Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins, winner of this month’s AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, and Christopher Kennedy of Aurora both eagled the 18th hole and matched 4-under-par 68s to share medalist honors out of a 79-player qualifying field at Buffalo Run.
The two joined Andrew Rodriguez of The Woodlands, Texas (69) in punching their tickets to Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J., host of many major championships over the years. The dates for the national tournament are July 16-21. (The qualifiers are pictured, from left: Rodriguez, Stewart and Kennedy.)
Stewart actually eagled two of his last eight holes on Tuesday, making a 40-footer on No. 11 and a 5-footer on No. 18.
“I was coming down 18 and Calvin McCoy’s caddie wondered if I wanted to know where I was at (relative to the qualifying number),” Stewart said. “I said, ‘No, I’m just going to play it and see where I finish up at the end when I sign the card.’
“I had 238 (yards) to the pin. I hit a 4-iron to 5 feet and made eagle. Looking back on it, it was a clutch shot to get it real close and make the putt for eagle.”
Kennedy, playing more than an hour earlier, eagled his final hole from 10 feet after making four birdies and two bogeys earlier. The 68 was the best score ever for the Smoky Hill senior-to-be.
“My tee shot took a joyride on the cart path (on 18). It was sitting on the cart path with 155 yards left to the green,” Kennedy noted. “Then I hit 9-iron to 10 feet for eagle.
“In a big qualifier with all the pressure around and with how big and competitive the field is, it’s a really great feeling (to advance).
“I feel like this is the biggest qualifier I have ever played in — topping the other ones combined. Not only was I co-medalist, I shot my career best, so it’s kind of a double bonus.”
Stewart, a Fossil Ridge student who has verbally committed to play his college golf at Oklahoma State starting in the fall of 2019, had Colorado State University golfer AJ Ott caddying for him on Tuesday. It was just last Friday that Ott won the CGA Match Play title, and with him on the bag, Stewart made three birdies and three bogeys in addition to his two eagles.
“We’re both out at Ptarmigan, and he’s kind of been a mentor to me,” Stewart said of Ott. “I learn from his mistakes and he’s showed me the ropes a little bit in junior golf and what to expect in college. We’re pretty good buddies.”
So what does going to the U.S. Junior Amateur mean to Stewart?
“It means a lot because I’ve qualified for pretty much everything else (for juniors nationally) — the Junior PGA last year, the IMG (Junior Worlds) several times …,” he said. “I’ve fallen short a few times in this tournament and I’m glad I got it done. I feel like I’ve been knocking on the door the last few years. It feels good to finally get this one.”
Rodriguez, meanwhile, finished the day with five birdies and two bogeys.
Davis Bryant of Aurora, who qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2015 and ’17, fell short of earning a third berth as he shot a 71. Bryant has won the last four Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors in which he’s competed.
Also failing to qualify after competing in last year’s U.S. Junior Am was TJ Shehee of Mead, who carded a 75 on Tuesday.
U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying
At Par-72 Buffalo Run GC in Commerce City
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Christopher Kennedy, Aurora 68
Dillon Stewart, Fort Collins 68
Andrew Rodriguez, The Woodlands, Texas 69
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Jack Castiglia, Lakewood 70
Matthew Denton, Austin, Texas 70
For all the scores from Monday, CLICK HERE.
It might seem out of place for a Colorado Golf Association trophy, but the award that goes to the winner of the 49th CGA Senior Match Play will spend the next year in … Wyoming.
John Hornbeck — a resident of the southern Wyoming town of Saratoga, which sits about 30 miles north of the Colorado border as the crow flies — came to the Centennial State and left with the Senior Match Play hardware on Thursday.
In a title match that was completed by 9:20 a.m. at Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City, Hornbeck defeated Steve Ivan of Patty Jewett Golf Course in Colorado Springs, 5 and 3, possibly starting a friendly, golf-related variation of the Border War.
