If the way the first CGA championship of 2018 ended is any indication, it could be one memorable season.
The 37th CGA Senior Four-Ball culminated in spectacular fashion on Wednesday at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada.
With his partner out of the hole and his two opponents less than half the distance from the cup, former CGA president Bill Fowler drained a 60-foot-plus birdie putt on the second hole of sudden death to give he and Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club their second Senior Four-Ball title in the last three years.
“It was probably one of the most exciting finishes of golf I’ve had in a long time,” Fowler said at the trophy presentation. “I’ll be celebrating that for a while.”
Fowler, from The Club at Rolling Hills, and Polk handed Guy Mertz and Tony Workman of The Fox Hill Club their second similar playoff loss in the CGA Senior Four-Ball. In 2012, Jerry Kidney and Daniel Dymerski defeated Mertz and Workman on the fifth hole of a playoff when Dymerski sank a 15-foot birdie putt.
“Did you see it bounce up when it hit the hole?” Mertz said of Fowler’s putt. “If he misses that (and it goes by quite a bit), we probably win with a 4. At worst we go on. That was twice as long as any putt I saw go in the whole tournament. It’s one of those turnarounds that you just … But that’s golf. It happens. But it’s happened to us twice now.”
Said Workman: “It was a hell of a putt.”
On a cold and sometimes rainy final day, Polk and Fowler shot the best score on Wednesday — a 4-under-par 68 — to rally from three strokes down going into the final round. With Polk getting up and down for birdie on the final hole of regulation, they finished with a winning total of 12-under-par 204. (The winners are pictured, with Fowler at right above and at left below.)
It was the fourth CGA Senior Four-Ball title for Polk, who won with different partners in 2005 and ’07 before earning the trophy with Fowler in 2016. Only Bert Welz, with five, has won this tournament more, while Kidney has also captured four titles. Polk and Fowler also qualified for the first U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, played in 2015, and were one of the older twosomes in the field.
In the CGA Senior Four-Ball, Polk and Fowler have finished in the top three five of the last six years.
“I hope he has me back next year,” Fowler said with a smile. “I didn’t have my A game for the whole three days. He’s always looking on the free-agent market for somebody better.”
Said Polk, a three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year: “We are a good team. Bill is real steady. I tend to make some birdies, but I tend to knock it off the golf course every now and then. Bill covers me when I take leave.”
That includes the second hole of the playoff, the par-4 11th. There, teeing off before Fowler as usual, Polk put two tee shots out of bounds right leaving his partner on his own for the hole. Fowler, who turns 55 on Thursday, responded with a nice drive, but pulled his 8-iron approach a little, leaving his ball on the far left side of the green while the pin was on the right side. Mertz and Workman both had makeable birdie putts in the 25-foot range.
“I was tending the flag because I couldn’t do anything else,” said Polk, 62. “I had a real peaceful feeling. The greens were slow and they were hard to putt. We had so many that we thought we made that didn’t go in. But I’m sitting there holding the flag and going, ‘I think he’s going to make this.’ Halfway, I go, ‘Oh my!’ That sucker was right in the middle for a long time. It was a great putt.
“They had two (good looks) with putts, but after something like that the hole looks like a thimble.”
Both Workman and Mertz ended up two-putting for par.
As for Fowler’s thinking on his birdie putt:
“I was back there and I thought, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose. I really don’t,'” he said. “They’re up there for a two-putt par. I’ve got to just not three-putt. I wanted to get up there in the 3- or 4-foot range for a two-putt par. I just kept my head still, hit a really solid putt and hit my line. About halfway there, I said, ‘That’s on line, it’s not going to be very far away, it looks like it’s the right speed.’ As it got closer and closer and closer, I thought, ‘Man, that has a chance.’ Then all of a sudden, it was not on the green anymore. I just had this overwhelming feeling. I could not believe that I just did what I did.
“If you look at the scorecard, Robert played really well for three days and I played OK. It was really, really fun for me to contribute in that big way at the very end.”
In falling for the second time in a playoff in this event, Mertz and Workman (left, with Mertz in gray) carded scores of 66-68-70 and didn’t make a better-ball bogey in the tournament.
