Greg Condon of Monte Vista in southern Colorado shared stroke-play medalist honors Sunday in the U.S. Senior Amateur, while Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction shot a 1-under-par 71 in round 2 to join Condon in advancing to match play in Eugene, Ore.
The top 64 players in stroke play over the weekend earned spots in match play, which starts on Monday.
Condon, 56, who made the round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur Public Links six years ago, posted rounds of 67-72 for a 5-under-par 139 total. That tied for low in stroke play at Eugene Country Club with Jeff Wilson of Fairfield, Calif. But that’s not necessarily a good omen as the medalist hasn’t won the U.S. Senior Amateur since 1987, according to the USGA.
Condon (left in a USGA photo, and below), who’s competing in his second U.S. Senior Am, made two birdies and two bogeys in Sunday’s second round.
Meanwhile, Sullivan was in 116th place after shooting 80 on Saturday. His second-round 71, giving him a 7-over 151 total, vaulted him up to 41st place. Sullivan chalked up five birdies to go with four bogeys on day 2.
Guy Mertz of Longmont also played better on Sunday, but it wasn’t good enough to make match play. In his second straight Senior Am, he went 80-76 for a 156 total, good for 93rd place.
Here are the scores by the Coloradans competing this week in the U.S. Senior Amateur:
ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
T1. Greg Condon, Monte Vista 67-72–139
41. Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction 80-71–151
FAILED TO ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
93. Guy Mertz, Longmont 80-76–156
For all the results from the championship, CLICK HERE.
Condon bogeyed his second hole and was 1 over par through four holes. But he made six birdies and no bogeys from then on, and birdied three of his last four.
Condon (left in a Sun Country Amateur Golf Association photo) is two ahead of a trio of players going into Sunday’s final round of stroke play, after which the top 64 players will advance to match play, which starts on Monday.
The other two Coloradans in the field struggled on Saturday and will need to rally on Sunday to make match play.
Guy Mertz of Longmont, competing in this event for the second straight year, opened with an 8-over-par 80, which leaves him in 116th place. Mertz made one birdie, five bogeys and two double bogeys on Saturday.
Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction match Mertz’s 80 after a day that included one birdies, seven bogeys and a double bogey.
Here are the scores by the Coloradans competing this week in the U.S. Senior Amateur:
1. Greg Condon, Monte Vista 67
116. Guy Mertz, Longmont 80
116. Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction 80
For all the results from the championship, CLICK HERE.
At 3 over par through 13 holes on Tuesday at Omni Interlocken Golf Club in Broomfield, Guy Mertz wasn’t feeling good about qualifying for the U.S. Senior Amateur for a second straight year.
But it’s amazing what three birdies in his final five holes — and another on the first hole of a playoff — will do to change your outlook.
Mertz played his final six holes of the day, including the playoff, in 4 under par — and the final three in 3 under — to punch his ticket to the U.S. Senior Am again.
“I’m in shock,” he said of his late comeback. “It was totally unexpected. … I just wasn’t feeling it. I was just a little off. But I did it. It’s unbelievable to me. I stuck with it long enough, I guess. I’m really happy. I guess it proves last year wasn’t a fluke. Two years in a row; it can’t be a fluke, can it? Maybe I’m decent.”
The 59-year-old from Longmont joined Don Eklund of San Diego and Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction in booking return trips to the national championship for amateurs 55 and older.
This year’s U.S. Senior Am will be contested Aug. 25-30 at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Eklund, a 61-year-old who used to live in the Vail area, shot a 3-under-par 69 to land medalist honors — and his second trip to the U.S. Senior Amateur. Sullivan earned his third berth in the event thanks to a 71 and despite playing his final three holes in 2 over par. And Mertz, as noted, rallied to qualify through a playoff. (Eklund and Sullivan are pictured above, with the medalist at left.)
Mertz and two other contestants who have likewise previously competed in the U.S. Senior Am — CGA Executive Committee members Kent Moore of Centennial and Gary Albrecht of Denver — posted 72s on Tuesday, then played off for the final spot in the national championship.
Moore and Albrecht hit ideal drives in the playoff, with Albrecht putting his second shot on the par-5 on the green, 60 feet short of the flag, and Moore leaving his second in a greenside bunker. Mertz pushed his tee shot into the rough and had a semi-blind second shot over a knoll, and he hit a 3-wood to 40 yards shot of the hole.
After a mediocre pitch, Mertz (left) drained a 20-foot birdie putt. Albrecht ended up three-putting for par from 60 feet. And Moore, after a good bunker shot to 7 feet, missed his birdie try, leaving Mertz to advance to his sixth USGA championship. He’s previously gone to the now-defunct U.S. Amateur Public Links three times, the 1990 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, and last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur in Minnesota, where he grew up.
