A good partnership in golf is considered one in which the players “ham and egg it” very well. In other words, when one is struggling, the other picks up the slack and plays well.

Christie Austin and Tori Glenn certainly did that on occasion over the weekend, but they ham and egg it on a bigger scale. Austin is 57 years old and has a daughter, Julie, close to the age of Glenn, who is 19. And before Sunday, Austin had won about a dozen CWGA championships, while Glenn was still looking for her first.

But whatever the case, the two hit upon a good enough complementary formula that they claimed the championship flight title Sunday at the 48th annual CWGA Brassie at the Gold Course at Hyland Hills in Westminster.

“It’s so much fun to win a state championship,” noted Austin, a former USGA Executive Committee member from Cherry Hills Country Club. “This just sort of fell into place, which is great because we were really looking forward to (playing in the tournament together). We played a practice round and everything. We made a big effort here,” she added with a laugh.

Austin won the Brassie — which features a four-ball stroke-play format — for the fourth time on Sunday. But on the previous two occasions (2001 and ’10), her partner was Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore. Moore couldn’t play this time around, so Austin thought of Glenn, the University of Colorado golfer with whom she was paired in the Colorado Cup matches early last month. (The pair are pictured, with Austin at right.)

“I’m really happy she invited me; it was fun,” said Glenn, the 2014 CWGA Match Play runner-up who has been playing golf for just a little more than three years.

Austin and Glenn shot a 1-under-par 72 Sunday, giving them a 5-under 141 total and a four-stroke victory. But that margin gives a false impression of how close the final round was. Going into the last hole — the short par-3 16th in their case — Austin and Glenn led two-time champions D’Ann Kimbrel and Stacey Arnold of Willis Case Golf Course by just one.

But on a hole measuring less than 110 yards, Kimbrel hit her tee shot into the water short of the green and Arnold’s ball barely stayed out of the lake. That led to them taking a best-ball double-bogey 5 on the relatively easy hole. Meanwhile, after nine consecutive pars for the Austin/Glenn team, Austin closed out the round by draining a 30-foot birdie putt, accounting for a three-stroke swing on the hole. (At top, Austin gets a high-five from Glenn.)

“It’s just disappointing how we finished,” said Arnold, who won the Brassie with Kimbrel in 2009 and ’12. “D’Ann and I are both working Joes so we don’t get out (for golf) very much. It’s disappointing to finish that way but it was fun to play with those guys (Austin and Glenn). They played good, and for Christie to finish with a 2 — she had been so close with so many putts — that was nice for them.”

Arnold and Kimbrel, the director of maintenance at the Riverdale golf courses in Brighton, closed with a 73 to place second at 145. (At left, Arnold, standing, discusses something with Kimbrel.)

Deb Hughes of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, who defeated Austin in the final of the 2014 CWGA Senior Match Play, and Sue Davis of Saddle Rock Golf Course were one of four championship flight teams to shoot a 76 on Sunday, and they finished in third place at 150.

“Stacey and D’Ann got close — it was a one-stroke difference — but we just kept grinding,” Austin said. “It was a day when neither one of us (Glenn or Austin) felt real comfortable on the course. We didn’t hit it especially pure. But we were just kind of steady and got up and down a few times. It was a grinding kind of day I’d say.”

As Glenn noted, the winning pair played much better in Saturday’s first round, shooting a 69. That round included a stretch in which Glenn went eagle-birdie-birdie, with the eagle coming on the same hole Austin birdied. Glenn also chipped in for a birdie during that run. Austin and Glenn later added back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17.

“Yesterday was so much better,” said Glenn, who plays out of the Ridge at Castle Pines North. “We’d make birdies on top of each other. It was a good day. Today (Sunday), Christie covered my butt.” (At left, Glenn and Austin confer about a shot.)

Whatever the case, Glenn was happy to claim her first CWGA championship title.

“It feels good,” said Glenn, who finished fourth as a Valor Christian senior at the 2013 4A state high school tournament. “I was second in the Match Play and I’ve always been kind of close in the CWGA events this summer, but I never came out on top. So this is good.”

For scores from the championship flight and the seven other flights, CLICK HERE.

First of all, there aren’t that many female head golf course superintendents around. In Colorado, she’s one of just a handful.

Then there’s that dog that seems to tag along with Kimbrel most of the places she goes in her job overseeing the maintenance of the Dunes and Knolls courses at Riverdale in Brighton.

