Three Local Qualifying tournaments will be held again this year in Colorado: Monday (May 9) at The Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster, May 15 at the East Course at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, and May 17 at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins. Collindale is serving as a Local Qualifying site for the 13th consecutive year.

At each Colorado venue, about 84 competitors will vie for five spots in the 36-hole Sectional Qualifying, set for June 6 at 10 sites in the U.S. From there, the top finishers will advance to the Open itself.

In all, 111 U.S. Open Local Qualifiers will be held. A total of 9,877 entries were sent in for this year’s championship.

At the Colorado sites, previous U.S. Open competitors in the field include Leif Olson and Jason Preeo (Heritage at Westmoor) and Derek Tolan, Steve Irwin, Nick Mason and Wil Collins (all at The Broadmoor).

Among those entered in Colorado who advanced to Sectionals last year were Nathaniel Goddard, Greg Johnson, Michael Schoolcraft, Jim Knous, Cameron Harrell and Andrew Romano (all at Heritage at Westmoor this year); Tolan, Eric Bradley and Jake Staiano (all at The Broadmoor this year); and Parker Edens (Collindale this year).

For tee times, click on the following: Heritage at Westmoor, The Broadmoor, Collindale.
 

But that’s exactly what’s happening next week, weather-permitting. And if early-week conditions do cause rescheduling, things could be even more condensed.

As things stand, 18-hole U.S. Open Local Qualifying will be held at two sites on Monday (the Broadmoor Golf Club’s West Course in Colorado Springs and Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster) and one on Tuesday (Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins). Then on Wednesday, it’s back to Heritage at Westmoor for 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying.

For the record, Heritage at Westmoor is one of just three courses nationwide that will host both U.S. Women’s Open Sectionals and U.S. Open Locals this year.

The stakes are high for the players competing. The top two performers over two rounds on Wednesday will earn spots in arguably the top tournament in women’s golf, the U.S. Women’s Open, which this year will be contested at Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 course in North Carolina June 19-22.

The U.S. Open will be held at the same site the previous week — June 12-15 — but the route there is more involved for most entrants. The 18-hole Local tournaments are the first of two stages of the qualifying process. Those who overcome the Local hurdle will play in one of a dozen 36-hole Sectionals, with the 10 qualifiers in the U.S. scheduled for June 2.

All told, a record 10,127 golfers sent in entries for the U.S. Open, while 1,702 players — also the most ever — signed up for the U.S. Women’s Open.

Given the stakes involved, next week’s qualifying events draw some of the best fields of the year for Colorado-based tournaments.

Here’s a brief rundown on each of the four qualifiers in Colorado:

— U.S. Open Local Qualifying Monday at the Broadmoor’s West Course: As of Friday, the field at the Broadmoor numbered 84, with the top five finishers advancing to Sectionals.

Two-time HealthOne Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan (pictured) of Highlands Ranch and Tom Glissmeyer of Colorado Springs are two of the more notable entrants, having each qualified for the U.S. Open as 16-year-olds (Tolan in 2002 and Glissmeyer in 2003). Both made it to Sectionals from qualifying at the West Course last year, but came up short of making it back to the Open itself.

Other competitors at the Broadmoor this year are Shane Bertsch of Parker, a longtime PGA/Web.com Tour player who competed in the U.S. Open in 1998 and 2013 (he won a Sectional qualifying tournament last year); former CGA Player of the Year Steve Irwin of Arvada, a contestant in the 2011 U.S. Open; and Air Force Academy senior Kyle Westmoreland, one of the co-medalists in Local Qualifying at the West Course last year.

— U.S. Open Local Qualifying Monday at Heritage at Westmoor: This qualifier also features 84 players vying for five spots in the Sectionals.

The field here includes reigning HealthOne Colorado Open champion Zahkai Brown of Arvada; 2013 CGA Match Play winner David Oraee of Greeley; Keith Humerickhouse of Eagle, a former playing professional who has won the last four CGA Mid-Amateurs; University of Colorado freshman Jeremy Paul, a second-team All-Pac-12 Conference selection this year; Scott Petersen of Parker, who won a Web.com Tour event and the Colorado Open in 2000; and Caine Fitzgerald of Parker, who qualified for the 2013 PGA Championship.

— U.S. Open Local Qualifying Tuesday at Collindale: Eighthy-three players are signed up for this site, with the top four finishers moving on to Sectionals.

Former PGA Tour player Leif Olson of Golden will compete at Collindale, along with former HealthOne Colorado Open champion Nathan Lashley of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Also in this field are Jason Preeo of Highlands Ranch, who made the cut in the 2010 U.S. Open and who advanced to Sectionals last year; 2010 CGA Public Links champion Riley Arp, who likewise made the grade at the Collindale Local Qualifying in 2013; and several college golfers from Colorado State and the University of Northern Colorado (Cameron Harrell, Parker Edens, Steven Kupcho and Ben Krueger among them).

