Following up from earlier this week, when we started our two-part retrospective on the top Colorado golf-related stories of 2018 (CLICK HERE for the first installment), we continue our countdown with the top dozen stories of the year — in reverse order. And at the end, included is a list of honorable-mention selections.

12. Stewart Signs With No. 1-Ranked College Team in Nation: It’s not often that a Colorado golfer signs a national letter of intent with the No. 1-ranked college program in the nation. But such was the case in November when Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins put his John Hancock on the dotted line with Oklahoma State. Stewart, who graduated from Fossil Ridge High School this month, will be headed to Stillwater for the fall semester next year. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Boys Player of the Year is one of at least nine Colorado residents or JGAC members from the Class of 2019 who are headed to NCAA Division I golf programs. READ MORE

11. Another National Honor for Colorado PGA: Dating back to the late 1950s, members of the Colorado PGA or the Section itself have won 19 national awards from the PGA of America. Ten of those 19 have come since 2007, including this year’s Herb Graffis Award for player development, which the CPGA received for the second time since 2011. READ MORE

10. New CGA President Janene Guzowski Continues Trend in Colorado: The last several months of this year have proven to be a major boon for women in leadership roles in Colorado golf. Janene Guzowski is the new president of the CGA, Janet Moore is the new president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and Molly Greenblatt has become the new chairperson of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. And that’s in addition to Suzy Whaley being elected the first national president of the PGA of America. READ MORE

9. Colorado, Hiwan Shine as Girls Junior Americas Cup Hosts: The Girls Junior Americas Cup — a team competition featuring players from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico — is hosted just once every 18 years by Colorado, and 2018 was the Centennial State’s turn. Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, where the Colorado Open was held from 1964 to ’91, was a fitting mountainous setting for the event. While Mexico swept the team and individual titles, Colorado posted its best finish since 2013 by placing fifth out of 18 teams. Staff and volunteers from the CGA and the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado played major roles in running this major junior event. READ MORE

8. Colorado Sweeps Team, Individual Titles at Boys Junior America’s Cup: At the same time the Girls Junior Amerias Cup was taking place at Hiwan, a Colorado team (left) was making history at the boys Junior America’s Cup in Montana. For the first time in the 44 years in which Colorado has competed in the event, its squad claimed the team title. In fact, a Colorado team had never finished better than third before this year in the competition that includes players from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico. To add to the feat, Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins won the individual title out of the 72-player field. Joining Stewart on the winning team were Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch, Davis Bryant of Aurora and Walker Franklin of Broomfield. Former longtime CGA staffer Dustin Jensen captained the Colorado squad. READ MORE

7. 2 Coloradans Qualify for PGA Tour, 2 More for LPGA Tour: Seldom have players who grew up in Colorado enjoyed so much success in qualifying for the top men’s and women’s golf tours in the world as they did in the final half of 2018. Wyndham Clark and Jim Knous earned promotions to the PGA Tour with their performances on the Web.com Tour regular season and Finals, respectively. And Jennifer Kupcho and Becca Huffer landed spots on the LPGA Tour in 2019 by both finishing in the top 10 in the eight-round LPGA Q-Series, with Kupcho placing second and Huffer 10th. All four Coloradans will be rookies on those top circuits in 2019. In fact, the PGA Tour’s wraparound season began in October, and Knous recorded a top-10 finish in his first event as a member of that Tour. Joining Kupcho and Huffer in earning an LPGA card last month was former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi.

6. Gearing Up for Rules Changes: With the modernized Rules of Golf set to take effect on Jan. 1, the USGA and its affiliated Allied Golf Associations have been very busy trying to bring members up to speed on the changes. For the CGA, that effort has included weekly “Ready for the 2019 Rules” videos and four-hour Ready for the Rules seminars held at various locations around the state late in 2018 and also planned for the first several months of 2019. READ MORE

5. Year 1 of New-Look CGA: Our No. 1 story of 2017 in Colorado golf was the unification a year ago of the CGA and CWGA after both associations had celebrated their 100th anniversaries as separate — but complementary — organizations serving golf in Colorado. With 2018 being their first full calendar year together, things have gone, by just about any measure, extremely well. All of which is very good news, considering how many golfers the new-look CGA serves as members. There’s still work to be done, but it’s certainly been a stellar first year together.

