This week, when Stadler plays in the Sanderson Farms Championship that starts on Thursday in Jackson, Miss., Koepka is No. 1 in the world, Thomas is fourth and Molinari sixth.

Yes, it’s been that long.

Stadler — a part-time Denver resident who won a state high school title while at Kent Denver, notched victories in two CGA Match Plays and captured the Colorado Open championship in his pro debut in 2002 — this week will be competing on the PGA Tour for the first time since missing the cut in the John Deere Classic in July 2015. The last time Stadler has made a cut on the world’s top tour was over four years ago, at the Shiners Hospitals for Children Open.

“There’s no reason to stay away now (from the PGA Tour),” Stadler said in an interview with ColoradoGolf.org after missing the cut in the CoBank Colorado Open in late July.

Stadler won the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open for his first victory on the PGA Tour, finished eighth at the Masters that spring and placed 36th on the Tour money list that season with more than $2.3 million in earnings. That’s in addition to being runner-up in the 2014 European Tour’s Alstom Open de France at the course that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.

But just as Stadler was becoming one of the better players on the PGA Tour, things went awry in a hurry. In November 2014 while competing in China, he began experiencing major pain in his left hand.

“It literally felt like I had a firecracker going off in my palm every time I’d practice,” he said in 2016. “It was a nightmare.”

It turns out Stadler had a broken hamate bone and nerve damage. But it took a l-o-n-g time for the doctors to come to that conclusion — years, in fact. In August 2017, he finally had the surgery that alleviated the pain.

“It’s 100 percent (healed),” Stadler said regarding the hand in late July. “They couldn’t diagnose it for the longest time. It was the same bone they were fixated on the whole time. But for the previous 18 months I kept being told it was fully healed. It was actually broken and kept getting worse, but I kept being told it was fine. Because I didn’t know what was wrong, I kept trying to play and dealing with the pain, which caused a lot of funky things to pop up in my golf swing. A lot of different hand motion and stuff that instinctively happened to lessen the pain. It still hurt like hell, but it was less.

“It feels fine now, but the motor skills have taken over that I’ve got to unwind. That’s what I’m working on right now.”

Stadler will compete in the 2018-19 PGA Tour wraparound season on a major medical extension. He will have 26 tournaments to earn at least $717,890 in order to keep his exempt status.

Stadler has certainly competed since initially getting injured in November 2014 — just not on the PGA Tour. There were three events in 2015 — the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the Masters and the aforementioned John Deere Classic. Between 2017 and ’18, there have been four tournaments on the Web.com Tour, where Stadler won four times more than a decade ago. And he finished 41st in the 2016 Colorado Open and missed the cut at that same event this year. In every case, he was either still injured or trying to knock the considerable rust off his game.

“I developed a lot of really ugly habits in my golf swing that I have to unwind,” he said at the Colorado Open almost three months ago. “It’s great coming out and seeing what it is in competition.

“The whole thing (regarding damage in the hand) was a mess. I was told it was a stress fracture. A year later I was told it was fully healed, but it kept getting worse. I stopped after having about 6-8 MRIs on it. They told me it was healed for nine months in a row and I was still having pain. They couldn’t find the answer for it. The pain finally got back to day 1 excruciating last summer (in 2017). I was told it was 75 percent broken. I’d seen six different hand surgeons — and they’re all in major league baseball. I had two out of maybe six or seven guys tell me I needed surgery initially and the other guys said not to.

“But it’s doing great now. I just need to figure out how to get the game back in working order.”

Stadler has competed in 264 PGA Tour events over his career, winning about $9.7 million. And now he’s looking forward to a full-schedule season for the first time since 2013-14, when he played in 26 events.

“I can just play like a normal season,” the 38-year-old said. “Ideally I’d just make the playoffs next year and get my (card) that way and don’t have to worry about starts or anything. But worse-case scenario, if I play say 21-22 events, then I have four more for the following season to try to get whatever I may need.”

During the Colorado Open, Stadler appeared to have dropped some weight.

“I’m just trying to get rid of what I found in the last few years off,” he said. “I needed to drop some. Being away from marching on a golf course 25 times a year, five days a week, it snuck up on me and stacked them on. So starting to get rid of a few.”

