The Hale Irwin Elite Player Program is just a little more than three years old, but in that short period, it’s certainly lived up to its name.
The first three classes of Irwin Elite Players featured seven golfers who are now playing or have signed with NCAA Division I golf programs: Hannah Wood (Oklahoma), Jennifer Kupcho (Wake Forest), Spencer Painton (Kansas), Jake Staiano (Colorado State), Ross Macdonald (Colorado), Calli Ringsby (Stanford) and Coby Welch (just signed with Northern Colorado).
And two of those players — Kupcho and Wood — currently stand among the top 75 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.
With that as a backdrop, the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program announced its fourth — and largest — class on Thursday. Fourteen junior golfers will comprise the 2016 Elite Player class, including seven returnees from 2015. The group features nine boys and five girls, with two sets of siblings among them.
The program, designed to nurture the budding careers of exceptionally promising boys and girls golfers in the state, is named for the most successful golfer with Colorado roots. Irwin, a Boulder High School and University of Colorado graduate, has won three U.S. Opens, 20 PGA Tour events overall, and a record 45 tournaments on the Champions Tour. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
In Colorado, Irwin claimed the 1962 CGA Junior Match Play title, the 1963 state high school championship, three straight CGA Stroke Plays (1963, ’64 and ’65) and the CGA Match Play in 1966. He won the NCAA individual title in 1967 while competing for CU.
The players chosen for the Irwin Elite Player Program receive free unlimited use of the practice range and Kids Course at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora — and of the championship course on a space-available basis — in 2016. CommonGround, which opened in 2009, is owned and operated by the CGA, which established and administers the Irwin Elite Player Program. The group will meet once a month beginning in January, and will work periodically at CommonGround with Elena King, who recently was named one of the top 10 instructors in Colorado by Golf Digest. Additionally, participants volunteer with CGA Community and Wellness Programs.
Steve Irwin, Hale’s son, serves on the CGA board of governors and was instrumental in the establishment of the Elite Player Program. The visionary behind the program was another CGA governor, former Cherry Hills Country Club head professional Clayton Cole.
The 2016 Irwin Elite Players include two juniors who will be in their fourth year with the program, dating back to its inception: Christian Agelopoulos and Roger Nakagawa, both of Denver. Another program participant, Ryan Sangchompuphen of Denver, will be starting his third year.
Also among those in the 2016 class are some of the best junior players in the state.
Mary Weinstein (pictured above) of Highlands Ranch, who just signed to play college golf with Regis University, won the 2015 CWGA Junior Stroke Play and the CJGA Junior Series Championship, and finished runner-up in the CWGA Stroke Play and the CJGA Tournament of Champions. On a larger stage, she placed 15th in the prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships, marking the best finish ever by a Coloradan in the girls 15-17 age group there. Weinstein also represented Colorado at the USGA Women’s State Team Championship and at the Girls Junior Americas Cup.
Oliver Jack (left) of Cherry Hills Village finished second in the 3A state high school tournament (playing for Kent Denver). He placed fifth in the CGA Junior Stroke Play and went to the quarterfinals of the CGA Junior Match Play.
Here’s a rundown of all 14 junior players who have been selected to partcipate in the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program for 2016:
Christian Agelopoulos of Denver, an eighth-grader at Colorado Academy — 2016 will mark his fourth year in the program. … Posted two CJGA victories in 2015. … Competed in the CJGA Ryder Cup Matches. … Was named a CJGA All-Star and Academic All-Star in 2015.
Traejan Andrews of Windsor, a sixth-grader at Winograd K-8 — 2016 will mark his second year in the program. … Finished 35th in Optimist International Junior Golf Championships’ boys 10-11 division. … Went undefeated at the CJGA Ryder Cup Matches. … Posted six top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015.
Chunya Bead Boonta of Centennial, a fifth-grader at Canyon Creek Elementary — 2016 will be her first year in the program. … Won two CJGA events and finished second in the CJGA girls 10-and-under Junior Series Championship. … Was named a CJGA All-Star in 2015.
Supawich Beam Boonta of Centennial, an eighth-grader at ThunderRidge Middle School — 2016 will be his first year in the program. … Posted seven top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015. … Competed in the CJGA Ryder Cup Matches.
