Each year has its own distinctive makeup. That’s true regarding life in general, or in Colorado golf.

And so it was in 2018, which is quickly coming to a close.

Since 2009, we’ve made it an annual habit to go back through the golf stories of the year, pick out the most prominent ones and rank them for a retrospective on the CGA website.

For most of the last several years, we’ve broken the list into two installments to keep things a little more manageable. We go in reverse order, for the sake of suspense, and add an honorable-mention list that will be included with Part II, which will be published in the coming days.

Today, we’ll cover Nos. 25 through 13.

So, without first ado, here’s our 10th edition of Colorado golf-related stories of the year:

25. Second Colorado Topgolf Site Gearing Up: Since August 2015, there’s been one Topgolf location in Colorado — the one in Centennial. But three months ago, ground was broken at a second site — at I-25 and 60th Ave., in Thornton. The 65,000-square-foot, three-level facility is scheduled to open to the public in late 2019. It will have 102 climate-controlled hitting bays — where players hit microchipped golf balls at targets with varying point values — in addition to a restaurant and three bars. There will be 250 HD televisions, a rooftop terrace with fire pits and 3,000 square feet of space devoted to private events. The Centennial Topgolf employs about 500 people, the same number that is expected in Thornton.

24. Annika Returns to Colorado for First Tee Event: Over the last three years, the folks who run the CoBank Colorado Open Championships and The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch have brought in tour players to conduct exhibitions and chat with kids from The First Tee programs in the state. During the first two years, doing the honores were Hale Irwin, Ryan Palmer, Paula Creamer, David Duval, Lexi Thompson and Mark O’Meara. This year, there was no letdown in talent as Matt Kuchar came for a late June exhibition at GVR, and World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam (above) for a CoBank PEAK Performers event in August at The Broadmoor, where Sorenstam won her first LPGA title — the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open. The PEAK Performers event was particularly unique as nine kids from First Tee programs around the country had the opportunity to play golf with Sorenstam for six holes each as part of a four-day, all-expenses-paid outing. READ MORE

23. Sibling Sweep for Bryants: A year after Davis Bryant and younger sister Emma completed the “Bryant Slam” by jointly winning all four Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors in 2017, they posted a “Sibling Sweep” when they prevailed at both the boys and girls 5A state high school tournaments in the same school year. Almost eight months after Davis Bryant claimed the 5A boys crown as a senior at Eaglecrest, Emma held up her end by capturing the 5A girls title as an Eaglecrest freshman in May at Boulder Country Club. It’s the first time two players with the same surname have won the boys and girls state individual prep championships in one school year. READ MORE

22. High Honor for Irwin: Hale Irwin (left) had to contend with Jack Nicklaus on the golf course plenty of times over the course of their careers. But in June, it was Nicklaus and the Captains Club that honored Irwin — a three-time U.S. Open champion and World Golf Hall of Famer who grew up in Boulder — as the 2018 Memorial Tournament honoree. And it’s no small tribute. Others who have received similar status since 2010 include Seve Ballesteros, Nancy Lopez, Tom Watson, Ray Floyd, Annika Sorenstam, Nick Faldo, Johnny Miller and Greg Norman. “I have a hard time putting myself in that category with the greats of the past, so I am absolutely delighted.” Irwin said.

21. Schalk Still Undefeated in High School Ranks: When then-Holy Family sophomore Hailey Schalk won the girls 3A state high school tournament in May, it gave her two titles in two seasons of high school golf. But even more impressively, Schalk remained unbeaten in her two years of high school tournaments and kept alive her chances for an unprecented four Colorado girls state high school golf titles. Schalk became the eighth player to win at least two Colorado girls state high school championships, joining Lynn Ann Moretto (3), Ashley Tait (3), Jennifer Kupcho (2), Becca Huffer (2), Kelly Jacques (2), Jennifer McCormick (2) and Emily Wood (2). Schalk, now a junior, later verbally committed to play her college golf at the University of Colorado beginning in 2020.

20. 25 and Counting for Eaton: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton wasted no time in 2018 tying Carol Flenniken’s record for career CGA/CWGA women’s titles. In May, she teamed with fellow Hall of Famer Janet Moore in winning the Brassie Championship, giving her 25 such victories in her career. Though Eaton came up short — in a playoff — of notching No. 26 at the CGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play at her own home course at Greeley Country Club, she’ll have additional opportunities at the outright record in 2019. READ MORE

19. Spiranac Continues to Make a Splash: It’s hard to fathom how big a social media sensation 2015 CGA Women’s Match Play champion Paige Spiranac has become. At last check, the former Colorado resident had 1.5 million followers on Instagram and 215,000 on Twitter. Before largely giving up competitive golf, Spiranac not only won the 100th CWGA Match Play, but finished ninth in the 2016 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open and won the 2010 CWGA Junior Stroke Play as well as the 2006 CJGA Tournament of Champions — all in Colorado. Spiranac, who appeared in the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, is now a periodic columnist for Golf.com. READ MORE

18. 25 Years and Counting for Denver Golf Expo: What started out relatively modestly at the Colorado Convention Center in the early 1990s has turned into quite an annual affair. In 2018, the Denver Golf Expo, now run by Mark and Lynn Cramer, celebrated its 25th anniversary. The Cramers, who bought the show from Colorado PGA professional Stan Fenn in 2000, will be honored in June by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award. READ MORE

17. Memorable Year for Andonian-Smith: It was a year of “firsts” for Colorado PGA professional Sherry Andonian-Smith. She, along with fellow Coloradans Janet Moore and Marilyn Hardy, qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open. The Centennial resident became the first woman to qualify for the national Senior PGA Professional Championship and ended up finishing 29th out of a field of 264 there. She was named the Colorado PGA’s inaugural Women’s Player of the Year after tying for second place in the Colorado PGA Professional Championship and winning the Section’s West Chapter Championship for the second time in three years. And Andonian-Smith and Alexandra Braga became the first women from the Colorado PGA to qualify for the national PGA Professional Championship.

16. And Love-ing It: After getting advice from World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III, son Dru (left) made an eagle in a playoff to win the CoBank Colorado Open. The younger Love carded an eagle and nine birdies in his final 19 holes of the tournament. It was the biggest win of Dru Love’s career, and he made $100,000 in the process. Davis Love III won the PGA Tour’s International twice in Colorado, while Davis Love II claimed the title in the CGA Junior Match Play in both 1953 and ’54. READ MORE

15. Kevin Stadler, Kaye Make Long-Awaited Returns to ‘The Show’: The year 2018 marked the return to PGA Tour action for two Colorado-based veterans who hadn’t competed in golf’s top circuit for quite a while. Part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye, a two-time PGA Tour winner, had last played in a PGA Tour event in 2011, but in March he landed a spot in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, where he missed the cut. And part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler, who hadn’t competed on the PGA Tour since 2015 due to a broken hand, returned for the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, but likewise missed the cut. Stadler is expected to be a regular in PGA Tour events in 2019 as he plays on a major medical extension.