Hornbeck, who has been voted into the Golf Hall of Fame in Wyoming, is no stranger to competing in Colorado. He qualified in the Centennial State for the 2016 U.S. Senior Open, along with the 2014 and ’16 U.S. Senior Amateur. He made the semifinals of last year’s CGA Senior Match Play and finished eighth in the 2017 CGA Senior Amateur that Ivan won. He’s also tried three other times in Colorado to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open — 2015, ’17 and ’18 — falling short in each case.
“I enjoy coming down here and playing with all these guys” in Colorado, the 60-year-old said. “Since I qualified for (the 2016 U.S. Senior Open), I’ve met a lot of nice senior players and I’ve developed some friendships. They’ve said, ‘Come on down. We’d love to play with you.’ I love playing with them.
“And I like the golf courses (in Colorado). There’s a lot of real nice, unique golf courses down here. The ones in Wyoming, I’ve been playing my whole life. I enjoy playing golf, and this gives me another month or two to play golf.”
So now Hornbeck (pictured above and below) has his first CGA championship to go with more than a dozen he’s won in Wyoming in the 15 years in which he’s been competing at golf. That includes all four state senior match plays that have been contested in Wyoming.
“I really enjoy the competition,” he said. “It brings out the youth in you, I guess.”
On the national level, besides playing in the 2016 U.S. Senior Open, where he missed the cut, Hornbeck has qualified for three U.S. Senior Amateurs, advancing to match play on each occasion. In fact, he made the quarterfinals in that national event in 2016.
On Thursday, Hornbeck not only never trailed in the match, he never lost a hole. Neither golfer played particularly well on the front nine as Hornbeck finished 2 over par and Ivan 3 over. They halved eight of the nine holes, with Hornbeck winning the par-3 seventh with a par to take a 1-up lead.
But the Wyoming golfer, who had missed two very short putts on the front nine, heated up on the back. He won Nos. 10 and 11 with 7-foot birdies — the first birdies of the day by either player — and No. 13 with a par after Ivan failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker.
“I’ve been pretty confident all week. I’ve been hitting the ball really well,” said Hornbeck, who only had one match go to the 17th or 18th hole this week. “I knew if I could just get the putter going that it would probably go my way.”
Hornbeck closed things out on the 15th hole after putting his approach shot 8 feet from the flag. Ivan just missed the green and, after hitting a poor chip, conceded the match without further ado.
“I haven’t really hit my driver well all week. I’ve really struggled (with that),” said Ivan, a former University of Colorado golfer who was a teammate of 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones for one year at CU. “I didn’t put any pressure on (Hornbeck). I didn’t hit quality shots like I need to and like I did in the (2017 CGA Senior Amateur). It’s OK. I’m still here. I’m alive. I’m still retired.”
Ivan (left), winner of the 1979 CGA Junior Match Play in addition to last year’s CGA Senior Amateur, hit fewer than half of the greens in regulation during the title match and never had the honors on the teebox. Hornbeck, who was much longer off the tee, took advantage of that length.
“People can’t believe I’m getting longer,” Hornbeck said. “I’m not buying any new equipment to speak of. But I’m as long as I ever was, even when I was back in my 30s.
“When you’re coming in with a shorter iron, it’s always an advantage. You can fire more at the stick. In senior golf when we move up a set of tees once in a while, that’s where I have a little advantage.”
And with Ivan’s driver being problematic, that exacerbated the issue.
“I didn’t hit my driver well, so then I started hitting my 3-wood,” the 56-year-old said. “But you can’t be aggressive when you’re hitting long irons or hybrids into those greens versus short irons.
“John is very consistent with that driver. Whenever you’re swinging well, you pick the piece of grass you want to land (the ball) on. That’s all you see. But when you’re swinging bad, you see everything, and that’s not a good thing.”
Looking ahead, Ivan has a possibility of competing in a major event in his hometown before the month is over. He finished fourth on Memorial Day at The Broadmoor in qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open, which put him in the second alternate position, behind Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler. But given that Loeffler lives in Castle Pines and Ivan in Colorado Springs, it’s possible they’ll get a call should a few players in the U.S. Senior Open field at The Broadmoor have to withdraw, particularly just prior to the start of the championship.
