubbard, Jennifer Kupcho, Wyndham Clark and Hannah Wood.

— Highly Regarded PGA Professionals. There are oustanding PGA professionals throughout the country, but members of the Colorado PGA have proven to be high achievers as the Section or its members have won national PGA of America awards eight times in the last nine years. And highly respected instructor Ann Finke was recently voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, along with Colorado-based Champions Tour player Craig Stadler. And Vic Kline was honored as Colorado Golf Professional of the Century during the Century of Golf Gala.

— Foundations to Support Good Causes. Numerous golf foundations in Colorado do considerable and commendable work in bolstering good causes through the game of golf. Among them are the Colorado Golf Foundation, Colorado PGA Reach, the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, and the Rocky Mountain Environmental Golf Institute.

— Volunteers. While the staffs of the major golf organizations in Colorado do yeoman’s work, those organizations would be a shell of what they are were it not for volunteers. Such volunteerism came to the forefront this past year with the passing of Joe Salvo, and the departure from the Colorado tournament golf scene of Rich Langston and Joan Scholes. Each of them made major contributions — in terms of both time and dediction — to the likes of the CGA, CWGA and Colorado PGA over the years. And many, many others do likewise each year.

— Another Senior Major on the Horizon.This year it was announced that the 2018 U.S. Senior Open will be contested at The Broadmoor the year the resort celebrates its 100th birthday. It will mark the third U.S. Senior Open held in Colorado, meaning only Ohio (with six) will have hosted more. The Centennial State also was home to another senior major, the Senior PGA Championship contested at Colorado Golf Club in 2010.

— Good People. I’ve always marveled at the number of good people you meet through the game of golf. Perhaps it’s part of the significant “self-policing” aspect of the sport that tends to attract people of high character. But whatever the case, it’s refreshing.

And yet another reason to give thanks.
 

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the fourth 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 1945-54. For the previous installments, CLICK HERE.

When it comes to the first decade after World War II, golf in Colorado received a nice boost from a pair of Babes, along with Bantam Ben. Even Bing and Bob played a role.

Alliteration aside, in some ways the period from 1945-54 was a golden era of sorts for the game in the Centennial State.

Though two major championships had come to Colorado in the previous decade — Cherry Hills Country Club hosted the 1938 U.S. Open and the 1941 PGA Championship — Denver landed a regular PGA Tour event in the post-war era. The Denver Open was held on and off from 1947 to ’63, with Cherry Hills, Wellshire, Meadow Hills and Denver Country Club playing host at one time or another.

Ben Hogan — the aforementioned Bantam Ben — was by far the biggest name to win the event, prevailing in 1948 at Wellshire, marking his sixth consecutive victory on the PGA Tour. The Denver Open was one of 10 PGA Tour wins Hogan posted that year, including both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. But Hogan didn’t make any points with event organizers as he failed to show up for the trophy presentation. Apparently, he didn’t feel his 18-under-par 270 total was going to be good enough for victory, so he departed immediately after completing his final round, saying, “I can’t win.”

Though Hogan would come back to compete in Colorado on several other occasions — including the 1952 “Hillsdilly” at Cherry Hills — an even bigger name made her mark in Colorado during this time, one Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias. (The two are pictured together at left in the early 1950s. Zaharias is also pictured above.)

Zaharias was six times AP’s Female Athlete of the Year, and several of those awards were won while Babe and her Pueblo-born husband, George, lived in the Denver area. They moved to Colorado in 1943. Zaharias went on to win the 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Open three times from 1948 through ’54. And in 1947, she traveled to Scotland and became the first American to win the British Ladies Amateur.

When Babe and George Zaharias subsequently returned to Denver, they were given a 250-pound, 15-foot-high key to the city. Some dubbed her “Denver’s Queen of the Fairways”.

It’s said that during the 1946 and ’47 seasons, Zaharias won 17 consecutive tournaments while representing Park Hill Country Club.

Zaharias, who was also a regular at Lakewood Country Club during her years in Colorado, captured one of her major championships in her adopted home state. She defeated Peggy Kirk in the finals of the Women’s Western Open at Cherry Hills in 1950 to claim her fourth and final title in the event, the first three having come as an amateur.

