Though there have certainly been significant golf tournaments already held in Colorado in 2013 — including many involving girls high school golfers — the ball really gets rolling in the coming few weeks.

The CJGA tournament season begins this weekend (April 27-28) in Pueblo and the CGA championship campaign starts with the Four-Ball and Senior Four-Ball next weekend (May 3-5).

But by far the most notable tournaments in Colorado over the next few weeks are the three Local Qualifying stops for the U.S. Open. “Locals” are the first of two qualifying stages for the second major championship of the year. After the top Local finishers advance to Sectionals, the best performers at 13 36-hole Sectional tournaments earn spots in the Open itself, which is set for June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

The application process for the U.S. Open closed on Wednesday (April 24) and the USGA announced on Thursday that it received a record 9,860 entrants. Most will compete at one of 111 Local Qualifying sites in the U.S. between May 3 and 16.

A total of 228 entrants are scheduled to tee it up at one of the three Colorado-based Local qualifiers: May 6 at the West Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (60 players), and May 13 at the Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster (84) and Collindale in Fort Collins (84). Collindale has hosted U.S. Open Local Qualifying for more than a decade, according to the USGA.

The fields in Colorado include numerous former U.S. Open contestants, HealthOne Colorado Open champions, and former PGA and Web.com Tour regulars.

For instance, at the Broadmoor on May 6, two Coloradans who competed in consecutive U.S. Opens (2002 and 2003) as 16-year-olds, Derek Tolan (pictured) and Tom Glissmeyer, are in the field. Tolan has won two of the last four Colorado Opens. Also playing at the same site will be 2011 U.S. Open qualifier Steve Irwin, and former Web.com Tour players James Love and Dustin White, winner of the 2006 Colorado Open.

At Collindale, former PGA Tour player Leif Olson is scheduled to play, along with Jason Preeo, who made the cut in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and Wyndham Clark, who won the 2010 CGA Stroke Play Championship as a 16-year-old.

At the Heritage at Westmoor, the field includes 2011 Colorado Open champion Ben Portie, who played in the 2002 U.S. Open along with Tolan. Also planning to compete are former Asian Tour event champion Kane Webber and Rob Hunt, winner of two of the last four Colorado PGA Professional Championships.
 

During the next two weeks, 14 “first stage” tournaments will be held around the country, and dreams of plenty of Coloradans — as well as many other top-level golfers — will be on the line.

While PGA Tour cards won’t be handed out until the third and final stage — Nov. 28-Dec. 3 in La Quinta, Calif. — many competitors will lose out on that opportunity by the end of this month.

And the stakes are only compounded by the fact that this will be the final Q-school in which PGA Tour cards will be awarded. Starting next year, the final reward in the qualifying process will be spots on the Web.com Tour.

But even with the PGA Tour door still ajar for Q-school competitors this year, the odds are still heavily stacked against most of the players. After pre-qualifying weeded out many golfers, the first stage will be where most players enter — and exit — the process.

Though the number of golfers who will advance to next month’s second stage hasn’t yet been announced, typically about one out of four Stage I players advance. Then those who do move on will have to survive the second stage to get to the finals, where the top 25 finishers and ties will earn 2013 PGA Tour cards and the other competitors will gain some Web.com Tour status.

PGATour.com hasn’t yet revealed the fields for next week’s first-stage tournaments, but the players who will compete this week (Tuesday through Friday) are set.

A total of 15 golfers with strong Colorado ties will play at one of the six sites being utilized this week. Included are the last three CGA Players of the Year — Zahkai Brown, Gunner Wiebe (pictured) and Steve Ziegler — along with current Web.com Tour player James Love, a former University of Denver golfer.

Also scheduled to compete is 2006 HealthOne Colorado Open champion Dustin White of Pueblo West and Colorado Springs’ Tom Glissmeyer, who qualified for the U.S. Open as a 16-year-old in 2003.

Here are all the local competitors and where they’ll be playing in this week’s first-stage tournaments:

Oct. 16-19 in Lantana, Texas — Nick Hodge of Littleton, James Love of Denver, former CSU golfer Dustin Morris, former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz.

Oct. 16-19 in Dayton, Nev. — Former CU golfer Justin Bardgett, Jeff Franks of Highlands Ranch, Darrin Hall of Lakewood, Dustin White of Pueblo West, Gunner Wiebe of Aurora, Steve Ziegler of Westminster.

Oct. 16-19 in Palm Desert, Calif. — Zahkai Brown of Arvada, Tom Glissmeyer of Colorado Springs.

Oct. 16-19 in Madison, Miss. — Former Durango resident Tom Kalinowski, Nick Mason of Denver, Blake Moore of Denver.

Meanwhile, Champions Tour qualifying starts this week. Two regional tournaments are set for this week — Murrieta, Calif., and ChampionsGate, Fla. — and one Oct. 30-Nov. 2 in Montgomery, Texas.

Those who advance will gain berths in the Champions Tour Q-school finals Nov. 13-16 in Coral Springs, Fla.

Among the local players entered in regionals are PGA professional Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale and former Castle Rock resident Esteban Toledo.