(Note: This is the first in an occasional series of U.S. Mid-Amateur articles that will appear on ColoradoGolf.org leading up to the national championship for players 25 and older being held at Colorado Golf Club and CommonGround Golf Course Sept. 14-19.)

It should go without saying that winning a USGA national championship is no easy task. And that’s even more the case for a resident of Colorado, where the population isn’t huge — relatively speaking — and trying to play golf year-around can be problematic.

All that said, when lifelong Coloradan Bill Loeffler was departing for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in the fall of 1986, his father-in-law, Ron Moore, made a bold prediction.

“It’s weird,” Loeffler said last week in reflection. “My father-in-law, Ron Moore, told my wife that he thought I was going to win the tournament when I was leaving for Mississippi, just because we had played a couple of times together.”

And, sure enough, Moore proved prescient regarding Loeffler, now a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, like Moore. Loeffler, then 30, would go on to win the 1986 U.S. Mid-Am, which drew 2,511 entrants. The event was played at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss., a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that hosted a PGA Tour event for 20 years until 2014. Loeffler defeated Georgian Charles Pinkard 4 and 3 in the scheduled 18-hole championship match on Oct. 9, 1986.

Loeffler (above in a USGA photo from the ’86 championship) remains the only Coloradan to have won the U.S. Mid-Am, which dates back to 1981.

As much as Loeffler has accomplished in the game — he’s also won three Colorado Opens (tied for second-most ever, behind Dave Hill), the 1992 national PGA Assistant Professional Championship, the 2007 Senior PGA Professional National Championship, a Colorado Senior Open, a CGA Amateur and three Colorado PGA Section Champioships — he points to the 1986 U.S. Mid-Am victory as the most meaningful in his long career.

“It’s probably the best accomplishment I can think of — only because of what the Mid-Am did for me,” said Loeffler, now 62. “Not only was it a USGA championship, but it got me on the Walker Cup team (in 1987) and then into the Masters (in 1988). It was a springboard. Anytime a golfer gets a chance to win a USGA event, it’s a pretty big deal. I can’t think of anything bigger” that he’s accomplished in golf.

Indeed, though the U.S. Mid-Am victory didn’t automatically earn him a spot on the Walker Cup team or into the Masters back then, that was the de facto result of his victory in Mississippi. Coloradan M.J. Mastalir, then a member of the USGA Executive Committee, pushed for Loeffler’s inclusion on the 10-man Walker Cup team, and Loeffler ended up going 2-1 individually as the U.S. routed Great Britain & Ireland in the matches in England.

And at the time, the Masters invited the entire U.S. Walker Cup team into its field, which is how Loeffler competed at Augusta National in 1988. In the department of fortuitous timing, that was the last time an entire American Walker Cup team was invited to the Masters. On the other hand, since 1988 every U.S. Mid-Am winner has been invited to the Masters, and since 2017, the Mid-Am champ has landed a spot in the following year’s U.S. Open.

At the ’86 Mid-Am, Loeffler rode a very hot Ping putter to the title. Besides defeating Pinkard in the final, Loeffler topped one of the world’s top amateurs at the time, Randy Sonnier, 3 and 2 in the semis. Sonnier was a finalist — losing to Jay Sigel — and a stroke-play co-medalist the only previous time the U.S. Mid-Am has been contested in Colorado, in 1983 at Cherry Hills Country Club.

“That week I was really on my game,” Loeffler said of the ’86 Mid Am. “I remember putting just out-of-the-planet good. It was a great golf course, good on my eye and I was just making everything. I got past (a couple of past Walker Cuppers in match play) and I was pretty thrilled with that because I knew they were the cream of the crop in amateur golf.”

Asked specifically about the final against Pinkard, Loeffler (left in a USGA photo) said he has few specific recollections.

“I just remember being in a fog the whole finals, like it didn’t matter what he did or where I hit it, I kind of knew I was going to win,” Loeffler said. “And it was WEIRD. I used to get pretty volatile, but that day it was just surreal, like I was floating through the match and it didn’t matter what he did. If he’d have thrown three birdies at me, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Loeffler’s 4 and 3 victory ties for the second-most-lopsided margin in an 18-hole U.S. Mid-Am final. He only had to play the 18th hole once in the match-play portion of the event. And at 30, he was the event’s youngest champion at the time.

Loeffler knew something special might be in the works during the practice days — specifically when he got into a putting contest on the practice putting green with fellow former Arizona State University golfer Dennis Saunders.

