Assuming nothing changes before Thursday’s first round, that distinction will go to Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Steve Jones (left). Even though the 1996 U.S. Open champion recently turned 60, Jones is in the field at Pebble Beach.

Perhaps that has something to do with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am being the first of Jones’ eight PGA Tour victories, coming 31 years ago. It was then that he sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Bob Tway.

It will be the former University of Colorado golfer’s first PGA Tour start in over six years, since the 2013 Humana Challenge. He competed in seven PGA Tour Champions events in 2018, finishing as high as sixth place.

Other players with strong Colorado ties who are scheduled to play on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — in addtion to Jones, Clark and Knous — are local resident David Duval, former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird and former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders.

It will be the first PGA Tour start for Duval since August.

For the entire field for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, CLICK HERE.

On Tuesday, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame named Kupcho its Amateur Athlete of the Year — regardless of sport — for 2018. She and the other athletes of the year — including Denver Broncos rookie Phillip Lindsay — plus the six CSHOF inductees (Missy Franklin, Daniel Graham, Todd Lodwick, Bob Smith, Marvin Kay and Tom Southall) will be honored at the organization’s Induction & Awards Banquet on April 3 at the Hilton Denver City Center (1701 California St.).

Kupcho had another stellar year in 2018, highlighted by becoming the first Coloradan to win the individual title at the Women’s NCAA Division I Golf Championships. The now-Wake Forest senior previously had finished sixth (as a freshman) and second (as a sophmore) at the NCAA national tournament.

That title helped Kupcho to be named the world’s female Amateur of the Year by digital golf news magazine Global Golf Post. Last summer, Kupcho became the first American woman to earn the Mark H. McCormack Medal (above) as the top women’s player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings at the time (she’s currently No. 2).

In November, Kupcho capped off the year in fine fashion by earning her 2019 LPGA Tour card by placing second in the eight-round LPGA final qualifying tournament. But Kupcho will defer joining the Tour until after completing her college elibility in May.

Last summer, Kupcho represented the U.S. in three international competitions as American prevailed in the Curtis Cup, Arnold Palmer Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship. And she finished second individually — out of a field of 170 — at the World Amateur Team Championship.

Kupcho played in the LPGA Tour’s Marathon Classic in July, placing 16th, her best showing in an LPGA event.

Last fall, Kupcho was named the Golf Person of the Year by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame for the second time in three years.
  

Twenty years ago, McIntire (left in a USGA photo) went into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2015, she was named the Colorado Female Player of the Century as part of the Century of Golf Gala festivities.

And now, the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame has come calling. On Tuesday (Oct. 23) at The Broadmoor World Arena, McIntire will be one of six people/teams that will go into the Hall. It’s fitting, given that McIntire has been a fixture in the Springs and was a longtime business partner of World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Bell at The Broadmoor.

For many years, McIntire was one of the most prominent figures in women’s amateur golf.

In 1956, she came within a stroke of becoming the first amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open. Instead, she tied for first with Cathy Cornelius, then lost to her in an 18-hole playoff. In addition to her two U.S. Women’s Amateur victories (1959 and ’64), McIntire prevailed in the 1960 British Ladies Amateur. As a teenager, McIntire was twice runner-up in the U.S. Girls’ Junior, in 1951 and ’52. She lost in the ’52 final 1 up to Mickey Wright. In Colorado, she won the CGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship in 1962.

Six times, McIntire played on U.S. teams at the Curtis Cup, and later she captained two winning American Curtis Cup squads.

In 2000, McIntire received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the USGA, recognizing a person who demonstrates the spirit, personal character and respect for the game exhibited by Jones, who won the Grand Slam in 1930 and nine USGA championships in all.

McIntire also served as the chairperson of USGA Women’s Committee for two years in the mid-1990s.
 

In fact, the 1996 U.S. Open champion shared the lead on the back nine on Saturday before bogeys on the par-5 15th and the par-3 17th dropped him back a bit.

Still, Jones (pictured) shot a 2-under-par 69 on Saturday, leaving him in a tie for sixth place going into Sunday’s final round. The Colorado Sports Hall of Famer is on pace for his best PGA Tour Champions finish ever as his current top showing is a ninth place at the 2015 Senior PGA Championship.