Also in the Sanderson Farms field this week are several other competitors with strong Colorado ties: Jim Knous and Wyndham Clark, who like Stadler grew up in Colorado; former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders; and former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird.
 

Earlier this month, nearly a year after City Park Golf Course in Denver closed to make way for a $40 million course redesign and construction project, its prominent design advisor paid a visit to see how things were progressing and to provide insight on the new 18-hole course which is scheduled to reopen sometime next year.

Hale Irwin teamed with City Park Golf Course architect Todd Schoeder and his Broomfield-based iCon Golf Studio in the course redesign for the site, which will integrate stormwater detention areas to help protect some of the city’s most at-risk neighborhoods from flooding — specifically those north and northwest of the course, which first opened in 1912.

“It is exciting to physically see the progress being made on the City Park Golf Course project,” Irwin said during his Oct. 5 visit, according to a Saunders Construction release. “When completed, this will not only be a place for us all to enjoy now, it will be a place we would encourage our children to come and play golf. This project is a legacy for the future.”

In his Oct. 5 trip to City Park GC, Irwin visited with Schoeder and the rest of the project team at the City of Denver project. (Irwin is pictured, second from right, in a Saunders photo.)

Irwin, a World Golf Hall of Famer who’s won three U.S. Opens and a record 45 tournaments on PGA Tour Champions, has designed — or co-designed — several courses in Colorado, including Indian Peaks Golf Course in Lafayette, the newly renamed University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch, The Club at Cordillera’s Mountain Course west of Vail and Glacier Club’s Mountain Course (with Schoeder) in Durango. Irwin graduated from Boulder High School and the University of Colorado.

Seeding at City Park Golf Course is over 75 percent complete, according to Saunders, and the city’s October update reports that mowing has begun on the east and north sides of the course. According to the city, the golf-related earthwork is “substantially complete”, while topsoil and irrigation installation is ongoing. Planting of new trees is taking place through the fall, and irrigation — via recycled water — is operational where seeding and trees are in place. The west pond and water-quality channel are complete. Construction on the new clubhouse continues.

(At left is an aerial photo — courtesy of Rocky Mountain Photography — of the project as of this earlier this month.)

The Saunders release said construction at City Park GC “remains on schedule.”

When the redesign project is complete, the site will feature the new 18-hole par-71 golf course, a full-size driving range, a dedicated four-hole course for The First Tee of Denver, a new clubhouse and maintenance facility, stormwater detention, and a reforestation program with a net gain of 500 trees.

Eva Pett of Denver tied for sixth out of 69 players on Thursday in the girls 13-14 division in Florida.

Pett shot rounds of 80-78-75 for a 17-over-par 233 total, which left her 17 strokes behind champion Thanchanok Iadpluem.

Ironically, Pett had narrowly qualified for the Optimist tournament in Florida, finishing tied for sixth last month at Meadow Hills Golf Course, where only seven players advanced. Last year as a 13-year-old, Pett finished fifth in the girls division of the Colorado Junior Amateur.

One other highlight from the Colorado perspective this week came from Rachel Penzenstadler of Centennial, who made a hole-in-one Thursday on the 141-yard 11th hole en route to a 33rd-place finish. 

The third and final phase of the Optimist International — for boys 16-18 and girls 15-18 — will be held in Florida from Sunday through Wednesday. A combined 17 Coloradans are scheduled to compete in those tournaments.

Here are the results of the Colorado golfers at the Optimist this week:

Girls 13-14 
6. Eva Pett, Denver 80-78-75–233
17. Kaylee Chen, Denver 83-82-75–240
23. Katelyn Lehigh, Loveland 85-81-78–244
30. Sofia Choi, Littleton 83-86-78–247
33. Rachel Penzenstadler, Centennial 82-81-85–248
34. Timbre Shehee, Mead 85-80-84–249
60. Amira Badruddin, Parker 94-93-98–285