Jack Castiglia of Lakewood, a sophomore at Lakewood High School — 2016 will mark his second year in the program. … Finished 38th in the boys 13-14 division of the IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships. … Placed 28th in the 5A state high school tournament. … Posted eight top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015.
Kacey Godwin of Denver, a senior at Colorado Academy — 2016 will mark her second year in the program. … Placed third in the girls division of Colorado PGA Junior Championship. … Finished eighth in 4A girls state high school tournament. … Posted seven top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015.
Oliver Jack of Cherry Hills Village, a sophomore at Kent Denver — 2016 will be his first year in the program. … Tied for second place at the 3A state high school tournament. … Placed fifth in CGA Junior Stroke Play and went to quarterfinals in CGA Junior Match Play. … Recorded seven top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015.
Cade Kilkenny of Centennial, a freshman at Cherry Creek High School — 2016 will mark his second year in the program. … Made it to round of 64 at CGA Junior Match Play. … Qualified for Optimist International Junior Golf Championships. … Posted four top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015.
Katelyn Lehigh of Loveland, a sixth-grader at Bill Reed Middle School — 2016 will be her first year in the program. … Finished 27th in IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships (girls 10-12 age division). … Won one CJGA tournament and recorded a dozen top-10 finishes in CJGA events in 2015. … Was named a CJGA Academic All-Star in 2015.
Lauren Lehigh of Loveland, a freshman at Loveland High School — 2016 will be her first year in the program. … Qualified, with Alli Bundy, for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. … Qualified for both the IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships (finishing 66th in girls 13-14 division) and the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships (placing 38th). … Recorded a remarkable 17 top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015. … Was named a CJGA Academic All-Star in 2015.
Roger Nakagawa of Denver, a sophomore at Thomas Jefferson High School — 2016 will mark his fourth year in the program. … Made it to the round of 64 at the CGA Junior Match Play. … Recorded one top-10 finish at a CJGA points event in 2015. … Was named a CJGA Academic All-Star in 2015.
Kailer Rundiks of Denver, a sophomore at (Denver) East High School — 2016 will be his first year in the program. … Won Western Chapter Daily Sentinel Junior Championship. … Posted six top-10 finishes in CJGA points events in 2015. … Was named a CJGA Academic All-Star in 2015.
Ryan Sangchompuphen of Denver, a seventh-grader at Denver School of the Arts — 2016 will mark his third year in the program. … Won two CJGA events and posted 14 top-10 finishes in points tournaments in 2015. … Went undefeated in CJGA Ryder Cup Matches. … Was named a CJGA All-Star and Academic All-Star in 2015.
Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, a senior at Regis Jesuit High School — 2016 will mark her first year in the program. … Has signed to play college golf at Regis University. … Won the CWGA Junior Stroke Play and the CJGA Junior Series Championship in 2015. … Also was runner-up in CWGA Stroke Play and the CJGA Tournament of Champions. … Went to quarterfinals of CWGA Match Play. … Placed 15th in the prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships, marking the best finish ever by a Coloradan in the girls 15-17 age group there. … Represented Colorado at the USGA Women’s State Team Championship and at the Girls Junior Americas Cup. … Won four CJGA tournaments in 2015. … Was named a CJGA All-Star and Academic All-Star in 2015.
Wednesday evening, a couple of teams figured they’d be celebrating a victory and everyone involved thought they’d be sharing golf stories and a few laughs after the 45th edition of the Colorado Cup Matches at CommonGround Golf Course.
Little did anyone expect that, instead, the participants would be sitting in an electricity-deprived clubhouse looking out at a sight that seemed to be straight out of the Caddyshack scene where the bishop was playing the round of his life amid a violent storm.
As caddie Bill Murray told the bishop, “I’d keep playing. I don’t think the heavy stuff is going to come down for quite a while.”
Well, the heavy stuff did come down Wednesday, and with a vengeance. The result was a first for the annual Colorado Cup Matches held between many of the best golf professionals and amateurs in the state.
