Fifty-five players will be in the field, with the top three finishers earning spots in the Senior Am, which will be contested Aug. 25-30 at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Of those 55, almost one-fifth have competed in the U.S. Senior Am just in the last five years.
The list includes Wyoming resident John Hornbeck, the 2018 CGA Senior Match Play champion who has played in three U.S. Senior Amateurs, going to the quarterfinals in 2016. Also, there’s three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk (round of 64 in 2017), Guy Mertz (2017), Robin Bradbury (round of 64 in 2016), Gary Albrecht (2016), Jim Reynolds (2016), Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore (2015), Thomas Roos (2015), and David Delich and Harry Johnson (both 2013 and ’14).
Also competing on Tuesday are Steve Ivan, winner of the 2017 CGA Senior Amateur and runner-up in the 2018 CGA Senior Match Play; Charlie Post, who played in the 2017 U.S. Senior Open; 2015 CGA Senior Amateur winner Bill Fowler; 2014 CGA Senior Match Play champ Tom Musselman and Sean Forey.
For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
And one of those eight, David Delich of The Broadmoor, has won the title three times over that period.
Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City will host this year’s Senior Match Play Monday through next Thursday (June 11-14). The event, limited to players 52 and older, will feature the round of 64 on Monday and two rounds each on Tuesday and Wednesday for those who advance. The 18-hole championship match is set for next Thursday morning.
Pat Bucci of West Woods Golf Club returns to defend the title he won last year, when he defeated Delich, the champion in 2007, ’11 and ’15.
Other former champions in the field are Jeff Oneth of Colorado Golf Club (2016), Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course (2013), Ray Makloski if Pueblo Country Club (2012), Guy Mertz of The Fox Hill Club (2010), Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club (2009) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club (2006).
Three of those former champs have already won CGA titles in 2018: Johnson in the Super-Senior Match Play, Polk with partner Bill Fowler in the Senior Four-Ball, and Mertz with son Nick in the Parent/Child.
Also scheduled to compete in the Senior Match Play are 2017 CGA Senior Amateur winner Steve Ivan of Patty Jewett Golf Course, 2016 Senior Amateur champ Kevin Ott of The Club at Rolling Hills, 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Wyoming and 2017 CGA Senior Player of the Year Keith Atkins.
For Monday’s round-of-64 tee pairings, CLICK HERE.
]]>John Elway figures to receive much of the attention from fans and the media on Monday at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, whether the Pro Football Hall of Famer qualifies for the U.S. Senior Open or not. More than 2,000 fans are expected to watch him try to qualify Monday at The Broadmoor.
Attention comes with the territory for Elway, who has an official role to play for this particular U.S. Senior Open even if he fails to earn a spot in the 156-man field. The Broncos general manager is the honorary chairman for this year’s Senior Open, which the East Course at The Broadmoor will host June 28-July 1.
On the golf course, Elway does have some game. He’s made the cut in the CoBank Colorado Open once, and has posted two top-30 finishes in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open. And he’ll be helped out on Monday by oilman and philanthropist George Solich, an Elway friend who grew up caddying at The Broadmoor. George Solich and brother Duffy have lent their names and support to the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy. Elway is scheduled to tee off at 10:10 a.m. from No. 1 on the East Course.
But the bar will be set high on Monday for Elway and the other 83 competitors in the 18-hole qualifying tournament at the East Course as just two players from the site will advance to the U.S. Senior Open itself.
The field is full of formidable players. Ron Vlosich of Lakewood has qualified for five U.S. Senior Opens and Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale for three, and Rohrbaugh has also won a Colorado Senior Open and three Colorado PGA Professional Championships in recent years. Dale Smigeksy of Fort Collins and Charlie Post of Castle Rock played in the 2017 Senior Open.
On top of that, there’s several Colorado Golf Hall of Famers, in addition to Vlosich — Bill Loeffler (the 1986 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion), Kent Moore and John Olive, who’s competing at his home course. There’s 2017 Colorado PGA Professional Champion John Ogden of Cherry Hills Village; Mike Zaremba of Pueblo West, winner of both a Colorado Open and a Colorado Senior Open; Mike Northern of Colorado Springs, who finished fourth in the 2016 national Senior PGA Professional Championship; amateurs David Delich, a two-time U.S. Senior Open qualifier, and Robert Polk, who went to the 2007 Senior Open; 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Wyoming; and Chris Johnson, who along with Rohrbaugh is competing in this week’s Senior PGA Championship.
Besides Colorado, states represented in Monday’s field including Arizona (6), Utah (5), Wyoming (3), Oklahoma (2), California (1), Florida (1), Montana (1), Ohio (1), Tennessee (1) and Texas (1).
Monday marks just the fourth time a U.S. Senior Open host course has also held a qualifying tournament leading up to the event. All told, 34 sites will host U.S. Senior Open qualifying events this spring.