“We spent a couple hours on the putting green,” Loeffler recalled. “Honest to God, I started making these putts — 50 feet, 30 feet, 20 feet. I was like, ‘What in the world is going on here?’ But they just started pouring in. We got done and Dennis said, ‘I have never, ever seen you putt like this before.’ I said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on but I’m going to try to keep this feeling for the whole week.’ And it worked.”

In fact, that Ping putter worked so well that week that the manufacturer — as has been the case since the 1970s for each major victory with a Ping putter — made a gold-plated putter with the exact specs of the one used to win the tournament and stored in a company vault at Ping headquarters in the Phoenix area.

While his putting was spot on that week, Loeffler had to manufacture a tee-to-green game to a certain extent.

“I remember getting down there and being unable to hit a draw, no matter what I was doing,” he said. “In the practice rounds playing with a couple of my ASU teammates, I finally just decided, ‘You know what? I’m not even going to fight it. I’m just going to aim down the left side and cut it — just let it work that way.’ And of course on a Nicklaus course if you cut it, sometimes it’s an advantage. I did that all week — hit this ugly kind of cut/slice thing, hit a bunch of greens and putted great. For the life of me, I couldn’t turn the ball over right to left.”

Even after winning the national title, Loeffler was frustrated with that situation to the point that he rectified it within a few days of returning to Colorado.

“When I got home from the championship, I went down to Castle Pines into their club room and decided I didn’t like the shafts in my irons so I reshafted all of them,” he said. “I was so mad I couldn’t turn the ball over. I figured it had to be the shafts; it couldn’t be me. It was just impetuous and stupid.

“I was in the club repair room and Keith Schneider (then the PGA head professional at Castle Pines) and Jack Vickers (the club founder) were having a meeting. Of course, when you change shafts you have to heat the shafts up a little bit. So I set off the smoke alarm in the clubhouse with Vickers and Keith in there in a meeting. Keith comes and just looks at me, shook his head and walked away.”

Loeffler’s golf career has been an unusual one given that he’s gone from amateur to pro to amateur to pro. After winning a state high school title at Cherry Creek, a CGA Junior Match Play and CGA Amateur in Colorado before becoming an All-American at ASU, Loeffler turned pro the first time and made it to the PGA Tour. He competed on golf’s top circuit in 1980, ’81 and early ’82, playing in 32 events. But he made only eight cuts and $5,356 during that time.

“I had a plan and got on Tour,” Loeffler said. “I set some goals and wasn’t achieving them. I wanted to kind of get on with my life, I wanted to get married to Sandy. She had her job and she wasn’t traveling with me. I stopped enjoying playing golf and I wasn’t getting better. I kind of decided, I love the game, but there’s something else to do. … It was time for a change.”

So even though he had some PGA Tour status remaining in 1982, he decided after playing poorly in U.S. Open qualifying that he’d start the process for regaining his amateur status. Three years later, he was an amateur again and played in the CGA Match Play — where he lost to eventual champion, and now longtime PGA Tour/PGA Tour Champions player, Brandt Jobe — and in the CGA Amateur.

In 1986, Loeffler won the U.S. Mid-Am, then captured the inaugural CGA Mid-Amateur title and a third Broadmoor Men’s Invitation victory the next year. But after playing on the ’87 Walker Cup team and in the ’88 Masters as an amateur — where he shot 77-79 and missed the 36-hole cut — Loeffler returned to the professional ranks in 1989, this time on the club professional side of things.

“I remember playing in the Pacific Coast Amateur in Seattle and I was pretty much broke,” he said. “It had cost say about $1,000 to play it. I finished second or third to Billy Mayfair. I was sitting at the podium and they gave me a medal about the size of a half-dollar. I looked at it and I’m like, ‘I’m starving to death, my wife thinks I’m a loser and I’ve got this half-dollar medal. I realize now my whole life is centered around golf, so it’s time for another change.’ I went back and said, ‘Sandy, I’ve got to turn pro.’ And she supported me, like she always has.”

During this second stint as a pro — which has lasted the last 30 years — Loeffler has been an owner of The Links Golf Course in Highlands Ranch and Moore, Loeffler, wife Sandy and their family built and operated the Hale Irwin-designed Highlands Ranch Golf Club from its opening in 1998 until 2011, when it was gifted to the University of Denver. And obviously Loeffler has accomplished plenty as a competitor.

But Loeffler (left in a CGA photo in 2018) has been hampered by a bad back for quite a while now, to the point that he believes his days of competing in multi-day tournaments may be behind him.

“It’s hard for me to be able to play two rounds in a row, so I think I’m pretty much done (from a competitive standpoint),” he said. “It’s my back. It gets real weak after about 12 holes. (After) two or three days, I’ve got to go on some pain meds, and I hate doing that. It’s just time. Fifty years of competing, that’s plenty. I think I’m done.”

