Assuming nothing changes before Thursday’s first round, that distinction will go to Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Steve Jones (left). Even though the 1996 U.S. Open champion recently turned 60, Jones is in the field at Pebble Beach.

Perhaps that has something to do with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am being the first of Jones’ eight PGA Tour victories, coming 31 years ago. It was then that he sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Bob Tway.

It will be the former University of Colorado golfer’s first PGA Tour start in over six years, since the 2013 Humana Challenge. He competed in seven PGA Tour Champions events in 2018, finishing as high as sixth place.

Other players with strong Colorado ties who are scheduled to play on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — in addtion to Jones, Clark and Knous — are local resident David Duval, former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird and former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders.

It will be the first PGA Tour start for Duval since August.

For the entire field for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, CLICK HERE.

It’s something Mark and Lynn Cramer, longtime owners and operators of the Denver Golf Expo, wrestle with every year:

How to draw big crowds for their three-day consumer golf show, which takes place in mid-winter but helps whet the appetite for the golf season in Colorado.

From 2008 through 2012, the Expo attracted more than 10,000 people four times in five years, including an all-time best 11,202 in 2008.

But since 2013, the Expo has never again reached the five-figure mark. Last year, the total attendance was 8,781.

To be sure, the weather has a huge influence on attendance. If it’s too warm, many golfers go out to play rather than come to the show. But a lot of snow or extreme cold can also keep numbers down.

“The weather has not been cooperating with us,” Mark Cramer said this week.”It’s kind of like the game of golf — it’s weather-dependent. Four of the last five years, we have not had good Golf Expo weather. It’s either been too nice or it’s been too nasty for the Golf Expo.”

Obviously, there’s nothing Expo organizers can do to control the weather in Colorado in February. So it’s up to the Cramers to find things that are in their control that may move the needle upward.

With that in mind, the Cramers are doing a little tweaking with this year’s Denver Golf Expo, which runs Feb. 8-10 at the Denver Mart (I-25 and 58th Ave.).

In particular, they’re focused on trying to attract more young and middle-aged adults to the show.

“We did a lot of research and talking to people after last year’s show,” Cramer said. “There’s a lot of these street fairs popping up, and they’re really popular. There’s music, beer and food and there are food trucks. They’re neighborhood happenings. The Millennials like that sort of thing. We want to incorporate some of that into the show — and we’re starting this year. Music and stuff like that.”

While it may be a multi-year, evolving plan, this year there will a new area at the Expo, called “The Turn”, that will replace the beer garden in the center of the Pavilion, and two additional food options on the Pavilion floor besides the one returning in the Plaza area. Also, for the first time, the closest to the pin contest on a simulated par-3 will feature two TrackMan launch monitors.

“This is in an effort to get more of the Gen X and the Millennials,” Cramer said. “I think we’ve got enough different events going on down there. We’ve got to give Millennials, Gen Xers and Gen Zs a reason to come. What they’ve got to see is other Millennials and Zs (there). They’ve got to be drawn into the game and made to feel welcome. That’s kind of the direction we’re going to try to take it.”

Still, Cramer isn’t sure 10,000 attendance for the three-day show is a readily-attainable goal. Baby Boomers, largely responsible for driving the growth in the game that took place in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, are getting up in years a bit, which could be taking a toll.

“Is 10,000 still realistic? I don’t know,” Cramer said. “That used to be the gold standard — to get 10,000. Last year we had a pretty good advertising plan, and we ended up with 8,781. If we lost 600 (due to bitterly cold Saturday weather), we would have been in the neighborhood of 9,300 or 9,400. So maybe 9,500 is the new normal. We got used to the over-10,000 number. But things have changed in the industry.”

However, other numbers in the Denver Golf Expo have been on a positive trend. For instance, exhibitors at the show went from 112 in 2017 to 131 last year, and are expected to hit a similar number in 2019. As usual, there will be plenty of those exhibitors offering deals on green fees, equipment, golf travel etc. Also up are the number of sponsors at the show.

In something that won’t change from years past, many of Colorado’s top golf organizations will be on hand to promote the game and offer services. ColoradoGolf.org will have more on that front early next week. Among those at the Expo will be the CGA, Colorado PGA, Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado and the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

As usual, Colorado PGA and LPGA professionals will be providing free 10-minute lessons to attendees, The First Tee of Denver will handle a pitching area, and the JGAC will be overseeing a large Junior Golf Experience area (left) which will include Birdie Ball full swing and chipping — complete with large inflatable targets — and miniature golf.

Another mainstay that’s back is the large club demo area run by Lenny’s Golf.

Other Expo highlights:

— Free seminars will be held each day of the Expo, with former Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley taking a “celebrity lesson” from a Colorado PGA pro on Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. That will be after Stokley wraps up his live broadcast from the Expo from noon-3 that day on The Fan radio (104.3 FM). Jerry Walters’ “In the Fairway” program, also on The Fan, will broacast from the Expo on Feb. 9.

Among the other seminars will be the CGA’s Robert Duke conducting sessions on the modernized Rules of Golf on Feb. 8 (11 a.m.), Feb. 9 (2 p.m.) and Feb. 10 (noon).