4. CSU Golfers Claim USGA National Title: Golfers with strong Colorado ties don’t often get to say they’re reigning USGA national champions, but Colorado State University golfers Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor (left) earned that honor by winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title in early May in Tarzana, Calif. The two never trailed in the first four matches they played at El Caballero Country Club. In the title match, they were 2 down with four holes left, but a big-time rally down the stretch netted them a 1-up victory over teenagers Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei and Lei Ye of China — and the national championship. The victory was believed to be the first USGA national amateur championship by a person or team with strong Colorado ties since Jill McGill won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. READ MORE

3. Vickers Passes Away: There are almost 12 dozen people in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, but even in that select group, there are some that took it to the next level. A good rule of thumb as to who those people are is if they’ve also been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. There are less than a dozen people who are members of both Halls of Fame. One of them passed away in September — 93-year-old Jack Vickers. Vickers made his mark in a variety of sports, but likely will be most remembered as the founder of Castle Pines Golf Club and The International that hosted PGA Tour events for 21 years. No less than Jack Nicklaus, who designed Castle Pines, paid tribute to Vickers the day he died. Vickers’ International ran from 1986 through 2006. It featured a unique modified Stableford scoring system, which promoted aggressive play as a birdie and a bogey were worth more than two pars. The tournament produced quite a few big-name champions, including Greg Norman, Davis Love III (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Vijay Singh and Ernie Els. READ MORE

2. Kupcho Phenomenon Continues: Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster may very well accomplish great things in the coming decades, but even long into the future, 2018 will be a year she’ll remember fondly. Here’s a brief rundown of what she accomplished: The Wake Forest golfer won an NCAA Division I individual title a year (left) after placing second. She became the first Colorado resident to win the prestigious individual championship on the women’s side. She helped three U.S. national teams capture international team titles in 2018 — at the Curtis Cup, the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. In the latter event, Kupcho finished second individually out of a field of 170. She also placed second at the eight-round final stage of LPGA Q-school. After concluding her college career in May, she’ll immediately begin her LPGA career. Kupcho finished an LPGA career-best 16th this year in the LPGA Marathon Classic. Overall in 2018, she won three individual college titles. Kupcho also claimed the prestigious Mark H. McCormack Medal, becoming the first American to win the women’s McCormack honor as the top female player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings as of the conclusion of the U.S. Women’s Amateur. And she was named the world female Amateur of the Year by digital new magazine Global Golf Post. READ MORE

1. U.S. Senior Open a Hit at The Broadmoor: It had been almost four years since Colorado had hosted a big-time tour-level event — the kind that attracts 100,000-plus fans. But the drought ended this year when the U.S. Senior Open (pictured at top) was conducted at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. And the results didn’t disappoint. The announced attendance for the week was 134,500, the most for the Senior Open since the 157,126 in Omaha, Neb., in 2013. David Toms, who won the 1999 Sprint International at Castle Pines but hadn’t captured a title on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions in seven years, captured the victory at the Senior Open by one stroke. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe placed fifth, marking his second straight top-5 performance in the U.S. Senior Open. Shortly after the conclusion of the championship, the USGA announced that the U.S. Senior Open will return to The Broadmoor in 2025.

Honorable Mention

— Lauren Howe, who grew up in Colorado, was a finalist in the U.S. Girls’ Junior as a 15-year-old and went on to win an event on the LPGA Tour, was voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

— Patrick Reidy became the fifth 50-something player in the last six years to win the Colorado PGA Professional Championship.

— Players from Texas swept the two CGA women’s major titles in 2018, giving Texans three consecutive such championships. Emily Gilbreth, a lifetime Houstonian before moving to Denver, won the 2017 CGA Women’s Match Play; Kristin Glesne of San Antonio the 2018 CGA Women’s Stroke Play; and Kennedy Swann the 2018 CGA Women’s Match Play.

— Former BYU golfer Justin Keiley won his second straight Rocky Mountain Open, defeating former Montrose resident Brandon Bingaman in a playoff after the latter shot a course-record 11-under-par 60 in the final round at Tiara Rado in Grand Junction.

— Three Colorado courses — Castle Pines, Ballyneal and Cherry Hills — are ranked among the 150 Greatest International Courses, according to Golf Digest.

— Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs finished sixth — tying the best showing ever by a Coloradan — in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta. At the 2019 National Finals, three Coloradans will compete — Caitlyn Chin of Greenwood Village, Chunya Boonta of Centennial and Grady Ortiz of Colorado.

— The University of Denver women’s golf team saw its remarkable string of league tournament championships end at 14, though the Pioneers’ Sophie Newlove claimed the individual title at Summit League Championship.

— CU’s Robyn Choi qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Open for a second straight year. Choi later earned her LPGA Tour card at the final stage of Q-school.

— Former Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, who won the CGA Amateur in August, claimed the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational championship for the second straight year for his second individual college title in eight days.

— Doug Rohrbaugh, who was paired with Scott McCarron and Miguel Angel Jimenez at the Senior PGA Championship, became the first golfer to sweep the Colorado PGA Player of Year and Senior Player of Year honors in the same season. Like Rohrbaugh, Colorado PGA professional Chris Johnson qualified for two PGA Tour Champions majors in 2018 — the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship.

— Nicholas Pevny of Aspen captured a national title, prevailing in the boys 12-13 age division of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida.

— Former Parker resident Elizabeth Wang finished 34th — fourth among amateurs — at the U.S. Women’s Open. Wang also made it to the round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and to the round of 32 at the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Wang, now playing for Harvard, defeated Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster in 19 holes in the round of 64 at the U.S. Women’s Am.

— Fort Collins resident Dillon Stewart became to first Coloradan to win the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior boys title. Later, he captured a second AJGA championship, this time in Montana, and won 5A state high school individual and team titles.

— New Colorado resident Dan Erickson shot a 9-under-par 61 — a course record by two strokes at Fort Collins Country Club — en route to qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, where he made match play but bowed out in the round of 64 at Pebble Beach.

— Hadley Ashton of Erie finished fifth in the girls 9-10 division at the prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Championships.

— Thirty-two years after winning her first CGA/CWGA title, Kristine Franklin earned her second, this time overcoming five-time champion Kim Eaton in the Women’s Senior Stroke Play.

— Greg Condon of the southern Colorado town of Monte Vista shared stroke-play medalist honors in the U.S. Senior Amateur, while Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction advanced to the match play round of 16.

(Note: This story was updated on Jan. 2)

The fall portion of the college golf season wrapped up last week for the Division I programs based in Colorado.

There were plenty of highlights for teams and players with major connections to the Centennial State and, probably not coincidentally, many of those superlatives took place in tournaments held in Colorado.

As we enter intermission for a 2018-19 season that won’t resume in earnest until February in most cases — or late January at least — we’ll revisit some of the top local moments from the fall Division I schedule:

— The University of Colorado men’s squad claimed two team titles in September — at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy, and at their own Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in Erie.

— Not to be outdone, the Colorado State University men also won twice team-wise in the fall. The Rams claimed their fifth straight title as they hosted the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, then prevailed in winter-like conditions at the Paintbrush Invitational in Parker.

— On the women’s side, CSU accomplished a momentous feat by earning a team victory at a major invitational for the first time in over eight years. It came at the University of Denver’s Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch, the Rams’ third tournament under new head coach Laura Cilek.

— At that same event, CSU junior Ellen Secor claimed the first individual victory of her college career. Secor subsequently was named the Mountain West Conference’s Women’s Golfer of the Month for October. And notably, one of the two players who tied for second in Highlands Ranch, a stroke behind Secor, was CSU’s Katrina Prendergast, Secor’s teammate when the two won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball national championship in May. (The two are pictured, with Secor at left.)

— Kyler Dunkle, who grew up in Colorado and won the CGA Amateur in August, had a stellar fall individually as a senior at Utah. Dunkle won the individual title at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational for the second straight year. And this time, it was his second college win in eight days. Dunkle finished the fall with three top-four finishes.

— Also at CU’s Simpson Invitational, Buffs sophomore Trevor Olkowski technically tied for the individual title — and it will go down as a victory — though Dunkle beat him in a playoff by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. (Below, Olkowski is pictured with Dunkle, in the red shirt.)

— Junior Daniel O’Loughlin, a CU teammate of Olkowski, recorded an outright individual victory at the season opener at the Air Force Academy. O’Loughlin notched four top-10 finishes in five fall tournaments.

