The Porters, from Pueblo Country Club and CommonGround Golf Course, respectively, shot a 5-under-par 66 in a modified Chapman format on Saturday to grab a two-stroke lead at the midway point at The River Course at Keystone.

There must be a sense of deja vu for the Porters, who opened with a 64 and led last year en route to a fourth-place finish in this event.

On Saturday, the pair made six birdies and one bogey to set the standard for the 58-team field.

Gary and Alex Kephart of Patty Jewett Golf Course sit in second place at 68 following a five-birdie, two-bogey round. The Kepharts won this title four times from 2005-11.

Guy and Nicklaus Mertz of The Fox Hill Club hold third place after carding four birdies and two bogeys. Guy Mertz finished 41st on Friday in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver.

Three teams share fourth place at 70, including defending champions Lenny and Nick Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course. Also at that figure are former CGA president Bill Fowler and son Will of The Club at Rolling Hills, and Russell Roehrkasse of Colorado Springs Country Club and Christopher Roehrkasse of Meridian Golf Club.

In the net division, Bill and Steele Luoma lead the way by six strokes after a 14-under-par 57 on Saturday.

The players will switch to a foursome stroke play format for Sunday’s final round.

For scores from the Parent/Child: GROSS, NET.

The 36-hole event features a modified Chapman format on Saturday and foursome stroke play on Sunday, with separate gross and net competitions.

Fifty-eight two-person teams are in the field. Among them are several former champions in addition to the Nosewiczes — Gary and Alex Kephart of Patty Jewett Golf Course, the winners of this championship four times, the last coming in 2011; 2014 champions Steve and Chris Dillon; and 2013 winner Rick Tarasiewicz, who this year will team with Benjamin.

Also scheduled to play are University of Wisconsin golfer Griffin Barela and dad Woody; former CGA president Bill Fowler and son Will; and Guy and Nicklaus Mertz. Both Bill Fowler and Guy Mertz have won individual CGA championships, as has Nick Nosewicz, who captured the CGA Match Play title in 2015.

The Loel & Caleb Lierman Award will be presented to the team that includes a player 18 or younger with the lowest 36-hole gross score.

For Saturday’s pairings, CLICK HERE.
 

The Porters made eight birdies on Saturday in the modified Chapman format. They reeled off four straight birdies beginning on the sixth hole, their fifth of the day.

Nick Nosewicz, the 2015 CGA Match Play champion, and Lenny Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course trail by one heading into Sunday’s final round, which will feature foursome stroke play (alternate shot). The Nosewiczes eagled the par-5 17th hole and added five birdies in a bogey-free round of 65 on Saturday. Their 13-under 59 leads the net division of the championship.

Bill Fowler, the 2015 CGA Senior Amateur champion, and son Will of The Club at Rolling Hills checked in at 66 to stand in third place in the gross division.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Gary Potter of Denver Country Club and Matt Potter of CommonGround, who won the first two CGA Parent/Child titles — in 1983 and ’84 when the tournament was known as the Father/Son — share fourth place at 67 with Bradley and Daniel Becker of Plum Creek Golf Club.

Defending champions Ray and Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo Country Club opened with a 68 in Jimmy’s final tournament as an amateur.

For all the gross and net scores from Saturday, CLICK HERE. 

Gone, after a run of just four years, is the CGA Mid-Amateur Match Play, which was won twice by Michael Harrington of Colorado Springs. Filling the 24-man field with the top mid-amateur players proved difficult, so the CGA opted to discontinue the championship, which was limited to players 25 and older.

Meanwhile, two longstanding CGA championships will undergo name changes. What had been the CGA Stroke Play will become the CGA Amateur. And what was the CGA Senior Stroke Play will become the CGA Senior Amateur.

The CGA tournament committee wanted to designate major championships in three divisions — open-age, mid-amateur and seniors — which led to the decision, said Dustin Jensen, managing director of operations for the CGA. Those CGA majors going forward will be the CGA Amateur, the CGA Mid-Amateur and the CGA Senior Amateur.

The CGA Amateur, set to be played for the 80th consecutive year in 2016, is set for Aug. 4-7 at Boulder Country Club. The 30th Mid-Am will be Sept. 23-25 at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora. And the Senior Amateur will be contested for the 45th time Sept. 6-8 at The Club at Rolling Hills in Golden.

It should be noted that the CGA Match Play, the association’s oldest championship, will continue its long run, having been held every year since 1901. In 2016 it will be played a little earlier than normal, June 20-24 at Lone Tree Golf Club.

Also still intact is the CGA Senior Match Play, which dates back to 1970. Next year it will be May 23-26 at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont. One tweak is that the Super-Senior Match Play will be the same dates but at a different site, West Woods Golf Club in Arvada.

One championship that will be tweaked is what was previously known as the CGA Father/Son. The tournament will become the CGA Parent/Child and will be open not only to teams including father/sons, but to father/daughters, mother/sons and mother/daughters. In 2016 the Parent/Child is set for June 4-5 at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club in Steamboat Springs.

In addition, CGA leadership set up the 2016 championship schedule — along with those in 2017 and ’18 — so as to avoid date conflicts with USGA championships, which has been an issue on occasion in the past.

To view all the dates and sites for CGA championships and USGA qualifiers for 2016, CLICK HERE.

As for the big changes in the works for the 2016 junior golf schedule, CLICK HERE.