For a lineup of all the seminars — which also include a variety of instruction and fitness tips — CLICK HERE.

— The grand prize for the winner of the closest to the pin contest on Sunday will be a trip to Maui, Hawaii, with golf at Royal Kaanapali and lodging at the Hyatt Regency. And the winner of the long-putt challenge putt-off receives a stay-and-play package at the Tubac Resort & Spa south of Tucson, Ariz.

— Forty tickets to the July Web.com Tour event at TPC Colorado will be given out over the P.A. system throughout the show, with another 40 awarded to qualifiers who return for Sunday’s long-putt challenge putt-off. The TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes also will have a physical presence at the show in booth 531.

“We’re getting a lot of feedback that the Denver show is one of the best consumer golf shows out there,” Cramer said. “We’re holding attendance (relatively steady, albeit under 10,000). There’s a lot of shows across the country that are not holding their attendance. That’s a credit to the Colorado Golf Association (and) the Colorado PGA Section that comes in so magnificently every year and supports us so we can do things like the Junior Golf Central, golf instruction, golf seminars, the First Tee of Denver doing the pitching lessons, Lenny’s getting all the manufacturers down for the club demo. A lot of people have embraced the show and gotten behind it.”

By the way, the Cramers, who have owned and operated the Denver Golf Expo since 2000, will be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on June 2 at Denver Country Club.

“I can’t believe that happened,” Mark Cramer said. “Lynn and I are floored. But it’s the industry (in Colorado) that deserves it.”

Tickets for the Expo are available at DenverGolfExpo.com, at the Denver Mart during the show, and at participating Kings Soopers stores.

For more information about the Denver Golf Expo, CLICK HERE.
 

In the first five weeks of 2019, the CGA will have added three new full-time staffers.

And in two of the cases, the association is going back to the future.

There’s Joe McCleary, who will become the CGA’s chief business officer — a newly created position — on Feb. 4. He’s been doing volunteer work for the CGA since 2002, has served on the board of directors for more than a dozen years, and just completed a three-year term as CGA president/co-president. (He’s pictured at a training session for the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy.)

And there’s Jacob Erisman, who on Jan. 10 started as the CGA’s director of junior competitions, a position that was previously held by Ashley Barnhart, who was promoted in the fall to managing director of golf operations. Erisman did a summer internship with the CGA in 2013, and for the past 2 1/2 years has worked as a tourament director for the American Junior Golf Association, where one of his responsibilities was overseeing the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, working closely with the CGA and the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.

The third newcomer, who started with the CGA on Jan. 7, is Kim Bussey, the association’s manager of administrative services, who executive director Ed Mate describes as an administrative “utility infielder” who will spend considerable time on Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado matters. Bussey joins the association after spending 32 years in the insurance industry.

And there’s one other staff-related change, though this one isn’t an addition personnel-wise, but to a title. That’s for Mate, who’s been the CGA’s executive director since 2000. As of the start of the year, he’s added chief exective officer to his exective director title.

“Part of the need is somebody who is looking at the organization from 30,000 feet, and looking at it from the inside but with an outside view, saying how does our golf association interface with the community as a whole — golf community, the city of Denver, the Front Range, the state of Colorado?” Mate said recently.

“(The new title) is a reminder to me when I look at my business card or see my signature block at the end of an email to act like a CEO — to remember that my job is to advocate for this organization to those outside these four walls (of the CGA offices). I actually embrace that as not anything more than a reminder and a challenge to make sure that I follow through on what the organization is asking me to do.”

These latest changes regarding the CGA staff conclude a very active period in that regard that started with the integration of the CGA and the CWGA — which officially took place on Jan. 1, 2018. Over that period, the CWGA staff joined the CGA staff. Then in the final several months of last year, three staffers retired — Ann Bley (director of finance), Laura Robinson (managing director of membership and integration and formerly the CWGA’s executive director) and Gerry Brown (director of course rating and handicapping). And now we have the three aforementioned additions to the staff.

“For an organization that generally does not turn over people, it’s a little different, but it’s fun,” Mate said.
 

The impending addition of McCleary — and of a chief business officer position in general — is particularly newsworthy.

McCleary — who has worked for the city of Aurora for almost 29 years, most recently as stormwater operations superintendent — has played an integral role on many fronts for the CGA in the new millennium. He was a driving force — at the time as the head golf course superintendent at Saddle Rock Golf Course — in the 2002 economic and environmental impact study of golf in the state of Colorado during a period of drought in the state. He was one of many people who played behind-the-scenes roles regarding the building of CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course and he helped in the recovery process following the major damage caused by the 2013 flooding. And, he and then-CWGA president Juliet Miner, along with Mate and Robinson, spearheaded the work to integrate the CGA and the CWGA. McCleary and Miner, who had served as presidents of their respective organizations for two years (2016 and ’17), both agreed to be co-presidents of the CGA in 2018, the first year following integration.