But Loeffler still enjoys rounds of casual golf with wife Sandy, who has taken up the game, and friends.

“It’s all good,” he said. “If I play twice a week and separate the two days, I’m OK.”

And if his days competing in major events is indeed done, Loeffler has put together a stellar resume, including the 1986 U.S. Mid-Am title. And he’s happy to see the event returning to his home state this year.

“It’s tremendous. And to have it at Colorado Golf Club, one of the best clubs in the state, just a great golf course, it doesn’t get any better than that,” he said. “And it’s a great match play course with those finishes on those par-5s, 15 and 16. It’s going to be tremendous. I’m sure the field will be chock-full of ex-pros that are just great players. And in September, it’ll be perfect (weather-wise).”

In an unprecedented accomplishment, one person has swept the Colorado PGA’s honors as both the Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year and the Senior Player of the Year.

Doug Rohrbaugh (left) of Carbondale did the honors in 2018, and tonight (Nov. 2) at Colorado Golf Club in Parker he’ll receive both awards during the Section’s Special Awards Gala.

It’s a notable feat in several respects, beyond the aforementioned:

— Rohrbaugh, 56, earned the overall POY honor for the first time, despite having won the Colorado PGA Professional Championship three times — all as a senior golfer.

— Rohrbaugh’s POY award snaps a run of four straight wins in the category by Geoff Keffer, who earned the honor five times overall from 2012-17.

— It’s the fourth time Rohrbaugh has been the Section’s Senior POY, following up on 2012, ’13 and ’14. Only one golfer has been the SPOY more times (Dave Arbuckle, with five), while Bill Majure has four like Rohrbaugh.

Rohrbaugh recorded eight wins — or ties for first place — over the course of the 2018 Colorado PGA season, including in the season-long Match Play Championship. That’s in addition to being medalist in U.S. Senior Open qualifying at The Broadmoor. That was one of two PGA Tour Champions majors in which Rohrbaugh competed in 2018, the other being the Senior PGA Championship. He also recently finished 57th in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship.

“My goal all along has been Player of the Year,” Rohrbaugh, now a sales representative for AndersonOrd Golf Apparel, said after tying for second place in the Colorado PGA Professional Championship in September. “I’ve never been able to do it because I could never play enough events. This year, I’ve been able to play everything.”

In another first, the Colorado PGA this year is naming its inaugural Women’s Player of the Year, with Sherry Andonian-Smith of Centennial earning that distinction in 2018. Like Rohrbaugh, she’s 56 years old, another example of the Section’s depth of quality senior players.

Andonian-Smith recently became the first woman to compete in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship, placing 29th out of 264 players. She also qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open. And she won the Colorado PGA West Chapter Championship for the second time in three years. That was one of two victories for her in CPGA events in 2018. In addition, she and Alexandra Braga became the first women from the Colorado PGA to qualify for the national PGA Professional Championship.

Here are the theColorado PGA award winners who will be honored tonight, including Golf Professional of the Year Ty Thompson (READ MORE):

Golf Professional of the Year — Ty Thompson, Crosshairs Consulting.

Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year — Doug Rohrbaugh, AndersonOrd Golf Apparel.

Senior Player of the Year — Doug Rohrbaugh, AndersonOrd Golf Apparel.

Women’s Player of the Year — Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC.

Associate Player of the Year — Ben Lanting, Bear Creek GC.”¨”¨

Teacher of the Year — Dan Sniffin, Omni Interlocken Resort.”¨”¨

Bill Strausbaugh Award (mentoring fellow PGA professionals) — Stuart Bruening, The Golf Club at Bear Dance.”¨”¨

Assistant Professional of the Year — Ed Marzec, Country Club of the Rockies.”¨”¨

Horton Smith Award (exceptional contributions to promote and improve PGA educational programs) — Ben Welsh, Frost Creek Club.”¨”¨

Player Development Award — Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf Academy.”¨”¨

Youth Player Development Award — Erin Diegel, Legacy Ridge Golf Course.”¨”¨

Warren Smith Award (special contributions to game of golf, the Colorado PGA, junior golf and their facility) — Kyle Heyen, Hiwan Golf Club.”¨”¨

Private Merchandiser of the Year — Jake O’Dell, The Club at Flying Horse.”¨”¨

Resort Merchandiser of the Year — Jeff Hanson, Red Sky Golf Club.”¨”¨

Public Merchandiser of the Year — Brian Carlson, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve.

President’s Award (promoting and enhancing PGA professionals, the PGA Section and the game of golf and contributing to the betterment of the golf professional vocation) — Allen Walters, Colorado AvidGolfer.