With heavy rain, gale-force winds, lightning, hail, flash flooding and a tornado warning quickly turning a nice day into a batten-down-the-hatches situation, the Cup Matches were limited to a four-ball session, with the singles results being nixed in mid-session because of unplayable conditions at CommonGround Golf Course.
“We were down on No. 12 and I was getting a little nervous because it was starting to get dark,” said Steve Irwin, captain of the CGA’s open-division amateur team. “I looked up and saw the cloud spinning, and that really got all of our attention. So we were glad they called it when they did. We were ready to get out of there.”
Play was suspended due to lightning shortly after 4:30 p.m., with most players in the midst of their singles session and more than a half-dozen singles matches having been completed. But the weather deteriorated considerably from there, knocking out power in the clubhouse and buffeting a large tent nearby.
After more than an hour of suspended play, the singles session was canceled altogether, with the final result of the matches reverting to the scores that stood after the morning four-ball.
That means that the 2015 Colorado Cup Matches will go down as the CGA amateurs prevailing 4-2 in the open division.
“It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to get the whole day done,” Irwin said. “However, a win’s a win. Two in a row now. But it would have been good to get those matches in. There were some great ones. I was right smack in the middle of a very tough one with Tray Shehee. I was 2 down through 12. I had him right where I wanted him, though,” Irwin added with a smile. (Shehee and Irwin are pictured at left.)
I the senior division, the teams tied 3-3, with the Colorado PGA pros retaining that Cup because they won it last year. The Section’s pros had already won five singles matches and lost one when played was called, but those results were negated. Six matches had yet to be completed.
The Colorado PGA still leads the overall series in the open division 30-13, with two ties, though the CGA has prevailed the last two years.
The all-time senior division series is tied 15-15, with three ties, but the pros have gone 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings.
While the senior pros would like to have had the chance to post an outright victory on Wednesday, they understood and supported the decision to cancel the singles matches.
“I think that’s the way you have to do it,” said Ken Krieger, a veteran of about 40 Colorado Cup matches, including a few as an amateur. “It’s too bad, but it happens.”
Krieger, a two-time Section Player of the Year, and Robert Polk a three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year, were in the midst of a hard-fought match in which they were all square through 14 holes. (The two are pictured at left.)
“You want to see the thing completed,” said Polk, the CGA’s senior division captain. “You never know how matches can turn around. I know we had gotten beaten in some of them already. My match was even with Ken Krieger, who is such a gentleman and such a great guy. I don’t know how many times we’ve played each other, but quite a few. And it’s always fun. It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to finish it.”
Another notable match apparently going down to the wire was between 2012 CGA Player of the Year Steven Kupcho and 2008 Colorado PGA Player of the Year Erik Billinger, the men’s golf coach at the University of Denver. Those two were all square through 13.
“The weather turned quick,” Billinger said. “It’s unfortunate. I think there were some good matches going on when they called it so I’m bummed out. We wish we were playing, but I think (under the circumstances) you’ve got to call it. It’s the right thing to do. But I know the pros sure wish we could beat these young guys.”
Billinger (left) is another Colorado PGA pro who has also competed in the Colorado Cup Matches as an amateur. In fact, three times from 1999-2001, he was an amateur teammate of Kevin Stadler, who won last year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. Other longtime PGA Tour players who have competed in the Colorado Cup over the years include Steve Jones, Dow Finsterwald, Brandt Jobe, Bob Byman and Fred Wampler.
“It’s fun to see the Cup Matches through the years, having been on both sides,” Billinger said. “Playing guys you looked up to … Now I’m playing the young guys and I want to see how their games are — scope it out a little bit. Kupcho is hitting it 100 (yards) by me every stinking time.”
Krieger feels similarly.
“This is a great event,” he said. “I’ve played since 1973. I love these. They’re great for golf. We get to hang out with the amateurs, we get to hang out with the pros.
“My very first Colorado Cup Match was against Clayton Cole when he was an assistant at Cherry Hills. It was 1973 at Lakewood Country Club. Clayton Cole was was a stud (of a player at the time). He was really good. I got beat 4 and 3 and I was pretty proud of that. I took him all the way to the 15th hole.”