— One of the more remarkable performances of the fall was by CSU freshman Oscar Teiffel, from Sweden. In a final round of the Paintbrush Invitational in which temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and it was snowing more than a little, Teiffel carded a stellar 5-under-par 67 at Colorado Golf Club. The three-stroke victory was the first for Teiffel in his young college career.

Add up all of the above, and local schools recorded five team victories in the fall, and local players posted six individual wins — or, in Olkowski’s case, a tie for first.

— Junior Robyn Choi, the top player for the CU women, didn’t manage an individual victory in the fall, but certainly made a few runs at it. In all, she had three top-six finishes in three fall tournaments. And, perhaps most impressively, she earned her LPGA card for 2019 by finishing 45th in the final stage of Q-school, the Q-Series.

— Coby Welch, a junior at the University of Northern Colorado who went to the U.S. Amateur in August, had a strong fall, notching three top-five individual finishes — all coming in Colorado. He was third at both the Gene Miranda and Ram Masters, and fifth at the Paintbrush Invite.

— Freshmen had the top two stroke averages for CSU in the fall: Teiffel (70.77) and Aurora resident Davis Bryant (72.13).

— Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, a junior at the University of Denver, shot a program-record 8-under-par 64 to close out the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott. The stellar final round gave Weinstein her best individual finish — third place — since transferring from Regis to DU in the summer of 2017.

— Luke Trujillo, a freshman from Colorado Springs, leads the Air Force Academy golf team in stroke average after the fall season with a 74.4 norm.

— Beah Cruz, a sophomore from Vacaville, Calif., recorded two top-10 individual finishes for the University of Northern Colorado women in the fall — a sixth and a ninth.

— Meanwhile, in a matter not directly related to performance, this season a DU women’s player is carrying a golf bag at each tournament that honors Danny Dietz, a Navy Seal and former Littleton resident who was killed in combat in 2005 during the war in Afghanistan. Coach Lindsay Kuhle went to Heritage High School with Dietz, knows his family, and came up with the idea to pay tribute to Dietz through the Folds of Honor Foundation program. Dietz’s story was part of the book and movie “Lone Survivor”.

Below are the rankings for the Colorado-based NCAA Division I teams as of the end of the fall season (updated Nov. 14):

Men
Colorado State ( 47th Golfstat, 51st Golfweek)
Colorado (73rd Golfstat, 81st Golfweek)
Northern Colorado (118th Golfstat, 122nd Golfweek)
Denver (137th Golfstat, 149th Golfweek)
Air Force Academy (203rd Golfstat, 204th Golfweek)

Women
Colorado (36th Golfweek, 42nd Golfstat)
Colorado State (69th Golfstat, 74th Golfweek)
Denver (79th Golfweek, 81st Golfstat)
Northern Colorado (149th Golfstat, 150th Golfweek)

And here are the rankings of local players in the top 250 in the nation:

Men
91. Longtime Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah (Golfweek)
110. Daniel O’Loughlin, CU (Golfstat)
118. Oscar Teiffel, CSU (Golfweek)
120. Coby Welch, UNC (Golfstat)
189. Davis Bryant, CSU (Golfweek)
238. Trevor Olkowski, CU (Golfstat)

Women
11. Robyn Choi, CU (Golfstat)
57. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest (Golfweek)
72. Kirsty Hodgkins, CU (Golfweek)
87. Mary Weinstein, DU (Golfweek)
97. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang, Harvard (Golfweek)
192. Katrina Prendergast, CSU (Golfstat)
 

After not scoring a major team victory in a tournament since March 2010, the Rams ended the drought on Sunday on Colorado soil.

With three consecutive under-par rounds, CSU (left in a team photo) prevailed by 11 strokes at the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate at the newly-renamed University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch, which was formerly known as Highlands Ranch Golf Club.

And to add to the accomplishment, CSU junior Ellen Secor claimed the individual title, her first as a college golfer.

In fact, CSU put three players in the top five individually, with senior Katrina Prendergast (second) and freshman Saga Traustadottir (fifth) joining Secor on the leaderboard. Of course, Secor and Prendergast teamed up to win the national U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title in May.

The Rams shot their second straight round of 1-under-par 287 to finish at 4-under 860, 11 better then the University of Mississippi. The host University of Denver, the 2017 champion, placed ninth in the 16-team field at 900, while the University of Northern Colorado was 12th at 904. UNC’s Beah Cruz also placed in the top-10 individually by tying for ninth at 218. Sophie Newlove led Denver by finishing 16th at 220.