Noble Chalfant Inductees (lifetime distinction for PGA members) — Clayton Cole, Dow Finsterwald, Bill Majure.

Todd Phipers Media Award — Joe Cole, Fox21 in Colorado Springs

(Updated Nov. 3) Vic Kline Award (to Section board of directors member for outstanding service and leadership for the Section) — Spencer Zinn, West Edge Energy.
 

Colorado State University men’s golf coach Christian Newton didn’t mince words or equivocate when asked about the performance of freshman Oscar Teiffel in brutal weather conditions this week at Colorado Golf Club in Parker.

“That’s the best competitive round I’ve ever seen — under pressure, playing for the lead, shoot 67 in blowing snow and 35 degrees. That’s as good as I’ve ever seen,” Newton said.

And it’s hard to argue.

Teiffel shot a 5-under-par 67 on a very tough golf course with snow flying and temperatures in the mid-30s to win the individual title at the Paintbrush Invitational at Colorado Golf Club.

And to add to the accomplishment, Teiffel and the Rams (pictured below) also took home the team title while competing against a field that included three Pac-12 Conference schools, including the University of Colorado, which has won twice already this season.

Like CU, CSU has now claimed two team titles in the fall portion of the schedule — one in a tournament it hosts and another in Colorado. The Rams won the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins in September.

This one, though, likely will be etched indelibly in the memory of the CSU players and coaches, given the conditions. All three rounds were played in temperatures between 35-40 degrees, with snow adding an especially unusual element on Tuesday.

“I think it’s the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in,” said Teiffel, who hails from Sweden. “It was snowy for nine holes and it was super cold. I have like three pairs of pants on me right now.”

Teiffel finished with a remarkable — given the conditions — 10-under-par 206 total, which was good for a three-stroke victory. On Tuesday, when eight players shot in the 80s, his 67 was the only score below 70.

“I had no idea what to expect before I went out,” said Teiffel, who notched his second top-10 finish of the season in major tournaments. “At first I was thinking 3 over was going to be a good score. But I got into a good flow, made a few putts and played pretty good. I’m happy with my score.

“I knew it was going to be tough for everyone. I didn’t have any expectations of myself. I was just going to accept whatever happened.”

Teiffel’s victory marks the first individual win by a CSU player since Blake Cannon won two events in a row two years ago.

As for capturing a title so early in his college career, Teiffel said, “It feels fantastic. You don’t get wins very often in this sport. When you do it’s pretty special. To do that so quickly after coming over here to college is also pretty cool. It’s an individual sport, but you’re playing as a team and it’s nice to win as a team as well.”

Indeed, on two days that very few golfers would even consider playing, the Rams finished with a 6-over-par 870 total for three rounds, which earned them an eight-stroke team victory over Oregon.

“Today was one of the better rounds that I’ve ever seen out of a team,” Newton said of his CSU squad, which shot a 1-over 289 on Tuesday. “We preached resiliency this whole week. (The CSU players) did a wonderful job. I’m very proud of them.”

Perhaps it has something to do with the makeup of the five players who constituted the Rams’ team this week. Four of the five are from places where it’s not unusual for golfers to battle the elements. As noted, there was Teiffel (left) from Sweden. And then there were three Coloradans — AJ Ott, Davis Bryant and Jake Staiano. And Californian Cullen Plousha rounded things out.

“When it starts getting windy, rainy and this cold, I think it really gives us an advantage,” said Bryant, who like Teiffel is a freshman. “I know Oscar has played in a lot of weather like this. And Jake, me and AJ have in similar stuff to this throughout our time living in Colorado. So I think it definitely helped us. And we’re a tough team mentally.”

As for the aforementioned Coloradans, Ott (below) finished ninth individually at 1-over-par 217, while Bryant was 17th at 221 and Staiano 32nd at 227. But they weren’t the top Colorado resident on the final Paintbrush scoreboard. That honor went to the University of Northern Colorado’s Coby Welch, who placed fifth on Tuesday at 2-under 214.

Remarkably, Welch was 5 under par through 11 holes of Tuesday’s round, but bogeyed three of his last seven to shoot 70.

“I just keep going as if it weren’t snowing,” Welch said. “I keep playing. There’s nothing I can do about it. I try to stay as focused as I can.

“I’m very happy with (the finish). I felt like I played well. Everyone was going to miss some short putts because of the greens and the snow — and I missed a few of those — but that’s OK. I felt like I played well. I hit the ball well and my short game was very good at this tournament.”

It was Welch’s third top-five individual finish of the season, with all three coming in Colorado as he placed third in both the Ram Masters and the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.