Boys 14-15
23. Ryan Sangchompuphen, Denver 77-75-75–227
45. Traejean Andrews, Windsor 78-77-76–231
58. Maxwell Lange, Golden 81-76-77–234
69. Hunter Swanson, Denver 77-80-81–238
Missed 36-Hole Cut
Jack Larson, Arvada 82-83–165
Jackson Grace, Boulder 85-83–168
Trey Kirschner, Arvada 86-83–169
Mario Dino, Denver 83-87–170
Dakota Dolph, Pine 84-89–173
Langdon Bradley , Lone Tree 87-86–173
Jackson Rottschafer, Centennial 85-91–176
Matthew Wilkinson, Centennial 84-94–178
Jack McCormick, Littleton 84-94–178
Christopher Gunlikson II, Longmont 89-94–183
 

Stadler (left), winner of the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour and four events on the Web.com Tour, hasn’t competed on the PGA Tour since 2015 due to a stress fracture in his left hand. He played in the Digital Ally Open on the Web.com Tour last summer, but withdrew after one completed round.

“It’s a long, stupid story, but in the long run I ended up getting cut (having surgery) last August,” Stadler said. “I still wasn’t sure that was going to fix anything, but it took six, eight months. I was kind of able to swing January, February of this year. It really rapidly got better the last few months. I’ve been pretty much been pain-free for the last couple months.”

At the Rust-Oleum, Stadler went 71-69-71-68 for a 9-under-par 279 total, which left the 38-year-old eight strokes behind champion Chase Wright. The Kent Denver graduate made an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys in the final round. Another Colorado product, Wyndham Clark, also tied for 22nd place (73-68-67-71).

Stadler is on a major medical extension from the PGA Tour, and when he returns to that circuit, he’ll have 26 events left on that extension, needing to earn $717,890 in those events to keep his exempt status on the PGA Tour.

Stadler won the Colorado Open in 2002 and the CGA Match Play in 1999 and ’02.

CoBank Colorado Senior Open Champ Notches Top-10 on PGA Tour Champions: John Riegger parlayed his victory earlier this month in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open into a ninth-place finish on PGA Tour Champions, in the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.

Riegger, who won a PGA Tour Champions event in 2013, now owns eight top-10 showings on that circuit, but managed his first since 2016.
In Des Moines, he shot rounds of 69-67 for an 8-under-par 136 in the weather-shortened event. Tom Lehman won with a 131 total after weather washed out Sunday’s action.

Another Top-10 on Symetra Tour for Ex-Buff Lee: Former University of Colorado golfer Esther Lee finished a professional-best seventh on Sunday and notched her third top-10 since May 1 on the Symetra Tour.

Lee carded rounds of 70-69-69 and posted an 8-under-par 208 total in the Four Winds Invitational, which put her three strokes behind winner Maia Schechter in South Bend, Ind.

Since the beginning of May, Lee has finished 10th, eighth and seventh on the Symetra Tour, in addition to missing two cuts.

The people who showed up for the 2018 CGA Season Tee-Off event at Aqua Golf in Denver on Saturday proved adept at following directions.

As one CGA staffer noted when some would-be participants came up to inquire about the proceedings, “Just have fun; that’s all that we ask.”

Mission accomplished.

In the first of what very well might become an annual happening, the Season Tee-Off function drew about 150 people on Saturday, according to CGA manager of programs Matthew Walker, who helped launch the event along with Denver Golf director of marketing Leslie Wright.

Those who came on Saturday had their choice of several free activities — miniature golf at the 36-hole facility, hitting balls into the lake at the driving range and getting 10-minute lessons from PGA and LPGA professionals including Rick Timm, Susie Helmerich, Chris Hamilton and John Cassidy.

There were contests — for holes-in-one in miniature golf, chipping contests to targets in the water, and even for guessing how many tees were in a sealed jar. The stakes were pretty high for the tee-guessing game: tickets to the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor early this summer and free rounds of golf at CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course.

The day was punctuated by yells and screams and high-fives from people who made holes-in-one on one of the two miniature golf courses at Aqua Golf.

“Everyone had one (in our group) so everyone is leaving happy,” noted Moe Oro, a CGA member who brought his daughter and son and a friend of his son. “My son is always eager to get out golfing, and this was a good way to get my daughter out too and just have some fun today.”