14. ‘Youth on Course’ Debuts in Colorado: A year ago, CGA executive director Ed Mate predicted that the Youth on Course program could become a “game-changer for player development” in Colorado. The initiative, which makes golf more accessible to juniors by capping their cost for a round at $5 at participating facilities, came to Colorado in 2018. Fifteen Colorado courses participated this year, and many more are expected to be on board in 2019. READ MORE

13. Web Tournament Formalized for TPC Colorado: Colorado last hosted an open-age PGA Tour-affiliated event in 2014, when the BMW Championship PGA Tour playoff tournament was held at Cherry Hills Country Club. But in a September announcement, the Web.com Tour confirmed what had long been known — that a Web.com Tour event would be conducted at the new TPC Colorado course (left) in Berthoud for at least five years, starting in 2019. The event, known as the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, will debut the week of July 8-14, with 156 players competing for a $600,000 purse. The Web circuit — then known as the Nike Tour — previously had a tournament in Colorado in 1996 and ’97, when Riverdale’s Dunes Course in Brighton hosted the Nike Colorado Classic. READ MORE

Also on the subject of new courses in Colorado, Fred Funk said in late June that the Raindance National Golf Club course in Windsor that he’s co-designing may open as soon as the fall of 2020.

In the last several years, more players from out of state have won the CoBank Colorado Open than in-staters have.

And don’t think that’s gone unnoticed.

In 2014, Ian Davis of Edmond, Okla., prevailed. In 2015, it was Scotland’s Jimmy Gunn. Two years ago, it was Neil Johnson of Phoenix/River Falls, Wis. In 2017, part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye scored one for the home team with his victory at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.

And now, Coloradans have a good chance to make it two in a row.

Not only do local residents hold down the top two places after Saturday’s second round, but they have some cushion over the player in third place heading into Sunday’s final 18.

Shane Bertsch of Parker, winner of the 1998 Colorado Open and a veteran of 193 PGA Tour starts, leads going into the final round. And Riley Arp of Fort Collins, a former Colorado State University golfer who has had plenty of success on mini tours over the years, stands in second place, just a stroke behind Bertsch. (Bertsch is pictured chatting with a young fan after Saturday’s round.)

Arp finds himself where he is thanks to a bogey-free 10-under-par 62 on Saturday that matched the course record at GVR. It was the sixth time that score has been shot at the course in the Colorado Open.

Arp, for one, likes to see Coloradans excel at the Colorado Open.

“It’s our state open,” the 30-year-old (left) said. “It’s nice to come in and kind of protect your state. It’s like, ‘Everybody can show up but this is the Colorado Open.’

“The guys who play here a lot, we do have a pretty good advantage because the ball flies a long way. And if you’re not used to really knowing your distances … you can catch a flyer” that will go an unexpectedly long distance.

Through two days, Bertsch is atop the leaderboard with a 15-under-par 129 total, while Arp is at 130. The next best on the leaderboard are Chris Petefish of Cumming, Ga., a rookie pro who recently graduated from Georgia Tech (64-68–132); Dru Love, son of World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III (68-65); and Patrick Stolpe of Scottsdale, Ariz. (64-69).

Bertsch had only one blemish in his second-round 64 on Saturday, a bogey on his final hole, the par-5 ninth. Ironically, he had a wedge from the middle of the fairway into the green, but pushed it a bit, hit a poor chip and missed an 8-foot par putt.

But through two rounds, the 48-year-old has made an eagle and 15 birdies at GVR.

“I’m playing good,” he said. “I’m in that aggressive mindset. I was in good position for birdie (on Saturday’s final hole) and all of a sudden I walked off with a bogey. That’s how golf is. But there were a lot of good things today.

“It’s been a long year and a half. I had (left) shoulder surgery in April of ’16 and I’ve been back playing on the two tours (PGA and Web.com) without much success. But about a month ago, I started to figure out some stuff. I had lost my iron game basically — the consistency of it. But I found some stuff that’s making a big difference and has gotten me back on track.”

Indeed, Bertsch has missed the cut in his one PGA Tour appearance this season and has made just two cuts in nine events on the Web.com Tour in 2018. But he’s certainly in the groove this week at the Colorado Open.

His wedge game has been particularly sharp at GVR, where he’s competing for the first time in three years.

“I’ve hit a lot of wedges close this week — some really good ones for kick-ins,” said Bertsch, who owns three Web.com Tour victories and five PGA Tour top-10s in his career. “I hadn’t been doing that. That was the part of the game I had to excel at because I’m not the longest (hitter) so I need to take advantage of those situations. I’m starting to again.”

It’s been a while since Bertsch’s last significant victory — he won the on the Web.com Tour in 2015 — but he’s looking forward to a crack at another title.

“It’s going to be pedal to the medal” on Sunday, he said. “There’s going to be scores to be had assuming we have a typical Colorado morning with not much wind. You’re going to have to be going for it when you can and playing away from certain pins. But you’re not going to be able to just protect. I’ll be trying to go as low as I can.

“I can’t wait. It’s going to be fun.”

Arp, who Monday qualified for last week’s Web.com Tour event in Omaha, matched his career tournament low score relative to par on Saturday. He shot a 62 last year in a Monday qualifier to earn a spot in the field for the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open.

On Saturday, the 2010 CGA Public Links champion did the trick with 10 birdies and no bogeys.

“It has nothing to do with my golf game at all. It all has to do with me controlling myself,” Arp said of his impressive play this week. “My golf game has been fine the last month, but I haven’t been able to score and I couldn’t figure out why. I realized I was a head case and need to figure that out. I’ve been focused on that the last two weeks and trying to come up with solutions. I found one and it’s working so far and we’ll see if it keeps working.

“A buddy of my turned me onto a book — it’s called, ‘On Combat’. I just read it and was kind of thinking about (how) it has to do with heart rate and how you can calm yourself down when you start to get a little edgy or whatever It’s been working. And it helps to make a few putts here or there.”

As good as Arp’s round was, he said it easily could have been better. But he missed three putts inside 10 feet.

“I feel like I’m in a pretty good place and hopefully I’ll keep myself there tomorrow,” he said. “I think I’ve got a pretty good chance. I’m hitting it pretty good and rolling it well.”

Arp made his professional debut at the Colorado Open in 2010 and is looking for his first top-10 finish in the event.

“The Colorado Open has always meant quite a lot to me,” said Arp, who is now a full-time resident of Fort Collins again. “And now I feel like I have my head in the right place, so it’s time to play some golf.”

Two Days and Out: Two of the biggest names in the 2018 CoBank Colorado Open field, including the defending champion, bowed out after Saturday, having missed the cut.

Part-time Colorado residents and PGA Tour winners Jonathan Kaye and Kevin Stadler finished at identical 3-over-par 147 totals, which left them six strokes shy of advancing to Sunday’s final round.

“It’s kind of expected,” said Kaye (left), who finished with a 23-under-par total for four rounds at GVR in winning last year. “I’ve just been playing (poorly). It wasn’t really out of the realm for me to play (poorly).”

Though it may have been just in the heat of the moment following rounds of 76-71, Kaye said this in response to a question if he was going to play any more tournaments this year: “Nope. Done. I might not ever play again in a tournament. I just don’t like golf. I don’t enjoy the pace of play and waiting around so much. Everybody is just dinking around. No one is playing. …. I don’t get it. I can’t play like that. I don’t have the patience for it anymore.”