The CGA Senior Match Play is limited to players 52 and older.
CGA Senior Match Play
At Buffalo Run GC in Commerce City
WEDNESDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Bob Chandler, Overland Park GC, 5 and 4
Victor Minovich, Foothills GC, def. Bill Irwin, Highlands Ranch GC, 2 up
Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC, def. Keith Atkins, 2 and 1
Kent Moore, Cherry Hills CC, def. Robin Bradbury, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, 1 up
WEDNESDAY SEMIFINALS
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Victor Minovich, Foothills GC, 4 and 2
Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC, def. Kent Moore, Cherry Hills CC, 20 holes
THURSDAY’S FINAL
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC, 5 and 3
For all the results from Buffalo Run, CLICK HERE.
Ivan, a former University of Colorado golfer who won the 2017 CGA Senior Amateur, went 20 holes on Wednesday afternoon in the semifinals to defeat Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club. Moore, the 2006 champion, had won a 19-hole match in the first round and a 1-up decision in the quarterfinals, but couldn’t eke out another close victory in the semis. A three-putt bogey on the 20th hole saw to that.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ivan (left) had beaten 2017 CGA Senior Player of the Year Keith Atkins, 2 and 1.
Hornbeck, a semifinalist in this championship last year, scored a 5 and 4 win over Bob Chandler of Overland Park Golf Course in the quarterfinals and a 4 and 2 victory over Victor Minovich of Foothills Golf Course in the semis.
Hornbeck hasn’t been pressed much in his run to the championship match. His only match that went past the 16th hole was a 1-up round-of-32 win over Bradley Becker of Plum Creek Golf Club.
Thursday morning’s title match is schedule for 18 holes.
CGA Senior Match Play
At Buffalo Run GC in Commerce City
QUARTERFINALS
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Bob Chandler, Overland Park GC, 5 and 4
Victor Minovich, Foothills GC, def. Bill Irwin, Highlands Ranch GC, 2 up
Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC, def. Keith Atkins, 2 and 1
Kent Moore, Cherry Hills CC, def. Robin Bradbury, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, 1 up
SEMIFINALS
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Victor Minovich, Foothills GC, 4 and 2
Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC, def. Kent Moore, Cherry Hills CC, 20 holes
THURSDAY’S FINALS
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, vs. Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC
For results from Buffalo Run, CLICK HERE.
Six of the seven remaining past winners of the championship lost in either the round of 32 or the round of 16 on Tuesday at Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City.
Bob Chandler of Overland Park Golf Course won twice on Tuesday and defeated defending champion Pat Bucci of West Woods Golf Club in 19 holes in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Three other former champions also fell in the round of 16 on Tuesday — three-time winner David Delich of The Broadmoor (4 and 2 to 2017 CGA Senior Amateur champion Steve Ivan of Patty Jewett Golf Course), 2010 champ Guy Mertz of The Fox Hill Club (in 20 holes to Robin Bradbury of Walnut Creek Golf Preserve) and 2009 winner Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club (2 and 1 to Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore).
Past champions Ray Makloski of Pueblo Country Club and Jeff Oneth of Colorado Golf Club lost in Tuesday morning’s round of 32.
That makes Moore (pictured), the 2006 winner from Cherry Hills Country Club, as the only past champion to make the final eight.
Among those in the quarterfinals — in addition to Chandler, Ivan, Moore and Bradbury — are 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Wyoming, Bill Irwin of Highlands Ranch Golf Club, Victor Minovich of Foothills Golf Course and 2017 CGA Senior Player of the Year Keith Atkins.
The Senior Match Play, limited to players 52 and older, will feature the quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday. The 18-hole championship match is set for next Thursday morning.
For results from Buffalo Run, CLICK HERE.
Pat Bucci (left) of West Woods Golf Club, the defending champion and No. 1 seed, scored a 5 and 4 victory over Dave Mittan of Red Hawk Ridge Golf Course.
Other past champions who won on Monday included Jeff Oneth of Colorado Golf Club (2016), David Delich of The Broadmoor Golf Club (2007, ’11 and ’15), Ray Makloski of Pueblo Country Club (2012), Guy Mertz of The Fox Hill Club (2010), Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club (2009) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club (2006).