Tying for third place, one out of the playoff, were second-round leaders Mark Hirsch of Lone Tree Golf Club and Michael Davis of Meadow Hills Golf Course, and Sean Forey and Scott Radcliffe of The Club at Rolling Hills. Forey and Radcliffe closed with a 70 and Davis and Hirsch with a 72.
Forey and Radcliffe, who won the CGA Senior Four-Ball together in 2003 — Forey also won with a different partner in 2008 — on Wednesday earned the super-senior division title, which is limited to partners who are both 62 or older. The two 65-year-olds lapped the field in that division, winning by six strokes.
“I’ve been out of action (on the state scene competitively) for quite a while, so it feels really good to me,” said Radcliffe, the president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. “Winning never gets old — anything — so I’m happy as heck. It’s renewed my interest in playing more golf.”
Said Forey: “We’ve won or tied for the super-seniors a few times. It’s always fun to win. But it’s always hard to come up one short (of the playoff for the overall title). Today was tough conditions and we just didn’t get it done.”
Finishing second among the super seniors were Dave Merritt and Bill Stevens of Meridian Golf Club, who shot a final-round 73.
For scores, click on the following: SENIORS, SUPER-SENIORS.
]]>Thirteen teams broke 70 in round 1 of the scratch better-ball competition at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada, with 2016 champs Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club and Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills, and 2003 winners Sean Forey and Scott Radcliffe, both also from Rolling Hills, sitting atop the leaderboard.
Polk also won the Senior Four-Ball title in 2005 and ’07, while Forey also won in 2008.
Polk and Fowler, a former CGA president, made a better-ball eagle, six birdies and a bogey on Monday. Polk carded a 67 on his own ball. (Polk and Fowler are pictured, with Polk at left.)
Radcliffe, the president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and Forey also recorded a better-ball eagle, six birdies and a bogey in round 1.
Sharing third place at 66 with two rounds remaining in the Senior Four-Ball are Guy Mertz and Tony Workman from The Fox Hill Club, and Mark Hirsch of Lone Tree Golf Club and Michael Davis of Meadow Hills Golf Course. Hirsch posted a 68 on his own ball and Mertz a 70.
Defending champions Doug Moore and Raymond Kelley of Lone Tree Golf Club opened with a better-ball 73.
In the super-senior division, for players 62 and older, Forey and Radcliffe’s 65 is good for a three-stroke advantage over Bill Stevens and Dave Merritt of Meridian Golf Club.
The CGA Senior Four-Ball will continue through Wednesday.
For scores, click on the following: SENIORS, SUPER-SENIORS.
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With the CGA and CWGA merging at the beginning of this year, 22 differerent CGA championships/tournaments are on tap — a dozen on the men’s side and 10 on the women’s.
The schedule starts with the CGA Senior Four-Ball, set for Monday through Wednesday (April 30-May 2), and likely will conclude with the finals of the season-long CGA Team Interclub sometime in October.
The lineup is highlighted by the “majors”. On the men’s side, that’s the 118th CGA Match Play June 18-22 at The Club at Ravenna in Littleton, and the CGA Amateur Aug. 2-5 at Pinehurst Country Club in south Denver. As for the women, the Women’s Stroke Play is set for June 20-22 at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker, with the 103rd Women’s Match Play scheduled for July 10-13 at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont.
The first women’s championship of 2018 will be the Brassie May 21-22 at The Club at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs.
Back to the CGA season opener, next week’s 37th annual Senior Four-Ball will be held at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada, which this year opened its newly remodeled clubhouse.
The field for the 54-hole scratch event will feature 50 teams, with all players age 52 and older, and a separate super-senior competition for golfers 62 and older.
Six teams that have won the championship are back intact. That includes defending champions Doug Moore and Raymond Kelley of Lone Tree Golf Club, Robert Polk and Bill Fowler (2016; Polk also won with different partners in 2005 and ’07), David Delich and Bruce Hogg (2014), Kelly Crone and Larry Netherton (2009 and ’13), John Applegate and Keith Masters (2011), and Scott Radcliffe and Sean Forey (2003; Forey also won in 2008). Another former champ in the field is Robert Beiersdorf (2015), who this year is teaming up with Ed Spenner.