Chase, a 6-year-old border collie, is something of a fixture at Riverdale. He’s a goose dog, chasing geese away that try to settle in at Riverdale. But his presence goes far beyond that.

“He spends most of his time with me, but if I’m not doing something fun, he’ll find something more fun to do,” said Kimbrel, Chase’s owner. “He goes up to the pro shop every day for his bacon. He goes into (general manager Steve Bruening’s) office for beef jerky. I’ve got to put a sign on him, ‘Please don’t feed Chase.’ He just knows everybody here.”

Similarly, Kimbrel is a well-known and well-liked fixture at Riverdale, where she and the maintenance staff have long been recognized for keeping the public courses in very good condition.

Appropriately — since the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame is located in the clubhouse at Riverdale — Kimbrel will be recognized this weekend with the Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She’ll be among a handful of honorees when the Hall holds its 42nd annual induction dinner Sunday (June 8) at the Club at Rolling Hills in Golden.

Three people will be inducted into the Hall of Fame that night — C. Paul Brown, Jim Johnson and Greg Mastriona. Receiving awards that evening, along with Kimbrel, will be Doug Rohrbaugh (Golf Person of the Year) and Colorado Golf Club (Distinguished Service Award after hosting the Solheim Cup last year). For more about this year’s inductees and honorees, CLICK HERE.

For the unassuming Kimbrel, the Lifetime Achievement Award comes as an unexpected honor.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I was floored. It’s quite an honor, and I was taken aback.”

Kimbrel came to Riverdale in 1988 after stints at Hyland Hills in Westminster and Bear Creek in west Denver. At first, she served as superintendent at the Dunes Course, then was promoted in the 1990s to director of maintenance, with her overseeing the Dunes and Knolls, with separate course superintendents working on her staff (Theresa Troup and Rob Neuhauser).

Kimbrel received a teaching degree from the University of Northern Colorado, where she played intercollegiate soccer and was an AIAW All-American in 1980 and ’81. But after working at a golf course during summers in high school and college, golf is where she found her professional calling.

“One thing led to another, and here I am 30 years later,” the 54-year-old said. “I was probably 18-19 years old when I first saw a green. I was just amazed by them. I fell into (golf-related work) but I just really loved it.”

Kimbrel’s superintendent’s skills were put to the test in the 1990s as Riverdale hosted the 1993 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and the Nike Colorado Classic (on what is now the Web.com Tour) in 1996 and ’97. Stewart Cink, who went on to win the 2009 British Open, was the champion at Riverdale Dunes in 1996.

“That was really cool preparing the course for those events,” Kimbrel said. “There was a lot to that.”

And Riverdale officials received very positive feedback from hosting those big tournaments.

“The players were very pleased,” Kimbrel said. “(For the Colorado Classic), the first tour official came out a month or two before the tournament, and they said, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re going to love this place.’ We definitely got kudos.”

After the national Publinks was played at Riverdale, Kimbrel was named the Turfgrass Professional of the Year in 1993 by the Rocky Mountain Regional Turfgrass Association.

It takes something to stay at one place of employment for more than a quarter-century. So what has kept Kimbrel at Riverdale since 1988?

She cites support from a strong management team and the financial backing from Adams County that the courses need to succeed. Beyond that, there’s the camaraderie of a maintenance staff that includes a handful of employees who have been working there for more than 20 years.

Despite being the director of maintenance, Kimbrel still very much enjoys personally doing work involving course upkeep.

“I’m pretty hands-on still,” she said. “I still enjoy the work.”

She’ll usually take an early-morning tour of the courses — with Chase, of course (pictured above) — to see any issues that may need addressing. She’ll often cut cups, hand water and do other routine maintenance. “That is a good day and the part of the day I enjoy the most,” she notes.

Of course, there are also plenty of more traditional management tasks — budgeting, invoicing, exchanging emails, meetings, etc. And given that last September’s flooding left the Riverdale maintenance building and the equipment in 8 feet of water, Kimbrel was busy over the winter dealing with those matters.

Though, as mentioned, female head golf course superintendents are somewhat rare, Riverdale has two of them as Troup is the superintendent at the Dunes and has been at Riverdale even longer than Kimbrel.

Kimbrel said she’s always been well-received and respected by her fellow Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents statewide.

“I don’t feel like (gender) has ever been an issue,” she said. “If anything, I probably get more attention.”

Asked if she sees herself as a bit of a pioneer in the role she plays, Kimbrel said, “I don’t really think of myself as that. I remember there was a gal at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) when I first got into the business and started thinking about doing it for a career, and I remember having a couple of conversations with her. But I guess I don’t think of myself that way. But there definitely aren’t very many of us.”