The one former champ to fall on Monday was 2013 winner Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course, who claimed the trophy in the recent CGA Super-Senior Match Play. Rick Tarasiewicz of Patty Jewett Golf Course defeated Johnson 1 up.
Meanwhile, Moore needed 19 holes to advance over Colin Bork of Collindale Golf Course, while Delich won 1 up over Robert West of Cherry Creek Country Club.
Also winning on Monday was 2017 CGA Senior Player of the Year Keith Atkins, the No. 2 seed who went 19 holes to overcome Davis Butler of Cherry Hills Country Club.
The Senior Match Play, limited to players 52 and older, will feature the rounds of 32 and 16 on Tuesday and the quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday. The 18-hole championship match is set for next Thursday morning.
For results from Buffalo Run, CLICK HERE.
And one of those eight, David Delich of The Broadmoor, has won the title three times over that period.
Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City will host this year’s Senior Match Play Monday through next Thursday (June 11-14). The event, limited to players 52 and older, will feature the round of 64 on Monday and two rounds each on Tuesday and Wednesday for those who advance. The 18-hole championship match is set for next Thursday morning.
Pat Bucci of West Woods Golf Club returns to defend the title he won last year, when he defeated Delich, the champion in 2007, ’11 and ’15.
Other former champions in the field are Jeff Oneth of Colorado Golf Club (2016), Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course (2013), Ray Makloski if Pueblo Country Club (2012), Guy Mertz of The Fox Hill Club (2010), Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club (2009) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club (2006).
Three of those former champs have already won CGA titles in 2018: Johnson in the Super-Senior Match Play, Polk with partner Bill Fowler in the Senior Four-Ball, and Mertz with son Nick in the Parent/Child.
Also scheduled to compete in the Senior Match Play are 2017 CGA Senior Amateur winner Steve Ivan of Patty Jewett Golf Course, 2016 Senior Amateur champ Kevin Ott of The Club at Rolling Hills, 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Wyoming and 2017 CGA Senior Player of the Year Keith Atkins.
For Monday’s round-of-64 tee pairings, CLICK HERE.
]]>On Wednesday, Gary Albrecht capped off a 72-hour stretch of golf that he won’t soon forget.
On Sunday, the Denver resident won the open-division club championship at CommonGround Golf Course, which is no small feat for a 61-year-old.
Three days later, Albrecht fended off a stiff challenge by Colorado Golf Hall of Famer — and defending champion — Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club to earn a title in a CGA championship for the first time.
Albrecht (left and below), who’s a member at Ballyneal as well as CommonGround, shot a 3-under-par 33 on his final nine holes — and a 3-under 69 for the day — to edge Moore in the CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play at Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City.
“It feels awesome,” said Albrecht, a private-practice attorney. “It feels great. It’s a very competitive group of super-senior players. I’m proud to come out in first. It’s been amazing.”
Albrecht, who qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur last year, sank a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to go ahead by two, then made a knee-knocker for par — and the win — on the 18th after Moore had drained a 10-foot birdie.
In the cases of both of his wins in recent days, Albrecht had in mind the memory of a longtime friend, Tom Collins, who died early this year. They met as members at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen in the late 1990s. Two months ago, Albrecht also participated in the Hundred Hole Hike at Ballyneal, playing 128 holes in a single day — all walking, covering about 38 miles in the process. In Albrecht’s case, the effort raised funds for the New York-based Double H Ranch, where Collins’ sons had attended Cindy’s Comfort Camp for kids with terminally ill parents.
“I played today with a golf ball with a logo on it in (Collins’) honor,” Albrecht noted. “I had (also) done it at CommonGround for the club championship. He’s been with me.”
At Buffalo Run, Albrecht finished with a 5-under-par 139 total, one ahead of Moore, who likewise closed with a 69 after birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 on Wednesday.
“He played great,” Moore said of Albrecht. “He almost never missed a shot. He missed one drive on the front and it cost him a bogey. Other than that, he was putting for birdie on every hole. He just played so steady and putted good. That was a delightful round to watch.