Jones, winner of eight PGA Tour events, stands at 5-under-par 137, which leaves him three strokes behind leader Tom Pernice Jr. Jones, 59, carded five birdies and three bogeys on Saturday.

For all the scores from the Toshiba Classic, CLICK HERE.

Elsewhere in tour golf:

Gilman Runner-up on Golden State Tour: Former University of Denver golfer Chris Gilman recorded his fourth top-10 finish in the last five Golden State Tour events by tying for second Friday in the Q-School Shootout in Santee, Calif.

Gilman posted scores of 70-69 for a 5-under-par 139 total, which left him three strokes behind champion Cody Blick of Alamo, Calif.

Gilman, a regular on the Web.com Tour in 2015, won the Moorpark Classic on the Golden State Tour last month.

The Hall of Fame, founded in 1964, designated a total of $200,000 — proceeds from its annual induction and awards banquet, Colorado state high school football “Championship Saturday”, and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Golf Classic.

The donations announced Wednesday bring the amount of cash and in-kind donations the CSHOF has made to youth sports programs and other sports organizations in Colorado to more than $1 million over the past 11 years.

“All of these organizations meet our mission of helping youth sports, education, and youth of color in Colorado, and we are happy that we can impact so many worthy programs,” said Tom Lawrence, president and CEO of the Hall of Fame. “Our goal was to have an impact on as many youth sports groups as we could, to further the goal of the Hall of Fame in improving youth sports and education in our state.”

Lawrence is a former president of the CGA.

This latest set of donations are made in partnership with Colorado Sports Hall of Fame sponsors Gatorade, King Soopers/City Market, the Denver Broncos, Sports Authority, Wells Fargo, Century Link, and El Pomar Foundation.

For all of the organizations that will benefit from the CSHOF event proceeds, CLICK HERE.

After all, for a guy who not long ago wondered whether he’d ever play Tour golf again, every tournament is cherished, and he could have played in a Champions Tour event this week in Duluth, Ga. Moreover, any tournament is an opportunity for a breakthrough, as Colorado resident Mark Wiebe proved two years ago when he won on the Champions Tour the same day he was inducted — in absentia — into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

But in the end, Jones couldn’t bypass Thursday night’s Colorado Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet at the Denver Marriott City Center.

“In the very beginning, yeah (it was a tough choice skipping a Champions Tour event), but when you really think about it, my parents raised me pretty well to think correctly,” Jones said before Thursday’s dinner. “And thanks to that upbringing, I made the right decision to come here.

“There’s no way you can miss something like this. It’s the biggest golf honor in my life that I’ve been given.”

Inducted with Jones on Thursday were former Bronco Steve Atwater, ex-Avalanche captain Adam Foote, Rockies original manager Don Baylor, former NFL kicker Don Cockroft and ex-major league pitcher Stan Williams.

(Jones is pictured above taking a photo of Olympic swimming gold medalist Missy Franklin on Thursday.)

Jones, who grew up in Yuma, Colo., and played golf at the University of Colorado, has been one of the most successful Tour players the state has ever produced. In joining fellow former Buff golfers Hale Irwin and Dale Douglass in the CSHOF, Jones won eight times on the PGA Tour, with the highlight certainly being his victory in the 1996 U.S. Open.

Coincidentally, his Colorado Sports Hall of Fame induction falls during the 25th anniversary year of his victory in the 1988 Colorado Open, and of his first PGA Tour win, the 1988 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Jones, 54, hasn’t won yet on the Champions Tour, but after not playing in a PGA/Champions Tour event from the middle of 2007 until the beginning of 2011 because of a severe case of tennis elbow, the fact that he’s competing at all is a plus.

“I could get in 15-16 (tournaments this year), which is better than the 10-12 I’ve gotten in the last couple of years,” said Jones, who is conditionally exempt on the Champions circuit this season. “But the key is just playing well.”

Jones has made a total of 26 official Champions Tour starts since making his debut in the spring of 2011. He’s posted three top-20 finishes.

As has been the case throughout his career, injuries have held Jones back. Most notably, an irregular heartbeat, a thumb injury, shoulder issues and the tennis elbow have sidelined Jones six full tour seasons since 1990. Right now, it’s nothing major, but wrist, finger and nagging ligaments are hampering him.

“It’s crazy how things keep coming up as you get holder,” he said.