The four-hour-long Season Tee-Off was hosted not only by the CGA, but Denver Parks & Recreation (Aqua Golf is a City of Denver facility, located across Florida Avenue from Overland Park Golf Course.) In addition, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado held a rules seminar on site that was attended by about 40 junior golfers and their parents.

“I think this is another great example of coming together with the CWGA (which integrated this year with the CGA),” said CGA executive director Ed Mate, who was among those on hand on Saturday. “This is the kind of thing they’ve been more active in — with the golf Experience events — than we have. They have a great relationship with the City of Denver. It’s another example of ‘we’re better together.’ Looking out here today, it’s really gratifying to see families (enjoying themselves) and everybody working together.”

A call from Walker to Wright asking about a possible facility to host a Season Tee-Off led the event taking shape. And with Denver Golf wanting to give Aqua Golf more exposure, it seemed like a win-win.

“I thought this would be a perfect facility because you can teach, do the putting and really get some exposure for Aqua Golf because a lot of people don’t know it’s here,” Wright said of the facility, which is just off Santa Fe Drive, but isn’t readily apparent from the road. “(Staffers) take real pride in how they maintain this facility and keep it pristine.”

Some of the people who came to the Season Tee-Off had heard about it in advance. Others just happened upon the event on Saturday. That included Stephen Dwyer, who showed up with his sister and his young kids, Anne and Beau.

“We just kind of came upon it,” Stephen said. “We didn’t know it was going on today. I used to play at Aqua Golf all the time before they redid it many years ago, but we just happened to come here today. It was great.”

Mate and former CWGA Match Play and Senior Match Play champion Laurie Steenrod, now a CGA Executive Committee member, got into the spirit of the day by competing in a friendly putting contest (below).

Given how the inaugural event came off, the Season Tee-Off might just become a fixture on the local golf schedule.

“It’s a first, but from what I can tell — the driving range is full, there are plenty of people on the miniature golf course — I think it’s something we’ll want to do every year,” Mate said.

That’s the first of five years in which Superfly Productions will hold the festival the second or third weekend of September at Overland, a course which dates back more than 120 years.

Denver City Council approved the plan by a 10-3 vote despite opposition by many in the community.

“Just in my gut, it seems like the wrong location to me,” said councilman Kevin Flynn, who voted no on the festival along with Debbie Ortega and Paul Kashmann. “Ultimately it just feels wrong to use a golf course for this.”

But there was plenty of support for the plan as well.

“The community will absolutely be better off,” said councilman Jolon Clark, whose district includes the Overland neighborhood. “The devil is in the details of these plans and that’s what I like about this contract. It doesn’t just say ‘OK, now go do it.’ It says that now you have to prove that every step of the way you understand the concerns, that you’re mitigating the concerns, that you’re rebuilding this community, that you’re engaging this community.”

It’s anticipated that the music festival will draw 30,000 to 40,000 people per day to Overland in 2018. Daily attendance is limited to 80,000, according to the contract.

Superfly will pay a fee of $200,000 to rent the course for the five-week period following Labor Day, with time included for set-up and tear-down. The city will also receive a 10 percent seat tax, with $2 per ticket going to a golf fund and $1 to a community fund. The organizers will pay $90,000 for landscaping repair work and $25,000 that goes toward discounts for Overland golfers who want to play other City of Denver courses.

Under the agreement, Superfly is required to restore all aspects of Overland to its normal condition, including the turf at the course.
 

As the meat of the golf season approaches, it’s pretty much business as usual at City Park Golf Course in Denver. But, in all likelihood, this is the last springtime in a while that that will be the case.

The course, which opened 105 years ago, is expected to close late this year and not reopen for business until sometime in 2019 — though it’s possible pending litigation could affect plans.

As part of the contentious Platte to Park Hill stormwater drainage project the city of Denver has planned, a newly redesigned 18-hole City Park Golf Course will be used in part for stormwater detention, assuming nothing derails the plans. The idea is to integrate stormwater detention areas into the course to “help protect some of the city’s most at-risk neighborhoods from flooding” — specifically those north and northwest of the site, according to the City and County of Denver website.