This time around at the Cup Matches, some of the biggest highlights of the day came from amateur Alex Kephart, who along with Lamar Carlile were the only returnees from the 2014 amateur Colorado Cup team. In his 1-up four-ball victory with Chris Thayer over Geoff Keffer (the Colorado PGA’s Player of the Year two of the last three seasons) and Blake Sharamitaro. Kephart won the fifth hole for his team by holing out a 9-iron from 160 yards, then pitched in from about 40 yards on No. 8, winning another hole.
Unlike most years in the new millennium — and every year since 2008 — no women’s Colorado Cup competition was held in 2015 as the CPGA didn’t field a team. The amateurs representing the CWGA have won all 10 times women’s matches have been contested.
Colorado Cup Matches
At CommonGround GC in Aurora
OPEN DIVISION
FINAL SCORE: CGA Amateurs 4, Colorado PGA Professionals 2
Four-Ball: CGA 4, Colorado PGA 2
Chris Thayer / Alex Kephart, CGA, def. Geoff Keffer / Blake Sharamitaro, 1 up.
Lamar Carlile / Jacob Allenback, CGA, def. Caine Fitzgerald / Peter Norwood, 3 and 2.
Barry Milstead / Erik Billinger, CPGA, def. Jimmy Makloski / Cody Kent, 1 up.
Steve Irwin / Steven Kupcho, CGA, def. Doug Wherry / Will Panella, 1 up.
Tray Shehee / Dan O’Shaughnessy, CPGA, def. Adam Griffith / Braden Baer, 2 and 1.
Nick Nosewicz / Gus Lundquist, CGA, def. Vince Buelk / Jeff Carlson, 2 and 1.
SENIOR DIVISION
FINAL SCORE: Colorado PGA Professionals 3, CGA Amateurs 3
Four-Ball: Colorado PGA 3, CGA 3
Gregg Jones / Ken Krieger, CPGA, def. Kelly Crone / Larry Netherton, 7 and 6.
Frank Wilkinson / Bruce Hogg, CGA, def. Perry Holmes / Jeff Hanson, 5 and 4.
Mike Northern / Paul Lobato, CPGA, def. Steve Bell / Pat Bowe, 6 and 5.
Kent Moore / Robert Polk, CGA, def. Rick Ellefson / Zane Zwemke, 3 and 2.
Russell Aragon / Vance Pollock, CPGA, def. Harry Johnson / Robert West, 2 and 1.
Art Cudworth / Bob Chandler, CGA, def. Rick Cole / Tom Carricato, 6 and 5.
Warren Smith Jr. fell just short of hitting his 100th birthday, which would have been celebrated on Oct. 20. But that’s one of the few notable milestones that the “Pro’s Pro” didn’t reach.
Smith, one of the most influential figures in the history of Colorado golf, passed away Sunday in La Quinta, Calif., at the age of 99. Services are pending, but Smith’s son, also named Warren Smith, said it’s hoped that there will be a celebration of life held in the Denver area this summer.
To say that the longtime head professional at Cherry Hills Country Club lived a full life would be a massive understatement.
As his son noted on Tuesday, “He wasn’t cheated.”
Indeed, Warren Smith Jr., won’t soon be forgotten by those in the Colorado golf community. Just to tick off several notable items about Smith, who served as the head professional at Cherry Hills from 1963 through 1990:
— He was one of the first national PGA of America award winners from Colorado, earning the Golf Professional of the Year honor in 1973, the same year he claimed a similar Section-wide award from the Colorado PGA.
— In 2005, Smith was inducted into the national PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.
— In 2009, a well-received book about Smith — “The Pro’s Pro. Lessons on Life and Golf from the Ol’ Pro at Cherry Hills Country Club,” written by Tripp Baltz — was published.
— For almost 30 years, the Colorado PGA has given out the “Warren Smith Award”, a lifetime achievement honor which goes to PGA professionals for outstanding contributions to the game of golf, the Colorado Section, junior golf and their facility. Fittingly, the first Warren Smith Award was given to Smith himself, in 1986.
— Smith, a five-time president of the Colorado PGA, was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1978, just its sixth year of existence.
— At the time Smith was given an honorary membership at Cherry Hills, just two other people had received such an honor: President Dwight Eisenhower and Arnold Palmer, winner of the 1960 U.S. Open at the club.