Jones, an Arizona resident, only gets back to Colorado an average of about once a year these days, but he drew a nice contingent of support to Thursday’s induction. His wife, Bonnie, attended, along with his parents and in-laws, plus numerous representatives of CU and the Colorado golf community.

Among the “surprise” guests were former CU golf teammate Tom Woodard, who is being inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame this year, and Valerie Simpson, wife of the late Mark Simpson, who made Jones his first CU recruiting signee. Also on hand were childhood friend from Yuma Rich Holden, longtime CU associate athletic director/sports information Dave Plati, Buff golf coach Roy Edwards and Ron Rope, who, unbeknownst to Jones at the time, funded more than a quarter of Jones’ scholarship costs at CU in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

“He helped with my scholarship to get me to Colorado with a full ride,” Jones said of Rope. “And for me, I’m glad I went to Colorado and not New Mexico State.”

For more information about Jones going into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, CLICK HERE.

However, it’s a testament to Jones’ success that despite the many physical problems he endured, he was voted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Jones, who grew up in Yuma, Colo., and played golf at the University of Colorado, was one of six people elected to the Hall, which will hold its induction ceremonies on April 18 at the Denver Marriott City Center.

Joining him in being enshrined will be former Denver professional standouts Steve Atwater (Broncos) and Adam Foote (Avalanche), along with longtime former Rockies manager Don Baylor, former NFL kicker Don Cockroft and ex-major league pitcher Stan Williams. Like Jones (Yuma High School), Cockroft (Fountain) and Williams (Denver East) attended high school in Colorado.

Jones was overjoyed to be in such select company.

“When you’re not playing to the level you used to play at, you think, ‘Why me?'” Jones said in a phone interview this week. “I’m surprised and thrilled. To be inducted with all those guys is definitely an honor.”

For Jones, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame induction will be the second major honor he’ll receive in Colorado within a year. He’s also scheduled to be inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 15.

“It’s nice to be recognized and great to be part of Colorado and the history there,” he said. “You always are trying to do more. My career is on the downswing like everyone that gets older, but (to be going into two halls of fame) is a double honor.”

Jones captured all eight of his PGA Tour titles in the 10-year period from 1988 to 1998. His signature victory came at the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills in Michigan, where he prevailed by one stroke over Davis Love III and Tom Lehman. The tournament ended a seven-year win drought for the lanky golfer from Colorado’s eastern plains. He became the first sectional qualifier to win the U.S. Open since 1976.

Jones was sidelined from competitive golf for almost three years following a 1991 dirt-bike accident that threatened his career. That accident caused severe ligament and joint damage in Jones’ left ring finger along with other injuries. It’s little wonder then why Jones was named the PGA Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year in 1996 following his U.S. Open triumph.

Jones has also had his career derailed at different times by an irregular heartbeat, a thumb injury, shoulder issues and most recently, by a case of tennis elbow that kept him from competing for 3 1/2 years and long delayed his debut on the Champions Tour. All told, Jones has sat out six full tour seasons since 1990 because of injuries and ailments.

Jones has a long history of success in Colorado, and not only in golf, as he ran track and was an all-state basketball player in high school. But golf is where he really made his mark — locally, nationally and internationally. He won a couple of Colorado state sand green titles and made it to the semifinals of the 1976 U.S. Junior Amateur, then graduated to victories in two state amateurs — the 1980 CGA Match Play and the 1981 CGA Stroke Play.

At CU, Jones was a four-time first-team All-Big Eight golfer as well as a second-team All-American. In his senior season alone, he recorded nine top-10 finishes.

In 1981, Jones just missed becoming just the second amateur to win the Colorado Open. But PGA Tour player Dave Hill denied him by winning his fourth Colorado Open.   

Seven years later, however, Jones wouldn’t be stopped again as he earned the 1988 Colorado Open championship. That was the same year he won his first PGA Tour title at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Though tennis elbow kept Jones from competing from mid-2007 until early 2011 (when he was 52), he is playing now on the Champions Tour. The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer had his best official Champions showing in July at the First Tee Open, finishing 13th.

“I’ve been playing for a year and a half now, and I’m definitely showing lots of signs of improvement,” Jones said. “When you’re off for four years, it’s going to take a few years to get going. I’m starting to make a turn. I just need more ‘reps.'”