“The thing that really separated Joe (for the job of chief business officer) is his intitutional knowledge of the CGA and not losing momentum,” Mate said. “It’s almost like we’ve had the benefit of Joe as an employee for the last three years and now we’ll officially start paying him. Obviously, there’s a big difference between being on the board and working here every day, but to say his learning curve is shorter than most is a gross understatement.”

McCleary (left) was seeking a new challenge, occupationally, and thought the CGA was an ideal fit given his long background with the association and how much he’s enjoyed helping achieve its mission — to represent, promote, and serve the best interests of golf in the state. And the job opening came at the right time, as McCleary first wanted to complete his commitment as the volunteer co-president of the association, which ran through the end of 2018.

“It’s an incredible opportunity and I don’t think I can tell you how much I’m looking forward to it,” McCleary said last week. “It’s good to get back directly in the golf business. I think it’s a perfect way to use lots of my knowledge from being a CGA volunteer and from those years of being a golf course superintendent too.

“The stars aligned in a perfect way for me. I’m excited to get going on the next chapter of my career. Several people had said, ‘Joe you need to get back in the golf business.’

“I just reflected on how much passion I had for all the different activities related to the CGA. I don’t think I can explain how much I’ve enjoyed all my involvement with the CGA.”

McCleary’s diverse background makes him a good fit for his new position. Besides his volunteer work for the CGA over the years, he was the first superintendent at Saddle Rock, holding that position even as the course started being built in the mid-1990s, and when the facility hosted the Colorado Open three times (1998-2000). He served as president of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association in 2005 and helped create the RMGCSA foundation. He also has been part of the city of Aurora’s retirement board for the last four years. In his current position in stormwater operations, he manages a staff of 30 people and an annual budget that exceeds $3 million.

The responsibilities of the CGA’s chief business officer include overseeing human resources, information technology, office infrastructure, finance, contracts, CommonGround Golf Course business oversight, course rating and handicap oversight, GHIN software/customer support, and club and facility training and education.

“I think I understand the golf course from a variety of different levels,” McCleary said. “I really think the diverse experiences I’ve had — not only as a volunteer but working for the city of Aurora — are well-suited to all those responsibilities. The biggest challenge — something I’ve had a little insight into but no really experience at — is the course rating aspect. I know (the job responsibilites) are a pretty expansive list. But there’s a huge amount of talented support at the CGA to get these things done too. It’s important to use your resources.

“Ed and I and the staff have always had a really strong working relationship. We worked as partners to accomplish a lot of the tasks over the last three years and had to work together as it related to CommonGround, the reconstruction of the golf course and all the programs that happen out there.

“There’s no doubt with any new job there’s going to be challenges, but it’s an excellent opportunity because there’s lots of familiar turf.”

Besides all of McCleary’s experience — with the CGA and elsewhere — Mate thinks his background as a course superintendent will play out as a big positive for the CGA staff.

“Joe is kind of a Renaissance man of golf,” Mate said. “He’s a certified golf course superintendent. He’s got an MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver, (and) he’s been a leader in every organization he’s been a part of, whether it’s the city of Aurora, the CGA, or the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association. We’re so very fortunate.

“Being a golf course superintendent, I think that’s going to pay dividends in ways even beyond what I think (as we speak). He can meet with a superintendent and talk the same language. Now all of a sudden the CGA is that much better a resource to member facilities than we were before. We’ve never had a staff member who is a superintendent. I could see years from now looking back on Joe’s hiring and thinking, ‘Whoever we hire, it’s got to be a superintendent.'”

As for Erisman, he attended Cornell as an undergrad — including a semester at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland — and Stanford for his graduate work, and has lived in Atlanta the last 2 1/2 years. But make not mistake: He calls Colorado home. (Erisman and Bussey are pictured at left.)

In fact, Erisman grew up near Golden and graduated from Mullen High School. While playing golf for the Mustangs as a sophomore, Erisman finished second in the 2004 4A state high school championships — one shot behind Tom Glissmeyer, who had qualified for the U.S. Open the previous year.

Speaking of U.S. Open qualifying, that’s where Mate first encountered Erisman — a meeting both remember to this day. It was about 13 years ago at Buffalo Run Golf Course, and it was far from Erisman’s best day of competitive golf. He recalls shooting 89, while Mate remembers something in the 90s. In any case, while some competitors who have such a round might be tempted to no-card so they won’t receive a letter from the USGA prohibiting them from attempting to qualify again the next year, Erisman dutifully turned in his card. In fact, Mate remembers him meticulously checking his hole-by-hole scores while in the scoring area. And then Erisman shook Mate’s hand and thanked him before departing.

The situation made such an impression on Mate that he later followed up by sending a signed letter to Erisman’s parents “commending them on what an outstanding young man they had raised and how impressed I was,” Mate recalled recently.

Erisman, who now owns a 5.1 USGA handicap, kept and cherised that letter for a long while, and still may have it today in a storage locker somewhere.

“I always saw it as a fundamental part of the game that you finish your round as long as you’re physically able to do so and return your scorecard and verify every score was correct,” Erisman said last week. “That’s what I did that day without really thinking of it as anything special. But I do remember interacting with Ed after that round. He’s always been very gracious. As I remember it, he sent me a letter after that event, telling me that he was impressed that I still turned in my scorecard with such a high number on it. I did save that letter for many years because I kind of look at that as one of the better memories of my golfing career, even though it was such a bad day.”