Besides her professional success as a director of maintenance, Kimbrel is a fine player. She maintains a handicap of between 5 and 6, and she’s won six CWGA team championships with Stacey Arnold. They’ve captured three Chapman titles, two Brassies and a Mashie.

“We are so fortunate. We have one of the best (state or regional) golf associations in the whole country,” Kimbrel said. “People who move out of state after playing in CWGA events are so disappointed. I’m truly grateful to be able to play in such well-run tournaments — and I hear that a lot.”

Kimbrel was inspired to play by several women who were regulars at Willis Case Golf Course — Carol Flenniken, Lynn Zmistowski and Katie Fiorella, all now members of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

“After college I picked up golf and I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at it,” Kimbrel said.
 

The three are scheduled to be inducted in the 42nd class of the Hall of Fame, on June 8 at the Club at Rolling Hills in Golden.

Appopriately, Johnson was the longtime PGA head professional/director of golf at Rolling Hills, collectively serving in those capacities from 1975 to 2001 before retiring.

Mastriona spent all of his career with the Hyland Hills Park and Recreation District, first as an assistant golf course superintendent at Hyland Hills Golf Course, then for 40-plus years as executive director of the district. The courses at Hyland Hills now bear the name of Mastriona, who retired at the end of 2012.

Joining the inductees in being honored on June 8 will be three recipients of special awards from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

Doug Rohrbaugh, the head professional at Ironbridge Golf Club in Glenwood Springs, earned the Golf Person of the Year award after winning the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, the Colorado PGA Professional Championship and the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship, plus qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open.

Colorado Golf Club in Parker, which hosted the Solheim Cup in 2013 after being the site of the 2010 Senior PGA Championship, will receive the Distinguished Service Award.

And D’Ann Kimbrel, a highly respected course superintendent at the Riverdale golf facility in Brighton for more than 25 years, gained the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Brown has had a stellar record as both a player and volunteer in Colorado golf. He served on the Colorado Golf Association Board of Governors for 19 years, beginning in 1981. And he’s been the volunteer men’s golf head coach at Colorado Mesa University since 2010.

Brown, a second-team All-Pac-10 golfer at the University of Arizona, holds the distinction of being the only amateur winner of the Rocky Mountain Open since 1966. He claimed the title in 1987. Brown also captured the Colorado West Amateur championship 13 times, and the CGA Western Chapter title five times from 1983 through ’93.

With the impending honor of Johnson, a dozen longtime members of the Colorado PGA will have been inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame since 2009. Johnson, a native of Greeley, spent a total of 31 years working at Rolling Hills, including five as an assistant professional.

As a member of the Colorado PGA, he’s won seven major awards from the Section, including Golf Professional of the Year in 1985 and Senior Player of the Year three times. He also competed in two U.S. Senior Opens and a Senior PGA Championship.

During Johnson’s years at Rolling Hills, he helped found the Ashley Forey Invitational, arguably the most prestigious girls high school tournament in the state, aside from the state meets.

Mastriona has the rare distinction of having several courses in Colorado named for him, all at Hyland Hills — 18- and 9-hole regulation layouts as well as two 9-hole par-3 courses. He was a driving force in expanding Hyland Hills from an 18-hole layout into the facility it is today. And as head of the Hyland Hills Park and Recreation District since 1972, he not only oversaw the golf courses, but a popular water park that was his brainchild, Water World.

Hyland Hills has long been highly regarded among public golf courses in Colorado, and it hosted the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in 1990.

And Mastriona was a major proponent of junior golf throughout his career as the Hyland Hills junior program became a standard for success, with 300-500 juniors participating each summer.
 

Simply join forces.

The women from Willis Case Golf Course have been quite a force to be reckoned with in team events over the last 4 1/2 years, with Sunday proving just the latest example.

Kimbrel and Arnold (pictured) paired together to win their second CWGA Brassie Championship, this one by three strokes at Dos Rios Golf Club in Gunnison. They also won the event in 2009, likewise on the Western Slope.

But that’s just the Brassie, a four-ball stroke-play event. In the other CWGA two-person team championships, Kimbrel and Arnold have combined to win three Chapman titles and one Mashie.

Add it all up and they’ve paired up to claim six CWGA team championships since 2008.