“(For me), it was a really good score for the way I hit it on the back. I’m disappointed to lose, but not disappointed in the scoring. Normally (Moore’s total) would win by two or three.”
In the three CGA super-senior individual championships in which Moore (below) has participated, he’s now finished first and second in the Super-Senior Stroke Play and first in the 2017 Super-Senior Match Play.
Although Albrecht was ahead most of the way on Wednesday, the long birdie putt he sank on 17 proved pivotal. Playing partner Sean Forey was on a similar line and putted first, just missing. Then Albrecht was dead-on.
“I know how great a player Kent is and he was right there,” Albrecht said. I hit a lot of good shots. I was a little disappointed in some of the putts I hit because I didn’t really have the pace. But the birdie putt on 17 was a huge one. I knew I needed to make it. I just saw the line and knocked it in.
“Yesterday I was trying to find break in putts and most of them were straight. That putt really was straight. I said, ‘You just have to trust that.’ I did, and it went right in the middle.”
This was the first time Albrecht had played in a CGA super-senior championship, but probably not the last.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to enter a super-senior event,” he said. “Maybe I was in denial a little bit. But these guys can golf. There’s a lot of really good golfers. Beating guys like Kent Moore and Robert Polk, that’s tough to do. They’ve won a lot of these events and they’re tournament-tested-tough players.”
Polk a three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year from Colorado Golf Club, placed third on Wednesday at 142 after finishing with a 68, the low round of the 61-plus championship. That means that members of the CGA’s volunteer Board of Governors went 1-2-3 in the association’s Super-Senior Stroke Play.
“We have a strong (board),” Albrecht noted. “We should have a Board of Governors golf event.”
Dave Runberg of CommonGround placed fourth in the 61-and-older division at 144 after a 71 on Wednesday.
In the 71-plus division, Don Alley (left) of Antler Creek Golf Course won for the second consecutive year. Alley, a former Colorado PGA professional who has had his amateur status reinstated, put together a stellar finish, playing his final eight holes in 6 under par. The 72-year-old from Colorado Springs made an eagle and four birdies during that stretch to shoot a 68, giving him a 3-under-par 141 total and a two-stroke victory.
“It feels wonderful, very surprising,” Alley said. “I came in here not playing well. I had a real rough winter. I got sick. I lost a lot of weight and a lot of stength, so I just haven’t been playing very well. I came in here with very low expectations. I didn’t play really well until the last nine. I got things going on the last nine and made some putts. I’m happy.”
As for the final-nine 31, Alley said, “It’s been a while since I’ve done that in a competitive event.”
It was the second CGA title for Alley, who served as a Colorado PGA professional for about two decades — including as general manager at the now-defunct Gleneagle Golf Club — and was president of the Section in the mid-1980s. He left the golf business and didn’t play the game for about a dozen years. But he received his amateur status back in the 1990s and now is going strong again.
Bob Sims of Clubcorp Colorado, who took a three-stroke lead into the final round, tied for second at 143 with Roger Gunderson of Aurora Hills Golf Course, a past winner of both the CGA Senior Amateur and Senior Match Play. Gunderson closed with a 69 and Sims with a 73.
(FYI: Starting in 2017, the age requirement for each CGA super-senior championship will go up by one year each year through 2021, when no one younger than 65 will be allowed to compete. Similarly, the minimum age for the older division will rise annually, with 75 and older being the criteria in 2021 and beyond.)
For Super-Senior Stroke Play scores, CLICK HERE.
]]>Albrecht (pictured), who qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur last year, shot a 2-under-par 70 to grab a one-stroke lead at the halfway point of the 61-and-older division. He made four birdies and two bogeys, and played his final three holes in 2 under par.
Moore, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer seeking to win his third consecutive CGA super-senior individual championship, opened with a 71, making four birdies on the day. He shares second place with Sean Forey of The Club at Rolling Hills, who placed second to Moore in this tournament last year. Forey carded three birdies and bogeys on Tuesday.