Meanwhile, Welch’s UNC squad placed an impressive third out the 12 teams at the Paintbrush. The Bears checked in at 19-over-par 883, 13 behind CSU. Joining Welch in the top dozen individually for UNC were Joshua Matz (sixth at 215) and Li Chen (12th at 219).

CU, meanwhile, tied for fourth at 887 in its fall season finale. Daniel O’Loughlin had another strong showing for the Buffs, placing sixth individually at 215.

The host University of Denver ended up 12th on Tuesday with a 929 total. DU’s Roy Kang, competing only as an individual this week, finished 10th individually at 218.

Teiffel became the second Scandinavian player to win the individual title in the two years the Paintbrush Invitational has been held. DU’s Petter Mikalsen, of Norway, claimed the top spot two years ago. Last year’s Paintbrush was canceled due to snow.

With the U.S. Mid-Amateur being held at Colorado Golf Club next September, the Paintbrush Invitational will take a one-year hiatus from the schedule before an anticipated return in 2020.

This year’s Paintbrush marks the seventh and final NCAA Division I invitational — men’s and women’s combined — that is being held in Colorado during the fall college season.

Paintbrush Invitational
Oct. 8-9, 2018 (final) at Colorado GC in Parker
1. (out of 12 teams) Colorado State 287-294-289–870
1. Oscar Teiffel 70-69-67–206
9. AJ Ott 73-74-70–217
17. Davis Bryant 71-76-74–221
32. Jake Staiano 74-75-78–227
39. Cullen Plousha 73-78-78–229
Competing Only as Individuals
25. Andrew Lafferty 80-71-73–224
30. Akedanai Ponghathaikul 74-75-77–226
47. Jack Ainscough 75-76-80–231

3. Northern Colorado 298-291-294–883
5. Coby Welch 71-73-70–214
6. Joshua Matz 73-70-72–215
12. Li Chen 73-70-76–219
60. Nick Sharp 81-78-79–238
68. Marcus Tait 90-78-76–244
Competing Only as Individual
23. Jack Castiglia 79-74-70–223

4. Colorado 295-293-299–887
6. Daniel O’Loughlin 69-70-76–215
17. Trevor Olkowski 74-73-74–221
28. Kristoffer Max 73-73-79–225
39. John Paterson 79-77-73–229
51. Ross Macdonald 79-78-76–233
Competing Only as Indivdual
17. Andre Leveque 77-73-71–221

12. Denver 312-309-308–929
30. Jun Ho Won 75-74-77–226
44. Esteban Missura 81-73-76–230
60. Cal McCoy 79-73-86–238
68. Carson Griggs 77-89-78–244
72. Jackson Solem 82-90-77–249
Competing Only as Individuals
10. Roy Kang 72-72-74–218
32. Eric Hagen 78-74-75–227
57. John Sand 83-76-76–235

Also
39. Coloradan Tyler Severin, Wyoming 76-78-75–229
 
For complete results, CLICK HERE.

On a 36-hole day that was played in 35-40-degree conditions, Colorado State and the University of Colorado are among the top three teams in the 54-hole event that will conclude on Tuesday, weather-permitting.

When play ended on Monday evening due to darkness, with some players having yet to complete round 2, CSU held a one-stroke lead over Loyola Marymount and a four-shot advantage over third-place CU.

Northern Colorado holds fifth place in the 12-team field, at 15 over. The host University of Denver is in 12th place at 45 over par.

Six players from Colorado-based teams are in the top 10 individually after Monday’s action. CU’s Daniel O’Loughlin and CSU’s Oscar Teiffel share second place at 5-under-par 139, which leaves them three behind leader Riley Elmes of Loyola Marymount, who shot a pair of 68s.

Also in the top 10 are UNC’s Li Chen (sixth at 143); DU’s Roy Kang and UNC’s Joshua Matz (seventh at even-par); and UNC’s Coby Welch (ninth at 1 over).

For all the scores from the Paintbrush Invitational, CLICK HERE.
 

But in the bigger picture, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the 2019 U.S. Mid-Am national championship will be held at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, with CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora serving as the second course for the stroke-play portion of the event. The dates for that championship are Sept. 14-19, 2019.

For the record, that will be just the second U.S. Mid-Am — which is limited to players 25 and older — ever conducted in Colorado, with Cherry Hills Country Club having hosted the 1983 championship.

As for this year, Charlotte will host the U.S. Mid Am Sept. 22-27. At Tuesday’s qualifying tournament, the 78 contestants will be vying for four spots in the national championship.

Several players who competed in the 2017 U.S. Mid-Am are in the Lone Tree field. That includes five-time national Mid-Am qualifier — and three-time CGA Mid-Amateur champion — Jon Lindstrom, who went to the match play round of 64 last year; 2017 Colorado-based qualifying medalist Ryan Axlund; Pete Mangold; and Walter Koelbel.