“I didn’t hit a very good pitch, but I hit a really good putt (in the playoff),” said Mertz, the reigning CGA Parent/Child champion with son Nick. “I’d rather have a bad pitch and a good putt than a great pitch and a bad putt.”
After Mertz secured the final qualifying spot on Tuesday, Moore subsequently made a par on the same hole to earn the first alternate position as Albrecht made bogey.
Earlier, Eklund had holed a 100-yard wedge shot for eagle on the eighth hole en route to his 69. He added two birdies and one bogey during a day in which he hit 16 greens in regulation.
“I didn’t see (the wedge shot) go in,” said Eklund, the 2017 San Diego City Senior Amateur champion. “But it never left the flag. I have hole-outs probably two or three times a year, especially with my wedge. I consider myself a very good wedge player.”
As for returning to the U.S. Senior Am after a five-year absence, Eklund said, “It’s going to be a lot better, I can tell you that. I’ve been wanting to go back for six years. The USGA puts on great events. It’s such a treasure to go to one of them. I hear good things about Eugene Country Club and I’m really looking forward to it.”
The same is true for the 60-year-old Sullivan, who recently won the senior division of the CGA Western Chapter Championship. On Tuesday, he carded four birdies and three bogeys in his round of 71. Sullivan previously played in the 2013 and ’15 U.S. Senior Amateurs and the 2010 U.S. Senior Open.
“It will be great” competing in another USGA championship, said Sullivan, who’s won multiple low-amateur/low-senior amateur titles in the Rocky Mountain Open. “I’ve heard great things about Eugene Country Club too. The USGA events are the important ones (on his golf schedule). That’s what I point to. They’re great. Especially at the Senior Open, they treat you like a king. But I just enjoy competition.”
As for Mertz, he’s aiming to make match play at this year’s U.S. Senior Am after falling short last year in Minnesota, where he lived the first 26 years of his life.
“Hopefully when I get there (to Eugene) I won’t be quite as nervous because last year I had a lot of people in Minnesota rooting me on,” he said. “I put more pressure on myself, which is never good.”
U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying
At Par-72 Omni Interlocken GC in Broomfield
ADVANCE TO U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR
Don Eklund, San Diego 34-35–69
Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction 35-36–71
Guy Mertz, Longmont 39-33–72
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Kent Moore, Centennial 36-36–72
Gary Albrecht, Denver 38-34–72
For all the scores from Tuesday, CLICK HERE.
]]>Fifty-five players will be in the field, with the top three finishers earning spots in the Senior Am, which will be contested Aug. 25-30 at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Of those 55, almost one-fifth have competed in the U.S. Senior Am just in the last five years.
The list includes Wyoming resident John Hornbeck, the 2018 CGA Senior Match Play champion who has played in three U.S. Senior Amateurs, going to the quarterfinals in 2016. Also, there’s three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk (round of 64 in 2017), Guy Mertz (2017), Robin Bradbury (round of 64 in 2016), Gary Albrecht (2016), Jim Reynolds (2016), Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore (2015), Thomas Roos (2015), and David Delich and Harry Johnson (both 2013 and ’14).
Also competing on Tuesday are Steve Ivan, winner of the 2017 CGA Senior Amateur and runner-up in the 2018 CGA Senior Match Play; Charlie Post, who played in the 2017 U.S. Senior Open; 2015 CGA Senior Amateur winner Bill Fowler; 2014 CGA Senior Match Play champ Tom Musselman and Sean Forey.
For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
And one of those eight, David Delich of The Broadmoor, has won the title three times over that period.
Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City will host this year’s Senior Match Play Monday through next Thursday (June 11-14). The event, limited to players 52 and older, will feature the round of 64 on Monday and two rounds each on Tuesday and Wednesday for those who advance. The 18-hole championship match is set for next Thursday morning.
Pat Bucci of West Woods Golf Club returns to defend the title he won last year, when he defeated Delich, the champion in 2007, ’11 and ’15.
Other former champions in the field are Jeff Oneth of Colorado Golf Club (2016), Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course (2013), Ray Makloski if Pueblo Country Club (2012), Guy Mertz of The Fox Hill Club (2010), Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club (2009) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club (2006).
Three of those former champs have already won CGA titles in 2018: Johnson in the Super-Senior Match Play, Polk with partner Bill Fowler in the Senior Four-Ball, and Mertz with son Nick in the Parent/Child.