And now, that high school kid that made such an impression will be working for the CGA — and Mate. And he’ll be doing so in a capacity in which he’s very familar — interacting with kids.

That’s something Erisman, 29, has been doing his entire adult life. After receiving a Masters degree in secondary education at Stanford, he returned to Colorado and taugh social studies at Legend High School in Parker for a couple of years.

After that, in 2016 he joined the staff at the AJGA, where he traveled to 15-20 tournaments a year, including six annually where he was the tournament director. The latter includes the last two years at the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, held at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve.

“Teaching is always something I’ve really enjoyed,” Erisman said. “I feel like I can relate to junior golfers and feel a connection to junior golf because I grew up playing junior golf competitively and played a couple of years in college. I also like to see the progression of juniors. You get to know them for a couple of years and get to see how their games improve. To see those who have a goal of getting college scholarships reach that goal is really fulfilling. Then there’s the aspect of teaching not just the skills of golf, but helping them understand the values of the game, the rules of the game. The overall growth and development of juniors is something I enjoy as well.

“I really did miss working in golf (during his years teaching). I still do have a passion for education and want to be involved in education. Working in junior golf is a great way to combine my passion for educating young people and also getting to work in golf.”

And coming home — both his parents still live in Colorado — certainly didn’t hurt.

“Denver and Colorado have always been home for me. I enjoyed living in Atlanta, but long-term I wanted an opportunity to move back home,” he said. “And the CGA is an organization I grew up with and had worked with and really respected, so it makes a lot of sense to me to join the CGA and it gives me a chance to move back home. The two years I was working with AJGA, probably my favorite event to be involved with was the Hale Irwin event. The prospect of getting to work full-time in golf in Colorado was really exciting to me. I have a chance to help the CGA continue its mission of growing the game and growing junior golf in my home state.”

However it worked it, Mate considers the CGA fortunate to have Erisman on the staff.

“He’s just an amazing person,” Mate said. “We’re lucky to have him. I think he loves to be back in Colorado, he loves junior golf, and he’s a born teacher. I think he just loves being around kids.

“Having worked with the AJGA it’s been an annual reminder of just what an outstanding person Jacob is, how bright he is, how personable he is, how sincere he is — somebody who’s really the real deal.”

Regarding Bussey, as Mate said she’ll be playing key roles in general administration, but especially regarding the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.

“She’s really going to be the administrative backbone of the JGAC as well, which we really need,” Mate said.

Bussey indicated she’s happy to be working in the golf industry after more than three decades in the insurance business.

“After 32 years in the Insurance Industry, it was time for a change,” she said in an email this month. “When a friend told me about the opening at CGA, I knew this was the change I was looking for. I’m new to the game of golf as a player but love being out on the golf course and caddying for my husband. I’m very excited about this new opportunity and increasing my knowledge of the game of golf.â€

Overall, Mate is happy with how the recent staff additions and changes have played out.

“I’m really pleased at where we landed,” he said. “A, we promoted from within with Ashley. We recruited from our past intern program with Jacob, and we brought on a former board member in Joe. That’s proof that we maximized our internal network and internal talent. But the whole idea is to have a team that’s addressing the internal workings of the organization so that I — in my role as executive director/CEO can look at (the overarching picture). Every day, I’m able to look at my to-do list and say, ‘Are these things that are going to advance the organization outside of this office?'”
 

The former Colorado School of Mines golfer tied for 10th place in his first tournaent as a PGA Tour rookie, at the Safeway Open in October.

Then on Sunday, in just his eighth career start on the circuit, the 29-year-old not only matched his age with a very respectable 29th place at Torrey Pines in San Diego, but he made the first hole-in-one at the Farmers Insurance Open since 2015.

The native of Basalt aced the 193-yard third hole — his 12th of the day — at the South Course, using an 8-iron. (He’s pictured signing the ball after the feat, in a photo on Twitter.)

Knous played his final 10 holes in 5 under par and shot a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday. That gave him an 8-under 280 total.

Another golfer who grew up in Colorado, Denver native Wyndham Clark, also posted a top-40 finish on Sunday, placing 35th. But after coming into the final round in 11th place, Clark struggled on his final nine holes, playing it in 4-over 40 despite two birdies. Clark closed with a 75 for a 281 total.

Justin Rose won the title on Sunday with a 267 total.

For all the scores from the Farmers Insurance Open, CLICK HERE.

And now it looks like the former Fort Collins resident and Air Force Academy golfer will be a regular on that circuit again in 2019.

Whitney finished fourth out of 99 players on Friday in a PGA Tour Latinoamerica Q-school tournament in Mazatlan, Mexico, which gives him fully-exempt status for the first half of the 2019 season.

Meanwhile, two other players with strong Colorado ties earned conditional PTLA status for 2019 — former Colorado State University golfer Blake Cannon and Castle Pines resident Josh Seiple, who’s in the midst of his senior season at the University of Mississippi.