“It feels good to win again,” said Arnold, 43. “Anytime you win, it’s a good thing. We’ve known each other for 16 years, and we know each other’s games. (Ironically) we don’t ham-and-egg-it very well. We tend to play well on the same holes.”

Added Kimbrel, 53: “We team up well, but Stacey is a really good player. I ride her coattails — and that’s the truth. I help out here and there.”

On Sunday, Arnold and Kimbrel made four birdies to expand their first-round lead, shooting a 3-over-par 74 for a 7-over 149 total.

Lynne Batchelder and Nancy Ziereis, both of Valley Country Club, placed second at 152 after consecutive rounds of 76. Sally Lawrence of Broken Tee and Liz Kennedy of Tiara Rado came in third, at 154, after a final-round 78.

Laurie Steenrod, who won two previous CWGA Brassie titles at Dos Rios — in 2000 and 2008, both with Lynn Larson — finished fourth this year. She and Lisa Stone from Saddle Rock Golf Course shot two straight 79s and ended up nine strokes behind Arnold and Kimbrel.

“It was fun,” Kimbrel said of the victory in Gunnison. “We were looking for a little vacation, but once you get out there, you try to do your best. It’s fun to try to win.”

Both Batchelder and Ziereis, and Kennedy and Lawrence were ahead of Arnold and Kimbrel about a third of the way through Sunday’s round. But Arnold and Kimbrel birdied Nos. 8, 9 and 12 to pull ahead for good.

“We played with Nancy and Lynne and they started out really good,” Arnold said. “They had us worried for a while. We had to turn it on.”

Perhaps the pressure to play well for the team’s sake is one of the keys to the success of Kimbrel and Arnold.

“It’s nice to have someone on your side, but you also feel bad when you play bad,” Arnold noted.

CWGA Brassie Championship
At Par-71 Dos Rios GC in Gunnison

GROSS SCORES
Championship Flight
  –75-74–149; Stacey Arnold, Willis Case GC; D’Ann Kimbrel, Willis Case GC
  –76-76–152; Lynne Batchelder, Valley CC ; Nancy Ziereis, Valley CC
  –76-78–154; Sally Lawrence, Broken Tee GC; Liz Kennedy, Tiara Rado GC
  –79-79–158; Laurie Steenrod, Saddle Rock GC; Lisa Stone, Saddle Rock GC
  –83-80–163; Marianne Ceriani, The Club at Rolling Hills ; Tangy Buchanan, Columbine CC
  –82-83–165; Mary Pierson, Raven GC at Three Peaks; Marti Alter-Cudlip, Denver CC
  First Flight
  –79-74–153; Mary Jo Elder, Dos Rios GC ; Denise Mayfield, Dos Rios GC
  –77-78–155; Peggy Puckett, Wellshire GC; Barbara Hall, Dos Rios GC
  –81-80–161; Cathy Weber, Perry Park CC ; Chris Leger, Heather Ridge GC
  –82-82–164; Denise Cohen, Kissing Camels GC; Sarah Watson, Kissing Camels GC
  –83-84–167; Dot Lindsey, Buffalo Run GC; Berta Thimmig, Riverdale GC
  –85-83–168; Kim Wells, Sunset GC; Karen Chase, Foothills GC
  Second Flight
  –82-78–160; Donna Edelen, Riverdale GC; Becky Finger, Riverdale GC
  –82-79–161; Vicci Carricato, Dos Rios GC ; Janet Fennern, Dos Rios GC
  –82-85–167; Sallie Gallegos, Patty Jewett GC; Patti Stringer, Patty Jewett GC
  –86-85–171; Ginger Doubek, Meadow Hills GC; Mary Repetto, Foothills GC
  –89-83–172; Kelli Roark, Broken Tee GC; Kristi Davis, Broken Tee GC
  –92-88–180; Valerie Rock, Kissing Camels GC; Carlene Decker, Kissing Camels GC
  Third Flight
  –82-84–166; Pat Cahill, Patty Jewett GC; Connie Arbuckle, Valley Hi GC
  –85-86–171; Nondis Lowther, Rifle Creek GC; Betsey Frazier, Devil’s Thumb GC
  –85-87–172; Erin Galbreath, Glenwood Springs GC; Nancy Peterson, Glenwood Springs GC
  –83-89–172; Kelly Hall, Bookcliff CC ; Vicki Riley, Bookcliff CC
  –102-91–193; Pam Godfrey, Patty Jewett GC; Lita Van Cleave, Patty Jewett GC
  –97-97–194; Sharon Thiel, Riverdale GC; Diane Storlie, Buffalo Run GC
  Fourth Flight
  –85-83–168; Sandra Schnitzer, Murphy Creek GC; Bunny Ambrose, Meadow Hills GC
  –81-88–169; Debbie Childs, Lone Tree GC; Lisa Livermore, Lone Tree GC
  –89-86–175; Julie Workman, Patty Jewett GC; Sharon Mcveigh, Patty Jewett GC
  –86-92–178; Melissa Mcpherron, River Valley Ranch GC; Julie Warren, River Valley Ranch GC
  –91-91–182; Roben Deines, Buffalo Run GC; Susan Elliott, Riverdale GC
  Fifth Flight
  –88-82–170; Susie Goldberg, Overland Park GC; Colleen Renner, Foothills GC
  –89-91–180; Cindy Lonis, Devil’s Thumb GC; Vicki Ripp, Devil’s Thumb GC
  –88-98–186; Kathy Kluck, Broken Tee GC; Lynne Smith, Broken Tee GC
  –96-91–187; Vivian Heggie, Riverdale GC; Marilyn Hollman, Buffalo Run GC
  –97-97–194; Caroline Wahlborg, Meadow Hills GC; Margaret Henry, Meadow Hills GC

