It’s getting to be a very enjoyable habit for Mary Weinstein.

Receiving player of the year awards is always a good sign, and the Highlands Ranch resident has done it with regularity in recent golf seasons.

In both 2015 and ’16, Weinstein was named what is now known as the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Girls Player of the Year. Then in 2017, she landed the CWGA Player of the Year honors as fellow Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho was given the CWGA’s highest honor, the President’s Award, after dominating Colorado women’s golf for four straight years. And this fall, Weinstein has earned the CGA Women’s Player of the Year honor for 2018.

That’s quite a four-year run of Colorado golf awards for the University of Denver junior.

“I’m so blessed to be named the CGA Women’s Player of the Year,” Weinstein (left) said in a recent text. “It is a dream come true, as I used to look up to legendary players like Becca Huffer (the 2008 CWGA Player of the Year who recently earned her LPGA Tour card, along with Kupcho) when I was a junior golfer and now I am humbled with this honor once again.

“I would like to thank the CGA for this award and all the laughs and smiles that the volunteers and staff bring me each tournament,” added Weinstein, who also expressed gratitude for the support of her parents, her coach Terry Stearman and the DU women’s golf program.

Also earning a CGA women’s POY honor for 2018 was Kristine Franklin of Colorado National Golf Club, who was named Senior Player of the Year. For the CGA men’s players of the year story, CLICK HERE.

Weinstein, who’s in her second year at DU after transferring from Regis, was a factor in most of the tournaments in which she competed in 2018. The 20-year-old finished second in the CGA Women’s Match Play, qualified for her second straight U.S. Women’s Amateur, placed fourth in the CGA Women’s Stroke Play and shot an 8-under-par 64 at a fall tournament for DU.

In the finals of the CGA Women’s Match Play, Weinstein was 2 under par for 33 holes at The Fox Hill Club, but fell to Texan Kennedy Swann 5 and 3. That marked the Coloradan’s fourth straight top-four finish in a CGA women’s major championship. She’s placed fourth at each of the last two CGA Women’s Stroke Plays and lost in the semifinals last year in the Match Play.

In Colorado-based qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Weinstein prevailed in a three-way playoff for the fourth and final national berth. She made a 40-foot birdie putt on the second extra to extend the playoff, then two-putted for par on the third playoff hole to advance.

But Weinstein said the thing of which she’s most proud, tournament-wise, in 2018 was the final-round 64 she shot at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott to place third in the Golfweek Conference Challenge. That score set a single-round program record for the DU women’s team, which finished third that week, and helped Weinstein post her best individual showing since joining the Pioneers. The 64 was a personal-best for Weinstein.

“Nothing could beat the excitement I felt when I made the eagle putt on my last hole to shoot 64,” she said.

Weinstein posted another top-five individual college finish in the spring, when he placed fourth in the Summit League Championship.

Elsewhere in 2018, Weinstein tied for 17th place in the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open, which was the fourth-best showing among amateurs.

As for Franklin, she earns the CGA Women’s Senior Player of the Year Award just a year after returning to competitive golf following an 18-year layoff. This year, the highlight for the Broomfield resident was winning the CGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play, 32 years after capturing her first CGA/CWGA title, the 1986 CWGA Stroke Play.

A former touring pro in Japan, Franklin (left) defeated five-time champion Kim Eaton, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, on the first hole of a playoff to win the Senior Stroke Play at Greeley Country Club, where Eaton won the same title by 16 strokes in 2012. Franklin joined Jill Gaschler (2015) as the only players who have beaten Eaton in a CGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play. Eaton is a four-time quarterfinalist in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Franklin dedicated the Senior Stroke Play victory to her dad, longtime high school golf coach George Hoos, who was battling leukemia at the time and who passed away a little more than a month later.

Franklin also finished second in the other CGA women’s senior major championship of 2018, the Match Play. In the finals there, she went to extra holes with Tiffany Maurycy of Denver, who prevailed on the 20th hole with a 15-foot birdie.

Also in 2018, Franklin qualified for her second straight U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, this time by placing second in a qualifier in Colorado Springs. At the national championship, she was in a playoff for the final berth into the match-play portion of the event, but failed to advance.