Whitney, who shared the lead after three rounds, tallied scores of 67-70-65-67 for a 19-under-par 269 total that left him five strokes behind medalist Jacob Bergeron of the U.S., who closed with a 62 and is fully exempt for the entire season.

Whitney eagled a par-4 during Friday’s round, but also made a 7 on a par-5.

Players who finished 2-11 are fully exempt for the first half of the season.

Those who placed 12th through 35th and ties are conditionally exempt in 2019. That’s the category in which Cannon and Seiple fell. Cannon (66-69-71-69) tied for 15th at 275, while Seiple (69-70-69-72) shared 32nd place at 280.

Two more PGA Tour Latinoamerica Q-school events remain, both next week: in Brazil and Argentina.

Coloradan Chen Earns Conditional Status on PGA Tour China: Westminster resident and University of Northern Colorado golfer Li Chen landed conditional status on PGA Tour China on Friday by tying for 21st place out of 100 players in a Q-school tournament in Guangzhou.

The finishers in the 13-35 range earned conditional status through the first six events of 2019.

Chen posted rounds of 73-76-75-78 for a 22-over-par 302 total.

Chen is in the midst of his senior season at UNC. In 2017, he was medalist in qualifying for the U.S. Amateur at Fort Collins Country Club.

This week marked the first of four qualifying tournaments in 2019 for PGA Tour China.

Former Buff Jeremy Paul Wins in Scottsdale: Meanwhile, in mini-tour action, former University of Colorado golfer Jeremy Paul won a one-round tournament, the Waste Management Warm-Up in Scottsdale, Ariz., an Outlaw Tour event.

Paul shot a 5-under-par 67 for a one-stroke victory and earned $1,500 on Monday.

Steven Kupcho Runner-Up in Napa: Elsewhere on mini tours, former CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Steven Kupcho recently posted his second top-10 finish in a month.

Kupcho tied for second in the Napa Open at Silverado Resort and Spa in California last week. The former University of Northern Colorado golfer posted a 7-under-par 209 total, finishing seven back of champion Corey Pereira and earning $3,500.

In December, Kupcho shared ninth place in a Mexico Professional Golf Tour event in Mazatlan.
 

Both University of Denver teams will be in action before the month ends, and by this time in Feburary all nine NCAA Division I programs based in Colorado will have started their spring schedules. The DU women, recently picked to finish No. 1 in the Summit League by its coaches, will be the first local team to tee it up in competition as the Pioneers will face Arizona State and Georgia in a three-school match on Sunday (Jan. 27) in Gold Canyon, Ariz.

This spring will be notable in several respects from a Colorado perspective, including:

— Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster will be defending her NCAA Division I women’s individual title in May as a Wake Forest senior before she begins her LPGA Tour career. This week, Kupcho regained the No. 1 spot in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, a position she held for 15 weeks in 2018.

— Former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in the Centennial State the past two years, likewise earned her LPGA Tour card in November through her performance in the Q-Series. But, unlike Kupcho, Choi elected to forego her remaining college eligibility to join the LPGA circuit as soon as possible. That will leave CU without its top player going into the spring.

“That’s a tough one to lose, but it’s exciting she gets to start her LPGA career,” CU coach Anne Kelly said recently on CUBuffs.com regarding Choi.

Junior Kirsty Hodgkins, like Choi an Australian, will likely take over the No. 1 position for the Buffs.

— Dawn Shockley, who grew up in Estes Park and played her college golf at DU, seems to be making an impression as the women’s coach at Oregon State. At midseason, the Beavers are ranked No. 25 in the nation, according to Golfstat.

While there are plenty of college veterans that figure to shine for Colorado-based DI teams, several freshmen demonstrated great promise in their first semester as college golfers, in the fall. That includes Colorado State University players Oscar Teiffel and Davis Bryant, who had the Rams’ top two scoring averages in the autumn. Another promising freshman is former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang, who posted a 71.25 scoring average in her first semester at Harvard.

Looking ahead to the spring, here’s a brief preview of the Colorado-based DI programs, broken into several categories:

SPRING SEASON OPENERS

— DU Women: Jan. 27 dual match vs. Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.
— DU Men: Jan. 28-29 at Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz.
— CU Women: Feb. 3-5 at Northrop Grumman Invitational in Palos Verdes, Calif.
— CU Men: Feb. 7-9 at Amer Ari Intercollegiate in Waikoloa, Hawaii.
— UNC Men: Feb. 11-12 at Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational in St. George, Utah.
— CSU Women: Feb. 18-19 at The Rebel Beach in Las Vegas, Nev.
— CSU Men: Feb. 20 dual match vs. Denver in Palm Desert, Calif.
— UNC Women: Feb. 23-24 at GCU Invitational in Phoenix.
— Air Force Academy Men: Feb. 23-25 at Loyola Invitational in Goodyear, Ariz.

NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS

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

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

NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (in top 250)

Men
91. Former Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah (Golfweek; 202nd Golfstat)
111. Daniel O’Loughlin, CU (Golfstat; 139th Golfweek)
118. Oscar Teiffel, CSU (Golfweek; 145th Golfstat)
120. Coby Welch, UNC (Golfstat; 160th Golfweek)
150. Davis Bryant, CSU (Golfstat; 189th Golfweek)
241. Trevor Olkowski, CU (Golfstat)

Women
11. Robyn Choi, CU (Golfstat; 20th Golfweek; will not compete in spring as she’s become an LPGA Tour member)
57. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest (Golfweek 72nd Golfstat)
72. Kirsty Hodgkins, CU (Golfweek; 73rd Golfstat)
87. Mary Weinstein, DU (Golfweek; 121st Golfstat)
97. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang, Harvard (Golfweek; 179th Golfstat)
190. Katrina Prendergast, CSU (Golfstat)

TEAM VICTORIES IN FALL
— CU Men (2): Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational; Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational.

— CSU Men (2): Ram Masters Invitational; Paintbrush Invitational.

— CSU Women (1): Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate.

INDIVIDUAL VICTORIES IN FALL
— Former Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah (2): Showdown in the Rockies; Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational.  

— Ellen Secor, CSU (1): Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate.

— Daniel O’Loughlin, CU (1): Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.

— Oscar Teiffel, CSU (1): Paintbrush Invitational.

— Trevor Olkowski, CU (1): Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational (tied for title before losing to Dunkle in a playoff, though both are officially credited with a win.)

TOP INDIVIDUAL FALL STROKE AVERAGE FOR EACH TEAM

CSU Men: Oscar Teiffel 70.77
UNC Men: Coby Welch 70.83
CU Men: Daniel O’Loughlin 71.2
CU Women: Robyn Choi 71.44
DU Women: Mary Weinstein 72.42
CSU Women: Katrina Prendergast 72.67
DU Men: Jun Ho Won 73.22
Air Force Academy Men: Luke Trujillo 74.4
UNC Women: Beah Cruz 75.0

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

CU Women: Pac-12 in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., April 15-17.
CSU Women: Mountain West in Rancho, Mirage, Calif., April 15-17.
UNC Women: Big Sky in Boulder City, Nev., April 19-21.
DU Women: Summit League in Newton, Kan., April 21-23.
CU Men: Pac-12 in Eugene, Ore., April 22-24.
CSU and Air Force Men: Mountain West in Tucson, Ariz., April 26-28.
UNC Men: Big Sky in Boulder City, Nev., April 26-28.
DU Men: Summit League in Newton, Kan., April 28-30.

NCAA REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Women: May 6-8, sites TBD (must earn selection).
Men: May 13-15, sites TBD (must earn selection).

After having earned her 2019 LPGA Tour card but deferring taking membership because she wanted to complete her senior season and graduate from Wake Forest, Kupcho (left in an LPGA photo) indicated earlier this month that she planned to focus on school and college golf in her final semester at Wake.

But after the team’s schedule underwent some minor tweaking, Kupcho decided to compete at Augusta National just before the Masters. The 21-year-old earned an invitation by being among the top 30 U.S. players in the final Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking of 2018. (Updated Jan. 23: Kupcho returned to No. 1 in the world rankings on Wednesday.)

Augusta National Women’s Amateur officials announced on Tuesday that 66 players have accepted invitations for the inaugural event, including 36 from outside the U.S. A 72-person field is planned.

The competitors will play the first 36 holes at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga., on April 3 and 4, with a practice round set for Augusta National on April 5 before the 30 players who make the cut compete in the final round at Augusta National on Saturday, April 6.

NBC will televise three hours of that final round, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (MT)

For the entire Augusta National Women’s Amateur field to date, CLICK HERE.
 

(Note: This is the first in an occasional series of U.S. Mid-Amateur articles that will appear on ColoradoGolf.org leading up to the national championship for players 25 and older being held at Colorado Golf Club and CommonGround Golf Course Sept. 14-19.)

It should go without saying that winning a USGA national championship is no easy task. And that’s even more the case for a resident of Colorado, where the population isn’t huge — relatively speaking — and trying to play golf year-around can be problematic.

All that said, when lifelong Coloradan Bill Loeffler was departing for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in the fall of 1986, his father-in-law, Ron Moore, made a bold prediction.

“It’s weird,” Loeffler said last week in reflection. “My father-in-law, Ron Moore, told my wife that he thought I was going to win the tournament when I was leaving for Mississippi, just because we had played a couple of times together.”

And, sure enough, Moore proved prescient regarding Loeffler, now a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, like Moore. Loeffler, then 30, would go on to win the 1986 U.S. Mid-Am, which drew 2,511 entrants. The event was played at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss., a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that hosted a PGA Tour event for 20 years until 2014. Loeffler defeated Georgian Charles Pinkard 4 and 3 in the scheduled 18-hole championship match on Oct. 9, 1986.

Loeffler (above in a USGA photo from the ’86 championship) remains the only Coloradan to have won the U.S. Mid-Am, which dates back to 1981.

