He and his partner Braden Baer won the regionals at TopGolf in Centennial in 2016 and advanced to the national semifinals in Las Vegas before bowing out.
Then this year, Kupcho and former University of Northern Colorado teammate Conner Barr again won the regional title — on July 30 in Centennial — to advance and again made the eight-team match-play stage of the national event in Las Vegas. This time, however, Kupcho and Barr fell in Sunday night’s quarterfinals 289-238 to a team from Dallas-Fort Worth.
So that’s two top-eight finishes nationally in the last three years for Kupcho, the older brother of women’s NCAA Division I champion Jennifer Kupcho, who earned her 2019 LPGA Tour card on Saturday. Steven Kupcho, the 2012 CGA Amateur champion from Westminster, will compete this week in the second stage of Web.com Tour Q-school in McKinney, Texas.
Twenty-three two-person teams from around the country competed at TopGolf Las Vegas in the Tour Championship, where $50,000 went to the winning team. Eight teams emerged from two heats of preliminary competition to earn spots in the match-play bracket. Kupcho and Barr (pictured, with Kupcho at left) finished second in their heat and were seeded third in the match-play bracket.
A team from Austin, Texas claimed the title.
In Topgolf, players hit microchipped golf balls at targets with varying point values. In the Topgolf Tour competition, the players alternate shots.
Though the Centennial Topgolf location is the only one currently operating in Colorado, it will soon have company. Topgolf announced last month that it has broken ground on a second location in the Denver metro area, in Thornton at I-25 and E. 160th Ave. The 65,000-square-foot, three-level facility is scheduled to open to the public in late 2019. It will have 102 climate-controlled hitting bays, a restaurant and three bars. There will be 250 HD televisions, a rooftop terrace with fire pits and 3,000 square feet of space devoted to private events.
The Centennial Topgolf opened in August 2015 and employs 500, the same number that is expected in Thornton.
Wyndham Clark, who won the Pac-12 Championship in his home state of Colorado in the spring, grabbed the outright lead in a First Stage event in Nebraska City, where the top 24 finishers and ties after four rounds will advance to the Second Stage of Q-school.
Clark (pictured) backed up his first-round 66 with a 4-under-par 67 and stands at 9-under 133, two better than second-place Matt Jennings of Prairie City, Iowa. Through two rounds, Clark has made 10 birdies and one bogey.
Also in the top 24 in Nebraka City are Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch (10th place, 139), fellow former University of Colorado golfer Justin Bardgett (10th, 139), former University of Northern Colorado player Conner Barr (18th, 141), and Parker Edens of Greeley (24th, 142).
And in San Diego, where the top 23 finishers will advance, former CU golfer Jeremy Paul is in sixth place at 5-under-par 135 and former Durango resident Tom Kalinowski is 13th at 137.
All of this week’s Q-school tourneys are 72-hole events.
Seven more First Stage tournaments are scheduled for next week.
The Second Stage of Web Q-school will be held at five sites between Oct. 31-Nov. 7, and the Final Stage Dec. 7-10 in Chandler, Ariz.
Here are the scores for all the players with strong Colorado connections who are competing this week:
Nebraska City (Top 24 finishers and ties advance to Second Stage)
1. Coloradan Wyndham Clark 66-67–133
10. Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch 72-67–139
10. Former CU golfer Justin Bardgett 68-71–139
18. Former UNC golfer Conner Barr 72-69–141
24. Parker Edens, Greeley 73-69–142
35. Steven Kupcho, Westminster 74-69–143
42. Former CU golfer Josh Creel, Cheyenne 71-73–144
72. Cameron Harrell, Colorado Springs 72-80–152
Lantana, Texas (Top 24 finishers and ties advance to Second Stage)
44. Zahkai Brown, Golden 69-71–140
San Diego (Top 23 finishers and ties advance to Second Stage)
6. Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul 67-68–135
13. Former Coloradan Tom Kalinowski 63-74–137
37. Jamie Marshall, Lone Tree 69-74–143