In fact, two locals posted top-four finishes on such tours.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe (left) placed a season-best third in a PGA Tour Champions major, the Constellation Senior Players Championship in Highland Park, Ill.

And Denver-area resident Jim Knous tied for fourth in the Web.com Tour’s Utah Championship in Farmington after leading going into the final round.

Jobe, who finished fifth in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor two weeks ago, continued his stellar player in senior majors. He’s now competed in a dozen such events since 2016 and owns eight top-10 showings and seven top-5s.

Jobe was tied for the lead with three holes left in his round Sunday at the Senior Players, but finished two strokes behind Vijay Singh and Jeff Maggert, who played off for the title, with Singh winning.

Jobe, who lived in Colorado for 29 years, went 67-67-70-66 for an 18-under-par 270 total. He moved up to No. 15 on this year’s PGA Tour Champions money list with $605,613.

Meanwhile, Knous posted his best finish ever on the Web.com Tour with his fourth-place showing on Sunday.

Knous set the 54-hole scoring record for the Utah Championship by posting scores of 65-64-62. But the Colorado School of Mines golfer couldn’t get his putter working on Sunday and shot a 72 for a 21-under-par 263 total. That left him three strokes behind winner Cameron Champ.

Despite a final-hole bogey, Sunday’s showing was worth $30,800 for Knous.

Even closer to Colorado, the Wyoming State Open wrapped up on Sunday in Cheyenne, and though Colorado PGA professional Geoff Keffer took home the top professional prize of $10,000, he finished runner-up in the event to amateur John Murdock, a University of Wyoming golfer from Laramie.

Murdock shot rounds of 63-67-65 at Airport Golf Course, giving him a winning total of 15-under 195. Keffer, a five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year, finished a stroke behind after going 61-66-69.

Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale, the 2013 CoBank Colorado Senior Open champion, won the senior pro division in Cheyenne, going 68-70-71 for a 1-under-par 209.

For scores from the Wyoming State Open, CLICK HERE.
 

Murdock, a University of Wyoming golfer from Laramie, shot a 4-under-par 68 at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster to lead the way out of 84 players in the first of three U.S. Open Local Qualifying tournaments that will be held in Colorado this year.

Also advancing to the second and final stage of qualifying — 36-hole Sectionals — on Monday were professional Steven Kupcho of Westminster, college golfers Josh Seiple of Castle Rock and Trevor Olkowski of Grand Junction, and pro Zahkai Brown of Golden. Kupcho, Seiple and Olkowski matched 69s in favorable weather conditions, while Brown carded a 70 and prevailed in a three-man playoff for the final Sectional berth.

(Pictured are, from left, Kupcho and Murdock.)

It was the second consecutive year of advancing to Sectionals from Walnut Creek for Seiple and Brown, the medalist at this site last year and the 2013 CoBank Colorado Open champion.

The 36-hole Sectional Qualifying in the U.S. will be contested on June 4 at 10 sites in the U.S., plus one in England that day and one in Japan on May 21. From there, the top finishers will land berths in the Open itself, set for June 14-17 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y.

To earn medalist honors, Murdock made an eagle (on his ninth hole, No. 18), four birdies and two bogeys on Monday.

Seiple, a University of Mississippi golfer, chalked up six birdies and three bogeys. Olkowski, a University of Colorado freshman, punched his ticket into Sectionals with a four-birdie, one-bogey day.

Kupcho, the former CGA Amateur of the Year and now a pro since 2016, successfully negotiated a USGA qualifier for the first time after numerous tries at events including the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links, U.S. Junior Amateur, etc.

“This should open some floodgates and give me confidence,” said Kupcho, who finished eighth last summer in the CoBank Colorado Open. “I haven’t been sucessful in qualifiers in my career; it’s different than playing a four-round tournament. So this is a pretty big day for me. I gotten over the first hurdle.”

On Monday, Kupcho advanced to Sectionals with a day that featured an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys. The eagle came on the 554-yard, par-5 sixth hole (his 15th of the day). He hit an 8-iron to 10 feet and drained the putt.

“That was big,” the 25-year-old said. “Otherwise I would have been in a playoff.”