Also in 1950, the Associated Press named Zaharias its women’s athlete of the first half of the 20th century.

In addition to the Women’s Western Open, tournaments Zaharias won in Colorado include the 1946 Women’s Trans National at Denver Country Club and three consecutive Broadmoor Ladies Invitations starting in 1945.

Zaharias, one of the founders of the LPGA and a World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, finished with 41 LPGA Tour victories, including 10 majors, before dying of cancer in 1956 in her native state of Texas. She’s part of the inaugural class of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1973.

Another inductee that year was Charles “Babe” Lind (left), who likewise made a significant mark in Colorado golf after World War II. Lind has the distinction of being the first Colorado native to compete in the Masters. That berth came thanks to outstanding performances in 1946, most notably at the Trans-Mississippi Championship held at Denver Country Club.

In the first Trans-Miss conducted since 1942 due to World War II, Lind advanced to the final in grand fashion by holing out a sand shot for birdie on the 36th hole of his semifinal match. And though Skee Riegel beat him in the final, it was quite a showing for Lind in one of the nation’s top amateur tournaments of those days.

Lind, a standout player and coach for the University of Denver golf team in the 1940s and early ’50s — he was named the AAU’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year in 1946 — also won the 1946 CGA Match Play and his third CGA Stroke Play, in 1948. He would go on to become director of golf for the city of Denver in 1955, holding that position for three decades.

As for the other folks we mentioned in the first paragraph of this story, two of the biggest celebrities of this period also happened to love golf, and they came to Colorado to play on several occasions. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope participated in the Park Hill Invitational over the years, as did Zaharias, boxer Joe Louis and Dwight Eisenhower, who also became a fixture at Cherry Hills.

Other highlights of the decade from 1945-54:

— One of the top lifelong amateurs of all time, Charlie Coe, had quite a run at the Broadmoor Golf Club. Not only did he win back-to-back Broadmoor Invitation titles in 1947 and ’48, he captured the ’49 Trans Miss at the history-laden Colorado Springs club. Coe also prevailed in the 1952 Trans-Miss, hosted by Lakewood Country Club.

— Wellshire Golf Course was the site of just the second USGA championship held in Colorado — after the 1938 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills — as the 1946 U.S. Amateur Public Links came to Denver. Smiley Quick won his lone USGA title at the course.

— Denver Country Club hosted its first USGA championship in 1950 as the third U.S. Junior Amateur ever held came to town. Mason Rudoph, runner-up the year before, captured the title. He would go on to win five times on the PGA Tour.

— Two people now in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, Jim English Sr., and Jack Vickers, squared off in the finals of the 1950 Trans-Miss in Omaha, with English winning 11 and 10 in the 36-hole title match.

— Two other significant national amateur events were held in Colorado in 1954, with Bruce Cudd winning the Western Amateur at the Broadmoor and James Jackson claiming the Trans-Miss at Cherry Hills.

— In major statewide amateur championships during the decade, Lou North won three times (CGA Match Plays in 1952 and ’53, and a Stroke Play in ’52) and Jim Vickers captured back-to-back victories in the Match Play in ’49 and ’50. Claude Wright claimed the middle two of his four CGA Stroke Play titles in 1947 and ’53, and Bob Clark Sr., won two of his own, in 1950 and ’51.

— Future longtime state legislator Les Fowler, then the golf coach at the University of Colorado, earned the first of his four major CGA championships at the 1954 Match Play.

— In women’s amateur golf, the CWGA started its Stroke Play Championship in 1948. Mrs. James Roessler was among the top players of the era, winning two CWGA Match Plays (1951 and ’52) and two Stroke Plays (1952 and ’54).
 

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the second monthly installment of a series of stories looking back on the last century of golf in Colorado. All the articles will be published on ColoradoGolf.org. This chapter focuses on the period from 1915-1924. For a list of all installments to date, CLICK HERE. 

While there were certainly very notable happenings in the history of Colorado golf prior to 1915, the decade starting then marked a watershed for the sport in the Centennial State.

After all, that period included the founding of both the CGA and the CWGA; the first USGA presidency held by a Coloradan; the opening of a club that’s gone on to host more major championships and USGA championships than any other in Colorado (Cherry Hills Country Club) and of another club that’s been home to the second-most USGA championships in Colorado history (the Broadmoor); and the debut of what would become one of the country’s top amateur tournaments (the Broadmoor Invitation).