Also in the last decade, Jones served as an assistant captain under Hal Sutton for the U.S. team at the 2004 Ryder Cup, not coincidentally held at Oakland Hills, site of his U.S. Open victory.

Jones will be the 11th golf-related inductee into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, following N.C. “Tubb” Morris (1971), Babe Zaharias (1974), Joan Birkland (1981), Hale Irwin (1986), Dale Douglass (1989), Judy Bell (1996), Barbara McIntire (1998), Jack Vickers (1999), Dow Finsterwald (2008) and Will Nicholson Jr. (2012).
 

“Over my 60 years around the game of golf, both as an amateur and a professional, I firmly believe Will is one of maybe five people who have given the most to the sport while not actually playing,” said Finsterwald, the 1958 PGA Championship winner and a former longtime director of golf at the Broadmoor Golf Club.

And on Tuesday, all that giving back to the game of golf
resulted in Nicholson being voted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. The lifelong Colorado resident, who has volunteered countless hours to golf over the last four decades, will be inducted — along with five others — on April 10 at the Marriott City Center in Denver.

The other 2012 inductees will be former Colorado Avalanche star Peter Forsberg, former Colorado Rapids and USA World Cup soccer player Marcelo Balboa, former Boulder High School and Denver Nuggets basketball player Glen Gondrezick, ex-Colorado State football All-American Greg Myers, and longtime basketball coach Frank Carbajal, an all-conference basketball and baseball player at Northern Colorado.

“Obviously I’m honored to join all those people” in the Sports Hall of Fame, Nicholson said Tuesday. “It’s a great tribute to golf.”

The induction will be a busy time for Nicholson. It will come just two days after the conclusion of the Masters, where Nicholson has played such a key role during his 30 years as a member at Augusta National Golf Club. As chairman of the Competition Committee from 1992 through 2006 — and a prominent authority on the Rules of Golf — Nicholson was responsible for setting up the course for the Masters.

As John Feinstein wrote in his 1999 book, “The Majors”, “… Nicholson runs the actual golf tournament, playing a major role in setting up tee locations and hole locations, putting together Thursday’s pairings, dealing with problems as they come up during the week, and overseeing changes in the course from year to year.”

Nicholson also was chairman of the Masters Rules Committee for 17 years, starting in 1989.

And though he doesn’t play as prominent a role at the Masters anymore, the first major of the year remains a fixture on his calendar. Next spring, he’ll probably return home from Augusta on Monday, April 9, then attend his induction the next day.

The work Nicholson has done at the Masters is but one of many roles he’s volunteered his time for over the years:

— The highest-profile position he ever took on was as president of the USGA in 1980 and 1981, which culminated his 11-year run on the USGA Executive Committee. Nicholson is one of just three Coloradans who have held the USGA presidency since the position was established in 1894 — Frank Woodward of Denver (1915-16), Nicholson and Judy Bell of Colorado Springs (1996-97).

— In Colorado, Nicholson has served on the CGA Board of Governors since 1973, and he was part of the board that helped make the CGA/CWGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course become a reality. He’s also played key roles in many prominent tournaments that have been held in Colorado, including the PGA Tour’s International, which was contested at Castle Pines Golf Club from 1986 through 2006. When Denver Country Club hosted the USGA’s Curtis Cup Matches in 1982, Nicholson was the general chairman. He’s long been a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, as was his father, former Denver mayor Will Nicholson Sr.

— Nicholson captained the U.S. squad at the 1984 World Amateur Team Championship.

— Since the late 1980s, Nicholson has been a member of the Captain’s Club for Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament. That club also includes such prominent individuals as Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sean Connery, George H.W. Bush and Bell.

“I learned early on in my life if you have something you enjoy and you’re successful at, one of the obligations is to give back,” said Nicholson, a prominent banker (and onetime chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) who still goes into the office each day at age 82. “I’ve been around the game and wanted to give back the best I could. I’m a hacker as a player, but I could do things on the administrative end.”

Appropriately, a Nicholson Award has been given in recent years to honorees who have shown a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf. And it’s indicative of how highly Nicholson is regarded in golf that the four out-of-state recipients of the award — Palmer, Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw — have made time to come to Denver to receive the honor personally.

Said Crenshaw of Nicholson: “Not many people have been that devoted to the game in a lot of different capacities.”