Spectators are welcome for Monday’s qualifying tournament at The Broadmoor, and admission is free.
A field of 82 players will be vying for four spots into the national tournament, set for Oct. 7-12 at Capital City Club in Atlanta.
Jon Lindstrom of Broomfield, the winner of the last two CGA Mid-Amateurs and the U.S. Mid-Am Qualifying medalist last year, qualified for the 2017 event earlier this week as a co-medalist in Carson City, Nev.
But among those in the Murphy Creek field are 2016 qualifiers Chris Thayer of Golden and Wes Martin of Denver. Thayer advanced to match play at the national championship, losing in the round of 64.
Among the others scheduled to compete in Aurora are Steve Irwin of Arvada, who recently competed in his third U.S. Amateur; Kyle Danford of Fort Collins, who has qualified for two U.S. Ams in recent years; 2008 CGA Amateur champion Jonathan Marsico; 2015 CGA Match Play champion Nick Nosewicz of Aurora; two-time CGA Senior Player of the Year David Delich; and this week’s CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play champion Gary Albrecht.
After next year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur is held at Charlotte, N.C., Colorado Golf Club in Parker will host the national championship in 2019, with the dates set for Sept. 21-26.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur is limited to golfers at least 25 years old.
For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
Sixty-three players, all 55 and older, will be competing for three national berths into the Senior Amateur, set for Aug. 26-31 at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.
Gary Albrecht of CommonGround Golf Course and Robin Bradbury of Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, both 2016 U.S. Senior Am qualifiers, will be in the field in Colorado Springs.
Other qualifiers in Colorado from recent years — David Delich (2013 and ’14), Harry Johnson (2013 and ’14), Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Kent Moore (2015) and John Olive (2012), Thomas Roos (2015), Ted Warner (2013) and Kelly Crone (2012).
Also scheduled to play on Monday are three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk and other former CGA senior champions Tom Musselman, Guy Mertz and Ken Sady.
The 36-hole event will include open and senior flights, with gross and net divisions.
Coloradan Kyler Dunkle won’t defend his title as he’ll be competing in U.S. Amateur qualifying on Monday in Highland, Utah. Dunkle advanced to the round of 16 at the 2016 U.S. Am.
But the Western Chapter field will include Tristan Rohrbaugh of Carbondale, who won the championship in 2015 and was runner-up to Dunkle last year. Rohrbaugh, a former 3A state high school champion who plays his college golf at Boise State, qualified for last year’s U.S. Am.
Also scheduled to compete this weekend are Ross Macdonald and Isaac Petersilie, winners of every Colorado Junior Amateur from 2013 to ’15, with Macdonald capturing two of those three. Macdonald is a University of Colorado golfer, while Petersilie plays at the University of Denver.
The Western Chapter senior division field includes David Delich and Harry Johnson, both former CGA Senior Players of the Year.
]]>Things did not look very promising for Pat Bucci on Friday afternoon.
The 57-year-old from West Woods Golf Club was 2 down with four holes remaining in the final of the 48th CGA Senior Match Play Championship at Blackstone Country Club in southeast Aurora.
Moreover, Bucci was trailing an opponent, David Delich of The Broadmoor Golf Club, who had won this championship three times, and was looking to tie a record with victory No. 4.
But if things always followed a predictable path, sports wouldn’t be much fun. And Friday’s stretch run certainly took an unusual turn.
Bucci won three consecutive holes as Delich three-putted No. 15, hit his tee shot into a hazard on No. 16 (while Bucci put his 8 feet from the cup), then didn’t find either of his tee balls on No. 17 and conceded the hole before Bucci even hit his second shot on the par-5. For Delich, No. 17 marked an uncharacteristic ninth bogey — or worse — in the match. Then Bucci (pictured at left and below) halved No. 18 with a par — just the fifth halved hole of the match — to clinch his first CGA championship title.
“I look back on it. Against him? It’s a great feeling, but I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Bucci said. “The whole week — this is a new experience for me, on this big of a stage. I can’t explain where it came from. It was so unexpected.
“I was just thrilled to play (Delich), win or lose. To come out victorious makes it unbelievable. It’s something I’ll never forget, no matter what.”
It was Bucci’s second 1-up victory on Friday, the other coming when he rallied from 2 down early and birdied the final two holes to defeat Bill Woodward of Cherry Hills Country Club in a semifinal match. The down-to-the-wire wins capped an improbable week for the golfer who’s retired from the South Metro Fire Department.
For Delich, this week marked the fifth time he has advanced to the final of the CGA Senior Match Play, with him going 3-2 in those title matches. He won the championship in 2007, ’11 and ’15, and was runner-up in 2008, when Ken Sady rallied from being 2 down on the back nine to claim the trophy.