That’s what you call laying a strong foundation for golf in the state.

But before we continue with that, let’s briefly note what preceded the CGA’s founding.

A half-dozen golf courses in Colorado that opened prior to World War I remain vibrant to this day. That list includes Overland Park in Denver (left, circa 1895), Denver Country Club, Patty Jewett in Colorado Springs, Pueblo Country Club, Lakewood Country Club (then known as The Colorado Golf Club), and City Park in Denver. And there’s been some indication that other courses can trace their lineage back to pre-World War I, including perhaps Greeley Country Club.

Denver Country Club was one of the original 15 clubs in the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association (as was the Town & Gown Golf Club of Colorado Springs), and in the early years DCC hosted the Trans-Miss Championship in 1910 (won by a gentleman by the name of Harry Legg) and 1921 (George Von Elm). DCC was also the site of the 1912 Western Amateur won by Chick Evans, now best known as the founder of the Evans Scholarship for caddies. Evans would go on to capture eight Western Amateur titles in addition to two U.S. Amateurs and the 1916 U.S. Open.

Even though the CGA wasn’t founded until 1915, the tournament now known as the CGA Match Play dates back to 1901, making it the oldest continuously held state golf championship in Colorado. Frank Woodward, who played an exhibition match at Overland against the famed Harry Vardon during Vardon’s nationwide tour in 1900, captured the first Match Play title. (Keep his name in mind for a little history he’ll make later.)

Walter Fairbanks (pictured at top), also part of the Vardon exhibition, strung together four consecutive Match Play titles from 1902-05, a feat that remains unmatched in tournament history. But by far the most successful performer overall in the Match Play was Dr. Larry Bromfield, who won eight titles between 1912-28.

As for the specific decade at hand (1915-24), here are some of the highlights:

— The Colorado Golf Association was formally founded on Aug. 20, 1915. A two-paragraph Denver Post story noted that the “organization will control the state tournaments, give the cups and appoint the officers, and the winner will be the recognized champion of the association and state.”

M.A. McLaughlin of Lakewood Country Club was elected the first president. That same year, coincidentally, McLaughlin won the first of his two CGA Match Plays, this time defeating Bromfield. McLaughlin had been the Match Play runner-up the previous three years.

— The following year, on March 14, 1916, the Colorado Women’s Golf Association came into being when eight women met and elected a president, adopted a constitution and bylaws, and delineated the association’s objectives and purpose: to promote and maintain the best interests of the game of golf; to hold golf tournaments; and to promote good fellowship among member clubs.” Mrs. Olyn Hemming was named the CWGA’s first president.

In September 2016 the first CWGA Match Play Championship was held, with Mrs. M.A. McLaughlin of Lakewood prevailing for the title.

During the period from 1915-21, the McLaughlins won five CGA/CWGA Match Play titles between them.

— Meanwhile, at this same time, a Coloradan was making some history nationally. The United States Golf Association was founded in 1894, and from then through 1914, all the presidents of the organization had come from the East or Midwest. But Denver Country Club founding member Woodward, winner of the first CGA Match Play 14 years earlier, in 1915 became the first USGA president from the western U.S. He served a two-year term during which the USGA in 1916 stripped the amateur status from 1913 U.S. Open champion Francis Ouimet because Ouimet intended to open a sporting goods store. Ouimet wouldn’t be reinstated until 1918. The next USGA president from Colorado wouldn’t take office until 1980 (Will Nicholson Jr.).

During the period from 1909-20, Woodward would be president of Denver Country Club for five years. He was also a chairman of the Western Golf Association and the Trans Mississippi Golf Association.

— During the period from 1915-24, two of Colorado’s most famous courses opened, with the Donald Ross-designed Broadmoor Golf Club coming online in 1918 and William Flynn-designed Cherry Hills in 1922. Between them, Cherry Hills and the Broadmoor have hosted 16 USGA championships and 10 major championships (PGA, LPGA and Champions tours combined).