As for Stadler, the 2002 Colorado Open champion and winner of the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open is continuing the road back to the PGA Tour after first feeling the effects of a left hand injury while playing in China in November of 2014. After not receiving the correct diagnosis for more than 18 months, he underwent surgery on what was a broken hamate bone last August, and is now pain-free. But while he has made two starts on the Web.com Tour this year, he hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since 2015. He plans to change that this fall.

In the meantime, he’s trying to shake some poor habits in his game, and he shot 78-69 at GVR this week.

“It was a lot of rust and a lot of lack of ability these days,” he said with a chuckle. “Yesterday (the 78) was kind of a perfect storm getting caught in the wind and I didn’t have control of my ball, (and I) three-putted a couple of times early. Basically I made every error I could possibly make. It was pretty pathetic shooting what I shot. I played bad but I didn’t feel I played that bad. It was just a combination of everything.

“I played all right today. It’s just a lot of rusty, silly mistakes.

“The scores don’t really mean a whole lot for me right now. As poor as it was, it’s actually getting better. I’ve shot better scores in events I’ve played the last 6-8 weeks, but I can tell the motion is better and I’m starting to play a little better. Yesterday was just a disaster. All in all I was pretty happy with the way I hit it today. It’s nowhere near where it needs to be and where it used to be, but it’s going in the right direction.”

Remarkable Recovery for GVR: After a day of playing lift, clean and place on Friday after severe storms and flooding on Wednesday evening led to a cancelation of Thursday’s scheduled opening round, it was back to playing the ball down on Saturday at the Colorado Open.

Suffice it to say it was quite a task to get GVR back in playable shape after the storm on Wednesday evening, which brough heavy rain, hail and winds estimated at 60 mph.

That weather event dumped at least 1.1 inches of rain on the course, leading to the Colorado Open being reduced to 54 holes for the first time since 1981.

There were standing “lakes” on the course were there was previously fairway, and newly created pools of water where fish and frogs were stranded and sometimes died (see photos at left and below, courtesy of Kevin Laura).

On Thursday, superintendent Barry Kendall had a crew of 10 working 11 straight hours pumping the water off the course and from the bunkers. Kendall has worked at GVR since 2007 — since 2009 as head superintendent — having prepared the course for 35 Colorado Opens/Colorado Women’s Opens/Colorado Senior Opens during that 11-plus-year period.

But the bottom line was, the course was ready to play on Friday, although it was certainly still wet in spots.

Noted two-time Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan about the course on Saturday: “It’s in phenomal shape, unbelievable.”

Notable: Kyler Dunkle of Parker, the 2016 CGA Player of the Year, remains in the lead for low-amateur honors after 36 holes. Dunkle, a University of Utah golfer after transferring from Colorado State, has posted rounds of 66-70 for an 8-under-par 136 total. He played his final 10 holes in 4 under par on Saturday. Dunkle is one stroke ahead of AJ Ott of Fort Collins, the 2018 CGA Match Play champion who carded a 69 on Friday. Both Dunkle and Ott have qualified for next month’s U.S. Amateur. Sam Marley of Centennial and Griffin Barela of Lakewood share third place among amateurs at 138. … The 62 players who were at 3-under 141 or better made the 36-hole cut on Saturday. Among those who didn’t advance to Sunday — besides Kaye and Stadler — were former champions Zahkai Brown (142), Scott Petersen (142) and Ben Portie (145), 2017 runner-up Jacob Lestishen (147) and five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year Geoff Keffer (150). … Chris DiMarco, a three-time PGA Tour winner, caddied for his son Cristian on Friday and Saturday, but the younger DiMarco missed the cut (75-74). The DiMarcos recently moved to Colorado. … Notah Begay, winner of four events on the PGA Tour, shares 44th place after rounds of 69-72. He birdied his final hole Friday to make the cut. … The leading threesome after 36 holes — Bertsch, Arp and Petefish — will tee off at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday for the final round.

For scores from the Colorado Open, CLICK HERE.

For Sunday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.

And the trend will continue this week when the 54th Open is held at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver. The $250,000 championship runs Thursday through Sunday.

Between players with plenty of experience on the PGA Tour — and some with famous surnames — the Colorado Open won’t be lacking for names recognizable to golf fans.

Here’s a rundown of some of the entrants that fall into that category:

— Jonathan Kaye (left), a part-time resident of Boulder, former University of Colorado golfer, and a two-time Colorado Open champion, having won last year and in 1996. Owns two PGA Tour victories. Has competed in 320 PGA Tour events in his career, including last week’s Barbasol Championship, where he missed the cut.

— Kevin Stadler, a part-time resident of Denver, Kent Denver High School graduate and the winner of the 2002 Colorado Open and two CGA Match Plays. Won the 2014 Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, one of 264 PGA Tour events in which he’s competed in his career. (He’s also won four Web.com Tour tournaments.) He hasn’t played a PGA Tour event since 2015 due to a stress fracture in his left hand, but has competed in two Web events this year. He has 26 events left on a major medical extension, needing to earn $717,890 in those events to keep his exempt status on the PGA Tour. Stadler last played in the Colorado Open in 2016, when he finished 41st.

— Notah Begay. Winner of four PGA Tour events in 217 starts. Previously played in the Colorado Open in 2015, missing the 36-hole cut by one stroke. Begay called the British Open for NBC/Golf Channel last week.

— Shane Bertsch of Parker. Won the Colorado Open in 1998 and finished 10th in 2015. Has played in 193 PGA Tour events in his career, with five top-10 finishes. He has one PGA Tour event left on his medical extension, needing to earn $597,069 to keep his card.

— Jeff Gallagher, the 2017 CoBank Colorado Senior Open champion. Has played in 134 PGA Tour events in his career, recording six top-10 finishes.

— John Riegger, the 2018 CoBank Colorado Senior Open champion. Has played in 224 PGA Tour events in his career, earning three top-10 finishes. Also has won once on the PGA Tour Champions, in 2013.

And, for the record, four sons of former prominent PGA Tour players are in the Colorado Open field — Dru Love (son of Davis), Sean Jacklin (son of Tony), Cristian DiMarco (son of Chris) and Stadler (son of Craig).

Beyond the PGA Tour flavor, the Colorado Open will have plenty of big-name local competitors. That includes — besides Kaye, Stadler and Bertsch — Colorado-based former champions Derek Tolan (a two-time winner), Zahkai Brown, Ben Portie and Scott Petersen, along with former Pueblo resident Dustin White.

Also among the entrants are five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year Geoff Keffer,;U.S. Amateur qualifiers AJ Ott, Coby Welch and Kyler Dunkle; 2018 U.S. Senior Open competitor Doug Rohrbaugh; Michael Schoolcraft and James Love, Coloradans who just finished in the top 20 at a PGA Tour Canada event; Coloradan Nick Mason, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open; and several players with strong local ties who finished top 10 at the 2017 Colorado Open (besides Kaye): Jacob Lestishen (second), former Colorado State player Blake Cannon (seventh) and Steven Kupcho (eighth).

The field at GVR will be cut to the low 60 players and ties after Friday’s second round.

Tournament organizers are having some fun with the pairings for the first two rounds. For example, paired together are Dru Love, James Love and Samuel Love. Then there’s one for three of the competitors with PGA Tour event-winning dads: Kevin Stadler, Sean Jacklin and Cristian DiMarco.