“I’m just dead-ass tired,” Delich (below) said after his second consecutive day of two matches each. “I’ve been coming back and forth from (Colorado Springs). I could feel it. I haven’t played this much golf in a stretch that meant something in a couple of years — since I had heart surgery (21) months ago. So I could feel it this morning coming up. My legs were tired and I was dead.
“This afternoon I started hitting poor irons — and that’s just the lower body being tired and I’m not turning. I kept making bogeys — I made nine bogeys (or worse). When you’re 2 up with (four) to go, you should put it away. I didn’t. I left the door open, and it was enough to let him in.”
For Bucci, walking through that door and winning the title is the pinnacle of his golf career.
“By far,” he said. “It’s my Masters.”
Bucci said his next-best showing in a CGA championship came at the 2012 CGA Senior Amateur — coincidentally won by Delich — where the Littleton resident finished sixth.
Bucci indicated he had no inkling that a breakthrough victory was coming this week.
“You hope it’s there, you hope to find it, you hope you hold onto it,” he said. “I was playing decent, but there was nothing to say that this was my year.”
Despite being 2 down with four holes to play on Friday — and facing a three-time champion — Bucci (below) hadn’t given up hope when things looked the most bleak.
“I was thinking because of the golf course and the holes we were on (being in the midst of stretch from 13-16 known as ‘The Gauntlet’), anything could happen,” he said. “When you’re sitting there with the lead, things go into your head. Those holes, you can hit good shots and come out on the bad end. So I just said, ‘Hang in there and see what happens.'”
To get to the final, Delich defeated two former champions, Jeff Oneth in the round of 16 and Harry Johnson in the quarterfinals. Then in Friday morning’s semis, he edged 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Saratoga, Wyo., 1 up. By far the highlight of Delich’s day was eagling the 495-yard second hole both times he played it on Friday. And against Bucci, he very nearly made double eagle there, with his ball ending up 2 feet behind the hole.
But Delich looks back on his three-putt on No. 15, where he lipped out an 11-foot par putt that would have put him 3 up with three holes left, as being crucial.
“The three-putt on No. 15 really hurt,” he said. “Had that (second one) gone in, I think it’s a different deal with a few holes to go. That’s how it goes sometimes. It’s a game of inches.
“Then I just ran out of juice and made a couple of bad swings coming in. That’s when you need to be at your best — and I wasn’t. You can’t expect to win win you make that many mistakes.”
Delich, 60, had been bidding to become the fifth player to win the CGA Senior Match Play four times, joining John Olive, Larry Eaton, Bert Welz and Ed Nosewicz Sr.
“Obviously that would have been nice,” Delich said. “John Olive is a friend. I’ve had my chances and let a couple go. At least one of the ones I won, I’m sure the other guy thought he let it go. That’s golf and it happens. I’ll get another chance probably — one or two. I’m starting to get stronger and my game is getting better. Over the next three or four years, hopefully I’ll get another shot at it. Today was an ideal day, but I didn’t have it at the end when I needed it.”
CGA Senior Match Play Championship
At Blackstone CC in Aurora
THURSDAY’S ROUND OF 16
David Delich, Broadmoor GC, def. Jeff Oneth, Colorado GC, 5 and 3
Harry Johnson, Eagle Ranch GC, def. Rob McLelland, Clubcorp Colorado, 2 up
John Hornbeck Collindale GC, def. David Snow, Saddle Rock GC, 6 and 5
Bill Fowler, Club at Rolling Hills, def. Bradley Becker, Plum Creek GC, 4 and 3
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, def. Bob Chandler, Foothills GC, 5 and 3
Steve Sullivan, Ridge at Castle Pines North, def. Mark Armistead, Highlands Ranch GC, 2 and 1
Bill Woodward, Cherry Hills CC, def. Thomas McGeary, Highlands Ranch GC, 3 and 2
Mark Donahue, Cherry Hills CC, def. Robin Bradbury, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, 1 up
THURSDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
David Delich, Broadmoor GC, def. Harry Johnson, Eagle Ranch GC, 5 and 3
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Bill Fowler, Club at Rolling Hills, 3 and 2
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, def. Steve Sullivan, Ridge at Castle Pines North, 3 and 2
Bill Woodward, Cherry Hills CC, def. Mark Donahue, Cherry Hills CC, 5 and 4
FRIDAY’S SEMIFINALS
David Delich, Broadmoor GC, def. John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, 1 up
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, def. Bill Woodward, Cherry Hills CC, 1 up
FRIDAY’S FINAL
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, def. David Delich, Broadmoor GC, 1 up
For complete results from the CGA Senior Match Play, CLICK HERE.
]]>Delich (pictured) is seeking to become the fifth player to win the Senior Match Play four times, joining John Olive, Larry Eaton, Bert Welz and Ed Nosewicz Sr.