As part of the project, the redesigned City Park Golf Course will “temporarily hold and slow floodwaters while protecting the course from damage” during major storms. … “Outside of major storms, the area will remain a dry, fully-functioning golf course.”

Miles Graham from GBSM, which handles communications and community outreach for the city on this project, said that things will largely remain status quo for this golf season.

“Other than some exciting news about which of the teams will be doing the final design and the construction on the redesign, there’s not going to be any change or disruption this golf season,” he said. “It’s going to be business as usual.”

Ed Mate, the CGA’s executive director, grew up as a regular at City Park GC. He played his first 18-hole round of golf there, and to this day, he says he’s played more at the historic layout than anywhere else.

Asked his feelings about the changes that are planned, Mate said, “It’s bittersweet. It’s where I grew up playing. With the nostalgia and all that, obviously it’s hard to see (the existing course) go away. But you have to be realistic. There’s a way to transform public property that incorporates very-much-needed (public safety-related changes) and modernizes the course like at (CGA-owned and operated) CommonGround. It’s sad to see the old course go, but I’m glad to see it used for the greater good of the community. If it was becoming a parking lot or a high-rise, it would be a different matter, but it’s staying a golf course.”

The plan calls for a course architect and construction team to be selected to design and build a new 18-hole layout at the site, with that choice expected to be made public this summer after contract finalization. The finalists are Robert Trent Jones II, with Landscapes Unlimited; iCon Golf Studio with Hale Irwin Golf Design, with Saunders Construction; and Dye Design, with SEMA Construction. Among their Colorado work, Trent Jones designed Ute Creek Golf Course in Longmont, Icon Golf Studio the Glacier Club in Durango, and Dye Design Riverdale Dunes in Brighton.

City Park GC was originally designed by Scotsman Tom Bendelow. After public input was solicited on the matter, it’s hoped that some of the most iconic elements of the existing course and site can be incorporated into the new layout.

“City Park Golf Course is a very special place and so are the people there,” said Keith Soriano, currently a Colorado PGA assistant executive director, who served as the PGA head professional at City Park from 2009 through 2012. “Whoever they choose (for the redesign team), I hope they maintain some of the uniquesness of the course.

“Because of the confined nature (of the site), I hope they stay with small greens, with approach shots having to be placed well and on the correct side (of the pin).”

Soriano understands why some people are unhappy with the impending changes, but is glad there still will be a golf course at the site.

“Anytime you change something historical as that, that’s been there 100 years” there’s bound to be some controversy. “But that’s the cost of progress,” he said. “At least there will be a golf course there. People will have access to green space (amid) the concrete jungle, and to PGA professionals, but the look of it may change.”

Added Mate: “It’s a really good golf course as it is. It’s underappreciated. It has really fun greens that are challenging. It’s a classic Tom Bendelow course. Whatever they replace it with won’t be the same. You can’t recreate the charm.

“But I recognize the stormwater challenge, and the city needs to be proactive. I trust the engineers (and other experts). The way I look at it, if that work is needed, then it’s needed. And it could be that the course they replace it with is a fun, sporty layout.”

Integrating stormwater detention areas into golf courses isn’t unusual. Examples in the Denver metro area are CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora and Lakewood Country Club. That certainly came into play at CommonGround during the September 2013 flooding as more than 14 inches of rain fell in just six days. At one time, nearly half the course was under water, at some points 6 feet deep of it. It took nearly a month before the water drained off the course completely, and by then eight holes were damaged severely and the turf on five greens died. But the good news was that the Westerly Creek Dam that borders the course did its job — flood control — by protecting land and real estate in nearby areas of eastern Denver and northwestern Aurora.

“Sometimes the best interest is to be a true citizen in the larger picture,” Mate said. “Public safety concern has to supersede (golf course matters). As hard as it was to see CommonGround flooded in 2013, this community asset served a greater good. It kept (homes, businesses and the people that use them) from the effects of the flood. The fact that they’re keeping (City Park) as a golf course, that’s a great outcome. Times change.”

