One of just 80 junior golfers overall to earn a spot in the Finals at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia — the home of next week’s Masters — Ford finished sixth out of 10 competitors in the Boys 14-15 division. That ties the best showing ever by a Coloradan in the event.

Ford (pictured) was just the fourth Coloradan to advance to the DCP National Finals in the first five years of the championship. Luke Trujillo, a teammate of Ford at Discovery Canyon High School, competed at Augusta National in 2016, along with fellow Coloradans Arielle Keating and Caitlyn Chin. Trujillo, who went on to win the 4A state high school individual title in the fall of 2016, and Keating finished sixth in their respective age/gender divisions two years ago, while Chin was 10th.

“It was definitely inspiring to watch someone I know on TV and it was awesome to play with a past DCP finalist during the high school season this (past) fall,” Ford said of Trujillo in his DCP bio.

Ford placed seventh in the drive portion of the contest (235 yards), second in the chipping (5 feet, 9 inches aggregate distance from the hole) and sixth in the putting (6 feet aggregate distance from the hole). That gave him 18 points overall. The putting portion of the event was held on the 18th green at Augusta National.

Brendan Valdes of Orlando, Fla., won a putting playoff to claim the title after posting a 23-point total.

Each competitor was scored based on the longest of two drives (provided it’s inbounds), and the cumulative proximity to the hole of two chips and of two putts from different distances. The kids with the highest combined scores in driving, chipping and putting won the overall titles.

Ford, a 15-year-old high school freshman, had advanced through three previous competitions to earn a spot in the National Finals. He competed in the Local event at The Club at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs — his home course — and in the Sub-Regional at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, then he won the Regionals at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

During Sunday’s telecast, the Golf Channel ran a three-minute feature segment on Ford, who has battled epilepsy, asthma and serious food allergies but controls those issues with medication. To watch that segment, which also aired last month on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, CLICK HERE. 

Golf Channel also showed Ford hitting a drive, a chip (after which he gave a fist-pump) and two putts on Sunday.

Ford, who started playing golf at age 5, owns an 8.2 Handicap Index. It’s his first trip to the Masters site.

On Sunday, he wore an orange shirt and hat — true to what he wrote on his DCP bio.

“The brighter my clothes, the better I play,” he wrote. “I also have multiple outfits that I have won in and consider them lucky.”

In all, 80 kids qualified for the DCP National Finals — 10 in each of four age groups for boys and girls.

The Golf Channel televised five hours of the DCP National Finals on Sunday. Among those on hand to watch the festivities were major champions Gary Player, Annika Sorenstam, Bubba Watson, Nick Faldo, Nancy Lopez, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Mark O’Meara and Martin Kaymer, along with former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“This is very inspiring,” Sorenstam, a 72-time winner on the LPGA Tour, said on the Golf Channel telecast.

“I don’t think I could have done this at that age,” O’Meara added.

The Drive, Chip and Putt is a joint initiative of the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America designed to help grow the game.

For all the results from the DCP National Finals on Sunday, CLICK HERE.

It was the year of the “Bryant Slam”; that a Coloradan finally won the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior; that a Coloradan qualified for the Drive Chip & Putt finals at Augusta National; that two children of Colorado PGA professionals won Colorado Junior PGA titles — and JGAC Player of the Year honors to boot; that a Coloradan placed fourth at Pebble Beach while teaming with a PGA Tour Champions player; and that a boy and a girl won every JGAC major in which they competed — along with state high school titles.

And that’s just for starters.

Those are some of the major highlights of the year in Colorado junior golf and in the second season of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado. The JGAC, founded by the CGA and Colorado PGA with the support of the CWGA, held its season-ending awards banquet on Sunday night at Cherry Hills Country Club after the conclusion of the JGAC Tour Championship.

Let’s expand a bit on the aforementioned 2017 junior highlights for Colorado:

–– Bryant Slam: No player has yet completed the JGAC Slam by winning all four Colorado junior major titles in the same year, but trophies from all four of the 2017 major tournaments will find themselves in the same house in Aurora. That’s because Davis and Emma Bryant (pictured) kept it all in the family in completing the Bryant Slam. Davis Bryant won the three JGAC majors in which he competed, but missed the third leg — the Colorado Junior Match Play — as it was held at the same time as the national Junior PGA Championship, where he finished 14th. But younger sister Emma pulled off the improbable by winning the girls title at the Junior Match Play. Then Davis finished things off for the family by earning the JGAC Tour Championship on Sunday at Cherry Hills.