Also scheduled to compete in the Senior Match Play are 2017 CGA Senior Amateur winner Steve Ivan of Patty Jewett Golf Course, 2016 Senior Amateur champ Kevin Ott of The Club at Rolling Hills, 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Wyoming and 2017 CGA Senior Player of the Year Keith Atkins.
For Monday’s round-of-64 tee pairings, CLICK HERE.
]]>The way Guy and Nick Mertz started Sunday’s final round, it didn’t look particularly promising for the duo from The Fox Hill Club to win the 36th CGA Parent/Child Championship.
But after being 3 over par through their first four holes at Keystone Ranch Golf Course, the Mertzes righted the ship in a hurry, and a stellar finishing stretch in the alternate-shot format used on Sunday netted them the title by a wide margin.
The Mertzes (left) played their final eight holes in 3 under par to shoot an even-par 72, making them one of just two teams to post a score under 76 in foursomes stroke play on Sunday. They finished with a 2-under-par 141 total, good for a four-stroke victory.
“We’ve been trying to win this one so it’s pretty special,” said Guy Mertz, who now owns four CGA titles, including the 1988 Public Links and the 2010 Senior Match Play. “We’ve come close a couple of times a while back when Nick was playing more golf (finishing third in 2009 and fifth in 2006). So this was pretty unexpected. Nick hasn’t been playing as much, being a working man now. But I’d put this up there with any of the wins I’ve ever had, maybe above them all. When you win with your son it means more than just winning by yourself.”
The Mertzes went into the final day three strokes out of the top spot, but outscored Matt Porter of Pueblo Country Club and Grant Porter of CommonGround Golf Course, who led after the Day 1 modified Chapman format for the second consecutive year.
This time, the Porters carded a second-round 79 to tie for second place at 2-over 145. Also at that figure were Garrett and Scot Mortimer of Colorado National Golf Club, who had the best round on Sunday, a 71.
Four-time champions Gary and Alex Kephart finished fourth as a 78 on Sunday left them at 146.
In the net division, Bill and Steele Luoma, who led by six after round 1, held on to earn a three-stroke victory. They posted a 1-over 73 on Sunday to check in at 130. Tying for second at 133 were the Mortimers, and Russell Roehrkasse of Colorado Springs Country Club and Christopher Roehrkasse of Meridian Golf Club. The Mortimers netted a 65 on Sunday and the Roehrkasses a 70.
Another Luoma team — former University of Colorado golfer John and son Chase — landed the Loel & Caleb Lierman Award, which is given to to the team that includes a player 18 or younger with the lowest 36-hole gross score. John and Chase Luoma (left) had a total of 161 (77-84), placing 24th overall.
Meanwhile, Nick (short for Nicklaus) and Guy Mertz finished Sunday with five birdies and five bogeys.
While Guy Mertz still plays a lot of golf — the 59-year-old from Longmont finished 41st Friday in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open and he and Tony Workman were runners-up in a playoff in the CGA Senior Four-Ball last month — son Nick doesn’t get on the course much anymore. That’s especially the case since the birth of his first child, daughter Remington, four months ago.
“Whenever Nick was getting worried about a shot or whatever, I’d tell him, ‘You know, Remington is not going to care if you hit a bad shot. Don’t worry about it,'” Guy said.
And the result was the biggest win of Nick’s career. And it came after he and his dad had teamed up a dozen times or more for this event, but never before for a victory.
“This is definitely my biggest accomplishment in golf,” the 28-year-old from Broomfield said. “I was a good golfer growing up in high school and into college and I’d play all the time. I had a couple of CJGA wins growing up.
“Back then (in this event), we probably put too much pressure on ourselves, thinking that we were going to go out and win it. I play golf maybe once or twice a month at most now. We were able to go out there and try to have a good time and not even think we were going to win. I think that helped us play better than we’ve done in the past.”
Indeed, even with their strong finish, Nick Mertz didn’t believe his team was going to win on Sunday. And though Guy felt they had a chance after Nick pitched to 1 foot for a birdie Guy converted on their 18th hole Sunday, dad thought that the odds were against them.
“Our expectations were really lowered the last couple of years because Nick hasn’t been playing as much,” Guy Mertz said. “And there are some pretty good players — the Nosewiczes (Nick and Lenny) and the Porters and the Kepharts are always tough to beat and they seem to win most of the time.”
But starting on hole 12 — the Mertzes began on No. 2 — things started to go their way. Nick made an 8-foot birdie on 12, Guy sank an 18-foot birdie on 13, and Guy holed a 20-footer for par on 16, in addition to their final-hole birdie on No. 1.
And shortly thereafter, after all the scores had been posted, the Mertzes had that trophy that had long eluded them.