Also scheduled to play on Tuesday are 2012 CGA Match Play champion and 2018 Match Play semifinalist Brian Dorfman; 2014 and 2017 CGA Mid-Amateur winner Chris Thayer; four-time CGA Mid-Am champ Keith Humerickhouse; two-time U.S. Amateur qualifier Kyle Danford; 2014 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Michael Harrington; Denver City Amateur champion Jeff Chapman; and Alex Kephart.

For Tuesday’s pairings at Lone Tree, CLICK HERE.
 

Most notably, Ballyneal (pictured), the Tom Doak-designed layout in Holyoke, was ranked fourth among the Best Modern courses, which Golfweek classifies as having opened since 1960.

Only Sand Hills in Mullen, Neb. (No. 1), Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore. (No. 2) and Friar’s Head in Baiting Hollow, N.Y., were ahead of Ballyneal in the rankings. And, for the record, Doak was the designer or co-designer of four of the top six on the list, with Coloradan Jim Urbina officially co-designing No. 5 Old Macdonald in Bandon and helping considerably with Pacific Dunes and No. 6 Sebonack in Southamption, N.Y., where Jack Nicklaus was the co-designer.

Also among Golfweek’s Best Modern courses are Colorado Golf Club in Parker, site of next year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. The Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw layout checks in at No. 33.

And Castle Pines Golf Club, home to the PGA Tour’s International from 1986 through 2006, was No. 52. The Nicklaus-designed Castle Pines GC opened in 1981.

Meanwhile, in Golfweek’s Best Classic top 100 is Cherry Hills Country Club, host to three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and a U.S. Women’s Open. Cherry Hills falls at No. 89, according to Golfweek.

Pine Valley in New Jersey is No. 1 on the Best Classic list, which is limited to courses which opened before 1960.

Golfweek also lists its take on the “Best Courses You Can Play” in each state. Here’s the magazine’s top 10 for Colorado:

1. Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction
Ҭ2. The Broadmoor (East), Colorado Springs Ҭ
3. Red Sky (Fazio), Wolcott Ҭ
4. Haymaker, Steamboat Springs
Ҭ5. CommonGround, AuroraӬ
6. The Broadmoor (West), Colorado Springs Ҭ
7. Bear Dance, Larkspur Ҭ
8. Red Sky (Norman), Wolcott Ҭ
9. The Ridge at Castle Pines NorthӬ
10. Lakota Canyon, New Castle

For the full Golfweek lists, click MODERN, CLASSIC, YOU CAN PLAY.
 

The East Course at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs will do the honors during the resort’s 100th anniversary year as the U.S. Senior Open pays a visit the week of June 25-July 1.

That East Course (pictured) — site of two U.S. Women’s Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens (including next year’s) and a U.S. Amateur — has long been a highly regarded layout, besides being a historic one.

That was reaffirmed this week when Golfweek magazine published a couple of its top courses in the country lists.

The Broadmoor’s East Course has been a fixture on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Courses in the U.S., and this month was no exception. The East was ranked 55th on this year’s list, which was headed by the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

All told, seven Colorado-based courses were among those recognized this week in Golfweek’s Top 100 lists. Five were among the Top 100 Residential Courses in the U.S., including two in the top 10: Colorado Golf Club in Parker, which moved up to No. 4 in the nation this year; and Castle Pines Golf Club (No. 9), which hosted the PGA Tour’s International for 21 years beginning in 1986.

Here’s the rundown of the Colorado courses recognized by Golfweek this week, plus the No. 1-ranked course nationally in each category:

Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Courses in U.S.
1. Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.
55. Broadmoor Golf Club (East Course) in Colorado Springs (Donald Ross/Robert Trent Jones Sr. design)
76. Red Sky Golf Club (Fazio Course) in Wolcott (Tom Fazio design)

For the complete list, CLICK HERE.

Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Courses in U.S. 
1. Wade Hampton Club in Cashiers, N.C.
4. Colorado Golf Club in Parker (Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw design)
9. Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Pines (Jack Nicklaus design)
23. The Glacier Club in Durango (Arthur Hills design)
54. The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction (Jim Engh design)
63. The Club at Ravenna in Littleton (Jay Morrish design)

For the complete list, CLICK HERE.

In addition, Golf.com selected its Best New Courses of 2017, and the 12-hole Mulligan Course — designed by Tom Doak — at Ballyneal in Holyoke received a “special citation” mention under the “Spectacular New Short Courses” section.

For the complete list, CLICK HERE.