Daniel Dymerski of Columbine Country Club sits in fourth place, two back of Albrecht. Dymerski posted a birdie, a bogey and 16 pars on Tuesday.
(FYI: Starting in 2017, the age requirement for each CGA super-senior championship will go up by one year each year through 2021, when no one younger than 65 will be allowed to compete.)
Meanwhile, in the 71-and-older division, Bob Sims of Clubcorp Colorado grabbed a three-stroke lead, Sims, winner of the CGA Super-Senior Match Play in 2012, fired a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday, when he made four birdies.
Defending champion Don Alley of Antler Creek Golf Course and Jim Hotchkiss of Lakewood Country Club share second place in the older division at 73.
The final round for both divisions will take place on Wednesday. The 71-and-older leaders will tee off at 8:21 a.m., with the top threesome from the 61-and-older division starting at 8:30 a.m.
For Super-Senior Stroke Play scores, CLICK HERE.
]]>What’s not to like?
He’s competed in two — the 2016 CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play and the 2017 Super-Senior Match Play — and has won them both.
The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer will try to make it 3-for-3 this week when the sixth CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play is contested, with Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City hosting. The 36-hole scratch event, which features separate competitions for players 61 and older and those 71 and older, will run Tuesday and Wednesday (Aug. 22-23).
(FYI: Starting in 2017, the age requirement for each CGA super-senior championship will go up by one year each year through 2021, when no one younger than 65 will be allowed to compete.)
Moore (pictured), who plays out of Cherry Hills Country Club, is among 65 players who will tee it up at Buffalo Run. He’s one of four champions of the younger division at this event entered this week, joining three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club (2015 winner), Kary Kaltenbacher of Glenmoor Country Club (2014) and Bob Cloud of CommonGround Golf Course (2013).
Among the others scheduled to compete this week are Jeff English of CommonGround and Steve Scheffel of Ptarmigan Country Club — the top two finishers in the 2016 Super-Senior Match Play; 2017 SS Match Play runner-up Jim Reynolds of Bear Creek Golf Club; 2011 and ’13 CGA Senior Player of the Year Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course; 2016 Senior POY Robin Bradbury of Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, and 2016 SS Stroke Play runner-up Sean Forey of The Club at Rolling Hills.
Don Alley of Antler Creek Golf Course, winner of the 70+ tournament last year, will be back to defend that title.
For Tuesday’s tee times at Buffalo Run, CLICK HERE.
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Kern, a Regis sophomore-to-be who plays out of Hyland Hills, beat Montana State’s Tait 1 up in Wednesday’s semifinals. Kern took the lead with a birdie on No. 15, then halved the final three holes by going par-par-birdie.
Gilbreth advanced with a 2 and 1 semifinal victory over University of Denver golfer Weinstein. Weinstein took the first hole with a par, but Gilbreth won four of the next five to take charge. Weinstein, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s 2016 Girls Player of the Year, birdied 12 and 13 to get back to 1 down, but Gilbreth went birdie-par-par to close out the match.
In the senior championship flight, two past champs won their matches on Wednesday and will meet in Thursday’s 18-hole final.
Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, the defending champion who’s seeking her fourth senior title in the Match Play, and 2014 champ Deb Hughes of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club advanced.
Eaton “” winner in 2010, ’13 and ’16 “” scored a 2 and 1 semifinal victory Wednesday over Tiffany Maurycy of Cherry Creek Country Club. Eaton, a four-time quarterfinalist in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, never trailed in the match but was just 1 up through 15. However, a birdie on 16 and a par on 17 closed things out.
Hughes, winner of the 2016 CWGA Senior Stroke Play, defeated Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and 2007 champion Christie Austin of Cherry Hills Country Club 4 and 3 in the other semi. After being 1 down through five, Hughes won the next three holes “” going birdie-par-par “” to take a lead she wouldn’t relinquish.
In Thursday’s 36-hole championship flight final, Kern and Gilbreth will tee off at 7:30 a.m., while Eaton and Hughes will begin their senior championship title match at 9:06 a.m.
For results from all seven flights, click on the following:
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