— U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying Wednesday at Heritage at Westmoor: This field will include 57 players who will battle it out over 36 holes for just two Women’s Open berths. Westmoor will be one of 24 Sectional sites internationally.

The great majority of entrants at this site are amateurs — 45, to be exact. Those include some of the top players at Colorado-based Division I universities — including Norwegians Tonje Daffinrud and Mariell Bruun from the University of Denver, and Jennifer Coleman of the University of Colorado — as well as two-time CWGA Player of the Year Somin Lee, who competes for Pepperdine. Daffinrud is ranked No. 15 among the nation’s women’s college golfers by Golfstat.

The four players who qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Amateur last year — Jennifer Kupcho, Coleman, Jennifer Yang and Hannah Wood — are also in the field.

Some of the top contenders for the state high school titles, which are set for May 19-20, are likewise competing at Westmoor: Wood, Kupcho, Calli Ringsby and Sydney Merchant.

Among the professionals entered is former HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open champion Erin Houtsma. Also playing is Kayla Riede, medalist in the last two U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links qualifiers held in Colorado.
 

But that’s exactly what’s happening next week, weather-permitting. And if early-week conditions do cause rescheduling, things could be even more condensed.

As things stand, 18-hole U.S. Open Local Qualifying will be held at two sites on Monday (the Broadmoor Golf Club’s West Course in Colorado Springs and Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster) and one on Tuesday (Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins). Then on Wednesday, it’s back to Heritage at Westmoor for 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying.

For the record, Heritage at Westmoor is one of just three courses nationwide that will host both U.S. Women’s Open Sectionals and U.S. Open Locals this year.

The stakes are high for the players competing. The top two performers over two rounds on Wednesday will earn spots in arguably the top tournament in women’s golf, the U.S. Women’s Open, which this year will be contested at Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 course in North Carolina June 19-22.

The U.S. Open will be held at the same site the previous week — June 12-15 — but the route there is more involved for most entrants. The 18-hole Local tournaments are the first of two stages of the qualifying process. Those who overcome the Local hurdle will play in one of a dozen 36-hole Sectionals, with the 10 qualifiers in the U.S. scheduled for June 2.

All told, a record 10,127 golfers sent in entries for the U.S. Open, while 1,702 players — also the most ever — signed up for the U.S. Women’s Open.

Given the stakes involved, next week’s qualifying events draw some of the best fields of the year for Colorado-based tournaments.

Here’s a brief rundown on each of the four qualifiers in Colorado:

— U.S. Open Local Qualifying Monday at the Broadmoor’s West Course: As of Friday, the field at the Broadmoor numbered 84, with the top five finishers advancing to Sectionals.

Two-time HealthOne Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch and Tom Glissmeyer of Colorado Springs are two of the more notable entrants, having each qualified for the U.S. Open as 16-year-olds (Tolan in 2002 and Glissmeyer in 2003). Both made it to Sectionals from qualifying at the West Course last year, but came up short of making it back to the Open itself.

Other competitors at the Broadmoor this year are Shane Bertsch of Parker, a longtime PGA/Web.com Tour player who competed in the U.S. Open in 1998 and 2013 (he won a Sectional qualifying tournament last year); former CGA Player of the Year Steve Irwin of Arvada, a contestant in the 2011 U.S. Open; and Air Force Academy senior Kyle Westmoreland, one of the co-medalists in Local Qualifying at the West Course last year.

— U.S. Open Local Qualifying Monday at Heritage at Westmoor: This qualifier also features 84 players vying for five spots in the Sectionals.

The field here includes reigning HealthOne Colorado Open champion Zahkai Brown of Arvada; 2013 CGA Match Play winner David Oraee of Greeley; Keith Humerickhouse of Eagle, a former playing professional who has won the last four CGA Mid-Amateurs; University of Colorado freshman Jeremy Paul, a second-team All-Pac-12 Conference selection this year; Scott Petersen of Parker, who won a Web.com Tour event and the Colorado Open in 2000; and Caine Fitzgerald of Parker, who qualified for the 2013 PGA Championship.

— U.S. Open Local Qualifying Tuesday at Collindale: Eighthy-three players are signed up for this site, with the top four finishers moving on to Sectionals.

Former PGA Tour player Leif Olson of Golden will compete at Collindale, along with former HealthOne Colorado Open champion Nathan Lashley of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Also in this field are Jason Preeo of Highlands Ranch, who made the cut in the 2010 U.S. Open and who advanced to Sectionals last year; 2010 CGA Public Links champion Riley Arp, who likewise made the grade at the Collindale Local Qualifying in 2013; and several college golfers from Colorado State and the University of Northern Colorado (Cameron Harrell, Parker Edens, Steven Kupcho and Ben Krueger among them).