Tonight (Oct. 27), when the Colorado PGA holds its Special Awards Gala at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, the Lakewood resident will receive the Section’s Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year Award for the fourth straight season and for the fifth time in six years.

To put that into perspective, only one player has been the Colorado PGA’s Finsterwald Player of the Year more times than Keffer, with two others matching his total. And all of the other three members of the five-timers club have all been inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

Bob Hold owns the record for most CPGA Finsterwald Player of the Year Awards, with seven earned between 1966 and ’74, including six straight starting in ’66. Other five-time Players of the Year, in addition to Keffer, are Vic Kline (1975 to 1981) and Ron Vlosich (1986 to ’91).

Keffer (pictured), the Colorado PGA Professional Champion last year, was also the Section’s Apprentice Player of the Year three times from 2007 through ’11. He won or tied for the title in six Section tournaments in 2017 — the season-long Assistants Match Play and Four-Ball Match Play, a one-day pro-only event and three-pro-ams. He finished a stroke out of a playoff, in third place, at the Colorado PGA Professional Championship last month.

Keffer is part owner of the Denver-based Greater Golfer Development Center.

Earning the Colorado PGA’s Senior Player of the Year honors was 64-year-old Rick Cole, the head professional at Eaton Country Club, who finished second in a playoff to John Ogden at the Colorado PGA Professional Championship. Cole also placed sixth in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open, the best showing by a Coloradan this year.

Here are the other Colorado PGA award winners who will be honored tonight, including Golf Professional of the Year Mark Kelbel (READ MORE) from The Broadmoor Golf Club.

Golf Professional of the Year — Mark Kelbel, The Broadmoor Golf Club”¨”¨

Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year — Geoff Keffer, Greater Golf Development Center

Senior Player of the Year — Rick Cole, Eaton Country Club

Apprentice Player of the Year — Bryan Hackenberg, Riverdale GC

Teacher of the Year — Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf Academy”¨”¨

Bill Strausbaugh Award (mentoring fellow PGA professionals) — Ty Walker, GolfTEC Denver Tech Center”¨”¨

Assistant Professional of the Year — Cy Twete, The Golf Club at Bear Dance”¨”¨

Horton Smith Award (exceptional contributions to promote and improve PGA educational programs) — Patrick Nuber, GolfTEC, national director of teaching quality and instruction”¨”¨

Player Development Award — Leighton Smith, The First Tee of Pikes Peak”¨”¨

Youth Player Development Award — Todd Laxson, Cherokee Ridge Golf Course”¨”¨

Warren Smith Award (special contributions to game of golf, the Colorado PGA, junior golf and their facility) — Barry Milstead, Valley Country Club”¨”¨

Private Merchandiser of the Year — Steve David, Denver Country Club”¨”¨

Resort Merchandiser of the Year — Phillip Tobias, River Course and Ranch Course at Keystone Resort”¨”¨

Public Merchandiser of the Year — Dale Smigelsky, Collindale Golf Course

Todd Phipers Media Award — Stan Fenn and Doug Perry (Morning Cup of Golf radio show)

President’s Award (promoting and enhancing PGA professionals, the PGA Section and the game of golf and contributing to the betterment of the golf professional vocation) — Eric Kenealy

(Updated Oct. 30) Vic Kline Award (to Section board of directors member for outstanding service and leadership for the Section) — Scott Erwin, Maroon Creek Club

Noble Chalfant Inductees (lifetime distinction for PGA members) — Don Fox, Lewis Lepore.

In the case of Colorado Golf Club competing at the CWGA Club Team Championship, apparently the third time is a charm.

After top-10 finishes in the event each of the past two years, CGC hoisted the trophy on Monday at The Ranch Country Club in Westminster.

With three players out of the foursome shooting 90 or better despite temperatures hovering around 50 degrees, Colorado Golf Club edged out West Woods and Woodmoor by a single shot to claim the title in the 32-team event.

“It’s bragging rights and I think it’s really good for our club,” said Robin Thorsen, the club’s A player for the championship. “I’m really excited. I can’t wait to tell our head pro, Graham Cliff, and bring that big trophy home to the club. I think they’ll be really proud of us. We’re really proud to represent our club. I’m sure they’ll display our trophy in the entry hall.”

In a tournament that features an ABCD stroke play format in which the scores of four players of significantly varying abilities are added up for a gross aggregate team total, the Parker-based club finished with 82-over-par 366 for the day.

Individually, C player Leigh Ann Post led the way with an 83, while B player Gwyn Wheeler had an 89, Thorsen a 90 and D player Ann Motokane a 104. (The champions are pictured above, from left: Thorsen, Wheeler, Post and Motokane.)

