On Sunday, it was son Tristan’s turn again.
Two years ago, the younger Rohrbaugh won the 3A state high school title and subsequently signed a letter of intent to play college golf at Boise State. And on Sunday, he claimed a CGA championship title for the first time.
The 19-year-old from Ironbridge Golf Club — where Doug is the director of golf — finished with two straight birdies and played his final 11 holes in 4 under par en route to a two-stroke victory in the 33rd CGA Western Chapter Championship at Battlement Mesa Golf Club.
“It felt good,” said Rohrbaugh, who two-putted the 17th hole for one birdie and drained a 20-footer for another on No. 18 to cap off his round. “I played solid all week.”
Rohrbaugh, a sophomore-to-be at Boise State, shot a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday, giving him a 3-under 141 total. He finished two ahead of runner-up Clayton Crawford of Maroon Creek Club. Crawford, who shared the first-round lead with Rohrbaugh and Josh McLaughlin, birdied the 16th and 17th holes on Sunday to card a final-round 71.
“It was a lot of fun to play with one of my best friends (Crawford) in the final group,” Rohrbaugh said. “We always battled through high school tournaments (Rohrbaugh at Basalt HS and Crawford at Aspen HS) and at junior tourneys.” Crawford now plays college golf at Texas Christian University.
Rohrbaugh took the lead for good from his friend when Crawford bogeyed No. 10, and went up by two with his birdie on No. 11. Then Rohrbaugh answered Crawford’s two consecutive late birdies with two straight of his own.
“I hit it OK, not my best (overall),” Rohrbaugh said. “But I managed my game well. I wasn’t striking it fantastic, but I didn’t make any big mistakes.”
Zack Neiditz of Aspen Golf Club, a playoff runner-up in last year’s CGA Mid-Amateur Championship, placed third at 144 after closing with a 71. Defending champion Gavin Lyons of Dalton Ranch Golf Club was fourth at 145 after a 72 on Sunday.
In the senior championship flight, Michael Smith of Rifle Creek Golf Course prevailed by a stroke in a tight contest in which nine players finished within five shots of the winner. (Smith and Rohrbaugh are pictured above.)
Smith shot an even-par 72 on Sunday to post a 1-over-par 145 total. He birdied his 17th hole, the par-3 eighth, to account for the margin of victory. Smith, a co-leader going into the day, finished with one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars on the day.
Kirk Blaszyk of Glenwood Springs Golf Club placed second among the seniors after firing back-to-back 73s. Blaszyk, who eagled his second hole of the day and birdied his fourth, paid the price for a double-bogey 7 on his 16th hole.
CGA Western Chapter Championship
At Par-72 Battlement Mesa GC
Championship Flight
Tristan Rohrbaugh, Ironbridge Golf Club 72-69–141
Clayton Crawford, Maroon Creek Club 72-71–143
Zack Neiditz, Aspen Golf Course 73-71–144
Gavin Lyons, Dalton Ranch Golf Course Men’s 73-72–145
Dallas Massey, South Suburban Golf Course 78-68–146
Chris Berg, Tiara Rado Golf Course 77-70–147
Douglas Choate, Battlement Mesa Golf Club 74-74–148
Josh McLaughlin, Olde Course at Loveland 72-77–149
David Lysaught, Aspen Golf Course 75-75–150
Mark Zbrzeznj, Eagle Vail Golf Club 77-73–150
Drew Trujillo, Bridges 79-72–151
Lamar Carlile, City Park Associates Club 77-74–151
Michael Rusk, Black Canyon Golf Course 79-72–151
Robert Barnhardt, Dalton Ranch Golf Course Men’s 76-75–151
Eric Hill, Bushwood Golf Club 76-76–152
Joel Perez, Colorado National Golf Club 77-75–152
Richard Bradsby, Lakewood Country Club 74-78–152
Cameron Barnhardt, Hillcrest GC 75-78–153
Jeff Chapman, Inverness Golf Club 78-75–153
Justin Russell, City Park Players Club 76-77–153
Kermitt Barrett, Hillcrest Golf Club 77-76–153
Tim Holzschuh, Redlands Mesa Golf Club 78-75–153
Bruce Wright, Conquistador Golf Course 78-76–154
Sam Nichamin, Red Sky Golf Club 76-78–154
David Yergert, Heritage at Westmoor 79-78–157