In the three-man playoff for the final Sectional berth, Brown and Colorado State University golfer AJ Ott of Fort Collins birdied the first extra hole, while professional Anthony Aguilar from Arvada made par and was eliminated, ending up the No. 2 alternate.

On the third playoff hole, the par-5 18th, Brown two-putted for birdie, while Ott missed a 10-foot birdie attempt and was slotted in as first altenate.

In regulation, Brown eagled the sixth hole and added three birdies and two bogeys.

The U.S. Open is the only USGA championship that utilizes a two-stage qualifying process, with most entrants having to successfully negotiate Local and Sectional Qualifying in order to make it into the field for the second men’s major of the year.

Two more 18-hole Local Qualifying tournaments are scheduled in Colorado, with five more players at each site advancing to Sectionals. There’s one at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora on Wednesday and one at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins on May 15.

U.S. Open Local Qualifying
At Par-72 Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster
ADVANCE TO SECTIONALS
John Murdock, Laramie, Wyo. 68
Steven Kupcho, Westminster 69
Josh Seiple, Castle Rock 69
Trevor Olkowski, Grand Junction 69
Zahkai Brown, Golden 70
ALTERNATES (In Order)
AJ Ott, Fort Collins 70
Anthony Aguilar, Arvada 70

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

The University of Wyoming, with two players in the top three individually, landed the team title at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy as 2015 champion Colorado State finished second and the University of Colorado third for the second straight year.

Wyoming ended up with a three-day total of 29-under-par 835, while CSU checked in at 840 and CU at 843.

Northern Colorado ended up seventh out of 19 teams at 863 and host Air Force in ninth at 870.

John Murdock, a product of Laramie High School in Wyoming, ran away with the individual title, winning by five. He went 67-65-70 for a 14-under-par 202 total.

Eight Coloradans or players from Colorado-based schools finished in the top 10, with German Amateur champion Max Oelfke of CSU placing second at 207. Yannik Paul of CU was third (208) and Buff teammate Daniel O’Loughlin fifth (209). Andrew Romano of UNC ended up seventh at 210, along with Coloradan Kyler Dunkle of Utah and Colton Yates of CSU, and Coby Welch of UNC and AJ Ott of CSU were 10th at 211.

Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational
Sept. 8-10, 2017 (final) at Eisenhower GC (Blue Course) at Air Force Academy

2. Colorado State 284-270-283–840
2. Max Oelfke 68-70-69–207
7. Colton Yates 70-68-72–210
10. AJ Ott 73-67-71–211
17. Jake Staiano 71-70-72–213
40. Parathakorn Suyasri 73-74-71–218
68. Cullen Plousha (individual only) 73-75-75–223

3. Colorado 284-281-278–843
3. Yannik Paul 67-71-70–208
5. Daniel O’Loughlin 70-69-70–209
17. Ross Macdonald 73-68-72–213
21. Spencer Painton 74-74-66–214
46. John Souza 74-73-72–219
29. Trevor Olkowski (individual only) 72-74-70–216
51. Cole Krantz (individual only) 74-74-72–220
79. Victor Bjorlow (individual only) 75-74-76–225

7. Northern Colorado 287-281-295–863
7. Andrew Romano 67-71-72–210
10. Coby Welch 70-63-78–211
40. Joshua Matz 72-73-73–218
91. Sam Marley 84-74-72–230
91. Marcus Tait 78-74-78–230

9. Air Force Academy 290-290-289–869
17. Tate Tatom 72-72-69–213
35. Dane Hankamer 70-72-75–217
46. Bryant Falconello 72-72-75–219
68. Anson Kuznik 76-77-70–223
106. Joshua Wu 78-74-84–236
29. Todd Millard (individual only) 72-71-73–216
35. Joseph Crisostomo (individual only) 75-68-74–217
74. Turner Howe (individual only) 76-76-72–224
87. Kyle Spencer (individual only) 76-78-73–227
88. Andy Germann (individual only) 77-74-78–229

Also
7. Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah 71-70-69–210
13. Coloradan Glenn Workman, Wyoming 74-69-69–212

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.