— AJGA Colorado Win by a Coloradan: No Coloradan won either the boys or girls title in the first two years of the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, but the drought ended in 2017 as Hailey Schalk (left) of Erie rallied to edge fellow Coloradan Charlotte Hillary for the championship. The AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior features one of the toughest — if not the toughest — junior golf fields in the state each year as many out-of-staters compete.

–– Augusta-Bound: In the first four years of the Drive Chip & Putt Championship, only three Coloradans had qualified for the national finals that are nationally televised the Sunday before the Masters at Augusta National. All three — Luke Trujillo, Arielle Keating and Caitlyn Chin — competed in Georgia in 2016. But Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs made it four last month when he won a regional qualifier at Southern Hills in Tulsa for the right to compete in the Boys 14-15 national finals in Augusta on April 1, 2018. Ford advanced through Local, Sub-Regional and Regional Qualifying to earn a finals berth at the site of the Masters.

— Kids of Colorado PGA Pros Rise to Top: Back in June at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy, it seemed altogether appropriate that Davis Bryant of Aurora and Hailey Schalk of Erie would win the Colorado Junior PGA Championship. After all, both are the children of Colorado PGA professionals — Matt Bryant, the general manager at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, and Matt Schalk, the GM at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, respectively.

— Nothing But Wins in Majors: Following up on the item above, Bryant and Schalk won the boys and girls JGAC Player of the Year honors, respectively, after seasons in which they prevailed at every major in which they competed. We detailed earlier how Bryant went 3-for-3 in claiming titles at the Colorado Junior PGA, Colorado Junior Amateur and JGAC Tour Championhip. And Schalk came out on top in the two majors in which she played, the Colorado Junior PGA and the JGAC Tour Championship, after having won the 2016 Colorado Junior Match Play. They’re the only two players to have won three junior majors since the JGAC debuted for the 2016 season. And, for good measure, both Bryant and Schalk claimed state high school titles in 2017, with Schalk being the first freshman since 2002 to win a Colorado girls state high school championship.

–– Weekend to Remember at Pebble: Last month, Denver resident Mateo Manzanares not only had the pleasure of playing one of the best courses in the world — Pebble Beach Golf Links — but to do it while competing in the pro-junior portion of a PGA Tour Champions event, the PURE Insurance Championship. The First Tee of Denver representative not only played, but a couple of his shots were aired by the Golf Channel and — best of all — he and Champions player Scott McCarron were in the running for the pro-junior title, finishing fourth out of more than 80 teams.

The list of 2017 Colorado junior golf highlights could go on and on, but let’s cut to the chase: Here are some of the award winners that were named at Sunday night’s JGAC awards banquet at Cherry Hills:

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
— Hailey Schalk of Erie: Notched JGAC major victories at the Colorado Junior PGA and JGAC Tour Championship, along with wins at the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, 3A state high school championship, and a JGAC Tour event. The 15-year-old also finished 14th individually while competing for Colorado at the Girls Junior America’s Cup.
— Davis Bryant of Aurora: Won three JGAC majors — the Colorado Junior PGA, Colorado Junior Amateur and JGAC Tour Championship. The 17-year-old also captured titles at two other JGAC Tour events and the 5A state high school meet. The Colorado State University-bound golfer finished ninth individually while playing for Colorado at the Junior America’s Cup and 14th at the national Boys Junior PGA Championship. He also advanced to the match play round of 64 at his second U.S. Junior Amateur.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYERS
— Blake Schneiter of Grand Junction: Scoring average went from 87.5 in 2016 JGAC events to 80.2 this year.
— Timbre Shehee of Mead: Scoring average dropped from 96.3 in 2016 JGAC tournaments to 85.4 this year.