Secor fired a 1-under-par 71 on Sunday for a total of 3-under 213, good for a one-stroke victory over Prendergast and Ole Miss’ Conner Beth Ball, the latter closing with a 66. Secor played her back nine in 3-under 33 on Sunday.

Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate
Oct. 5-7, 2018 (final) at University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch

1. Colorado State 286-287-287–860
1. Ellen Secor 72-70-71–213
2. Katrina Prendergast 72-72-70–214
5. Saga Traustadottir 70-73-73–216
30. Jessica Sloot 76-72-76–224
42. Haley Greb 72-82-73–227
Competing Only as Individual
44. Sydney Smith 78-74-76–228

9. Denver 300-293-307–900
16. Sophie Newlove 72-76-72–220
24. Mary Weinstein 76-73-74–223
44. Alison Armstrong 73-75-80–228
64. Alyson Bean 79-69-83–231
85. Maggie Cowart 80-82-81–243
Competing Only as Individuals
30. Camile Enright 73-75-76–224
50. Trussy Li 74-74-81–229
72. Anni Heck 77-82-73–233

12. Northern Colorado 304-303-297–904
9. Beah Cruz 74-71-73–218
44. Marisa Hisaki 75-79-74–228
50. Morgan Sahm 77-79-73–229
69. Nicole Polivchak 78-74-80–232
88. Jenna Chun 82-86-77–245
Competing Only as Individual
72. Hanna Atkins 78-77-78–233

Also
13. Coloradan Erin Sargent, Wyoming 71-78-70–219
42. Coloradan Sarah Hankins, Wyoming 74-76-77–227

For all the scores from the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate, CLICK HERE.
 

The Rams shot their second straight sub-par score — a 1-under-par 287 on Saturday — and sits at 3-under 573 overall.

Next best in the 16-team field are UC Davis at 582 and Kansas at 592. The defending champion — and host — University of Denver shares fourth place at 593, while Northern Colorado is 11th at 607.

CSU’s Ellen Secor (pictured) shares the individual lead with Samantha Hutchison of UC Davis at 2-under-par 142. Secor made five birdies in a round of 70 on Saturday.

CSU’s Saga Traustadottir (143) sits in third place and fellow Ram Katrina Prendergast (144) in fourth.

Also in the top 10 from local schools is UNC’s Beah Cruz (fifth at 145).

Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate
Oct. 5-7, 2018 at University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch

1. Colorado State 286-287–573
T1. Ellen Secor 72-70–142
3. Saga Traustadottir 70-73–143
4. Katrina Prendergast 72-72–144
14. Jessica Sloot 76-72–146
54. Haley Greb 72-82–154
Competing Only as Individual
41. Sydney Smith 78-74–152

4. Denver 300-293–593
14. Sophie Newlove 72-76–148
14. Alison Armstrong 73-75–148
14. Alyson Bean 79-69–148
24. Mary Weinstein 76-73–149
84. Maggie Cowart 80-82–162
Competing Only as Individuals
14. Camile Enright 73-75–148
14. Trussy Li 74-74–148
80. Anni Heck 77-82–159

11. Northern Colorado 304-303–607
5. Beah Cruz 74-71–145
41. Nicole Polivchak 78-74–152
54. Marisa Hisaki 75-79–154
67. Morgan Sahm 77-79–156
89. Jenna Chun 82-86–168
Competing Only as Individual
61. Hanna Atkins 78-77–155

Also
24. Coloradan Erin Sargent, Wyoming 71-78–149
31. Coloradan Sarah Hankins, Wyoming 74-76–150

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

It’s been an eventful last several months for the Colorado State University women’s golf team.

In May, CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor won the national title at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. In July, the Rams hired a new head coach, Laura Cilek. Last week, Prendergast led after the first two rounds of the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open and ended up finishing second while competing against a field comprised mainly of pros. And on Wednesday, for the third consecutive year in Colorado, a pair of CSU teammates earned medalist honors in the Colorado-based qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball.

And for the record, the college season hasn’t even begun.