“He was The Pro, simply,” said current Cherry Hills head professional John Ogden. “He was arguably the most respected pro to ever come from Colorado. He played in several majors himself and he hosted five majors here.
“He had a great life. And everyone who met him said he was the consummate southern gentleman. No one ever had anything bad to say about him.”
During Smith’s time as head professional at Cherry Hills, the club hosted the 1978 U.S. Open, the 1985 PGA Championship, the 1990 U.S. Amateur, the 1976 U.S. Senior Amateur and the 1983 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Among his close friends were Palmer, Byron Nelson, Dow Finsterwald and Harvey Penick, who taught at Cherry Hills during a couple summers in the 1960s.
Smith is one of just six head professionals in the 93-year history of Cherry Hills, and he served the longest of any of the six.
“He was a role model for the assistant (professionals) who worked for him and for the whole (Colorado PGA) Section,” said Clayton Cole, who served as an assistant under Smith from 1970-74 then succeeded him as the head professional at Cherry Hills when he retired at the end of 1990. “The way he handled himself, his morals … he was the best role model you could have.”
Cole remembers that when he was hired as an assistant pro, Smith told him something that Cole subsequently passed along to his own assistants.
“He said, ‘Clayton, there are going to be some members you like better than others, but we’re going to like all of our members,'” Cole recalled. “He knew how to take care of the customer.”
Cole was one of at least 16 assistant professionals under Smith who went on to head professional positions.
Though Smith spent 28 years in his official capacity at Cherry Hills, he lived an eventful life before he arrived in Colorado.
He was born in Escanaba, Michigan, and raised in Gadsden, Alabama. He turned pro in 1943 and achieved his PGA status in 1948. He served in the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1945 and helped deliver supplies to troops in Naples, Italy.
After returning to the U.S., Smith did some double duty of sorts by working for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio in the morning and early afternoon, then giving lessons and serving as a professional at Seiberling Country Club in the afternoon and evening.
A year later, he was hired as the head professional at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas. During his 16 years there, he served as a president of the Central Texas PGA Section and helped lure the PGA Tour’s Texas Open to Oak Hills in the early 1960s.
Smith was also an accomplished player. In fact, he once jointly held the PGA Tour record for consecutive birdies — seven, a feat he accomplished at the 1955 Texas Open. That mark stood until Bob Goalby made eight in a row in the 1961 St. Petersburg Open.
Smith played in two U.S. Opens (1963 and ’66) — he competed alongside a Colorado amateur named Hale Irwin in ’66 — and two PGA Championships, advancing to the quarterfinals of match play in 1957.
Hyland Hills’ Mazone Passes Away at 74: Also passing away this week — on Tuesday — was another prominent longtime Colorado PGA professional, Marv Mazone, who was a fixture at Hyland Hills Golf Course in Westminster. Mazone, born June 26, 1940, was 74 years old.
Mazone headed golf operations at Hyland Hills for 32 years — 20 as head professional and a dozen as director of golf. He retired in 2009, and he received the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Achievement Award that same year. In 2011, Mazone earned the Warren Smith Award from the Colorado PGA. Earlier in his career, he was named the Public Merchandiser of the Year by the CPGA in both 1988 and ’89. Sixteen members of his staff went on to head professional positions.
Under Mazone’s leadership, Hyland Hills hosted the 1990 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.
]]>The Hale Irwin Elite Player Program will welcome its biggest class ever as 11 junior golfers from Colorado, including four returnees, have been selected to participate in 2015.
The third class of the program will feature two players who have been included in the program since its inception, Christian Agelopoulos and Roger Nakagawa, both of Denver.
The program, designed to nurture the budding careers of exceptional boys and girls golfers in the state, is named for the most successful golfer with Colorado roots. Irwin, a Boulder High School and University of Colorado graduate, has won three U.S. Opens, 20 PGA Tour events overall, and a record 45 tournaments on the Champions Tour. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
In Colorado, Irwin claimed the 1963 state high school championship, three straight CGA Stroke Plays (1963, ’64 and ’65) and the CGA Match Play in 1966. He won the NCAA individual title in 1967 while competing for CU.