— In 1921, the Broadmoor debuted the Broadmoor Invitation (sometimes referred to as the Broadmoor Amateur Open in the early years), which would become one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the country. From 1921 to ’95, the tournament built a reputation for crowning top-notch champions. Among the winners of the tournament over those years — the event returned in 2014 as a scratch four-ball — were Hale Irwin, Lawson Little, Tom Purtzer, Grier Jones, Duffy Waldorf, Bob Dickson, John Fought and Willie Wood — all of whom went on to win on the PGA Tour — as well as Charlie Coe and locals N.C. “Tub” Morris (his 1922 Broadmoor Invitation medalist honor is pictured above), Bill Loeffler and Jim English.

As for the Broadmoor Ladies Invitation, its most famous champion would be Babe Zaharias, who won the event three consecutive years beginning in 1945.

All in all, the decade beginning in 1915 — along with the period leading up to it — had Colorado golf off to a rousing start through the first quarter of the 20th century. But many ups and downs awaited in the years to come.

Next up: 1925-34.
 

Who would have thought that an event summarized in two newspaper paragraphs — fewer than 60 words — would have such a longstanding and ever-growing impact?

On Aug. 21, 1915, a small item appeared in the Denver Post under the headline, “M’LAUGHLIN HEADS GOLF ASSOCIATION”. The “short” — as it is often referred to by newsroom staffers — notes the events of Aug. 20, detailing a newly formed organization called the Colorado Golf Association and the election of its officers, including president M.A. McLaughlin.

The story further reports on the other officers elected and says, “The organization will control the state tournaments, give the cups and appoint the officers, and the winner will be the recognized champion of the association and state.”

One hundred years after that humble beginning, the CGA’s mission has expanded dramatically over the decades, and the association moves forward as a steward for the traditions and future of golf in the state. And now the CGA is gearing up to celebrate its centennial throughout 2015. That will culminate with a Century of Golf Gala, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 14. At that event, a number of Colorado golf’s all-time luminaries will be honored, and both the history and future of golf in the state will be celebrated.

During the coming year, the CGA plans to unveil a new logo along with artwork that will highlight a century of golf in Colorado. Also on the docket are a monthly series of articles — published on COgolf.org and in the first-of-each-month CGA Revision newsletters throughout the year. A decade at a time since the CGA’s founding — 1915-24, 1925-34, etc. — will be focused on in each of the series of stories, with the last article of the year being a look-ahead.

In addition, the CGA will hold a season-long fundraising event that will support the Colorado Golf Foundation and benefit its many programs that foster youth development through golf. That event will be called “100 Holes for 100 Years”, and participants will raise money through donations pledged for a personalized golf-related activity centering around the number 100. For instance, a person could play 100 holes in a day, or in another set period of time. Or participants can add any twist they’d like to the event, as long as it involves the number 100.

“The goal is to raise awareness and engage the golf community to play golf for a purpose,” said CGA executive director Ed Mate. “It will get the whole state involved.”

The CGA plans to set up an internet portal in which the financial aspects of 100 Holes for 100 Years will be handled. Details about that will be forthcoming.

“Why we’re doing all this is to advance golf in Colorado,” Mate said. “It’s not just a celebration, but that’s the driving force behind it all. We want to seize on the centennial to position the CGA, the community of golf and the Colorado Golf Foundation for the next 100 years. We want to make sure that the game not only will be around, but will be thriving.”

As for the upcoming series of stories focusing on the last century of Colorado golf, there is certainly no lack of history having been made in the Centennial State. Just consider this list of golf “firsts” that occurred in Colorado:

— Arnold Palmer won his only U.S. Open in Colorado, in 1960 at Cherry Hills Country Club. (Palmer is pictured at left tossing his visor in celebration on the 18th green.)

— Jack Nicklaus won the first and last of his eight USGA championships in Colorado, prevailing in the 1959 U.S. Amateur at the Broadmoor and the 1993 U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills.

— Phil Mickelson won his only USGA event (to date) in Colorado, the 1990 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills.

— Annika Sorenstam made the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor the first of her 72 LPGA Tour victories.

— Frank Woodward of Denver, who won the first CGA championship ever in 1901, was elected the first president of the United States Golf Association from the western U.S.

— In 1959 at Wellshire Golf Course, Bill Wright became the first African-American golfer to win a USGA championship, in his case the U.S. Amateur Public Links title.