CSU junior Jessica Sloot, from Fruit Heights, Utah, and sophomore teammate Haley Greb, from Pendleton, Ore., fired a 5-under-par 66 best-ball in Wednesday’s qualifying tournament at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Lakewood. That earned them the one available berth — out of an 11-team field — in the national Women’s Four-Ball, which will be played April 27-May 1 at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. (The qualifiers are pictured, with Sloot at left.)

The last two years in the Colorado-based qualifying tournament, Prendergast and Secor were the medalists. And, as noted, they went on to win the national title in May, which makes them exempt from qualifying for the 2019 championship.

“Knowing that they won this event last year kind of drives us a little bit because we’re so competitive,” said Sloot, who will be going to her fifth USGA championship (second Four-Ball to go with three U.S. Girls’ Juniors). “We want to be there and able to push them a little harder and try to give them some competition at the national level.”

Said Greb, a former 5A state high school champion in Oregon: “We compete all the time in practice with those two. You could maybe call us the underdog, but in our minds we’re not. It’ll be fun. Hopefully we get there and maybe even see them in the championship (match). That would be pretty cool.”

Another set of college teammates — the University of Denver’s Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch and Annie Heck from Eagan, Minn. (together at left) — finished a stroke behind the two Rams, at 67. It’ll be the second time Weinstein has been first alternate in a Colorado qualifying tournament for this event, as she also was in that role in 2015 with Jaclyn Murray. The first alternates from Colorado last year — Hailey Schalk and Charlotte Hillary — ended up landing a spot in the national championship in May.

Sloot and Greb shot a best-ball score of even-par 35 on the front nine on Wednesday, but kicked it into gear with an eagle by Greb on the 455-yard, par-5 10th hole. There, she hit a 4-iron from the rough to 8 feet and sank the putt.

“I’ve probably never hit that good of a 4-iron in my life before,” said Greb, who will be going to her first USGA national championship. “That helped our momentum going into the back nine because we only shot even on the front. We needed to get after the back and that definitely helped us get going. It led to a strong finish.”

Indeed, the CSU teammates shot a 5-under-par 31 on the back nine despite both bogeying the last hole after each driving a ball into the left hazard.

“I always thought, ‘We’re not playing well right now, but it’s going to turn around. We’re going to get after it,'” Greb said. “Once we had something happen. it seems so much easier after that.”

In addition to the eagle, they made four best-ball birdies, with Sloot sinking putts of 55 feet on No. 14 and of 45 feet on No. 17. Both putts hit the back of the cup, popped up in the air and fell in, meaning both would have rolled well past had they not gone in.

“After nine I said to (Greb), ‘We’ve got to go low on this back nine.’ And we did just that,” said Sloot (left), who previously played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Secor in 2016. “Us teammates, we’ve learned to ham and egg it really well. We play together all the time at practice, so playing with a teammate in this event helps out for sure.”
 

U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying
At Par-71 Fox Hollow GC in Lakewood
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Haley Greb, Pendleton, Utah/Jessica Sloot, Fruit Heights, Utah 35-31–66
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Mary Weinstein, Highlands Ranch/Anni Heck, Eagan, Minn. 32-35–67
Paris Hilinski, La Quinta, Calif./Allyn Stephens, Houston 34-34–68

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

The last two years the event was held in Colorado, Colorado State University teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor earned the only national qualifying spot available, though the first alternates last year ended up getting into the national championship.

After being qualifying medalists a year ago at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, Prendergast and Secor went on to win the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball title in May (READ MORE), meaning they’re exempt from qualifying for the 2019 championship. That event is set for April 27-May 1 at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. (Prendergast and Secor are pictured with the trophy in a USGA photo.)

So when qualifying for the championship is held Wednesday (Sept. 5) at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Lakewood, a new medalist is guaranteed after two years of domination by Prendergast and Secor.

Eleven two-person teams will compete best-ball at Fox Hollow for one spot in the national championship.

Among those scheduled to play on Wednesday are Coloradans Hailey Schalk and Charlotte Hillary, two of the top girls players in the state, who made it to the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball in May after having been the first alternates in qualifying. The two ended up advancing to match play in the national event, losing 1 down in the round of 32.

Also in the field at Fox Hollow are two sister teams — Lauren and Katelyn Lehigh and Caroline and Marie Jordaan — along with two sets for college teammates (Mary Weinstein and Anni Heck from the University of Denver and Haley Greb and Jessica Sloot from CSU).