The third class for the program was announced recently at the Colorado Golf Awards Brunch. The players chosen receive free unlimited use of the practice range and Kids Course at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora — and of the championship course on a space-available basis — in 2015. CommonGround, which opened in 2009, is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA, who established and administer the Irwin Elite Player Program.
Steve Irwin, Hale’s son, serves on the CGA board of governors and was instrumental in the establishment of the Elite Player Program. The visionary behind the program was another CGA governor, former Cherry Hills Country Club head professional Clayton Cole.
The 2015 Irwin Elite Player class includes two members of the two-time defending 4A state high school championship team from Valor Christian, Jake Staiano (left) of Cherry Hills Village and Coby Welch of Highlands Ranch. Staiano qualified for the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur and made it to the round of 64 in match play. The Class 4A state high school individual runner-up recently signed a national letter of intent to play college golf with Colorado State University. Welch won the CJGA Tournament of Champions this fall after finishing second in both the CGA Junior Stroke Play and CJGA Junior Series Championship, and placing fourth in the 4A state high school meet.
Welch’s younger brother, Jake, an eighth-grader at STEM Academy, also will be part of the Irwin Elite Player Program in 2015.
Ross Macdonald, another Valor player who earned the CGA Junior Player of the Year award, was an Irwin Elite Player in 2013 and ’14 and recently paid tribute to the program.
“It’s amazing and it’s growing every year,” he said. “It’s allowing kids to have that practice facility and (work on) all the skills they need to get better. And it allows older kids to mentor younger kids, which I think is an important value so that kids can grow in their golf game and grow in their personality to become young men (and women) people want to be like.”
In all, 18 junior players applied for the program this time around. Here are the 11 who were picked:
Christian Agelopoulos of Denver, a seventh-grader at Colorado Academy — 2015 will mark his third year in the program. … Was part of the winning team in the 2014 CJGA Junior Ryder Cup. … Competed in the 2014 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego. … Was named to the 2014 CJGA Junior All-Star Team.
Traejan Andrews of Windsor, a fifth-grader at Winograd K-8 School in Greeley — Won the CJGA 10 & Under Junior Series Championship and finished second on the points list for that age group. … Was named to the 2014 CJGA Junior All-Star Team.
Jack Castiglia of Lakewood, a freshman at Lakewood High School — Won the CJGA 11-13 Junior Series Championship. … Finished first on the CJGA 11-13 points list. … Played on the winning team in the CJGA Junior Ryder Cup. … Was named to the 2014 Junior All-Star Team.
Delaney Elliott of Superior, a junior at Monarch High School — Qualified for and competed in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida. … Finished sixth on the CJGA 14-18 girls points list.
Kacey Godwin of Denver, a junior at Colorado Academy — Won the girls division of the Colorado Junior PGA Championship. … Placed 12th in the girls points list for CJGA players 14-18.
Cade Kilkenny of Centennial, an eighth-grader at West Middle School — Competed in the CJGA Junior Ryder Cup. … Finished third on the CJGA 11-13 points list. … Named to the 2014 CJGA Junior All-Star team.
Roger Nakagawa of Denver, a freshman at Thomas Jefferson High School — 2015 will mark his third year in the program.
Ryan Sangchompuphen of Denver, a sixth-grader at Denver School of the Arts — This will be his second straight year in the program. … He competed in the CJGA Junior Ryder Cup competition.
Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village, a senior at Valor Christian High School — Selected for the program for the second straight year. … The 2013 CGA Junior Match Play champion qualified for the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur and advanced to the round of 64. … Recently signed a letter of intent to play college golf at Colorado State University. … Finished second individually in the 4A state high school meet. … Played for Colorado in the Junior America’s Cup.
Coby Welch (left) of Highlands Ranch, a junior at Valor Christian High School — Won the boys division of the CJGA Tournament of Champions. … Finished second in both the CGA Junior Stroke Play (in a playoff) and the CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship. … Also placed fourth individually in the 4A state high school tournament. … Led the CJGA boys points list in 2014. … Played on Colorado’s Junior America’s Cup team. … Named to the 2014 CJGA Junior All-Star Team.