— U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying Wednesday at Heritage at Westmoor: This field will include 57 players who will battle it out over 36 holes for just two Women’s Open berths. Westmoor will be one of 24 Sectional sites internationally.

The great majority of entrants at this site are amateurs — 45, to be exact. Those include some of the top players at Colorado-based Division I universities — including Norwegians Tonje Daffinrud (pictured) and Mariell Bruun from the University of Denver, and Jennifer Coleman of the University of Colorado — as well as two-time CWGA Player of the Year Somin Lee, who competes for Pepperdine. Daffinrud is ranked No. 15 among the nation’s women’s college golfers by Golfstat.

The four players who qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Amateur last year — Jennifer Kupcho, Coleman, Jennifer Yang and Hannah Wood — are also in the field.

Some of the top contenders for the state high school titles, which are set for May 19-20, are likewise competing at Westmoor: Wood, Kupcho, Calli Ringsby and Sydney Merchant.

Among the professionals entered is former HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open champion Erin Houtsma. Also playing is Kayla Riede, medalist in the last two U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links qualifiers held in Colorado.
 

Though there have certainly been significant golf tournaments already held in Colorado in 2013 — including many involving girls high school golfers — the ball really gets rolling in the coming few weeks.

The CJGA tournament season begins this weekend (April 27-28) in Pueblo and the CGA championship campaign starts with the Four-Ball and Senior Four-Ball next weekend (May 3-5).

But by far the most notable tournaments in Colorado over the next few weeks are the three Local Qualifying stops for the U.S. Open. “Locals” are the first of two qualifying stages for the second major championship of the year. After the top Local finishers advance to Sectionals, the best performers at 13 36-hole Sectional tournaments earn spots in the Open itself, which is set for June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

The application process for the U.S. Open closed on Wednesday (April 24) and the USGA announced on Thursday that it received a record 9,860 entrants. Most will compete at one of 111 Local Qualifying sites in the U.S. between May 3 and 16.

A total of 228 entrants are scheduled to tee it up at one of the three Colorado-based Local qualifiers: May 6 at the West Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (60 players), and May 13 at the Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster (84) and Collindale in Fort Collins (84). Collindale has hosted U.S. Open Local Qualifying for more than a decade, according to the USGA.

The fields in Colorado include numerous former U.S. Open contestants, HealthOne Colorado Open champions, and former PGA and Web.com Tour regulars.

For instance, at the Broadmoor on May 6, two Coloradans who competed in consecutive U.S. Opens (2002 and 2003) as 16-year-olds, Derek Tolan (pictured) and Tom Glissmeyer, are in the field. Tolan has won two of the last four Colorado Opens. Also playing at the same site will be 2011 U.S. Open qualifier Steve Irwin, and former Web.com Tour players James Love and Dustin White, winner of the 2006 Colorado Open.

At Collindale, former PGA Tour player Leif Olson is scheduled to play, along with Jason Preeo, who made the cut in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and Wyndham Clark, who won the 2010 CGA Stroke Play Championship as a 16-year-old.

At the Heritage at Westmoor, the field includes 2011 Colorado Open champion Ben Portie, who played in the 2002 U.S. Open along with Tolan. Also planning to compete are former Asian Tour event champion Kane Webber and Rob Hunt, winner of two of the last four Colorado PGA Professional Championships.
 

Irwin, who grew up in Boulder and attended the University of Colorado, recalled earlier this month how he used to think big while hitting his own practice balls back in the 1960s at what is now Flatirons Golf Course.

“I can remember thinking this is the shot to win the U.S. Open because that was the one (major) tournament for which I could qualify,” Irwin said. “That was the dream.”

Of course, Irwin went on to win three U.S. Opens in a career that’s landed him in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Few golfers can turn their dreams into reality the way Irwin has, but that doesn’t stop them from trying.

In fact, 22 golfers with strong Colorado connections still have a chance to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Open, which will be played June 14-17 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. But there’s still one huge hurdle to overcome to make the final 156-man field. Sectionals, the second and final stage of the qualifying process, will take place at 11 U.S. sites on June 4, when roughly 10 percent of the participating players will advance to the second of golf’s major championships.

Most are trying to overcome very long odds by making it through two qualifying stages and competing in the U.S. Open itself. Irwin’s Colorado-based son, Steve, did it last year, and others are hoping this is their year to catch lightning in a bottle.

Eighteen of the 22 players with significant Colorado ties who are still alive in the qualifying process had to make it through Local Qualifying at one of the 109 tournament sites. The exceptions are David Duval of Cherry Hills Village, winner of 13 PGA Tour events and a British Open, and fellow PGA Tour players Brandt Jobe, Kevin Stadler and Shane Bertsch, all of whom were exempt into Sectionals.