Meanwhile, 15 more players qualified for the Colorado Open Monday at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster. That includes four Coloradans: amateurs David Leede of Greenwood Village (4-under-par 67 on Monday), Tyler Zhang of Lone Tree (70) and Tyler Severin of Johnstown (70), and pro Neil Tillman of Arvada (70).

Stuart Thomas of Knoxville, Tenn., shot a 7-under-par 64 to earn medalist honors at Legacy Ridge. For all the scores from Monday’s qualifier, CLICK HERE.

For Thursday’s first-round pairings at the CoBank Colorado Open itself, CLICK HERE.
 

When it comes to sheer candidness, there are few players who have won on the PGA Tour who are more forthright than Jonathan Kaye.

The former University of Colorado golfer seldom hesitates to voice his true opinions — good, bad or otherwise.

Last year, in the week in which he won his second CoBank Colorado Open title, Kaye was talking about the subject of money and purses on the PGA Tour. And he said something that was both illuminating and candid.

“I passed Jack Nicklaus (in career PGA Tour earnings) my third year on the Tour,” Kaye said. “There’s no way I should ever pass Jack Nicklaus.”

With the Masters on tap this week, we decided to take a look at where the most prominent players in the history of Colorado golf stack up in a statistic seldom mentioned anymore: career money leaders on the major professional tours.

It’s not surprising that the PGA Tour competitors in the Tiger Woods era have received a disproportionate boost in money earnings compared to their earlier counterparts. What was eye-opening was just how much an effect that had.

For instance, regarding Nicklaus and Kaye, the Golden Bear may be the greatest player of all time, with 18 majors among his 73 PGA Tour victories. Kaye, meanwhile, has won twice in his PGA Tour career.

Yet look at the PGA Tour career money list and Nicklaus is No. 271 ($5.734 million) and Kaye is No. 164 ($10.585 million, just ahead of Bernhard Langer). Many people debate whether Nicklaus or Woods is the greatest golfer ever, but on the PGA Tour’s career money list the Bear is a pauper compared to Tiger, who has won more than 19 times as much money ($111.183 million).

Hale Irwin (pictured above), a Boulder High School and University of Colorado graduate, is unquestionably the most successful golfer the Centennial State has produced from an early age, with three U.S. Open victories among his 20 PGA Tour wins. But you’d never know it by looking at all-time PGA Tour money won. The World Golf Hall of Famer checks in at No. 263 ($5.966 million).

Another former CU golfer who won the U.S. Open is just a little ahead of Irwin. Steve Jones, whose eight-win career included the 1996 U.S. Open title, is No. 249 ($6.519 million).

As for other prominent players who grew up in Colorado and have had extensive PGA Tour careers, Brandt Jobe is 195th in career money at $9 million and one-time winner Kevin Stadler is 180th at $9.698 million. Both played their high school golf at Kent Denver.

Others with strong Colorado connections in the top 200 are Evergreen resident Craig Stadler (Kevin’s dad), winner of 13 PGA Tour events including a Masters (174th at $10.022 million); former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird, a three-time PGA Tour champion (91st at $16.155 million); and Colorado resident David Duval, winner of 13 PGA Tour events including a British Open (78th at $18.984 million).

And, the top PGA Tour career money winner with major Colorado ties is Aspen resident Justin Leonard, who owns a dozen Tour wins including a British Open (22nd at $33.885 million).

Other PGA Tour winners with strong Colorado ties made less than $1 million in their PGA Tour careers, including Paul Runyan (28 wins), Ed Dudley (15 wins), Dow Finsterwald (11 wins), Dale Douglass (3 wins), Bob Byman (1 win) and Fred Wampler (1 win).

Dave Hill made $1.13 million in a career that included 13 victories, and Mark Wiebe earned $4.314 million in a career that featured two wins.

On the LPGA Tour, part-time Colorado resident and World Golf Hall of Famer Hollis Stacy (left, with Annika Sorenstam) earned $2.58 million in winning 18 times on the LPGA circuit, including four majors. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill earned $2.342 million, though she didn’t win a tournament on that circuit. World Golf Hall of Famer Babe Zaharias, a Denver-area resident in the 1940s, won 41 times on the LPGA Tour but earned just $66,237. Sharon Miller, like Zaharias and McGill a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, won $164,274 on the LPGA circuit, on which she posted two victories. Lauren Howe racked up $236,084 in career LPGA money after winning once. Sorenstam, who won the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, leads the LPGA career money list, with $22.573 million.

As for PGA Tour Champions, Irwin was a check-cashing machine for many years. The former Buff, winner of a career-record 45 PGA Tour Champions events, has won a remarkable $27.089 million on the 50-and-over circuit, putting him No. 1 all-time.

Also ranking among the top 100 in what was once know as the Senior Tour are Craig Stadler (35th at $8.979 million with nine wins); Douglass (56th at $7.019 million with 11 wins), Wiebe (73rd at $5.69 million with five wins) and R.W. Eaks (91st at $4.693 million with four wins). 

But Kaye, a former University of Colorado golfer who lives in Boulder part-time, is entered in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, a PGA Tour event being held in the Dominican Republic opposite the Austin, Texas-based World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play. Play begins in the Puntacana event on Thursday.

Kaye, winner of the 2003 Buick Classic and the 2004 FBR Open on the PGA Tour, last played on the big circuit at the Puerto Rico Open in March 2011, where he withdrew after the first round. The month before was the last time he made a cut on the PGA Tour, finishing 45th in the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Last year, Kaye (pictured) won his second CoBank Colorado Open. But since the beginning of 2012, he has competed in just eight events sanctioned by the PGA Tour. All eight of those starts have come on the Web.com Tour, including two this year (one withdrawal and one disqualification).

The Denver native, now 47, has earned $10,658,748 in his PGA Tour career, but he lost his fully exempt status in 2009. He lives in Phoenix during the school year and in Boulder during the summer.

(March 23 Update: Kaye ended up missing the 36-hole cut by one in the Puntacana event. He birdied two of his last three holes on Friday to shoot a 3-under-par 69, leaving him at even-par 144. A double bogey on the 18th hole in round 1 hurt his cause as he posted a 3-over 75.)

Also playing in the Dominican Republic — on a sponsor exempion — will be former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current NFL TV analyst Tony Romo. (Romo posted rounds of 77-82 to finish last in the 132-man field.)

Meanwhile, elsewhere in major tour golf, former Cherry Creek High School student Mike Reid will be making his first PGA Tour Champions start since September when he tees it up at the Rapiscan Systems Classic starting Friday in Biloxi, Miss. (March 25 Update: Reid finished 70th on Sunday, posting a three-round total of 230.)
 

Wyndham Clark, fresh off his best showing as a pro after placing fourth in a Web.com Tour event in the Bahamas, will make his first PGA Tour appearance since November — and his eighth overall — as the Waste Management Phoenix Open gave him a sponsor exemption.

Clark (pictured), a former CGA Amateur and Pac-12 champion whose best PGA Tour finish is a 17th place at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, will tee it up at TPC Scottsdale starting on Thursday. He will go to Scottsdale having made two cuts in his seven previous PGA Tour appearances.