Jake Welch of Highlands Ranch, an eighth-grader at STEM Academy — Finished third in the CJGA 11-13 Junior Series Championship. … Competed in the CJGA Junior Ryder Cup. … Qualified for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida.
After all, he was the product of just such a program.
Solich earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado after going to school on an Evans Caddie Scholarship, and now he’s doing his best to pay it forward.
His latest venture in that regard is one on a very large scale. With a $2 million lead gift from Solich and his wife Carol, the CGA on Monday announced the formation of the Colorado Golf Foundation, which will provide assistance “for innovative programs that use the game of golf to instill hard work and self-reliance in young people.”
For Solich, the kids are the key.
“I love golf and what it can teach kids of all socio-economic backgrounds — good lessons about character and competition,” he said. “For me, the game has affected my life in so many great ways.”
The CGA has been designated the organization that will manage the day-to-day affairs of the CGF, with guidance provided by an independent nine-person board of directors and five advisory directors who will review opportunities and distribute appropriate grants.
Former USGA president Will Nicholson Jr., a lifelong Coloradan who helped structure the foundation, has been named the CGF’s chairman.
Among the programs the Colorado Golf Foundation anticipates funding are two which Solich has helped fund and support in the past: the year-old Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course, and the CGA’s Evans Scholarship Recruiter position. Others programs that have been specified for anticipated funding are other Colorado-based caddie programs and the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program at CommonGround.
(Solich is pictured above congratulating a participant in the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy.)
And the plan is to consider support for “other youth-based programs and initiatives that place a high value on leadership, character development and the traditions of the game of golf.”
“I think the (CGF) will make a big difference,” said Nicholson, who has a long history of volunteerism in the game. “And I think it will be great particularly for young people; that’s the emphasis. I’m delighted and honored that George asked me to be chairman.”
Like Solich, Nicholson believes golf is an especially effective vehicle for instilling key values in young men and women.
“The key is that golf is a game of self-discipline and doing what’s right when no one is looking,” said Nicholson, who last year was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Solich hopes to see the $2 million seed he’s planted blossom into something that other philanthropists support and which will grow and thrive over the long haul.
The foundation “is almost a co-op for a lot of different programs we want to support through golf, and we hope others see the benefit (and assist in the effort),” Solich said. “I hope that $2 million (grows to be) a much bigger foundation and will drive some good programs in the state of Colorado that are rooted in golf and that will have a broad effect on people’s lives.
“When we look back in five or 10 years, I hope we can say, ‘Look at what we started and how many kids we affected.'”
The nine members of the CGF board, which must include at least two members of the CGA Board of Governors, are Nicholson, George Caulkins, former Cherry Hills Country Club head professional Clayton Cole, Jim Hayes, Phil Lane, CGA president Tom Lawrence, CGA executive director Ed Mate, Geoff Solich (George’s brother and an Evans Scholars alum) and Castle Pines Golf Club general manager Keith Schneider.
The advisory board will include George Solich, World Golf Hall of Famers Hale Irwin and Judy Bell, and Colorado Sports Hall of Famers Jack Vickers and Dow Finsterwald.
For several reasons, Solich feels the CGA is the ideal organization to manage the day-to-day affairs of the foundation.
“The mission of both organizations are strongly aligned, and what the CGA has done with CommonGround (which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA) as a tool is so admirable. They have the caddie program, the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program; it’s turned out to be an incredible confluence, a great staging area to deliver all these great programs. I also believe the leadership at the CGA has never been stronger, and the mission and direction has never been stronger. So it was perfect alignment.”
Providing the lead gift and guidance for the Colorado Golf Foundation is the latest of several major endeavors Solich has taken on in the golf realm over the last several years.
He was a major force in bringing the 2014 BMW Championship PGA Tour playoff event to Cherry Hills Country Club, and he will serve as general chairman of that tournament. The BMW Championship helps fund the Evans Caddie Scholarship. And in a related matter, Solich has been a Match Play Challenge partner in an initiative in which major donors match contributions of $2,500 or more to the Evans Scholarship. And that’s all in addition to the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy — which is named in honor of brothers George and Geoff, both former Evans Scholars and prominent players in the oil and gas business — and George funding the CGA’s Evans Scholars Recruiter position.