Also scheduled to compete at West Woods are Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore and partner Steve Bell, who lost on the third hole of a super-senior playoff to Crone and Netherton last year; Pat Bucci, winner of the 2017 CGA Senior Match Play and a regular at West Woods, and partner Bob Schuler; Robin Bradbury, the 2016 CGA Senior Player of the Year, and partner Owen Ellis; and Gary Albrecht, winner of the 2017 CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play, and partner John Ingram.
For tee times for the Senior Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.
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Moore and Kelley teamed up to post a bogey-free round of 4-under-par 68 in the scratch better-ball stroke-play event. That left them at 11-under 133 going into Wednesday’s final round.
Only one team is closer than five strokes to the lead heading into the final 18 as 2016 CGA Senior Match Play champion Jeff Oneth and Tim Kneen of Colorado Golf Club are in second place at 136 after a 69 on Tuesday.
Five teams share third place at 138, including defending champions Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club and Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills, and 2014 Senior Four-Ball winners David Delich of The Broadmoor Golf Club and Bruce Hogg of Patty Jewett Golf Course. Delich carded a hole-in-one Tuesday at the 145-yard 14th.
Play in the open division is limited to golfers 51 and older as the CGA is looking to eventually match the age criteria the USGA uses for the U.S. Senior Amateur (55 and older).
In the super-senior division, for players 61 and older, things are considerably tighter with two teams sharing the lead and four others within four strokes heading into Wednesday’s final 18.
Kelly Crone and Larry Netherton of Highlands Ranch Golf Club, winners of the CGA Senior Four-Ball in 2009 and ’13, fired a 68 Tuesday to come in at 3-under 141. Also at that figure is the team of Bill Stevens and David Merritt of Meridian Golf Club, whose second-round 69 included an eagle.
For CGA Senior Four-Ball scores:
OPEN DIVISION
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Moore and Kelley used an eagle — on the 560-yard par-5 13th hole — and seven birdies to shoot a 7-under-par 65 in the two-man scratch better-ball stroke-play event. The leaders played the four par-5s in 5 under par in the opening round.
Louie Lee of the Country Club at Castle Pines and Ab Miller of Red Hawk Ridge Golf Course also made an eagle and teamed up for a 66 that leaves them in second place.
Jeff Oneth, the 2016 CGA Senior Match Play champion, and fellow Colorado Golf Club member Tim Kneen hold down third place at 67.
Defending champions Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club and Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills share fourth place at 68 with Tom Krystyn of CommonGround Golf Course and Mike Larson of Boulder Country Club, and Mark Brown of Highlands Ranch Golf Club and Wyck Brown of Lakewood Country Club.
Play in the open division is limited to golfers 51 and older as the CGA is looking to eventually match the age criteria the USGA uses for the U.S. Senior Amateur (55 and older).
In the super-senior division, for players 61 and older, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club and Stephen Bell of Denver Country Club opened with a 3-under-par 69. They lead 2011 CGA Senior Four-Ball champions John Applegate and Keith Masters of Meadow Hills Golf Course by one.
The 54-hole tournament will continue through Wednesday for both divisions.
For CGA Senior Four-Ball scores:
OPEN DIVISION
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With cold and rain and snow forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the CGA called off the Four-Ball Championship that was set for Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster those three days.
The association’s tournament committee is exploring the possibility of rescheduling the championship in the late summer or early fall, and will make a determination shortly.
(Updated April 29) Also called off this weekend due to the weather were the inaugural Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado tournaments, scheduled for Pueblo Country Club and Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo. This marks the second time this spring that the start of the first JGAC season has been delayed by the weather.
Now the first JGAC events are scheduled for May 14-15 at Todd Creek Golf Course in Thornton.
(Updated May 2) Meanwhile, the CGA Senior Four-Ball, originally set for Monday through Wednesday (May 2-4) at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker, is still on, though the event is now shortened to 36 holes, all to be played on Wednesday.
Fifty-eight two-man teams are signed up for the scratch better-ball event at Black Bear.
Bob Beiersdorf of the Ridge at Castle Pines North and Rick Kelly of Foothills Golf Course are scheduled to defend the Senior Four-Ball title that they won by three strokes last year at Todd Creek Golf Club.