Joining Clark in the field for the Phoenix Open — also known as the “Greatest Show on Turf” — will be former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird, owner of three top-seven finishes at the event since 2011.

Meanwhile, a past winner of the Phoenix Open, part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye, will be making his first Web.com Tour start since April as he’s in the field for the Panama Championship that also starts on Thursday, in Panama City. The two-time PGA Tour winner claimed his second CoBank Colorado Open title last summer.

Kaye, a former University of Colorado golfer, made three Web.com Tour appearances in 2017, making one cut. He finished 33rd in April at the United Leasing & Finance Championship.

Also in the Panama Championship field are several other players with major Colorado ties: Shane Bertsch, Mark Hubbard and Andrew Svoboda.
 

Following up from last week, when we started our two-part retrospective on the top Colorado golf stories of 2017 (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. USGA’s Passey Calls It a Career: Mark Passey spent 27 1/2 years as a director of regional affairs for the USGA, including the last 11 based in the Denver metro area. Passey was very highly regarded in the region, but in June at age 70, he retired, leaving big shoes to fill. (Kyle Nuss, based in Dallas, has taken over as the USGA’s director of regional affairs for the nine-state Central Region, which includes Colorado.) READ MORE

11. Workman’s Stellar Summer: Glenn Workman had a summer to remember in state and regional tournaments in 2017. The Pueblo West resident became the first player in history to win the CGA Amateur and Wyoming State Amateur in the same year. The University of Wyoming golfer also scored low-amateur honors at the Rocky Mountain Open and the Wyoming State Open. READ MORE”¨

“¨10. Big-Name Clinics for The First Tee in Colorado: Ever since CoBank took over as title sponsor of the Colorado Open Championships, some big-name tour players have been coming to Colorado to put on exhibitions, primarily aimed at the kids participating in The First Tee programs. Last year, Hale Irwin, Ryan Palmer and Paula Creamer did the honors. This year, David Duval, Lexi Thompson and Mark O’Meara came to First Tee sites, most notably the one at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, which hosts the Colorado Open tournaments. That’s quite a run, considering those six players account for eight major championship victories.

9. Jobe’s Champions Breakthrough: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe came very close to winning on the PGA Tour during his time on that circuit, four times placing second, including at the 2005 International at Castle Pines. Then on the PGA Tour Champions, he finished third three times leading up to this past summer. But in June in Des Moines, Iowa, Jobe scored a breakthrough victory, prevailing in the PGA Tour Champions’ Principal Charity Classic. Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99 before moving to Texas, also had a very strong record in senior majors in 2017, finishing second in the Senior Players, third in the U.S. Senior Open and eighth in the Senior PGA. He also matched the tournament record with a round of 62 at the U.S. Senior Open. READ MORE

8. $50K for CoBank Colorado Women’s Open Champ: As soon as the CoBank Colorado Open drastically raised its purse in 2016, a similar hike was virtually inevitable for the Colorado Women’s Open. You could take it to the (Co)Bank. Almost exactly a year after the purse for the men’s Open jumped to $250,000 — with an amazing $100,000 going to the winner — Colorado Open Golf Foundation officials announced a comparable increase, percentage-wise, for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open. Not coincidentally, CoBank has been the title sponsor for the Colorado Open championships since the beginning of 2016. For the 2017 women’s tournament, first prize more than quadrupled — to $50,000 from $11,000 — and the overall purse doubled — to $150,000. In both cases, those are records for a women’s state/regional open and the $50,000 is considerably more than the winner received for any 2017 event on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s development circuit. Liz Breed of Waynesboro, Pa., claimed the first $50,000 winning prize, holding off amateur Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, who finished runner-up for the second straight time in the CWO.

7. Kaye Wins 2nd Colorado Open, 21 Years After His First: Part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye (left) hadn’t competed in a tournament in three months, but that didn’t stop the former University of Colorado golfer from winning the CoBank Colorado Open shortly before his 47th birthday. Kaye, a two-time PGA Tour winner who plays little tournament golf anymore, sank a 9-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Green Valley Ranch to post a one-stroke victory and earn the $100,000 first prize. Kaye, the runner-up in 2016, finished at 23-under par, which tied the tournament’s scoring record, relative to par. He became just the seventh golfer to win at least two Colorado Open titles. For the record, the 21 years between Colorado Open victories by Kaye is a record, bettering the 14 years between Brian Guetz’s wins (1994 and 2008). READ MORE

6. Bryant Slam: A junior golf oddity made this one of the top stories of the season in the state. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado schedule features four major championships, and the Bryant siblings won their own version of a grand slam by combining to claim all four titles. Davis Bryant won all three in which he competed — the Colorado Junior PGA, the Colorado Junior Amateur and the JGAC Tour Championship. And when he missed the Colorado Junior Match Play while he was competing in the national Junior PGA Championship — where he placed 14th — 14-year-old sister Emma pulled through for an improbable victory for the girls title. Davis Bryant went on to be named the boys JGAC Player of the Year after also winning the 5A state high school title, placing ninth individually in the Junior America’s Cup and advancing to the match play round of 64 at his second U.S. Junior Amateur.”¨

5. CGA Vets Play Key Roles in Changes to Rules of Golf: Rules issues have played a major — and controversial — role in televised golf in recent years. And in the midst of all that, Rules modernization and simplification efforts by the USGA and the R&A have taken center stage. And at the core — or near the core, anyway — of those modernization efforts is the USGA Rules of Golf Committee. In 2017, three people who have worked for the CGA in the 21st century served on the committee — current executive director Ed Mate, along with former staffers Thomas Pagel (now a USGA employee) and Pete Lis (who works for the LPGA). That’s quite a Rules pedigree for the state association. READ MORE

4. Major Changes for Several Denver-Area Courses: This year turned out to be a big one regarding some of the oldest courses in the Denver metro area. On Nov. 1, 105-year-old City Park Golf Course closed until sometime in 2019, with the course being redesigned to accommodate a stormwater detention area which the city hopes will protect at-risk neighborhoods from flooding. World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin and Broomfield-based iCon Golf Studio were picked to redesign the course. (A rendering of the new City Park GC clubhouse is at left.)  Meanwhile, plans were approved so that another City of Denver course, Overland Park, will be closed for play for five weeks each September and early October from 2018-22 to host a three-day music festival. Then it was announced that Fitzsimons Golf Course, which dates back almost 100 years, would close for good in mid-December, making way for bioscience facilities and residential units.

3. Year to Remember for Clark: Although he previously came close on many occasions, former Highlands Ranch resident Wyndham Clark (left) didn’t score his first individual college victory until early in 2017. And that opened the floodgates for the then-University of Oregon senior, who posted three victories in his final 4 1/2 months as a collegian. One of those wins was a storybook ending as he prevailed at the Pac-12 Conference Championship in his home state, at Boulder Country Club, where he also won the 2010 CGA Amateur. With that strong final half of the season, Clark was named the 2017 Player of the Year in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Pac-12. That goes with the 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year honors he earned while at Oklahoma State. Clark ended up being one of three finalists for the national male college player of the year. Then since turning pro in June, Clark has made two cuts on the PGA Tour, including a 17th-place finish on Oct. 29 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. This month, he secured his playing card for 2018 on the Web.com Tour with a 23rd-place finish in the final stage of Q-school.