Duval, runner-up in the 2009 U.S. Open, is scheduled to make his Sectional bid in Memphis, Tenn., while Jobe and Stadler will be in Columbus, Ohio, and Bertsch in Rockville, Md.

Meanwhile, former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird is totally exempt for the U.S. Open based on his World Golf Ranking of 31.

Here are the “local” players competing in 36-hole Sectional qualifying on June 4:

Michael Baird of Castle Rock, Parker resident Bertsch, Bradley Besler of Denver, Ryan Brees of Steamboat Springs, Stuart Drahota of Fort Collins, Duval, Derek Fribbs of Boulder, Danny Hahn of Denver, Cameron Harrell of Colorado Springs, Mark Hubbard of Denver, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jobe, Greg Johnson of Lakewood, James Love of Denver, Gus Lundquist of Parker, Nick Mason of Denver, Leif Olson of Golden, David Oraee of Greeley, Jonathan Park of Denver, Ben Portie (pictured) of Westminster, Kent Denver High School graduate Stadler, Andrew Svoboda of Golden and former University of Denver golfer Dan Wax.

While Duval, Jobe, Stadler and Bertsch play on the PGA Tour, Svoboda and Love compete on the Nationwide Tour, with Svoboda standing fourth on the 2012 money list. Portie, the 2011 HealthOne Colorado Open champion, joins Duval, Jobe, Stadler, Bertsch and Svoboda in having competed in the U.S. Open previously. Olson had his PGA Tour card in 2009.

By far, most of the Colorado-connected competitors will play in their June 4 U.S. Open Sectionals at the site in Daly City, Calif.

Columbine Country Club in Littleton hosted one of the Sectional qualifiers each year for decades, but that run ended after the 2010 tournament.
 

The PGA Tour already has held pre-qualifying and the first stage of Q-school in the months-long process that determines the remaining players who will be exempt on Tour in 2012.

But this is where it gets down to the nitty gritty. The second stage of Tour qualifying will be held this week, and the players who are successful in advancing to the final stage will be guaranteed at least some status on the Nationwide Tour next year.

That’s no small matter considering that 60 golfers earned at least $100,000 on the Nationwide circuit in 2011.

Of course, the big carrots out there for Q-school competitors are the PGA Tour cards that will be awarded to the top 25 finishers and ties in the final stage of qualifying Nov. 30-Dec. 5 in La Quinta, Calif.

With all that on the line, 14 golfers with strong Colorado connections will compete this week in the second stage of Tour qualifying. Six sites — all in Florida, Texas or California — will host second-stage tournaments, which each will feature 74 to 78 players competing over four rounds.

The number of golfers who will advance to the final stage from each site hasn’t been set, but last year 19 or 20 and ties qualified from each stage 2 tournament.

Among the players with Colorado ties competing this week are David Duval (pictured) of Cherry Hills Village, a former No. 1-ranked player in the world. Although Duval still has past-champions status on Tour (he’s won 13 times), he’s no longer fully exempt after finishing 152nd on this year’s money list.

Leif Olson, a former Colorado resident who owned a PGA Tour card in 2009, also is scheduled for stage 2, along with former University of Denver golfer Danny Wax, who played on the 2011 Nationwide Tour after winning a stage 2 tournament last year.

Here’s the rundown of the local players competing this week:

Humble, Texas Nov. 15-18 — Michael Baird of Castle Rock, Andrew Svoboda of Golden.

McKinney, Texas Nov. 15-18 — Pat Grady of Broomfield, former DU golfer James Love, former DU golfer Danny Wax.

Panama City Beach, Fla. Nov. 16-19 — Nick Mason of Denver, former Colorado resident Leif Olson.

Murrieta, Calif. Nov. 16-19 — Duvid Duval of Cherry Hills Village, former Coloradan Marty Jertson, Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch, former Castle Rock resident Esteban Toledo, Steve Ziegler of Broomfield.

Plantation, Fla. Nov. 16-19 — Zen Brown of Arvada, Blake Moore of Denver.

Besides the second stage of PGA Tour qualifying, the final stage of Champions Tour qualifying will be played this week, Nov. 15-18 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The top five finishers out of the 78-man field will be fully exempt on the 2012 Champions Tour, while the next seven finishers will be conditionally exempt.

Former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones, the 1996 U.S. Open champion, is among those playing. Jones returned to competitive golf in 2011 after missing several years while battling a severe case of tennis elbow and other medical/injury issues. A CU teammate of Jones’, Mikael Hogberg, also will compete this week, along with Gary Hallberg of Castle Rock, who already has status on the 2012 Champions Tour.