As much as Loeffler has accomplished in the game — he’s also won three Colorado Opens (tied for second-most ever, behind Dave Hill), the 1992 national PGA Assistant Professional Championship, the 2007 Senior PGA Professional National Championship, a Colorado Senior Open, a CGA Amateur and three Colorado PGA Section Champioships — he points to the 1986 U.S. Mid-Am victory as the most meaningful in his long career.

“It’s probably the best accomplishment I can think of — only because of what the Mid-Am did for me,” said Loeffler, now 62. “Not only was it a USGA championship, but it got me on the Walker Cup team (in 1987) and then into the Masters (in 1988). It was a springboard. Anytime a golfer gets a chance to win a USGA event, it’s a pretty big deal. I can’t think of anything bigger” that he’s accomplished in golf.

Indeed, though the U.S. Mid-Am victory didn’t automatically earn him a spot on the Walker Cup team or into the Masters back then, that was the de facto result of his victory in Mississippi. Coloradan M.J. Mastalir, then a member of the USGA Executive Committee, pushed for Loeffler’s inclusion on the 10-man Walker Cup team, and Loeffler ended up going 2-1 individually as the U.S. routed Great Britain & Ireland in the matches in England.

And at the time, the Masters invited the entire U.S. Walker Cup team into its field, which is how Loeffler competed at Augusta National in 1988. In the department of fortuitous timing, that was the last time an entire American Walker Cup team was invited to the Masters. On the other hand, since 1988 every U.S. Mid-Am winner has been invited to the Masters, and since 2017, the Mid-Am champ has landed a spot in the following year’s U.S. Open.

At the ’86 Mid-Am, Loeffler rode a very hot Ping putter to the title. Besides defeating Pinkard in the final, Loeffler topped one of the world’s top amateurs at the time, Randy Sonnier, 3 and 2 in the semis. Sonnier was a finalist — losing to Jay Sigel — and a stroke-play co-medalist the only previous time the U.S. Mid-Am has been contested in Colorado, in 1983 at Cherry Hills Country Club.

“That week I was really on my game,” Loeffler said of the ’86 Mid Am. “I remember putting just out-of-the-planet good. It was a great golf course, good on my eye and I was just making everything. I got past (a couple of past Walker Cuppers in match play) and I was pretty thrilled with that because I knew they were the cream of the crop in amateur golf.”

Asked specifically about the final against Pinkard, Loeffler (left in a USGA photo) said he has few specific recollections.

“I just remember being in a fog the whole finals, like it didn’t matter what he did or where I hit it, I kind of knew I was going to win,” Loeffler said. “And it was WEIRD. I used to get pretty volatile, but that day it was just surreal, like I was floating through the match and it didn’t matter what he did. If he’d have thrown three birdies at me, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Loeffler’s 4 and 3 victory ties for the second-most-lopsided margin in an 18-hole U.S. Mid-Am final. He only had to play the 18th hole once in the match-play portion of the event. And at 30, he was the event’s youngest champion at the time.

Loeffler knew something special might be in the works during the practice days — specifically when he got into a putting contest on the practice putting green with fellow former Arizona State University golfer Dennis Saunders.

“We spent a couple hours on the putting green,” Loeffler recalled. “Honest to God, I started making these putts — 50 feet, 30 feet, 20 feet. I was like, ‘What in the world is going on here?’ But they just started pouring in. We got done and Dennis said, ‘I have never, ever seen you putt like this before.’ I said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on but I’m going to try to keep this feeling for the whole week.’ And it worked.”

In fact, that Ping putter worked so well that week that the manufacturer — as has been the case since the 1970s for each major victory with a Ping putter — made a gold-plated putter with the exact specs of the one used to win the tournament and stored in a company vault at Ping headquarters in the Phoenix area.

While his putting was spot on that week, Loeffler had to manufacture a tee-to-green game to a certain extent.

“I remember getting down there and being unable to hit a draw, no matter what I was doing,” he said. “In the practice rounds playing with a couple of my ASU teammates, I finally just decided, ‘You know what? I’m not even going to fight it. I’m just going to aim down the left side and cut it — just let it work that way.’ And of course on a Nicklaus course if you cut it, sometimes it’s an advantage. I did that all week — hit this ugly kind of cut/slice thing, hit a bunch of greens and putted great. For the life of me, I couldn’t turn the ball over right to left.”

Even after winning the national title, Loeffler was frustrated with that situation to the point that he rectified it within a few days of returning to Colorado.

“When I got home from the championship, I went down to Castle Pines into their club room and decided I didn’t like the shafts in my irons so I reshafted all of them,” he said. “I was so mad I couldn’t turn the ball over. I figured it had to be the shafts; it couldn’t be me. It was just impetuous and stupid.

“I was in the club repair room and Keith Schneider (then the PGA head professional at Castle Pines) and Jack Vickers (the club founder) were having a meeting. Of course, when you change shafts you have to heat the shafts up a little bit. So I set off the smoke alarm in the clubhouse with Vickers and Keith in there in a meeting. Keith comes and just looks at me, shook his head and walked away.”