— In 1996, Judy Bell of Colorado Springs became the only female president in the history of the USGA.

— And just recently, Colorado Golf Club was the site of the first victory on U.S. soil by a European team in the Solheim Cup.

Winners of big tournaments in Colorado have included a who’s who of golf: Besides Palmer, Nicklaus, Sorenstam and Mickelson, that list features Babe Zaharias, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Kathy Whitworth, Hale Irwin, Greg Norman, JoAnne Carner, Judy Rankin, Juli Inkster, Pat Bradley, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Hubert Green, Betsy King, Amy Alcott and Davis Love.

The centennial series will explore all that and much, much more. After all, a lot has happened, golf-wise, in Colorado since that two-paragraph story appeared in the Denver Post during World War I.
 

The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class 40 years ago, is taking its show on the road.

The first stop was last weekend’s Denver Golf Expo, and after flying under the radar for much of its four decades of existence, the CGHOF is hoping that’s a springboard toward taking on a higher profile in the future.

The Hall of Fame recently purchased a large touch-screen monitor, and the organization has streamlined biographies of all its 128 inductees and has added narration provided by CGA communications director Aaron Kellough — all so a Hall of Fame kiosk can easily be set up wherever it’s appropriate for golf functions around the state.

“Our whole goal here is to help us get exposure to the golf community regarding what the Golf Hall of Fame is all about,” said Keith Schneider, who serves as the volunteer president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in addition to being the general manager at Castle Pines Golf Club, where he’s been a fixture since the early 1980s.

Schneider, himself a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee, and several of his cohorts manned the Hall of Fame’s exhibit last weekend at its coming-out party at the Denver Golf Expo at the Denver Merchandise Mart. (Schneider is pictured above at the Expo.)

Besides the new touch-screen monitor that provided information on all the Hall’s inductees, there were placards detailing some history of the Hall, its mission, prominent members, and who’s going in this year. Also on display were Dale Douglass’ golf bag from the 1969 Ryder Cup, and one of the oldest golf trophies in the country, the 1897 Overland Cup (pictured at left).

The 2013 class of inductees will be enshrined on June 9 at Cielo at Castle Pines in Castle Rock. The following day, the Hall will hold its annual pro-am tournament, this year at the Country Club at Castle Pines.

This year’s three inductees are Colorado PGA professionals Tom Woodard (pictured below last weekend at the Expo) and Alan Abrams, and Jimmy Vickers, one of the state and region’s finest amateurs from the late 1940s into the 1960s. For more information on the impending inductees, CLICK HERE. 

“We want people to be aware of who is in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame,” Schneider said. “The response (at the Expo) has just been fabulous. It’s been a lot of fun just talking to people who come up and say, ‘Gosh, I know so and so. What year did he get in?’ And we’ll go in (on the touch-screen monitor) and pull up the name. It’s been great exposure for us.”

The CGA and CWGA’s web site, COgolf.org, has long served as the on-line site for the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s inductee biographies (CLICK HERE). And the Hall of Fame’s museum has been prominently displayed at the Riverdale golf courses in Brighton for the last decade. But the idea of the traveling kiosk is to expose the CGHOF to people who otherwise might not be aware of it.

The first class of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame was inducted in 1973, with Babe Zaharias, Dave Hill and Babe Lind going in. Besides Zaharias — a co-founder of the LPGA and a three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion — the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame includes three other people also inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame: three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, former USGA president Judy Bell and twice PGA Championship winner Paul Runyan.

In addition, more than a dozen members of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame are also Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductees: Bell, Joan Birkland, Dale Douglass, Dow Finsterwald, Irwin, Lind, Barbara McIntire, Tubb Morris, Will Nicholson Jr., Thayer Tutt, Jack Vickers, Starr Yelland and Zaharias. And 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones will join that heady company in two months when he’s enshrined into the CSHOF.

Schneider said the Hall of Fame’s new computer kiosk often will be housed at the Hall’s home at Riverdale, but “the idea is to get a second kiosk that can travel around to member-guests, to dinners, etc.; we’ll have it at our (June 9) dinner. This is kind of a road show that will give us exposure.”