Also in the field at Black Bear are 2014 champions David Delich of The Broadmoor and Bruce Hogg of Patty Jewett. Delich was the CGA Senior Player of the Year in 2015 after winning the CGA Senior Match Play and qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open.
Other former champs entered are Kelly Crone and Larry Netherton (2009 and ’13), John Applegate (2011, playing this year with Jim LeMar), Sean Forey and Scott Radcliffe (2003; Forey also won in 2008), and Robert Polk (2005 and ’07, playing with 2015 CGA Senior Stroke Play champ Bill Fowler).
For the CGA Senior Four-Ball pairings, CLICK HERE.
On Sunday, they did just that by teaming up to win the CGA Senior Four-Ball Championship at Todd Creek Golf Club in Thornton.
Kelly, who plays out of Heritage at Westmoor, and Beiersdorf, from the Ridge at Castle Pines North, came from two down in the final round to claim the title by three strokes.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time,” Beiersdorf said. “Rick and I turned 50 last year within a couple weeks of each together. We were also neighbors out in Golden for many years. So it’s a really nice opportunity for the two of us to team up. We did it last year and didn’t quite get it done,” but we did this year.
Kelly and Beiersdorf (above, with Beiersdorf in blue) shot back-to-back 5-under-par 67s on the weekend for their comeback victory. They posted a 9-under-par 207 total.
“This means a lot,” said Kelly, an eight-time club champion at Fox Hollow. “We’re really happy to have this out of the way two years into (their senior golf status). We’ve got our first CGA championship and we’re really proud of that.”
Doug Moore and Raymond Kelley of Lone Tree Golf Club took second place on Sunday after closing with a 68 for a 210 total.
The two teams that tied for third place — Scott Radcliffe and Sean Forey, and Robert Sherrill and Gary Keogh — shared the title in the super-senior division for players 60 and older, each finishing at 5-under 211. Radcliffe and Forey won the Senior Four-Ball together in 2003.
Kelly and Beiersdorf placed 14th last year in their first go-around at the CGA Senior Four-Ball. But this time around, there was no one better. And Beiersdorf was quick to give credit to Kelly, who racked up six birdies on his own ball Sunday.
“Rick was phenomenal on Day 3,” Beiersdorf said. “It was fun to watch the quality of golf that was being played there. I had the luxury of being his teammate, especially on Day 3. It was really great golf on his behalf.”
Said Kelly: “We ham and egged it, as they say. We caught fire yesterday and started playing some real golf.”
Indeed, the partners played their last 34 holes in 11 under par.
For the story on the open-division CGA Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.
CGA Senior Four-Ball Championship
At Par-72 Todd Creek GC in Thornton
Bob Beiersdorf,Ridge at Castle Pines North/Rick Kelly,Heritage at Westmoor 73-67-67–207
Doug Moore,Lone Tree GC/Raymond Kelley,Lone Tree GC 70-72-68–210
Scott Radcliffe,Club at Rolling Hills/Sean Forey,Bear Creek GC 70-72-69–211
Robert Sherrill,Columbine CC/Gary Keogh,Columbine CC 67-71-73–211
Kelly Crone,Highlands Ranch GC/Larry Netherton,Highlands Ranch GC 73-68-71–212
Bruce Hogg,Patty Jewett GC/David Delich,Broadmoor GC 70-72-71–213
Paul K Edwards,Meridian GC/Mr. Robert F West,Cherry Creek CC 66-74-73–213
Mike Lohse,West Woods GC/Len Mize,West Woods GC 70-71-72–213
Owen Ellis,Flatirons GC/Robin Bradbury,Heritage at Westmoor 71-73-69–213