“I’ve been blessed to be able” to give back, Solich said.
For more information on the Colorado Golf Foundation, or to support the CGF, contact Will Nicholson at 303-585-7100.
]]>Six junior players from Colorado will be the first group to receive the privileges that go along with being picked for the Irwin Elite Player Program, which is designed to nurture the budding careers of exceptional young golfers in the state.
The perks include free unlimited use of the practice range and Kids Course at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora — and of the championship course on a space-available basis — in 2013. CommonGround, which opened in 2009, is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA, who established and will administer the Irwin Program.
The inaugural players selected are Christian Agelopoulos of Denver, Payton DeVencenty of Englewood, Ross Macdonald of Castle Rock, Roger Nakagawa of Denver, Calli Ringsby of Cherry Hills Village and Hannah Wood of Centennial. (Pictured above, CGA governors Clayton Cole, left, and Steve Irwin, right, flank, from left, Agelopoulos, DeVencenty, Nakagawa and Wood.)
The Hale Irwin Elite Player Program is named for the most successful golfer with Colorado roots. Irwin, a Boulder High School and University of Colorado graduate, has won three U.S. Opens, 20 PGA Tour events in all, and a record 45 tournaments on the Champions Tour. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
In Colorado, Irwin claimed the 1963 state high school championship, three straight CGA Stroke Plays (1963, ’64 and ’65) and the CGA Match Play in 1966.
Irwin, who also played football at CU, is known for his competitiveness and work ethic, dating back to his days growing up in Boulder in the 1960s.
“(It) just comes down to the ‘These guys aren’t going to beat me’ attitude,” Irwin said earlier this year during a visit to the state where he grew up. “They could certainly outplay me but they weren’t going to beat me. They might win the battle, but I was going to win the war.”
Nineteen young golfers applied for spots in the first class of the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program, and the half-dozen who were selected were introduced Sunday at the Colorado Golf Awards Brunch by CGA governors Clayton Cole and Steve Irwin. Cole, the visionary behind the Irwin Elite Player Program, is a former head professional at Cherry Hills Country Club. Steve Irwin, the 2004 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year, is Hale Irwin’s son and has also helped establish the Irwin Elite Player Program.
The six junior players selected range in age from 10 to 17. They include two golfers ranked among the top 220 girls players worldwide by Junior Golf Scoreboard: Ringsby (No. 89) and Wood (No. 213). Both players qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2012.
Ringsby won both the CWGA Junior Stroke Play and Junior Match Play this year, and she was one of four American girls selected to compete in the 2012 USA-China Youth Golf Match. Wood won the Colorado Junior Golf Association Tournament of Champions last month.
On the boys side, Macdonald was runner-up in the CGA Junior Stroke Play Championship.
Here’s a brief rundown on each of the junior players selected for the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program:
Christian Agelopoulos of Denver — The 10-year-old from Bromwell Elementary School finished atop the CJGA 10-and-under points list in 2012. He never placed out of the top five in his age group and won two tournaments outright.
Payton DeVencenty of Englewood — The junior at Lutheran High School in Parker finished seventh in the 2012 3A state tournament.
Ross Macdonald of Castle Rock — The Valor Christian sophomore placed second in the CGA Junior Stroke Play and made it to the quarterfinals in the Junior Match Play. The native of London, England represented Colorado at the 2012 Junior America’s Cup.
Roger Nakagawa of Denver — The 12-year-old from the Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences owns an 11.9 handicap and shot a 77 this summer. His home course is CommonGround.
Calli Ringsby of Cherry Hills Village — The Cherry Creek High School junior is ranked 89th internationally among girls by Junior Golf Scoreboard and played in the USA-China Youth Golf Match. She won both the CWGA Junior Stroke Play and Junior Match Play this year and qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior. She finished 36th in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships.
Hannah Wood of Centennial — The Arapahoe High School junior won the CJGA Tournament of Champions in October and qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior. She was runner-up to Ringsby in the CWGA Junior Stroke Play and placed third in the 5A girls high school state tournament. A Colorado representative at the Girls Junior America’s Cup, she plays regularly at CommonGround.