Tyler Hogg, Patty Jewett Golf Course 81-76–157
Dustin Jensen, CommonGround GC 80-79–159
Jacob Hebbel, Bridges 87-72–159
Kenny Burnham, Colorado National Golf Club 88-72–160
Michael Passananti, Southridge Golf Club 82-78–160
Jarrod Deloach, Commonground Golf Course 85-76–161
Scott Holland, Lincoln Park Golf Course 82-80–162
David Becker, Plum Creek Golf Club 84-79–163
Phil Rosenbaum, Telluride Ski & Golf Club 90-76–166
Brent Modak, Commonground Golf Course 84-84–168
Matt Renner, Mariana Butte 87-81–168
Michael Wright, West Woods Golf Club 91-81–172
Nathaniel Wood, Redlands Mesa Golf Club 88-84–172
Michael Kontny, Bridges 92-81–173
Michael Schroeder, Plum Creek Golf Club 86-87–173
Daniel Becker, Plum Creek Golf Club 90-85–175
Phil Andersen, Fox Hollow at Lakewood 99-92–191
Jeremy Lederer, Eagle Ranch Golf Course 78-WD–WD
Tony Komatz, Eagle Ranch Golf Course 79-WD–WD
Samuel Toillion, Ute Creek Golf Course NS
Senior Championship Flight
Michael Smith, Rifle Creek GC 73-72–145
Kirk Blaszyk, Glenwood Springs GC 73-73–146
Mark Barlau, Battlment Mesa GC 73-74–147
Reagan Majoria, Roaring Fork Club 77-70–147
Matt Hall, Redlands Mesa Golf Club 75-74–149
Sean Forey, Bear Creek Golf Club 75-74–149
Chuck Delich, Eisenhower Golf Club 74-76–150
Dennis Lucero, Lincoln Park GC 75-75–150
Grant Porter, Commonground Golf Course 75-75–150
Thomas Roos, Spring Valley Golf Club 76-74–150
Owen Ellis, Flatirons Golf Course 77-74–151
Pat Bowe, Commonground Golf Course 75-78–153
Rick George, Castle Pines Golf Club 78-75–153
Doug Jones, Tiara Rado Golf Course 76-78–154
Gary Driber, Ridge at Castle Pines North 77-79–156
Frank Wilkinson, Lincoln Park Golf Course 79-78–157
Phil Herrera, Lincoln Park GC 78-79–157
Bill Bolgar, Ridge at Castle Pines North 84-74–158
Bruce Hogg, Patty Jewett Golf Course 78-80–158
Harry Johnson, Eagle Ranch Golf Course 78-82–160
Joe Morrill, Eagle Ranch Golf Course 80-80–160
Bobby Ortega, Hyland Hills 81-80–161
Ken Seidel, Battlement Mesa Golf Club 82-83–165
Bobby Rennick, Ironbridge Golf Club 90-78–168
Todd Beckman, Indian Peaks Golf Club 85-84–169
Mark Barkley, Clubcorp Colorado 85-87–172
Brian Phillips, Indian Tree Golf Course 87-87–174
David Delich, Broadmoor Golf Club 75-WD–WD
John Sostman, Meadows Golf Club 78-NS–NS
Open First Flight
Rick Ott, Lincoln Park Golf Course 79-83–162
Jeff Bradley, Battlement Mesa Golf Club 83-84–167
Jordan Fehlman, Tiara Rado Golf Course 86-88–174
Chris Curran, Haymaker GC 96-94–190
Wayne Smith, Tiara Rado Golf Course 97-98–195
Senior First Flight
Dan Rzonca, Battlement Mesa GC 75-85–160
Tom Gentilcore, Battlement Mesa Golf Club 84-76–160
Stan Cole, Eagle Ranch Golf Course 79-83–162
Scott Gardner, Foothills Golf Course 85-81–166
Tom Vickers, Club at Crested Butte 85-82–167
Michael Wommack, Haymaker Golf Course 87-84–171
Stuart Jones, Redlands Mesa Golf Club DQ
Jack Elsea, Battlement Mesa Golf Club WD
Connor Rakowski of Ironbridge Golf Club won his second CGA Western Chapter Championship in the last three years on Sunday at Battlement Mesa Golf Club.
Rakowski shot a 3-under-par 69 in the final round to post a 5-under 139 total, which was good for a three-stroke victory.
Rakowski also won the Western Chapter title in 2010 at The Links at Cobble Creek, where he prevailed by four shots.
On Sunday, Dillon McDonald of Red Sky Golf Club matched Rakowski’s 69 and finished second at 142. (Rakowski, at left, and McDonald are pictured above). Colorado Mesa University golfer Brandon Bingaman (71 Sunday) and the University of Colorado’s Drew Trujillo (70) tied for third place at 143. Last year’s champion, Keith Humerickhouse, shared eighth place at 149.
Meanwhile, Sean Forey of Bear Creek Golf Club claimed victory in the senior championship flight. Forey carded two straight 2-over-par 74s for a 148 total.
Scott Sullivan of Bookcliff Country Club took second place among the seniors as a final-round 76 left him at 151. (Pictured at left are Forey, in white shirt, and Sullivan.)