But that doesn’t mean that the old layout won’t be missed. Both Soriano and Mate specifically noted how much they like the 18th hole at City Park.

Dating back more than a century, City Park certainly has a unique history to draw upon.

Among those who have played the course are former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, outstanding all-around athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Charlie Sifford and Jonathan Kaye of PGA Tour fame, and 1952 Olympic long jump champion Jerome Biffle.

Some of those players — and many others — were attracted to City Park because it was known as a place where there was plenty of “action” — in other words, where a little cash was known to be exchanged via golf bets.

A founding member of the City Park-based East Denver Golf Club, Judge James Flanigan, helped knock down racial barriers in state golf tournaments when he was refused the right to play in the CGA Match Play Championship in 1961. The next year, the CGA changed its policies and admitted minority clubs, including the East Denver Golf Club.

Another thing that’s made City Park distinctive is the makeup of its players. To put it succinctly, the course is among the most diverse in Denver. While many of the various men’s club golfers played with their own groups at City Park, gambling eventually integrated people of different races.

“When I started playing there (in the late 1960s), the men’s clubs were pretty much segregated, but the gambling games weren’t,” Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Tom Woodard, a former PGA head professional at City Park, as well as a former director of golf for the City of Denver, said when the course celebrated its 100th anniversary. “The color of money — green — was the only thing that mattered there. I thought that was pretty amazing.

“The thing I remember most is the gambling games. Every Friday and Saturday you could find a game — but you better bring your ‘A’ game. You better be ready to play. If you were a good player from a public course, you eventually made your way to City Park.”

With the impending course redesign, the city is considering various priorities for the site, according the the city’s website. Based on community outreach sessions, those include improved/updated practice facilities, expanding/improving The First Tee of Denver program that’s based at the course, and relocating/redesigning the clubhouse, among other things.

“City Park is certainly one of the most beloved municipal courses in Denver. It’s got a ton of history,” Graham said. “The city is fully committed to making sure this redesign retains all of those great aspects of City Park and looks for opportunities to update it further.

“That eight-month collaborative process we did with the community really heavily referred back to the history of the course, making sure we retain the character of the course. But there will be opportunities to make some updates that would improve playability.”

Courses closing for more than a year, then reopening, certainly isn’t unprecedented in the Denver metro area. Just in recent years, Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville closed in the wake of the 2013 flood before being rebuilt and returning to business in 2015. And Thorncreek Golf Course in Thornton closed last fall for renovation, with officials anticipating a 2018 reopening.

For more information on the City Park Golf Course plans, CLICK HERE.

While big changes are planned for City Park GC, it’s not the only City of Denver course that’s been in the news. The city is in the running to host a three-day outdoor musical festival at Overland Park Golf Course starting in 2018, most likely in September of that year. If a deal is struck, Overland would be closed for 4-6 weeks, according to the city website. Assuming the musical festival comes to Denver, city officials say they anticipate an initial five-year contract.

Denver is one of two cities being considered to host the music festival. A decision on the matter is expected in late spring of this year.

For more information about the Overland proposal, CLICK HERE.

If ever golf is high on the radar screen of both people who play the game and those who are just casual sports fans, it’s this time of year. The Masters, which concluded on Sunday, draws the highest TV ratings of the year for golf tournaments. And golfers tend to crank up their games in the early spring.

Which brings us back to Colorado Golf Alliance Day at the Capitol in Denver. This year’s event, scheduled for Wednesday morning (April 12), marks the second year for the gathering, which is designed to let those in the Colorado golf industry make state lawmakers aware of — or reinforce — the many benefits of the game.

“It worked out well when we had it last year in April,” said Jennifer Cassell, who for the last two years has served as a lobbyist for the five organizations that make up the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado (the CGA, CWGA, Colorado PGA, the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Mile High Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America). “There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm (immediately) after the Masters, so there was a lot of interest.”

Events like the one planned for Wednesday at the Colorado state capitol are becoming more and more prevalent. National Golf Day will be held on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., for the 10th time on April 26, led by the “We Are Golf” coalition of top golf organizations. And some state groups organize gatherings similar to the one in Colorado. Other interest groups do the same thing.