2. The Kupcho Show: Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster continues to up her game, as this year has demonstrated. The fact that she’s currently the No. 3-ranked women’s amateur in the world says plenty. The Wake Forest golfer came ever so close to becoming the first Coloradan to win the women’s individual NCAA Division I title, leading by two with two holes left before a triple bogey resulted in a runner-up finish. She quickly rebounded from that disappointment to qualify for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open — and went on to finish 21st overall in arguably the most presigious women’s golf tournament in the world (despite taking a 9 on her 35th hole). She also won her first national title, the Canadian Women’s Amateur, by five strokes. Other victories included her third straight in the CWGA Stroke Play, and two wins this calendar year in college golf, where she was a finalist for women’s player of the year honors. She also placed second for the second straight time in the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open. Recently, Kupcho was named one of the top 11 women’s amateur golfers in the world by Global Golf Post and played in a practice session leading up to the 2018 Curtis Cup, though she isn’t guaranteed a spot on the U.S. team. Kupcho is also seventh in the women’s rankings leading up to the spring selection of the inaugural 12-player U.S. women’s team that will compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup July 6-8 in France. The Palmer Cup is a Ryder Cup-like competition for college golfers in which Americans play an International squad. (Australians Robyn Choi and Kirsty Hodgkins, who compete for the University of Colorado, are ranked 11th and 15th among the International players.)

1. CGA/CWGA Unification: The CGA and CWGA each celebrated 100th anniversaries in recent years, and most of that time they’ve been separate — but complementary — organizations serving golf in Colorado. But they’ve now joined forces — while continuing to serve golf in the state — under the banner of the Colorado Golf Association, which will serve roughly 60,000 members. As part of efforts to streamline its relationship with state and regional golf associations, the USGA announced more than a year ago that, starting at the beginning of 2018, it will partner will just one full-service Allied Golf Association in each state or region. That directive led to this unification. The board of directors of the two associations have formed into one leadership team. Joe McCleary, the CGA president for the last two years, and Juliet Miner, who has served as the CWGA president for a similar time, will be co-presidents of the CGA for the coming year. The staff of the associations have also merged, based out of the current CGA offices in Greenwood Village.

(At top, pictured together earlier this year after formally reaching an agreement were McCleary and Miner along with CGA executive director Ed Mate and his CWGA counterpart, Laura Robinson, the new managing director of program integration for the CGA.)

As Mate, who will remain the CGA’s executive director moving forward, said earlier this year, “I’ve been working for the CGA for a long time — over 25 years in stops and starts — and to me it’s the most significant thing we’ve ever done because I think it’s going to position golf and all the things we represent for the next 100 years.” READ MORE

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Honorable Mention

— David Duval, once the top-ranked golfer in the world, moved from Cherry Hills Village to Atlantic Beach, Fla., in recent months. The 2001 British Open champion had lived in Colorado for more than a dozen years. He was born and raised in northeast Florida. Other Colorado-based tour players who have departed the Centennial State in 2016 and ’17 are Sam Saunders (also now in Atlantic Beach, Fla.) and Mark Wiebe (San Jose, Calif.), who’s now the director of instruction at San Jose Country Club. All three are returning to their roots as Duval and Saunders are native Floridians and Wiebe went to college at San Jose State.

— The drinks were on Peyton Manning — he who helped the Broncos claim their third Super Bowl title less than two years ago — after the former quarterback great made a hole-in-one at No. 12 at Cherry Hills Country Club on Nov. 25. For the record, the weapon of choice was a 5-iron from 196 yards.

— Colorado Springs resident Kaden Ford became just the fourth Coloradan in five years to qualify for the national finals of the Drive Chip & Putt Championship, hosted by Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on the eve of the Masters. Ford will be among 80 contestants on April 1. READ MORE

— This year marked a major historical milestone in Colorado golf as it was 50 years since Columbine Country Club hosted the 1967 PGA Championship. To this day, it’s the only PGA Tour major that’s been held at a Colorado site other than Cherry Hills Country Club. READ MORE

— 2016 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Kyler Dunkle scored his first individual college victory — and did it in his home state — as the University of Utah junior prevailed in the University of Colorado’s Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie in late September. Dunkle closed with a 64 at Colorado National. READ MORE

— Former CU golfer Sebastian Heisele posted two top-five finishes — a third and a fourth — in his rookie year on the European Tour. Then he shot a final-round 65 in Q-school to regain his card for the 2017-18 wraparound season.

— The Mile High Showdown World Long Drive event at Park Hill produced drives of 485 yards for the men and 406 yards for the women. READ MORE

— CU teammates Esther Lee and Brittany Fan shared stroke-play medalist honors in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before falling in the round of 16 of match play.

— University of Denver golfer Chris Korte won the CGA Match Play, completing a career sweep of major CGA titles. READ MORE

— Three Colorado courses were included among Golf Digest’s “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses” — the grandaddy of all the rankings as the first and the most respected. Making the grade were Castle Pines Golf Club (No. 42), Ballyneal (No. 50), and Cherry Hills Country Club (No 73). READ MORE

— The Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy — a popular initiative which promotes the use of caddies by paying the base caddie fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip — added a small pilot program in Grand Junction. READ MORE

— Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird surpassed $15 million in earnings after a decade on the PGA Tour.

— Coloradan Mackenzie Cohen helped Rhodes College in Memphis win the NCAA Division III women’s national title for the second straight year. READ MORE

— Denver’s Jonathan Marsico won his second straight Charlie Coe Invitational team event at Castle Pines. READ MORE

— Former Coloradan Open champion Ben Portie was named the women’s head coach in golf at the University of Northern Colorado. READ MORE

— Jackson Solem of Longmont becomes the first Coloradan since 2009 to win a match at the U.S. Junior Amateur.

— With a fourth-place showing, Colorado recorded its third top-four finish since 2011 at the Junior America’s Cup. READ MORE

— Coloradans competed for the final time as the USGA State Team Championships ended their run. READ MORE

— Littleton’s Jim Knous earned official money ($24,480) on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career by tying for 41st place after Monday qualifying for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. READ MORE

— A CU Evans Scholar alum honored the chapter’s “founding fathers” by endowing scholarships for Dick Campbell, Sonny Brinkerhoff and Homer McClintock. READ MORE
 

The statewide competitive golf season in Colorado largely shuts down after October and doesn’t crank up again until mid-spring, which makes this the perfect time for a little reflection on 2017.

As usual, there’s plenty that makes the season special — and that’s true even in a year when no large-scale spectator golf tournaments pay a visit. The U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs no doubt will be high on this list for 2018, but that’s for next fall.

Below are one observer’s top 10 list of highlights of the 2017 tournament season and for Colorado-based golfers.

It’s an understatement to say it’s not often that two Colorado residents — one man and one woman — are among the national college golfer of the year finalists, but 2017 was such a year. So it’s not surprising that our list starts with those two players.