14-18 POINTS CHASE CHAMPIONS
Boys: Mario Dino of Denver
Girls: Katelyn Lehigh of Loveland

11-13 POINTS CHASE CHAMPIONS
Boys: Maxwell Lange of Golden
Girls: Kaylee Chen of Highlands Ranch

10 & UNDER POINTS CHASE CHAMPIONS
Boys: Andre Dumonteil of Centennial
Girls: Ashleigh Wilson of Highlands Ranch

TOUR ALL-STAR TEAM (left)
Barrett Jones of Eagle
Julia Baroth of Denver
Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch
Charlotte Hillary of Englewood
Jackson Solem of Longmont
Caroline Jordaan of Denver
Kyle Pearson of Highlands Ranch
Lauren Lehigh of Loveland
Davis Bryant of Aurora
Hailey Schalk of Erie

14-18 SERIES ALL-STAR TEAM (second left)
Tyler Tyson of Arvada
Brooke Kramer of Aurora
Beam Boonta of Centennial
Maxine Choi of Colorado Springs
Zachary Snow of Denver
Merielle Gojo of Cherry Hills Village
Wes Weber of Johnstown
Alyssa Chin of Greenwood Village
Mario Dino of Denver
Katelyn Lehigh of Loveland

11-13 ALL-STAR TEAM (third left)
Blake Sullivan of Castle Pines
Gisella Lagrimas of Castle Rock
Jake Chesler of Firestone
Hadley Ashton of Erie
Hunter Swanson of Denver
Abigail Aeschleman of Highlands Ranch
Traejan Andrews of Windsor
Sofia Choi of Littleton
Maxwell Lange of Golden
Kaylee Chen of Highlands Ranch

10 & UNDER ALL-STAR TEAM (fourth left)
Tyler Long of Evergreen
Addison Hines of Arvada
Kaden Devenport of Windsor
Taylor Wilson of Highlands Ranch
Landon Houska of Fort Collins
Maddie Makino of Parker
Frank Lockwood of Meridian in Englewood
Caitlyn Chin of Greenwood Village
Andre Dumonteil of Centennial
Ashleigh Wilson of Highlands Ranch

ACADEMIC ALL-STARS
Ewan Albright
Traejan Andrews
Ty Andrews
Nick Aranez
Will Balliet
Brynn Balliet
Jamie Banghart
Julia Baroth
Katie Berrian
Caleb Blackburn
Andrew Blair
Dominick Bonfiglio
Bead Boonta
Beam Boonta
Will Branan
Davis Bryant
Emma Bryant
Logan Byler
Skylar Cain
Qwenton Caldwell
Will Chadwick
Alyssa Chin
Ben Chin
Caitlyn Chin
Ella Chism
Sophia Choi
Noah Clough
Scott Cooke
Melissa Cooke
Logan Cox
Jake Daniel
Mario Dino
Jake Dost
Ryan Falender
Nolan Farrar
Ty Findlow
Hunter Flowers
Oscar Ford
Kaden Ford
Nicholas Formby
Jaxon Franklin
Walker Franklin
Jude Gasser
Avery Gibson
Devin Gilbreath
TJ Giordano
Freddie Gluck
Merielle Gojo
Jonas Graham
Srivalli Guha
Benjamin Harding
Jack Hastings
Booth Hayes
Max Heupel
Ryder Heuston
TJ Hicks
Charlotte Hillary
Dawson Holmes
Clara Hosman
Clint Hosman
Landon Houska
Brooke Hudson
Mia Huerta
Keaton Hulen
Chris Jonell
Barrett Jones
Trey Jones
Caroline Jordaan
Marie Jordaan
Haena Kim
Cameron Kirke
Jackson Klutznick
Mac Konrad
Ashley Kozlowski
Coleson Krantz
Luke Kusserow
Drew Laake
Amalei Lagrimas
Gisella Lagrimas
John Lamb
Max Lange
Matt LeFebre
Katelyn Lehigh
Lauren Lehigh
Maddie Li
Anthony Ligrani
Frank Lockwood
Davis Long
Chase Luoma
Steel Luoma
Campbell McFadden
Sophie Miller
Tyler Mulligan
Roger  Nakagawa
Elise Nelson
Brittlyn O’Dell
Liam O’Halloran
Anju Ogi
Kota Ogi
Yusuke Ogi
Grant Oltrogge
Allison Palmer
Jacob Pendergast
Eva Pett
Livia Pett
Jack Pevny
Nicholas Pevny
Carlo Pine
Shelby Poynter
Andrew Rankin
Kailer Rundiks
Morgan Ryan
Ryan Sangchompuphen
Hailey Schalk
Helina Seyoum
TJ Shehee
Timbre Shehee
Jack Siler
Bhitchayoot Sima-Aree
Trinity Stuart
Blake Sullivan
Hunter Swanson
Ethan Tartaglia
Sam Taylor
Jack Tickle
Luke Travins
Luke Trujillo
Lauren Tucker
Taylor Tucker
Lauren Veldhuizen
Thomas Volpe
Sean Wallace
Reed Wearner
Wesley Weber
Kelsey  Webster
Avery Weil
Jake Welch
Brock Whitt
Ashleigh Wilson
Taylor Wilson
Garrett Wood
Max Zadvorny
Jessica Zapf
Ben Zimmerman
 