Thomas Roos,Spring Valley GC/Dennis Fields,Heritage at Westmoor 70-74-70–214
Brent Timm,Pinery CC/Glynn Hopkins,Pinery CC 72-74-69–215
Tony Workman,Ptarmigan CC/Guy Mertz,Fox Hill CC 70-69-77–216
Bill Bolgar,Ridge at Castle Pines North/Jeffrey English,Colo Avidgolfer Passport 72-74-70–216
Mike Larson,Boulder CC/Frank Wilkinson,Lincoln Park GC 72-71-73–216
Jim LeMar,Meadows GC/Scott Crone,Pinehurst CC 71-71-74–216
Mark Donahue,Cherry Hills CC/Bill Woodward,Cherry Hills CC 77-68-71–216
Robert Burke,Twin Peaks GC/John Sostman,Meadows GC 70-71-75–216
Pat Bowe,Commonground GC/Dave Brown,RMGCSA Golf League 71-71-75–217
Brian Harris,Denver CC/Daniel Dymerski,Columbine CC 71-72-74–217
Bradley Becker,Plum Creek G & CC/Steve Kass,Meadow Hills GC 72-73-72–217
David Liberg,Ridge at Castle Pines North/Mark Hirsch,Lone Tree GC 72-73-72–217
Kary Kaltenbacher,Glenmoor CC/Rod Walters,Heritage at Westmoor 72-73-73–218
Ken Sady,Eagle Ranch GC/Mr. Harry Johnson,Eagle Ranch GC 74-72-72–218
John Applegate,Meadow Hills GC/Bob Chandler,Heritage at Westmoor 70-70-78–218
Lance Balthaser,Englewood Men’s GC/Rob McLelland,Canongate Colorado 73-70-75–218
Randy Gaddis,Lone Tree GC/Jerry Beren,Lone Tree GC 73-75-71–219
Jake Jacobson,Lakewood CC/Mr. Wyck Joseph Brown,Lakewood CC 73-72-74–219
Scott Anderson,Harmony GC/Frank Carson,Meridian GC 70-74-75–219
Tom Ritchie,Meridian GC/David Merritt,Meridian GC 74-73-73–220
Mark Runyan,Canongate Colorado/Mark Barkley,Canongate Colorado 77-72-72–221
Tim D Steidle,Lone Tree GC/Laird Middleton,Coal Creek Mens GC 73-73-75–221
Bob Kubiak,South Suburban GC/Tom Coates,South Suburban GC–71-77-74–222
Daryl Fengler,Murphy Creek GC/Jeff Sweet,Murphy Creek GC 72-73-77–222
Dan Reedy,Boulder CC/Louie Mckee,Boulder CC 76-71-76–223
Tony Tormey,Inverness GC/Tim Kromer,Inverness GC- 0-76-78–224
Randy Kippes,Saddle Rock GC/Chuck Fisher,Legacy Ridge GC 75-78-72–225
Louie Lee,CC at Castle Pines/Mike Giarratano,CC at Castle Pines 76-74-76–226
Geoff Brooks,South Suburban Family Sports/Paul Karsen,Meridian GC 77-74-75–226
Jim Reynolds,Bear Creek GC/Don Berthiaume,Bear Creek GC 78-76-73–227
Bob Dameron,Hyland Hills/Bobby Ortega,Hyland Hills 71-74-82–227
Reed Myer,Denver CC/Craig Gardiner,Denver CC 75-75-78–228
David Dines,Highlands Ranch GC/Michael Dines,Wellshire GC 75-72-81–228
Thomas McGeary,Highlands Ranch GC/Robert Blayney,Highlands Ranch GC 75-77-76–228
Bruce Hayes,Heritage at Westmoor/Bob Sims,Canongate Colorado 76-75-78–229
Paul Yoon,Colorado Springs CC/Carl Merkel,Riverdale GC 80-75-74–229
Marc Sims,Eisenhower GC/Bob Perry,Eisenhower GC 79-79-74–232
Joe Alford,/Todd Beckman,Indian Peaks GC 77-80-76–233
Richard Harrison,Ptarmigan CC/Mark Hailey,Olde Course at Loveland 78-82-73–233
Roger Lawson,Wellshire GC/Dale Mitchell Dean,Todd Creek GC 77-79-77–233
Joe Patrick,Four Mile Ranch Club/Rex Gilbert,Shadow Hills GC 80-80-83–243
Gene H Davis,Commonground GC/John E Rager,Riverdale GC 77-86-80–243
Michael Montano,Dos Rios CC Men’s/Joseph Marolla,Colo Avidgolfer Passport 91-87-85–263
Super-Senior Division (60+)
Scott Radcliffe,Rolling Hills, the Club at/Sean Forey,Bear Creek GC 70-72-69–211
Robert Sherrill,Columbine CC/Gary Keogh,Columbine CC 67-71-73–211
Kelly Crone,Highlands Ranch GC/Larry Netherton,Highlands Ranch GC 73-68-71–212
Jim LeMar,Meadows GC/Scott Crone,Pinehurst CC 71-71-74–216
Kary Kaltenbacher,Glenmoor CC/Rod Walters,Heritage at Westmoor 72-73-73–218
Tom Ritchie,Meridian GC/David Merritt,Meridian GC 74-73-73–220
Mark Runyan,Canongate Colorado/Mark Barkley,Canongate Colorado 77-72-72–221