For Wednesday’s pairings, CLICK HERE.
 

The event, which runs Wednesday through Friday, featurures a $150,000 purse, with $50,000 going to the champion — or the low pro should an amateur win.

Schubert, a former University of Texas golfer from Oak Ridge, Tenn., competed in the U.S. Women’s Open this year and finished 20th out of 339 players last week in Stage I of LPGA Tour Q-school, earning a spot in Stage II. Also this month, Schubert made her pro debut as she missed the cut in the LPGA Tour’s Indy Women in Tech Championship.

Also scheduled to play at GVR are Colorado State University golfers Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor, who teamed up to win the national U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title in May.

Likewise planning to tee it up for the Women’s Open are former University of Colorado golfers Brittany Fan (who just advanced to Stage II of LPGA Q-school) and Esther Lee; 2016 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch, who is in her rookie year as a pro; Gabrielle Schipley, who won the 2016 Women’s NCAA Division II individual title at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora; and 16-year-old pro Karah Sanford, a native of Montrose.

The Colorado Women’s Open is a multi-day pro-am in addition to an individual championship. Admission and parking for the tournament are free.

For Wednesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
 

Cilek comes to CSU after three seasons at the University of Oregon, including the last year as an associate head coach. Assisting then-head coach Ria Scott, Cilek helped guide the Ducks to two appearances in the NCAA Championship Finals (2016 and ’17). Scott has since left Oregon to take the head coaching job at the University of Virginia.

Before going to Oregon, Cilek was also an assistant for two years at Middle Tennessee State after two years on the staff at the University of Iowa, where she played her college golf and was a three-time team captain.

As a player, Cilek won the Iowa Women’s Match Play Championship and the Women’s Iowa City Amateur.

 “Laura Cilek is one of the brightest young coaches in the country,” Scott said. “She has prepared herself to be a head coach through her involvement in every part of the program at Oregon. Colorado State knows that it is getting a quality person who cares deeply about her student-athletes and will be committed to their success.”

CSU’s returning roster includes Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor, who teamed up to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball national title in May. The Rams placed third in the Mountain West Conference this past season.

(Updated July 20) Meanwhile, at Tulsa, Young named former CSU golfer Parker Edens of Greeley as an assistant coach for the women’s program.
 

The Westminster resident already has a leg up on the field in many respects, given that she’s No. 3 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings, has qualified for the last two Women’s Opens, and finished 21st overall (second among amateurs) in the championship last summer. It was the best U.S. Women’s Open showing by a golfer who grew up in Colorado since Cherry Creek High School graduate Jill McGill ended up 12th in 2002. 

But in addition to all that, there’s this: Kupcho is by no means a stranger to The Ranch Country Club, which will host the 36-hole qualifying tournament on Monday. Indeed, the Wake Forest junior and U.S. Curtis Cup team member has been an employee at The Ranch during the summer for the past two years and plans to be again in 2018. And because she has playing privileges there, she practices and plays there frequently during the summer.

And if you need one more reason to think earning a return trip to the U.S. Women’s Open might be in the cards, the qualifying is being held on Kupcho’s 21st birthday.

Kupcho, fresh off her second straight individual victory in a Women’s NCAA Regional, will head the field of 50 players, who will be chasing two spots in the U.S. Women’s Open, set for Shoal Creek near Birmingham, Ala., May 31-June 3. Should she qualify, Kupcho won’t be headed to Shoal Creek blind as she played there in December for a Curtis Cup practice session.

Also scheduled to compete on Monday is the other 2017 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier in Colorado. That would be Australian Robyn Choi, a University of Colorado sophomore, who missed the cut in last year’s national championship.

Kupcho and Choi are ranked No. 6 and No. 30, respecitvely, among the nation’s women’s college golfers by Golfweek.

Also teeing it up at The Ranch are CU senior Brittany Fan, who just finished sixth individually at an NCAA Regional; former University of Denver golfer Mariell Bruun, and who has conditional status on the Ladies European Tour; and Colorado State University teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor, who recently won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

U.S. Women’s Open qualifying tournaments have been held in Colorado each year since 2011. In 2018, 25 qualifying events will be contested worldwide, including 21 in the U.S.

For Monday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
 

They never trailed — even once — in the first four matches they played at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif. That’s 66 holes of either leading or — at worst — being tied.