Ford, who on Saturday became just the fourth Coloradan ever to qualify for the DC&P Nationals, is a high school golf teammate of defending 4A state individual champion Luke Trujillo, who went to the Nationals at Augusta in the spring of 2016.

That should give Ford some insights.

The high school freshman overcame the DC&P Regional Qualifying hurdle on Saturday at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

With just the winner — out of 10 competitors — in each age/gender division of the Regionals advancing to Nationals on April 1, 2018, Ford won the Boys 14-15 competition. He scored 67 points in the drive portion of the contest, 17 in the chipping and 55 in the putting. That gave him 139 points overall, three more than runner-up Carsen Silliman.

The only other Coloradans who have made it to DC&P Nationals in the first five years of the competition are Trujillo, Arielle Keating and Caitlyn Chin, all of whom went in April of 2016. The Nationals are televised from Augusta by the Golf Channel.

Ford had to survive Local, Sub-Regional and Regional Qualifying to advance. In the Sub-Regional at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora last month, he finished second to Joshua Gallegos of Belen, N.M.

Ford was one of 20 Colorado residents who were competing in the Regionals at Southern Hills. None of the others advanced to Nationals, but here’s how all 20 fared on Saturday, with their scores and placing (Note: The top finisher in each division advances to Nationals. Points are for Drive-Chip-Putt–Total):

Boys 14-15
1. (out of 10 competitors) Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs 67-17-55–139
4. Hunter Khan of Highlands Ranch 42-13-65–120
8. Joshua Stouder of Grand Junction 42-13-36–91

Girls 14-15
3. (out of 10 competitors) Emma Bryant of Aurora 56-17-31–104
4. Alyssa Chin of Greenwood Village 36-26-41–103
5. Sofia Choi of Littleton 36-13-51–100
10. Rachel Penzenstadler of Centennial 34-3-31–68

Boys 12-13
4. (out of 10 competitors)Yusuke Ogi of Arvada 58-5-31–94
5. Wesley Erling of Arvada 18-30-41–89

Girls 12-13
3. (out of 10 competitors) Abigail Aeschleman of Highlands Ranch 47-27-41–115
4. Kaylee Chen of Highlands Ranch 39-17-45–101

Boys 10-11
3. (out of 10 competitors) Kaden Devenport of Windsor 46-3-50–99
7. Matai Naqica of Centennial 19-16-45–80
10. Tucker Jaffe of Vail 0-3-21–24

Girls 10-11
10. (out of 10 competitors) Macy Kleve of Windsor 30-4-17–51

Boys 7-9
2. (out of 10 competitors) Max Riley of Fort Collins 35-7-50–92
8. Ashton Edwards of Boulder 15-12-27–54
9. Collen Todd of Golden 20-3-27–50

Girls 7-9
4. (out of 10 competitors) Adrielle Miller of Highlands Ranch 15-18-36–69
6. Allie Smith of Aurora 8-22-35–65

In all, 40 boys and 40 girls will compete in the Nationals of the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship, which is sponsored by the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America. The competition is limited to players 7-15.

Each participant in the DCP is awarded points for each skill based on his or her performance, with the points added together for an overall score.