Jim Reynolds,Bear Creek GC/Don Berthiaume,Bear Creek GC 78-76-73–227
Bruce Hayes,Heritage at Westmoor/Bob Sims,Canongate Colorado 76-75-78–229
Richard Harrison,Ptarmigan CC/Mark Hailey,Olde Course at Loveland 78-82-73–233
Roger Lawson,Wellshire GC/Dale Mitchell Dean,Todd Creek GC 77-79-77–233
Gene H Davis,Commonground GC/John E Rager,Riverdale GC 77-86-80–243
Michael Montano,Dos Rios CC Men’s/Joseph Marolla,Colo Avidgolfer Passport 91-87-85–263
It will be four-ball galore over the next two weeks, both locally and nationally.
Between now and May 13, four big four-ball championships will be contested in Colorado or by the USGA, with Colorado competitors involved. First up are the separate CGA Four-Ball and Senior Four-Ball tournaments, the first CGA championships of 2015, set for Friday through Sunday (May 1-3). Then the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will be held May 2-6 in San Francisco. Last but not least, the first U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be played May 9-13 in Bandon, Ore.
(It should be noted that though the CWGA won’t have a four-ball event in the next couple of weeks, it holds three four-ball tournaments annually: the Mashie, Brassie and Niblick.
The men’s and women’s U.S. Four-Balls are the first additions to the USGA championship schedule since 1987.
Here’s a brief rundown of the four-ball events — which are essentially two-person better-balls, either in stroke play or match play — that are set for the next two weeks:
— CGA Four-Ball at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster and CGA Senior Four-Ball at Todd Creek Golf Club in Thornton, each 54-hole event running Friday through Sunday (May 1-3).
A total of 92 players (46 teams) are registered for the Four-Ball at Legacy Ridge. While 2014 champions Keith Humerickhouse and Jared Bickling won’t return as a team — Humerickhouse is in the field for the U.S. Four-Ball — Bickling will play at Legacy Ridge with new partner Stephen Baxter.
Other former champions in the field are Jon Lindstrom (2002 and ’12), Steve Irwin (2004 and ’09), Alex Buecking (2009), Dave Johnson (2006), Jim Doidge (2005) and Pat Diaz (2004). Irwin will team with Diaz again this year. Doidge will partner with Michael Harrington, the 2014 CGA Player of the Year.
In the Senior Four-Ball at Todd Creek, 102 competitors (51 teams) 50 and older are signed up. Included are defending champions David Delich and Bruce Hogg, who prevailed by three strokes last year. Also back are 2013 winners Kelly Crone and Larry Netherton, who also claimed the title in 2009.
Other former champs in the field are Daniel Dymerski (2012), John Applegate (2011), Sean Forey (2003 and ’08) and Scott Radcliffe (2003). Forey and Radcliffe will team up again this year.
To access scoring over the weekend, click on the following: OPEN DIVISION, SENIOR DIVISION.
— U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at the Olympic Club in San Francisco May 2-6.
A total of 4,468 golfers (2,234 teams) submitted entries, and qualifying was held at 51 sites from last August through March.
The field at the Olympic Club will feature 128 teams, which will play 36 holes of stroke play, with the top 32 teams advancing to match play beginning on May 4.
Five teams in the championship include at least one Coloradan:
Robert Polk of Parker and Bill Fowler of Lakewood
Alex Kephart of Colorado Springs and former Colorado Springs resident Nick Tarasiewicz
Keith Humerickhouse of Eagle and Tom Abell of Oregon, Wis.