1. The Kupcho Show: Jennifer Kupcho (pictured above) of Westminster continues to up her game, as this year has demonstrated. The fact that she’s currently the No. 2-ranked women’s amateur in the world says plenty. The Wake Forest golfer came ever so close to becoming the first Coloradan to win the women’s individual NCAA Division I title, leading by two with two holes left before a triple bogey led to a runner-up finish. She quickly rebounded from that disappointment to qualify for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open — and then to finish 21st overall in arguably the most presigious women’s golf tournament in the world. She also won her first national title, the Canadian Women’s Amateur. Other victories included her third straight in the CWGA Stroke Play, and two wins this calendar year in college golf. She also placed second for the second straight time in the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open.

2. Year to Remember for Clark: Although he previously came close on many occasions, Highlands Ranch resident Wyndham Clark (left) didn’t score his first individual college victory until early in 2017. And that opened the floodgates for the then-University of Oregon senior, who posted three victories in his final 4 1/2 months as a collegian. One of those wins was a storybook ending as he prevailed at the Pac-12 Conference Championship in his home state, at Boulder Country Club, where he also won the 2010 CGA Amateur. With that strong final half of the season, Clark was named the 2017 Player of the Year in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Pac-12. That goes with the 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year honors he earned while at Oklahoma State. Then since turning pro in June, Clark has made two cuts on the PGA Tour, including a 17th-place finish on Oct. 29 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. This fall, he’s also advanced to the final stage of Web.com Tour Q-school.

3. Bryant Slam: A junior golf oddity made this one of the top stories of the competitive season in the state. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado schedule features four major championships, and the Bryant siblings won their own version of a grand slam by combining to claim all four titles. Davis Bryant won all three in which he competed — the Colorado Junior PGA, the Colorado Junior Amateur and the JGAC Tour Championship. And when he missed the Colorado Junior Match Play while he was competing in the national Junior PGA Championship — where he placed 14th — 14-year-old sister Emma pulled through for an improbable victory for the girls title. Davis Bryant went on to be named the boys JGAC Player of the Year after also winning the 5A state high school title, placing ninth individually in the Junior America’s Cup and advancing to the match play round of 64 at his second U.S. Junior Amateur.

4. Kaye Wins 2nd Colorado Open, 21 Years After His First: Part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye (left) hadn’t competed in a tournament in three months, but that didn’t stop the former University of Colorado golfer from winning the CoBank Colorado Open shortly before his 47th birthday. Kaye, a two-time PGA Tour winner who plays little tournament golf anymore, sank a 9-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Green Valley Ranch to post a one-stroke victory and earn the $100,000 first prize. Kaye, the runner-up in 2016, finished at 23-under par, which tied the tournament’s scoring record, relative to par. He became just the seventh golfer to win at least two Colorado Open titles.

5. Jobe’s Champions Breakthrough: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe came very close to winning on the PGA Tour during his time on that circuit, four times placing second, including at the 2005 International at Castle Pines. Then on the PGA Tour Champions, he finished third three times leading up to this past summer. But in June in Des Moines, Iowa, Jobe scored a breakthrough victory, prevailing in the PGA Tour Champions’ Principal Charity Classic. Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99 before moving to Texas, also had a very strong record in senior majors in 2017, finishing second in the Senior Players, third in the U.S. Senior Open and eighth in the Senior PGA. He also matched the tournament record with a round of 62 at the U.S. Senior Open.

6. Workman’s Stellar Summer: Glenn Workman had a summer to remember in state and regional tournaments in 2017. The Pueblo West resident became the first player in history to win the CGA Amateur and Wyoming State Amateur in the same year. The University of Wyoming golfer also scored low-amateur honors at the Rocky Mountain Open and the Wyoming State Open.

7. Timely 59 for Sam Saunders: Former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders picked a good time for his career round. Saunders, grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, opened the Web.com Tour Championship with a 12-under-par 59 in Atlantic Beach, Fla., where he moved from Fort Collins last year. It was just the seventh round under 60 in the history of the Web.com circuit. More importantly, it led to a second-place finish in the Web Tour Championship, which secured Saunders’ fully-exempt PGA Tour card for 2017-18 after he had lost that status late in the summer.

8. Seniors Rule the Day: The Colorado PGA Professional Championship is the top tournament of the year for the Section. But this year’s event, held at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, turned into a showcase for the 50-and-over set as 50-year-old John Ogden (left) prevailed in a playoff over 64-year-old Rick Cole, who was ever so close to becoming the oldest winner of this event — by far. As it was, Ogden earned the $8,000 first prize, then promptly donated half of that total to the Colorado PGA REACH Foundation.

9. Age No Problem for Schalk: Hailey Schalk of Erie was only 15 years old during the 2017 golf season, but that didn’t keep her from becoming the girls Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Player of the Year. In 2017, Schalk became the first Coloradan to win a title at the prestigious AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. And in May, she became the first freshman since 2002 to win a girls state high school individual championship in Colorado. In addition, she captured the titles at both of the JGAC majors in which she competed. She also placed 14th individually while competing for Colorado at the Girls Junior America’s Cup. Schalk and Davis Bryant were recently named “Future Famers” by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

10. Longmont’s Nygren Inaugural Putting Champ: Longmont’s Cole Nygren, a pro for just a couple of months, earned a nice paycheck ($15,000) and plenty of publicity with his Halloween victory in the All Pro Championship at the inaugural Major Series of Putting in Las Vegas. The most eye-catching part of the win was the fact that it came against a field that featured PGA Tour veterans Brad Faxon, John Cook, Tommy Armour III and Colt Knost. Nygren, who place fourth in the CGA Amateur in August to conclude his amateur career, beat Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur champion, 3 and 2 in the match-play finale.

–– Honorable Mention: Colorado Springs resident Kaden Ford became just the fourth Coloradan in five years to qualify for the national finals of the Drive Chip & Putt Championship, hosted by Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on the eve of the Masters. Ford will be among 80 contestants on April 1. … Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton captured her fifth CWGA Senior Stroke Play title, with this being her third winning margin of at least 10 shots. She completed a sweep of the major CWGA senior titles (Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play) for the third time. … 2016 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Kyler Dunkle scored his first individual college victory — and did it in his home state — as the University of Utah junior prevailed in the University of Colorado’s Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie in late September. Dunkle closed with a 64 at Colorado National. … Another former CGA Player of the Year, David Oraee, claimed the title in the Wyoming State Open, posting his first professional victory. … Colorado State University’s men’s golf team won its own Ram Masters Invitational team championship for the fourth consecutive year. … Former CU golfer Sebastian Heisele has posted two top-five finishes — a third and a fourth — in his rookie year on the European Tour. … The Colorado PGA defeated the CGA/CWGA amateurs — a team playing without college-age golfers for the first time — in the final Colorado Cup Matches that will be held until 2019. … The University of Denver women’s golf team won two team titles in a span of just 11 days. … The Mile High Showdown World Long Drive event at Park Hill produced drives of 485 yards for the men and 406 yards for the women. … CU teammates Esther Lee and Brittany Fan shared stroke-play medalist honors in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before falling in the round of 16 of match play.

The cup runneth over in the way of story angles for the 53rd CoBank Colorado Open.

After all:

— A two-time PGA Tour winner (Jonathan Kaye) — who happens to be a part-time Boulder resident — leads by two through Saturday’s third round at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.

— A Coloradan hasn’t won the state open since 2013, but three of the top five players going into the final round — Kaye, Jacob Lestishen of Lone Tree and Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village — are residents of the Centennial State.