Loeffler’s golf career has been an unusual one given that he’s gone from amateur to pro to amateur to pro. After winning a state high school title at Cherry Creek, a CGA Junior Match Play and CGA Amateur in Colorado before becoming an All-American at ASU, Loeffler turned pro the first time and made it to the PGA Tour. He competed on golf’s top circuit in 1980, ’81 and early ’82, playing in 32 events. But he made only eight cuts and $5,356 during that time.

“I had a plan and got on Tour,” Loeffler said. “I set some goals and wasn’t achieving them. I wanted to kind of get on with my life, I wanted to get married to Sandy. She had her job and she wasn’t traveling with me. I stopped enjoying playing golf and I wasn’t getting better. I kind of decided, I love the game, but there’s something else to do. … It was time for a change.”

So even though he had some PGA Tour status remaining in 1982, he decided after playing poorly in U.S. Open qualifying that he’d start the process for regaining his amateur status. Three years later, he was an amateur again and played in the CGA Match Play — where he lost to eventual champion, and now longtime PGA Tour/PGA Tour Champions player, Brandt Jobe — and in the CGA Amateur.

In 1986, Loeffler won the U.S. Mid-Am, then captured the inaugural CGA Mid-Amateur title and a third Broadmoor Men’s Invitation victory the next year. But after playing on the ’87 Walker Cup team and in the ’88 Masters as an amateur — where he shot 77-79 and missed the 36-hole cut — Loeffler returned to the professional ranks in 1989, this time on the club professional side of things.

“I remember playing in the Pacific Coast Amateur in Seattle and I was pretty much broke,” he said. “It had cost say about $1,000 to play it. I finished second or third to Billy Mayfair. I was sitting at the podium and they gave me a medal about the size of a half-dollar. I looked at it and I’m like, ‘I’m starving to death, my wife thinks I’m a loser and I’ve got this half-dollar medal. I realize now my whole life is centered around golf, so it’s time for another change.’ I went back and said, ‘Sandy, I’ve got to turn pro.’ And she supported me, like she always has.”

During this second stint as a pro — which has lasted the last 30 years — Loeffler has been an owner of The Links Golf Course in Highlands Ranch and Moore, Loeffler, wife Sandy and their family built and operated the Hale Irwin-designed Highlands Ranch Golf Club from its opening in 1998 until 2011, when it was gifted to the University of Denver. And obviously Loeffler has accomplished plenty as a competitor.

But Loeffler (left in a CGA photo in 2018) has been hampered by a bad back for quite a while now, to the point that he believes his days of competing in multi-day tournaments may be behind him.

“It’s hard for me to be able to play two rounds in a row, so I think I’m pretty much done (from a competitive standpoint),” he said. “It’s my back. It gets real weak after about 12 holes. (After) two or three days, I’ve got to go on some pain meds, and I hate doing that. It’s just time. Fifty years of competing, that’s plenty. I think I’m done.”

But Loeffler still enjoys rounds of casual golf with wife Sandy, who has taken up the game, and friends.

“It’s all good,” he said. “If I play twice a week and separate the two days, I’m OK.”

And if his days competing in major events is indeed done, Loeffler has put together a stellar resume, including the 1986 U.S. Mid-Am title. And he’s happy to see the event returning to his home state this year.

“It’s tremendous. And to have it at Colorado Golf Club, one of the best clubs in the state, just a great golf course, it doesn’t get any better than that,” he said. “And it’s a great match play course with those finishes on those par-5s, 15 and 16. It’s going to be tremendous. I’m sure the field will be chock-full of ex-pros that are just great players. And in September, it’ll be perfect (weather-wise).”

Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99 and won a Colorado Open, three CGA Match Plays and a CGA Amateur, tied for eighth on Saturday in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship on the Big Island in Hawaii.

Jobe (left) shot three consecutive rounds in the 60s — 69-69-68 — to post a 10-under-par 206 total, which left him seven strokes back of champion Tom Lehman, who posted back-to-back 65s to close the tourament. In Saturday’s final round, Jobe made an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys.

Jobe, 53, has now recorded 21 top-10 finishes in 65 PGA Tour Champions events, which means he hits that standard nearly a third of the time. He’s finished in the top 20 in the Schwab Cup standings each of his three full seasons on the circuit. Jobe’s lone win to date on the senior circuit came in 2017 at the Principal Charity Classic in Iowa.

For all the scores from the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, CLICK HERE.

— Second Top-20 of Clark’s PGA Tour Career: Denver native Wyndham Clark recorded the second-best finish of his young PGA Tour career on Sunday by tying for 18th place in the Desert Classic in La Quinta, Calif.

Clark, who won the 2010 CGA Amateur and the 2017 Pac-12 individual title at Boulder Country Club, posted rounds of 65-67-72-68 for a 16-under-par 272 total this week, which left him 10 strokes behind winner Adam Long.

Clark would have finished much higher, but back-to-back double bogeys on his back nine in Saturday’s third round proved costly.

Nevertheless, it was by far Clark’s best showing of the 2018-19 wraparound season. In 15 PGA Tour starts for his career, his only better finish was a 17th place at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October 2017. 

For scores from the Desert Classic, CLICK HERE.