Jeff Chapman of Denver and Andrew Tapia of Raton, N.M.
Gus Lundquist of Parker and Trevor Sluman of Rochester, N.Y.
Polk and Fowler, both 50-somethings, shared medalist honors in qualifying at Colorado Golf Club with Kephart and Tarasiewicz last September. (The four are pictured together above.) Polk, 59, will be the oldest player in the field at the Olympic Club.
Lundquist and Sluman are University of Louisville teammates, playing for coach Mark Crabtree, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer. Sluman is a nephew of Champions Tour player Jeff Sluman. They were medalists in an Oct. 8 qualifier in Mason, Ohio.
Humerickhouse and Abell were medalists in an Oct. 1 qualifier in Hartford, Wis.
— U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes in Oregon May 9-13.
Qualifying for the inaugural Women’s Four-Ball took place at 28 sites from August through March.
Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster and Gillian Vance of Lakewood (left) will take a break from the high school season to play in the national championship. They shared medalist honors last October in a qualifier at Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster.
Kupcho, the 2014 CWGA Player of the Year, will play college golf at Wake Forest in the fall, while Vance will be on the University of Colorado roster.
All told at Bandon, 64 teams will play two rounds of stroke play, with the low 32 teams advancing to match play, which begins May 11.
Three holes earlier, Keith Humerickhouse had uncharacteristically bladed a bunker shot over the green. Now, on the 18th hole at Todd Creek Golf Club in Thornton, with the CGA Four-Ball Championship on the line, the left-hander remembered his poor shot all too well.
With a narrow strip of green running away from him, a big lake on the other side of the putting surface, and his playing partner having hit into the water, the former playing professional worked a little magic.
He cozied his sand shot down to within 2 feet of the hole and made the putt for a birdie.
That gave Humerickhouse and partner Jared Bickling a one-stroke victory in the season-opening CGA Four-Ball.
“The shot of the tournament for me was the bunker shot on 18,” said Humerickhouse, winner of the last four CGA Mid-Amateur titles. “That bunker shot was awesome. That (bladed sand shot on 15) was basically my last thought going into that bunker shot. And the (one on 15) was a cakewalk compared to that one — no green, the slant going right toward the water. My partner hit it in the water, so I was like, ‘Here we go.’ But the shot (pictured at left) came off awesome.”
It led to the third consecutive birdie by Humerickhouse and to his sixth CGA title, while Bickling won his first.
Humerickhouse, who plays out of Glenwood Springs Golf Club, and Bickling, from Gypsum Creek Golf Course, shot the low round of the tournament, an 8-under-par 64, on Sunday to rally for the championship.
Second-round leaders Jon Lindstrom and Richard Bradsby of Lakewood Country Club pulled into a tie for the top spot with a birdie on the 15th hole.
But after Lindstrom drained an 18-foot birdie putt on 16, Humerickhouse holed a 15-foot birdie to keep things all square. Humerickhouse then sank an 8-foot birdie on the 17th hole to give his team the lead for good. And on 18, after Bickling had hit his second shot into the water, Humerickhouse showed steady nerves making his winning birdie.
“This is awesome,” said Bickling, who is 38 years old, like Humerickhouse. “This is our third year playing this event. The first year we were garbage, the second year we were not quite so garbage, and then this year … We don’t come out here to just play golf; we come here to win.”
Humerickhouse and Bickling’s 64 on Sunday gave them an 18-under-par 198 total for three days.
Lindstrom and Bradsby closed with a 66 in the scratch best-ball event to place second at 199. Nick Nosewicz and Heath Andersen of Meadow Hills Golf Course finished third at 202.
Humerickhouse and Bickling started Sunday with a bogey, and Humerickhouse bogeyed the second hole. But Bickling’s 20-foot birdie there gave the team a spark, and the two made nine birdies on the last 17 holes.
“That (birdie) calmed us both down,” said Bickling, pictured in the dark shirt at left, with Humerickhouse.
Humerickhouse, who shot 70 on his own ball each of the three days, relished sharing the title with Bickling.
“We play a lot of golf together,” the left-hander said. “With him as my partner, I feel like we can contend every time we play. To finally get it done, it’s awesome. I feel really good for him because it’s his first one. Every time you win one of these it’s great because the field is so good.