CGA Western Chapter Championship
At Par-72 Battlement Mesa GC
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Connor Rakowski – 70-69–139
Dillon McDonald – 73-69–142
Brandon Bingaman – 72-71–143
Drew Trujillo – 73-70–143
AJ Morris – 74-72–146
Mark Zbrzeznj – 77-70–147
Sean Forey – 74-74–148
Keith Humerickhouse – 74-75–149
Lamar Carlile – 78-71–149
Scott Sullivan – 75-76–151
Jim Doidge – 75-77–152
David Delich – 78-75–153
Chris Berg – 73-81–154
Clayton Crawford – 80-74–154
Joey Saad – 74-81–155
William Berg – 78-77–155
Mike Lohse – 74-82–156
Thomas Roos – 82-74–156
Joe Elliott – 74-83–157
Erik Lundberg – 80-78–158
Jakob Rudosky – 86-72–158
John Sostmann – 79-80–159
Doug Jones – 80-80–160
Jim LeMar – 80-81–161
Zach Coe – 81-80–161
Michael Jones – 79-83–162
Davis Kinney – 80-83–163
Spencer Stern – 82-81–163
Bruce Hogg – 82-82–164
Frank Wilkinson – 81-87–168
Shane Unfred – 78-90–168
Casey Knuepfer – 90-81–171
Brady McDonald – 84-90–174
Nick Edwards – 85-90–175
Brian Huston – 86-91–177
OPEN FIRST FLIGHT
Tristan Rohrbaugh – 79-73–152
Taylor Foust – 79-76–155
Jack Elsea – 83-80–163
Gregg Mueller – 85-79–164
Jay Wilson – 77-87–164
Jeff Kadereit – 80-84–164
Robert Laro – 81-83–164
Michael Wommack – 86-80–166
Nick Hoffmeister – 85-83–168
Jay Ketchem – 91-78–169
Rick Ott – 85-85–170
Paul Bersagel – 87-85–172
Bob Fuller – 88-87–175
Ken Seidel – 86-89–175
Danny Schard – 85-91–176
Richard Woolley – 90-87–177
Max Martinez – 89-93–182
Wayne Smith – 89-93–182
Red Woolley – 92-99–191
Bob Armantrout – 103-93–196
Brandon Chicoine – 74-NS–NS
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Sean Forey – 74-74–148
Scott Sullivan – 75-76–151
David Delich – 78-75–153
Harry Johnson – 77-77–154
Dennis Lucero – 80-76–156
Thomas Roos – 82-74–156
Todd Novak – 79-77–156
John Sostmann – 79-80–159
Kelly Crone – 80-79–159
Doug Jones – 80-80–160
Jim LeMar – 80-81–161
Bruce Hogg – 82-82–164
Frank Wilkinson – 81-87–168
Bob Chandler – 82-92–174
SENIOR FIRST FLIGHT
John Meredith – 84-73–157
Alan Bateman – 79-80–159
Joe Morrill – 80-79–159
Scott Crone – 81-79–160
Bobby Ortega – 86-75–161
Tom Gentilcore – 82-80–162
Jack Elsea – 83-80–163
Gregg Mueller – 85-79–164
Robert Laro – 81-83–164
Ron Lundberg – 81-85–166
Walt Mathews – 83-84–167
David Vanderhoof – 81-89–170
Bob Prendergast – 86-85–171
Lonnie Miller – 78-93–171
Tom Dameron – 90-82–172
Stan Daily – 89-84–173
Bob Fuller – 88-87–175
Jon Burnett – 83-92–175
Ken Seidel – 86-89–175
Stuart Jones – 88-88–176
Max Martinez – 89-93–182
Jeff Franke – 96-89–185
Red Woolley – 92-99–191
Bob Armantrout – 103-93–196
Scott Fetzer – 90-WD
Members of the Lone Tree men’s club enjoy the fun and camaraderie of playing in the CGA Team Interclub Championship. But make no mistake: They take the competition seriously.
If there was any doubt about that, just ask team captain Jim Eliassen how much time he spent putting together the best possible team throughout the 2011 season for Lone Tree Golf Club.
“I would say in all honesty — because I really dig into the numbers and I attend each match, too — I put over 150 hours in,” Eliassen said.
And all that time — much of it spent analyzing players’ low handicap indexes, tournament scores and results, and how their games might fare on particular golf courses — apparently paid dividends on Sunday. That’s when Lone Tree defeated Battlement Mesa Golf Club 24-12 in the finals of the second annual CGA Team Interclub at CommonGround Golf Course.
In a match-up of players from two public golf courses separated by 215 miles, Lone Tree won the singles matches 17-7 and the four-ball competition 7-5 to become the first public facility to claim the Team Interclub title.