“The main objective is visibility,” CGA executive director Ed Mate said in a recent email, “and sharing the word that golf (among other things):
 
1. is an important part of the state’s economy;
2. protects open space and wildlife habitats;
3. uses water in a prudent way;
4. provides a forum for social interaction for a lifetime;
5. keeps people active for life and;
6. can serve as a tool for youth development and rehabilitation.”

Cassell said that last year’s event at the state capitol drew almost 20 legislators, who talked with the representatives of the golf organizations and gathered information. Of particular interest were water use and environmental stewardship. Some lawmakers tried their hands on a small putting green that was set up, or examined tools of the trade used by course superintendents.

“Some stay five or 10 minutes, some longer,” Cassell said. “We’ve also invited and encouraged the governor and lieutenant governor and staffs to come. Obviously, every year we want to get more (lawmakers) there, and I think there will be.”

The golf representatives will have breakfast and network for 90 minutes, then will be introduced on the floor of the state house shortly after 9 a.m.

“Each legislator has a different opinion (about golf),” Cassell said. “I think (lawmakers) have a good understanding of the impact golf has in our state.”

An independent study, commissioned by the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado, found that the Colorado golf industry contributed more than $560 million in direct revenue to the state’s economy in 2002. Including indirect economic activity, the total impact in Colorado was $1.2 billion.

Nationally, according to We Are Golf, golf contributes $68.8 billion to the American economy.

But beyond that, when golf industry leaders build relationships with lawmakers and give them their perspective on various issues, it can pay dividends down the road. That can be especially crucial when proposals related to water use, pesticide application, or other matters especially integral to golf come up in a legislative session.

“One of the goals is to get better engaged and build better relationships with legislators,” Cassell noted.
 

A Denver native and a former member at Denver Country Club and Hiwan Golf Club, Sweeney once dominated the senior amateur competition at the Colorado Open. When the tournament was held at Hiwan, Sweeney claimed seven senior amateur titles from 1983 to ’91.

Sweeney also teamed with now-Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Larry Eaton to win two of the first three CGA Senior Four-Ball championships — in 1983 and ’84.

In addition, Sweeney was a member of the inaugural senior amateur team for the Colorado Cup Matches in 1983, when the senior ams defeated their professional counterparts.

Sweeney was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1933 and graduated from Regis University. He helped run the advertising agency Fox, Sweeney & True in Denver.

A burial mass for Sweeney will be held Thursday (April 6) at 10 a.m. at Risen Christ Catholic Church (3060 S. Monaco Parkway in Denver), with a reception immediately following at the same site.

Memorial donations can be made to Porter Hospice Foundation, 2525 S. Downing Street; Mason Hall — 2nd Floor; Denver, CO 80210. For online donations, CLICK HERE.

For more information on Sweeney’s life, CLICK HERE.
 

The former University of Denver golfer opened a first-stage tournament with a 12-under-par 59 Tuesday at SunRiver Golf Club in St. George, Utah.

Breaking 60 in big-time golf tournaments is a rarity, though Jim Furyk’s 58 on the PGA Tour and Stephen Jaegar’s 58 on the Web.com circuit — both this year — have taken things to another level.

On Tuesday, Love fired a 7-under-par 28 on the front nine and a 31 on the back, racking up 12 birdies in a bogey-free round. After round 1 of the 72-hole event, he leads by four strokes. The top 24 finishers and ties will advance to stage 2 of the three-stage Web.com Q-school process.

Love, a native of Canada, played PGA Tour Canada this past summer, posting a best finish of third place.

Riley Arp of Fort Collins also started strong in St. George, shooting a 66 to leave him in 10th place.

Here are the scores for all the players with strong Colorado ties who are competing this week in first-stage tournaments:

St. George, Utah (Top 25 Finishers and Ties Advance to Stage 2)
1. James Love of Denver 59
10. Riley Arp of Fort Collins 66
40. Bryan Kruse of Westminster 70
67. Former Coloradan Tom Kalinowski 73

Pine Mountain, Ga. (Top 25 Finishers and Ties Advance to Stage 2)
35. Jamie Marshall of Lone Tree 73