— An amateur hasn’t won the overall Colorado Open title since Brian Guetz pulled off the feat in 1994. In the first 52 Opens, only Gary Longfellow (1974) and Guetz are champions as amateurs. But Staino, a Colorado State University golfer, is contending for the honor after a third-round 8-under-par 64 left him two strokes behind Kaye.

— And a year after Neil Johnson was the first player to earn $100,000 for winning the Colorado Open, he gave himself a chance for another huge payday on Sunday. The Phoenix resident shot a 9-under-par 63 on Saturday — the low round of the tournament — to vault into second place with Staiano, Lestishen and Oscar Fraustro of Mexico.

Kaye, the former University of Colorado golfer who last played a tournament three months ago, is seeking his first tourney victory since his second PGA Tour win, the 2004 FBR Open.

“I might have won a skin somewhere,” Kaye (pictured above) said with a hint of a smile. “Other than that, I don’t think so. I got a couple of skins actually.”

Kaye, who will turn 47 on Aug. 2, shot a bogey-free round for the second time in three days, pitching to inside of a foot on No. 18 for his seventh birdie of the day. That left the 2016 Colorado Open runner-up at 17-under-par 199. With scores of 67-67-65, Kaye has posted seven consecutive sub-par rounds at GVR.

If Kaye — or Johnson — would win on Sunday, he would become the seventh player to claim at least two Colorado Open titles, joining Dave Hill (4), Bill Loeffler (3), Bill Bisdorf (3), Derek Tolan (2), Guetz (2) and Jim Blair (2).

And this time around, for the second time, there’s the $100,000 first prize to go with it — except for an amateur like Staiano.

“Everybody wants a hundred grand, right?” Kaye said. “Nobody wants the 10 or 20 (thousand that goes to the third- or second-place finishers). There’s not many times in your life where you can have a shot that can sway that much. I’m sure everyone is in that mindset that they want that rather than the other checks.”

And, mind you, this coming from a guy who has won more than $10 million in his PGA Tour career.

“There’s still another day, so I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing — try to birdie every hole,” Kaye said. “I’m pleased with everything so far and hopefully I can just do it another day. (But) anybody here can shoot 10 under and come out of nowhere. You’ve got to be on guard.”

Kaye’s closest pursuers through 54 holes are all two back, at 201, with Johnson shooting a 63 on Saturday, Staiano a 64, Fraustro a 67, and Lestishen a 68.

For Staiano (left), the 8-under 64 was the lowest tournament-round score he’s ever shot, relative to par. The two-time U.S. Amateur qualifier made an eagle on the ninth hole Saturday after lipping out what would have been a double eagle from 290 yards with a 3-wood. The 20-year-old added seven birdies and one bogey in round 3.

“I like this course,” he said. “It really sets up well for me. It sets up well for the longer hitters. I feel like I can attack almost all the holes. Knowing there’s a lot of birdies out there and I can score makes me feel really comfortable.”

Last year, Staiano likewise started with three straight rounds in the 60s, and he was on pace for low-amateur honors. But a final-round 77 opened the door for then-CSU teammate Jimmy Makloski to earn the low-am trophy.

“What happened last year when I had a 3-4 shot lead on Jimmy going into the last round and blew that — that was still in the back of my mind” going into this week, Staiano said.

But the mindset changes now that Staiano is just two shots out of the overall lead. (He’s ahead of second-place Chris Thayer of Golden by seven in the low-amateur race.)

“These amateurs in the field are still awesome and they could do what I did today (on Sunday),” Staiano said. “But obviously I’m trying to win the tournament, see if I can do something special. If I can get that done, great. If I can get low am, that’s awesome too.

“Too bad I can’t take the 100 grand (with a potential win on Sunday) but it still would be fun to put my hands on the trophy. I know I can compete with these guys. I’m going to be doing it for a living in 1 1/2 or two years.”

For the record, Staiano will go into Sunday having played his previous 22 holes in 11 under par. He finished round 2 on Friday with a hole-out eagle from a greenside bunker on No. 18.

For his part, Lestishen (left) followed up his Friday 64 with a 68 Saturday that included five birdies and a bogey.

As for Johnson, as good as he was last year in winning the Colorado Open (64-69-68-64), Saturday marked his best round at GVR. He racked up nine birdies in a bogey-free day and ended up just one off the course record.

“I thought, ‘Hey, it’s moving day’ when I was warming up,” the 35-year-old said. “It’s not going to be very windy and with rain overnight, the greens are going to be soft. Maybe I felt like I could be a little more aggressive. And I felt like birdies would be out there. Like year was like this all four days; the wind didn’t blow. Let’s see if I can get that going, and I did today.”

Should Johnson win today, he’d become the first back-to-back winner of the Colorado Open since Hill in 1976-77. Bisdorf won the first two Opens, in 1964-65.

“At least I’ve fought my way back into the mix (with Saturday’s 63),” Johnson said. “Let’s see if I can do another miracle-type thing as I did last year.”

Johnson won an event last week on the Dakotas Tour, earning $10,500. But mainly this year, thanks to his $100,000 Colorado Open payday in 2016, he’s been trying to Monday qualify for PGA Tour events. So far, he’s made it into the Puerto Rico Open and the Travelers Championship, though he didn’t make the cut at either site.

“Simply put, (winning $100,000 last year at GVR) literally overnight changed my career,” Johnson said. “‘Let’s go for the big time. Let’s go for PGA and Web qualifiers.’ It’s been a lot of fun and rewarding — you win the lottery essentially. You’re freed up for a year.”

Notable: Tee times for Sunday’s final round will begin at 7:30 a.m., with the leaders (Kaye, Staiano and Johnson) teeing off at 9:36 a.m. … Overall, on the line Sunday will be $250,000, with the aforementioned $100,000 going to the low professional/winner. … Kaye and Johnson are two of seven former Colorado Open champions who made the 36-hole cut, joining Derek Tolan (currently at 207), Scott Petersen (211), Ian Davis (211), Ben Portie (214) and Zahkai Brown (217).

For all the scores from the Colorado Open, CLICK HERE.
 

But two-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Kaye, a part-time resident of Boulder, was a notable exception. The 1996 Colorado Open champion, who finished second last year, shot a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 and shares third place after day 1 of the $250,000 tournament.

Bryan Fox of Roswell, Ga., and Trevor Murphy of Saint Johnsbury, Vt., both of whom had to qualify to get in the championship, fired 6-under-par 66s to share the lead on Thursday. Murphy, like Kaye, didn’t have a bogey on his card, while Fox recorded seven birdies and one bogey.

With lightning causing a two-hour delay on Thursday, some players didn’t complete round 1 and will do so early Friday morning.

Kaye, who will turn 47 on Aug. 2, was part of a 10-way tie at 67. The next-best Coloradans after day 1 were Steven Kupcho of Westminster, a former CGA Player of the Year and the older brother of local women’s golf sensation Jennifer Kupcho; and amateurs Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village and Colorado State University; and Jack Cummings of Arvada. All three posted first-round 68s and are tied for 13th place.

Staiano and Cummings share the low-amateur lead with three rounds remaining.

The field will be cut to the low 60 playes and ties after Friday’s second round.

The winner — or low professional — on Sunday will receive $100,000.

For all the scores from GVR, CLICK HERE.