In fact, that streak was extended to 72 holes on Wednesday afternoon in the finals of the national championship.

And even when the streak ended, it didn’t faze the two Rams, who qualified in Westminster for the championship. Prendergast and Secor were 2 down with four holes left, but a big-time rally down the stretch netted them a 1-up victory and the national title.

After securing the championship by halving No. 18 with teenagers Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei and Lei Ye of China, Secor said on a USGA video, “I can’t believe we just did that.” (The champions are pictured in a USGA photo, with Prendergast at left.)

The victory by Prendergast and Secor is believed to be the first USGA national amateur championship by a person or team with strong Colorado ties since Jill McGill won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Prendergast is a CSU junior from Sparks, Nev., and Secor is a sophomore from Portland, Ore. Each of the last two years, they’ve been medalists in the Colorado qualifying tournament to earn berths into the national Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.

Both are members of the CGA.

After qualifying last October at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, Secor made a comment that now appears prescient.

“The biggest thing is getting redemption,” she said then. “We played Monica Vaughn (who won the 2017 NCAA individual title) and Bailey Tardy (a 2016 Curtis Cup teammate of Vaughn) “” probably the top two amateur players in the country (then) “” in the round of 16, and we really want to get redemption and come back and win the (national) Four-Ball. I definitely feel confident, and I know KP does too.”

Chang, 17, and Ye, 16, first took a lead with a birdie on the seventh hole of Wednesday afternoon’s final. But the Rams certainly didn’t let that get them down. They retook the lead on No. 9 after two straight birdies and were all square after 12. That’s when Chang and Ye went birdie-par to take a 2-up lead through 14.

With some in the gallery openly rooting for Chang and Ye, Secor gained extra motivation.

“That’s how she plays,” Pendergast said of Secor in an interview with the USGA. “She gets fired up, and that really helps her, and I think it actually helped me, too. I got pumped up after I made par on 15, and then we got two good shots in on 16. We had the tee, and I think those two shots really helped put pressure on them.”

Indeed, after going 2 down, Prendergast and Secor responded in kind — and then some — by winning three straight holes: No. 15 with a par and Nos. 16 and 17 with birdies — to take the lead again, at 1 up. Secor contributed the 12-foot birdie on 16 and Prendergast two-putted for birdie on the decisive 17th, prompting Secor to yell, “Catch Ram Fever.” And after the two sides halved No. 18 with pars, it was celebration time for the Rams teammates.

Prendergast and Secor finished 3 under par in the title match.

Earlier on Wednesday, they advanced with a 3 and 2 semifinal win over future Duke teammates Megan Furtney of Chicago and Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Ind., the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. The Rams made five birdies in a bogey-free 16 holes.

For a team that started out so poorly in the national championship, Prendergast and Secor certainly caught fire.

The CSU teammates were 3 over par best ball after their first six holes of stroke play at El Caballero. Suffice it to say things weren’t looking particularly good for the two to return to match play in the event after going to the round of 16 in 2017.

But going 10 under par over the next 30 holes of stroke play rectified that, and Prendergast and Secor were off and running. And five match play victories later, they had the joy of holding the national championship trophy.

In that respect, they’re now in the same category as their coach at CSU, Annie Young. Then known as Annie Thurman, she claimed a national title in the 2002 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.

Next up for Prendergast and Secor will be the NCAA Regionals May 7-9 in Austin, Texas, where they’ll compete as individuals.

Here are the scores for the local teams that competed this week in Tarzana:

MATCH PLAY FINALS
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei, and Lei Ye of China, 1 up

MATCH PLAY SEMIFINALS
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Megan Furtney of Chicago and Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Ind., 3 and 2.

MATCH PLAY QUARTERFINALS
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Katherine Gravel-Coursol of Canada and Paige Nelson of Farmers Branch, Texas, 1 up.

MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 16
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Hailey Borja of Lake Forest, Calif., and Chayse Gomez of Yorba Linda, Calif., 4 and 2.

MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 32
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Calynne Rosholt and Chandler Rosholt of Cedar Park, Texas, 4 and 2.
Meghan Stasi of Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Dawn Woodard of Greenville, S.C. def. Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village/Hailey Schalk of Erie, 1 up.

STROKE PLAY
6. CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor 70-67–137
15. Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village/Hailey Schalk of Erie 70-70–140

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.