“It’s a huge deal for the club,” said Mike Morong, who won both his singles and four-ball matches on Sunday. “It’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened for the men’s club. It’s just phenomenal.”
Battlement Mesa was the top seed entering the playoffs and had won four of its five matches by double-digit margins. But on Sunday, after taking an early lead, there was no keeping pace with Lone Tree, where the men’s club outnumbers Battlement Mesa’s approximately 195-35.
The season-long net match play Interclub competition, which originally featured 52 men’s club teams from around the state, culminated Sunday after 5 1/2 months of matches. Both in the regular season and the playoffs, teams of 12 men of varying abilities squared off, simultaneously playing singles and four-ball matches. Each match is worth two points — two for a win and one for a tie.
Lone Tree won all six of its team competitions in 2011, while Battlement Mesa (Gordon Elliott and Michael Stiers are pictured at left) went 5-1. Overall, Sunday marked the 80th dual match of the 2011 championship, and the 12th of the playoffs. It was also the last CGA championship of the 2011 season, and the finale couldn’t have featured better weather in late October.
“We were happy to get to this point definitely,” said Doug Choate, who went 2-0 for a Battlement Mesa team which traveled about 420 miles — largely as a group — over the weekend to get from western Colorado to the Interclub finals and back. “It was a good day, a good golf course and great weather, but golf is a fickle game and it just didn’t go our way.
“But it’s a great event and we’ve had fun playing in it all summer. It’s a good, competitive format.”
Though players with handicaps ranging from 0 to 17 competed on Sunday, Choate put on one of the more impressive performances. After being 4 down after five holes to Randal Gaddis, Choate played holes 6 through 11 in 6 under par en route to singles and four-ball victories.
In all, seven players won both their singles and four-ball matches on Sunday — five from Lone Tree and two from Battlement Mesa. Morong, Daniel Lowe, Andrew Pimental, Derek Dodd and Bob Emmett went 2-0 for Lone Tree, while Choate and Tom Gentilcore did the same for Battlement Mesa. (Pimental and Dodd are pictured at left.)
Eliassen didn’t play on Sunday, though he did compete once for Lone Tree in the Team Interclub this year. But he made a significant contribution without swinging a club.
“Jim Eliassen did a phenomenal job in picking the teams for each match,” Morong said. “You had to play well to make it further into the competition.”
Lone Tree used roughly 30 players during the course of the season, and after each match Eliassen crunched the numbers and talked to the players before making recommendations as to who should represent the men’s club in the next competition.
“It’s like doing your annual performance appraisal because I have to select (the best) 12 people,” he said. “There’s a lot that goes into it, but I also try to get as many (players) involved as I can — and share the wealth.”
For reaching the finals, Lone Tree and Battlement Mesa received $250 each for their junior golf programs from the CGA.
Last year, The Ranch Country Club won the inaugural Team Interclub Championship. Lone Tree failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2010 despite scoring an impressive 70 points during the regular season.
CGA Team Interclub Championship Finals
At CommonGround GC in Aurora
OVERALL FINAL SCORE: LONE TREE GC 24, BATTLEMENT MESA GC 12
SINGLES (Lone Tree 17, Battlement Mesa 7)
Douglas Choate, BM, def. Randal Gaddis, 3 and 1
Doug Moore, LT, def. Frank Oakley, 1 up
Mike Morong, LT, def. Charles Perrin, 4 and 2
Daniel Lowe, LT, def. Jack Elsea, 3 and 2
Tom Gentilcore, BM, def. Bryan Rowe, 2 and 1
Mark Eberly, LT, def. John Santos, 2 up
Andrew Pimental, LT, def. Ken Seidel, 3 and 2
Derek Dodd, LT, def. Jonathan Prater, 3 and 2
Michael Stiers, BM, def. Karl Kiefer, 1 up
Bob Emmett, LT, def. Gordon Elliott, 3 and 2
Michael Anderson, LT, def. Al Tanner, 1 up
Charles Hall, BM, halved with William McDermott, LT
FOUR-BALL (Lone Tree 7, Battlement Mesa 5)
Douglas Choate-Frank Oakley, BM, def. Randal Gaddis-Doug Moore, 3 and 2
Mike Morong-Daniel Lowe, LT, def. Charles Perrin-Jack Elsea, 5 and 4
Tom Gentilcore-John Santos, BM, def. Bryan Rowe-Mark Eberly, 1 up
Andrew Pimental-Derek Dodd, LT, def. Ken Seidel-Jonathan Prater, 3 and 2
Karl Kiefer-Bob Emmett, LT, def. Michael Stiers-Gordon Elliott, 5 and 3
Michael Anderson-William McDermott, LT, halved with Charles Hall-Al Tanner, BM