“I think Leigh Ann was amazing all day,” Motokane said of Post, whose round included two birdies. Wheeler nearly aced the 122-yard eighth hole, recording CGC’s other birdie.

Post attributed much of her strong play to a new putter her husband just purchased for her. That would be Charlie Post, winner of the CGA Senior Amateur in 2000 and a competitor in the 2017 U.S. Senior Open.

“That putter really worked for me today,” Leigh Ann Post said. “For my whole life, I’m going to keep that putter.”

West Woods (left) — led by Sue Hartwell, who recently advanced to the round of 32 at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur — checked in at 367 along with Woodmoor, narrowly missing forcing a playoff. Hartwell’s round included an eagle on the 414-yard 16th hole, but also two 8s.

Rounding out of the top five team finishers were Broken Tee (377) and Fox Hollow (379).

The CWGA Club Team is unique in that every player feels some pressure given that each person’s stroke-play score on every hole counts toward the team total.

“It’s nerve-wracking because it’s (gross) stroke play; you don’t get to use your handicap at all,” Motokane said. “As a D player, you could really blow up and have some huge scores. That’s really stressful.”

That goes for the A, B and C players also. But the Colorado Golf Club team has bonded given that three of them — Thorsen, Post and Motokane — have competed together in the Club Team Championship three times, with Wheeler participating twice. And they’ve all been members at CGC since the club opened more than a decade ago.

“We all have our moments — both (good and bad),” Thorsen noted. “We’re serious — we played as well as we could — but it’s a lot of fun. We enjoy playing with each other.

“We just had good karma.”

The Club Team marks the final CWGA championship of 2017.

CWGA Club Team Championship
At Par-71 The Ranch CC in Westminster

1. Colorado GC 366
Leigh Ann Post 83; Gwyn Wheeler 89; Robin Thorsen 90; Ann Motokane 104.

T2. West Woods 367
T2. Woodmoor 367
4. Broken Tee 377
5. Fox Hollow 379
6. Hyland Hills 380
7. Rolling Hills 383
T8. Omni Interlocken 384
T8. Glenmoor 384
10. Ranch 385
T11. Foothills 387
T11. Blackstone/Black Bear 387
13. Valley 389
T14. South Suburban 391
T14. City Park 391
T14. Pinehurst 391
T17. Highlands Ranch 393
T17. Heritage Eagle Bend 393
T17. Indian Tree 393
20. Riverdale 395
21. Patty Jewett 397
T22. Wellshire 402
T22. Meridian 402
24. Saddle Rock 403
25. Willis Case 405
26. Lake Valley 409
27. Meadows 410
28. Overland Park 415
29. Littleton 416
30. Spring Valley 422
31. Olde Course at Loveland 432
32. Heather Ridge DQ

For all the scores from the Club Team — both team and individual, CLICK HERE.

Ballyneal in Holyoke again was among the very best modern courses as the Tom Doak design checked in at No. 4 among courses that were built after 1960, according to Golfweek raters. The only sites ahead of Ballyneal on the Golfweek modern list were Sand Hills in Mullen, Neb. (No. 1), Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore. (No. 2) and Friar’s Head in Baiting Hollow, N.Y.

In fact, four of the top seven in the modern category were at least co-designed by Doak, with Old Macdonald in Bandon (No. 5) and Sebonack in Southampton, N.Y. (No. 7) joining Pacific Dunes and Ballyneal (pictured).

Other Colorado courses among the top 100 modern layouts were Colorado Golf Club in Parker (No. 33), which will host the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur, and Castle Pines Golf Club (No. 48), home to the PGA Tour’s International from 1986-2006.

As for Golfweek’s top 100 classic courses — which opened before 1960 — in the country, Cherry Hills Country Club made the grade. The club — which has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and a U.S. Women’s Open — checked in at No. 91. No. 1 in the classic category was Pine Valley in New Jersey.

For the complete Golfweek classic list, CLICK HERE. For the modern top 100, CLICK HERE.

(April 19 Update): Golfweek also published a list of the “best courses you can play” in each state”. Here’s its rundown for Colorado:

1. Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction
2. The Broadmoor (East) in Colorado Springs
3. Red Sky (Fazio) in Wolcott
4. CommonGround in Aurora
5. Haymaker in Steamboat Springs
6. The Broadmoor (West) in Colorado Springs
7. Lakota Canyon in New Castle
8. Red Sky (Norman) in Wolcott
9. Bear Dance in Larkspur
10. Ridge at Castle Pines North

Golfweek rated the states on the basis of their top five public-access golf courses, and Colorado placed 18th out of 50. For that ranking, CLICK HERE.