“It’s a great tournament because they have it at such cool sites,” Guy Mertz said. “We look forward to it every year because it gives us a chance to get together, especially now that he’s a dad and has less time. This is always penciled into the schedule.”
]]>If the way the first CGA championship of 2018 ended is any indication, it could be one memorable season.
The 37th CGA Senior Four-Ball culminated in spectacular fashion on Wednesday at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada.
With his partner out of the hole and his two opponents less than half the distance from the cup, former CGA president Bill Fowler drained a 60-foot-plus birdie putt on the second hole of sudden death to give he and Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club their second Senior Four-Ball title in the last three years.
“It was probably one of the most exciting finishes of golf I’ve had in a long time,” Fowler said at the trophy presentation. “I’ll be celebrating that for a while.”
Fowler, from The Club at Rolling Hills, and Polk handed Guy Mertz and Tony Workman of The Fox Hill Club their second similar playoff loss in the CGA Senior Four-Ball. In 2012, Jerry Kidney and Daniel Dymerski defeated Mertz and Workman on the fifth hole of a playoff when Dymerski sank a 15-foot birdie putt.
“Did you see it bounce up when it hit the hole?” Mertz said of Fowler’s putt. “If he misses that (and it goes by quite a bit), we probably win with a 4. At worst we go on. That was twice as long as any putt I saw go in the whole tournament. It’s one of those turnarounds that you just … But that’s golf. It happens. But it’s happened to us twice now.”
Said Workman: “It was a hell of a putt.”
On a cold and sometimes rainy final day, Polk and Fowler shot the best score on Wednesday — a 4-under-par 68 — to rally from three strokes down going into the final round. With Polk getting up and down for birdie on the final hole of regulation, they finished with a winning total of 12-under-par 204. (The winners are pictured, with Fowler at right above and at left below.)
It was the fourth CGA Senior Four-Ball title for Polk, who won with different partners in 2005 and ’07 before earning the trophy with Fowler in 2016. Only Bert Welz, with five, has won this tournament more, while Kidney has also captured four titles. Polk and Fowler also qualified for the first U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, played in 2015, and were one of the older twosomes in the field.
In the CGA Senior Four-Ball, Polk and Fowler have finished in the top three five of the last six years.
“I hope he has me back next year,” Fowler said with a smile. “I didn’t have my A game for the whole three days. He’s always looking on the free-agent market for somebody better.”
Said Polk, a three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year: “We are a good team. Bill is real steady. I tend to make some birdies, but I tend to knock it off the golf course every now and then. Bill covers me when I take leave.”
That includes the second hole of the playoff, the par-4 11th. There, teeing off before Fowler as usual, Polk put two tee shots out of bounds right leaving his partner on his own for the hole. Fowler, who turns 55 on Thursday, responded with a nice drive, but pulled his 8-iron approach a little, leaving his ball on the far left side of the green while the pin was on the right side. Mertz and Workman both had makeable birdie putts in the 25-foot range.
“I was tending the flag because I couldn’t do anything else,” said Polk, 62. “I had a real peaceful feeling. The greens were slow and they were hard to putt. We had so many that we thought we made that didn’t go in. But I’m sitting there holding the flag and going, ‘I think he’s going to make this.’ Halfway, I go, ‘Oh my!’ That sucker was right in the middle for a long time. It was a great putt.
“They had two (good looks) with putts, but after something like that the hole looks like a thimble.”
Both Workman and Mertz ended up two-putting for par.
As for Fowler’s thinking on his birdie putt:
“I was back there and I thought, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose. I really don’t,'” he said. “They’re up there for a two-putt par. I’ve got to just not three-putt. I wanted to get up there in the 3- or 4-foot range for a two-putt par. I just kept my head still, hit a really solid putt and hit my line. About halfway there, I said, ‘That’s on line, it’s not going to be very far away, it looks like it’s the right speed.’ As it got closer and closer and closer, I thought, ‘Man, that has a chance.’ Then all of a sudden, it was not on the green anymore. I just had this overwhelming feeling. I could not believe that I just did what I did.
“If you look at the scorecard, Robert played really well for three days and I played OK. It was really, really fun for me to contribute in that big way at the very end.”
In falling for the second time in a playoff in this event, Mertz and Workman (left, with Mertz in gray) carded scores of 66-68-70 and didn’t make a better-ball bogey in the tournament.
Tying for third place, one out of the playoff, were second-round leaders Mark Hirsch of Lone Tree Golf Club and Michael Davis of Meadow Hills Golf Course, and Sean Forey and Scott Radcliffe of The Club at Rolling Hills. Forey and Radcliffe closed with a 70 and Davis and Hirsch with a 72.