On Thursday, the former Colorado College hockey standout beat defending champion Jeff Oneth of Colorado Golf Club in the round of 16, then Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course in the quarterfinals. Delich made three birdies in the morning and two in the afternoon. He’s won all of his three matches by comfortable margins, going 6 and 5, 5 and 3, and 5 and 3.
Joining Delich in Friday morning’s semifinals will be John Hornbeck of Collindale Golf Course, Pat Bucci of West Woods Golf Club, and Bill Woodward of Cherry Hills Country Club. Delich will face Hornbeck and Bucci will meet Woodward in the semis. The winners will square off in the title match on Friday afternoon.
Hornbeck, who qualified in Colorado for both the 2016 U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Amateur, defeated 2015 CGA Senior Amateur champion Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, Hornbeck topped David Snow of Saddle Rock Golf Course, 6 and 5. Hornbeck’s three matches have gone 3 and 1, 6 and 5, and 3 and 2.
To make it to the semis, Woodward defeated fellow Cherry Hills member Mark Donahue 5 and 4, while Bucci beat Steve Sullivan of The Ridge at Castle Pines North, 3 and 2.
Woodward has won his three matches 4 and 3, 3 and 2, and 5 and 4. Bucci has gone 3 and 2, 5 and 3, and 3 and 2.
CGA Senior Match Play Championship
At Blackstone CC in Aurora
ROUND OF 16
David Delich, Broadmoor GC, def. Jeff Oneth, Colorado GC, 5 and 3
Harry Johnson, Eagle Ranch GC, def. Rob McLelland, Clubcorp Colorado, 2 up
John Hornbeck Collindale GC, def. David Snow, Saddle Rock GC, 6 and 5
Bill Fowler, Club at Rolling Hills, def. Bradley Becker, Plum Creek GC, 4 and 3
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, def. Bob Chandler, Foothills GC, 5 and 3
Steve Sullivan, Ridge at Castle Pines North, def. Mark Armistead, Highlands Ranch GC, 2 and 1
Bill Woodward, Cherry Hills CC, def. Thomas McGeary, Highlands Ranch GC, 3 and 2
Mark Donahue, Cherry Hills CC, def. Robin Bradbury, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, 1 up
QUARTERFINALS
David Delich, Broadmoor GC, def. Harry Johnson, Eagle Ranch GC, 5 and 3
John Hornbeck, Collindale GC, def. Bill Fowler, Club at Rolling Hills, 3 and 2
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, def. Steve Sullivan, Ridge at Castle Pines North, 3 and 2
Bill Woodward, Cherry Hills CC, def. Mark Donahue, Cherry Hills CC, 5 and 4
For complete results from the CGA Senior Match Play, CLICK HERE.
]]>Oneth (pictured) posted a 3-and-1 victory Wednesday over Steve Kass of Aurora Hills Golf Course, while three-time winner Delich scored a 6-and-5 win over Chris Patton of Red Rocks Country Club.
Another former champion who won in the round of 32 on Wednesday was 2013 winner Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course. Also advancing were 2015 CGA Senior Amateur champion Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills and 2016 CGA Senior Player of the Year Robin Bradbury of Walnut Creek Golf Preserve.
Three former champions were ousted in the round of 32: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and four-time champ John Olive of The Broadmoor (5 and 4 by Bob Chandler of Foothills Golf Course), three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club ( 3 and 2 by Bradley Becker of Plum Creek Golf Club, and 2005 winner Kelly Crone of Highlands Ranch Golf Club (4 and 3 by Thomas McGeary of Highlands Ranch GC). Also losing on Wednesday was stroke-play medalist Bob Schuler of Inverness Golf Club, who was defeated by Pat Bucci of West Woods Golf Club, 3 and 2.
Both the round of 16 and the quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday, while the semifinals and the final are set for Friday.
For results from the CGA Senior Match Play, CLICK HERE.
]]>A total of 82 competitors are entered in the event, which will begin with a stroke-play round on Tuesday, with 32 players advancing to match play beginning on Wednesday.
Starting with the round of 16, two rounds of matches will be held both Thursday and Friday, with the 18-hole final scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The former CGA Match Play champs entered include Jeff Oneth (winner in 2016, who will be the No. 1 seed in this year’s bracket), David Delich (2015, ’11 and ’07), Tom Musselman (2014), Harry Johnson (2013), three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk (2009), Kelly Crone (2005) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer John Olive (2003, ’02, ’01 and 1997).
Also scheduled to compete are 2016 CGA Senior Player of the Year Robin Bradbury, 2016 CGA Amateur champ Kevin Ott, 2015 CGA Senior Am winner Bill Fowler, and Jeff Hornbeck of Wyoming, who qualified in Colorado for both the U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Amateur in 2016.
For Tuesday’s pairings, CLICK HERE.