“We played really good as a team today — really good. If somebody was in trouble, we picked each other up. It was ham and eggs for sure today.”
For the CGA Senior Four-Ball Championship story, CLICK HERE.
For CGA Four-Ball score details, CLICK HERE.
CGA Four-Ball Championship
At Par-72 Todd Creek GC in Thornton
Jared Bickling,Gypsum Creek GC/Keith Humerickhouse,Glenwood Springs GC–68-66-64–198
Richard Bradsby,Lakewood CC/Jon Lindstrom,Lakewood CC–68-65-66–199
Nick Nosewicz,Meadow Hills GC/Heath Andersen,Meadow Hills GC–66-68-68–202
Brian Richmeier,Meadow Hills GC/Andy Dannewitz,Meadow Hills GC–66-69-70–205
Alex Buecking,Columbine CC/Paul Robinson,Columbine CC–68-68-71–207
Pat Diaz,Meridian GC/Scott Shore,Meridian GC–72-67-68–207
Tim Fitzgerald,Meridian GC/James Kurtenbach,South Suburban GC–66-73-69–208
Blake Anderson,Omni Interlocken Resort/Tom Sweetman,Omni Interlocken Resort–67-71-70–208
Gary Driber,Denver Amateur Golf Tour Club/Dallas Massey,South Suburban GC–69-69-71–209
Paul Erdman,Colorado National GC/Jeff Searing,Canongate Colorado–69-69-71–209
Christopher Wilson,Eisenhower GC/Jeff Chapman,Inverness GC–70-68-72–210
Greg Braford,CommonGround GC/Jason Dunkle,Pradera, the Club at–66-72-72–210
Andy Brooks,CommonGround GC/Kade Sessions,CommonGround GC–70-70-71–211
Dean Siskowski,CommonGround GC/Greg Speer,CommonGround GC–69-75-68–212
Tom Richardson,Highlands Ranch GC/James M Richardson,South Suburban GC–71-68-73–212
Shawn Mercer,Lake Valley GC/Jeremy W Deems,Lake Valley GC–72-73-67–212
John J Grillion,CommonGround GC/Nick Simmons,CommonGround GC–68-72-73–213
Ryan Aweida,Colorado National GC/Erik Helton,Colorado National GC–71-70-73–214
Bob Athey,CC of Colorado/Chris Pratz,Springs Ranch GC–68-72-74–214
Chris Tenan,Harmony Club/Keith Atkins,Harmony Club–71-71-73–215
John Perry,Highland Meadows GC/David Hunn,Collindale GC–71-70-75–216
Bert Sartori,Todd Creek GC/Guy Hollowell,Todd Creek GC–76-71-69–216
Tristan Sanders,CommonGround GC/Tim Kratz,CommonGround GC–73-71-73–217
Thomas Russo,Canongate Colorado/Aaron Brown,Canongate Colorado–78-68-71–217
Adam Thoutt,Legacy Ridge GC/Brad Hernandez,Heritage at Westmoor–72-74-72–218
James Richardson,CommonGround GC/Brian O’Connor,CommonGround GC–73-69-76–218
Jay Orris,Boulder CC/James McHose,Boulder CC–75-69-75–219
Wes Martin,CommonGround GC/Shane Unfred,Highland Meadows GC–70-73-76–219
Sam Solomon,Todd Creek GC/Brian McCloy,Saddle Rock GC–75-74-70–219
Matt Reinick,Todd Creek GC/Jim Cole,Riverdale GC–72-73-74–219
Alan Boyko,Heritage at Westmoor/Jeremy Thibault,Heritage at Westmoor–71-74-76–221
Timothy Nowak,Ute Creek GC/Daniel Price,Murphy Creek GC–73-75-76–224
Ryan Brown,Ute Creek GC/Joe Larsen,Riverdale GC–75-77-74–226
Aaron Spear,Broadlands GC/Taylor Osieczanek,Broadlands GC–77-79-75–231
Chris Welch,CommonGround GC/Jed Greenblatt,Denver CC–81-79-73–233
Todd Stemm,Heritage at Westmoor/JD Cohen,CommonGround GC–89-86-86–261