Forey and Radcliffe, who won the CGA Senior Four-Ball together in 2003 — Forey also won with a different partner in 2008 — on Wednesday earned the super-senior division title, which is limited to partners who are both 62 or older. The two 65-year-olds lapped the field in that division, winning by six strokes.
“I’ve been out of action (on the state scene competitively) for quite a while, so it feels really good to me,” said Radcliffe, the president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. “Winning never gets old — anything — so I’m happy as heck. It’s renewed my interest in playing more golf.”
Said Forey: “We’ve won or tied for the super-seniors a few times. It’s always fun to win. But it’s always hard to come up one short (of the playoff for the overall title). Today was tough conditions and we just didn’t get it done.”
Finishing second among the super seniors were Dave Merritt and Bill Stevens of Meridian Golf Club, who shot a final-round 73.
For scores, click on the following: SENIORS, SUPER-SENIORS.
]]>In Monday’s round-of-64 matches at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, both Robert Polk of Parker and Greg Condon of Monte Vista saw their runs at the championship end.
John McClure of Los Angeles, a quarterfinalist in this event last year, beat Polk, a three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year, 4 and 3. And Claud Cooper of Birmingham, Ala., who competed in this year’s U.S. Senior Open, defeated Condon, 6 and 4.
McClure birdied the first two holes to go 2 up on Polk, but the Coloradan squared things by winning No. 3 with a par and No. 4 with a birdie. Starting on No. 6, McClure won five of eight holes to take control of the match. McClure was even par through 15 holes. Polk, who made it into the Senior Amateur field after originally being an alternate, was 4 over.
Meanwhile, Cooper took a 6-up lead through eight holes on Monday, going 3 under par in that stretch. Cooper ended up 2 under through 14 holes, while Condon finished 4 over.
Here are the scores for all the Coloradans who competed at the U.S. Senior Amateur:
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64
John McClure of Los Angeles, def. Robert Polk of Parker, 4 and 3
Claud Cooper of Birmingham, Ala., def. Greg Condon of Monte Vista, 6 and 4
STROKE PLAY
ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
30. Robert Polk of Parker 77-71–148
49. Greg Condon of Monte Vista 73-78–151
FAILED TO ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
125. Guy Mertz of Longmont 81-79–160
For all the scores from the Senior Am, CLICK HERE.
]]>The 62-year-old Parker resident, who made it into the field when fellow Coloradan John Olive withdrew last weekend, posted a sub-par round on Sunday to make match play at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.
Polk (pictured), a three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year, fired a 1-under-par 71, giving him a 4-over 148 total for stroke play, good for a share of 30th place out of the field of 156. He made one 2 and four 3s in the first 11 holes on Sunday, finishing with four birdies and three bogeys.
The top 64 finishers in stroke play — which ended on Sunday — will advance to match play, which begins on Monday.
Two of the three Coloradans in the field will be in that match play bracket as Greg Condon of Monte Vista finished 49th in stroke play at 7-over 151. He carded a 78 on Sunday after a 73 on Saturday, avoiding a playoff for the final match play berths by one shot.
David Brown of Ligonier, Pa., landed medalist honors on Sunday with a 6-under-par 138 total after rounds of 68-70.
Here are the scores for all the Coloradans competing at the U.S. Senior Amateur:
ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
30. Robert Polk of Parker 77-71–148
49. Greg Condon of Monte Vista 73-78–151
FAILED TO ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
125. Guy Mertz of Longmont 81-79–160
For all the scores from the Senior Am, CLICK HERE.
]]>Condon (pictured) made one birdie and two bogeys and trails co-leaders Matthew Sughrue of Arlington, Va., and David Brown of Ligonier, Pa., by five with one round left in the stroke-play portion of the championship.
The top 64 finishers in stroke play after 36 holes will advance to match play, which begins on Monday.
As for the other two Coloradans competing, Robert Polk of Parker, who made it into the field after being an alternate, opened with a 5-over 77 and shares 67th place. The three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year carded one birdie and six bogeys on Saturday. And Guy Mertz of Longmont, who lived in Minnesota for the first 26 years of his life, posted an 81, which leaves him tied for 126th place. Mertz didn’t make a birdie on Saturday, carding seven bogeys and a double bogey.
Here are the scores for all the Coloradans competing this weekend at the U.S. Senior Amateur:
17. Greg Condon of Monte Vista 73
67. Robert Polk of Parker 77
126. Guy Mertz of Longmont 81
For all the scores from the Senior Am, CLICK HERE.
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