NET SCORES
First Flight
  –63-64–127; Peggy Puckett, Wellshire GC; Barbara Hall, Dos Rios GC
  –68-63–131; Mary Jo Elder, Dos Rios GC ; Denise Mayfield, Dos Rios GC
  –69-67–136; Cathy Weber, Perry Park CC ; Chris Leger, Heather Ridge GC
  –69-69–138; Denise Cohen, Kissing Camels GC; Sarah Watson, Kissing Camels GC
  –69-71–140; Dot Lindsey, Buffalo Run GC; Berta Thimmig, Riverdale GC
  –74-72–146; Kim Wells, Sunset GC; Karen Chase, Foothills GC
  Second Flight
  –66-65–131; Vicci Carricato, Dos Rios GC ; Janet Fennern, Dos Rios GC
  –69-64–133; Donna Edelen, Riverdale GC; Becky Finger, Riverdale GC
  –67-70–137; Sallie Gallegos, Patty Jewett GC; Patti Stringer, Patty Jewett GC
  –72-69–141; Ginger Doubek, Meadow Hills GC; Mary Repetto, Foothills GC
  –73-69–142; Kelli Roark, Broken Tee GC; Kristi Davis, Broken Tee GC
  –77-73–150; Valerie Rock, Kissing Camels GC; Carlene Decker, Kissing Camels GC
  Third Flight
  –64-66–130; Pat Cahill, Patty Jewett GC; Connie Arbuckle, Valley Hi GC
  –62-71–133; Kelly Hall, Bookcliff CC ; Vicki Riley, Bookcliff CC
  –68-69–137; Erin Galbreath, Glenwood Springs GC; Nancy Peterson, Glenwood Springs GC
  –68-70–138; Nondis Lowther, Rifle Creek GC; Betsey Frazier, Devil’s Thumb GC
  –83-73–156; Pam Godfrey, Patty Jewett GC; Lita Van Cleave, Patty Jewett GC
  –79-78–157; Sharon Thiel, Riverdale GC; Diane Storlie, Buffalo Run GC
  Fourth Flight
  –64-64–128; Sandra Schnitzer, Murphy Creek GC; Bunny Ambrose, Meadow Hills GC
  –63-69–132; Debbie Childs, Lone Tree GC; Lisa Livermore, Lone Tree GC
  –70-67–137; Julie Workman, Patty Jewett GC; Sharon Mcveigh, Patty Jewett GC
  –69-68–137; Roben Deines, Buffalo Run GC; Susan Elliott, Riverdale GC
  –66-74–140; Melissa Mcpherron, River Valley Ranch GC; Julie Warren, River Valley Ranch GC
  Fifth Flight
  –63-58–121; Susie Goldberg, Overland Park GC; Colleen Renner, Foothills GC
  –67-67–134; Caroline Wahlborg, Meadow Hills GC; Margaret Henry, Meadow Hills GC
  –70-65–135; Vivian Heggie, Riverdale GC; Marilyn Hollman, Buffalo Run GC
  –67-69–136; Cindy Lonis, Devil’s Thumb GC; Vicki Ripp, Devil’s Thumb GC
  –65-76–141; Kathy Kluck, Broken Tee GC; Lynne Smith, Broken Tee GC