In addition this year, Franklin and partner Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore., tied for second place in the Women’s Trans National Senior Four-Ball, and Franklin placed 10th in the North/South Senior Women’s Am at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

Franklin is the wife of University of Colorado women’s golf assistant coach Brent Franklin; the mother of Walker Franklin, one of the top junior players in the state; and the brother of former University of Denver men’s golf head coach Eric Hoos. This fall, Kristine Franklin served as an assistant coach at Prospect Ridge Academy, where Walker Franklin plays and where Eric is the head coach.
 

The fall portion of the college golf season wrapped up last week for the Division I programs based in Colorado.

There were plenty of highlights for teams and players with major connections to the Centennial State and, probably not coincidentally, many of those superlatives took place in tournaments held in Colorado.

As we enter intermission for a 2018-19 season that won’t resume in earnest until February in most cases — or late January at least — we’ll revisit some of the top local moments from the fall Division I schedule:

— The University of Colorado men’s squad claimed two team titles in September — at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy, and at their own Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in Erie.

— Not to be outdone, the Colorado State University men also won twice team-wise in the fall. The Rams claimed their fifth straight title as they hosted the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, then prevailed in winter-like conditions at the Paintbrush Invitational in Parker.

— On the women’s side, CSU accomplished a momentous feat by earning a team victory at a major invitational for the first time in over eight years. It came at the University of Denver’s Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch, the Rams’ third tournament under new head coach Laura Cilek.

— At that same event, CSU junior Ellen Secor claimed the first individual victory of her college career. Secor subsequently was named the Mountain West Conference’s Women’s Golfer of the Month for October. And notably, one of the two players who tied for second in Highlands Ranch, a stroke behind Secor, was CSU’s Katrina Prendergast, Secor’s teammate when the two won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball national championship in May. (The two are pictured, with Secor at left.)

— Kyler Dunkle, who grew up in Colorado and won the CGA Amateur in August, had a stellar fall individually as a senior at Utah. Dunkle won the individual title at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational for the second straight year. And this time, it was his second college win in eight days. Dunkle finished the fall with three top-four finishes.

— Also at CU’s Simpson Invitational, Buffs sophomore Trevor Olkowski technically tied for the individual title — and it will go down as a victory — though Dunkle beat him in a playoff by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. (Below, Olkowski is pictured with Dunkle, in the red shirt.)

— Junior Daniel O’Loughlin, a CU teammate of Olkowski, recorded an outright individual victory at the season opener at the Air Force Academy. O’Loughlin notched four top-10 finishes in five fall tournaments.

— One of the more remarkable performances of the fall was by CSU freshman Oscar Teiffel, from Sweden. In a final round of the Paintbrush Invitational in which temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and it was snowing more than a little, Teiffel carded a stellar 5-under-par 67 at Colorado Golf Club. The three-stroke victory was the first for Teiffel in his young college career.

Add up all of the above, and local schools recorded five team victories in the fall, and local players posted six individual wins — or, in Olkowski’s case, a tie for first.

— Junior Robyn Choi, the top player for the CU women, didn’t manage an individual victory in the fall, but certainly made a few runs at it. In all, she had three top-six finishes in three fall tournaments. And, perhaps most impressively, she earned her LPGA card for 2019 by finishing 45th in the final stage of Q-school, the Q-Series.

— Coby Welch, a junior at the University of Northern Colorado who went to the U.S. Amateur in August, had a strong fall, notching three top-five individual finishes — all coming in Colorado. He was third at both the Gene Miranda and Ram Masters, and fifth at the Paintbrush Invite.

— Freshmen had the top two stroke averages for CSU in the fall: Teiffel (70.77) and Aurora resident Davis Bryant (72.13).

— Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, a junior at the University of Denver, shot a program-record 8-under-par 64 to close out the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott. The stellar final round gave Weinstein her best individual finish — third place — since transferring from Regis to DU in the summer of 2017.

— Luke Trujillo, a freshman from Colorado Springs, leads the Air Force Academy golf team in stroke average after the fall season with a 74.4 norm.

— Beah Cruz, a sophomore from Vacaville, Calif., recorded two top-10 individual finishes for the University of Northern Colorado women in the fall — a sixth and a ninth.

— Meanwhile, in a matter not directly related to performance, this season a DU women’s player is carrying a golf bag at each tournament that honors Danny Dietz, a Navy Seal and former Littleton resident who was killed in combat in 2005 during the war in Afghanistan. Coach Lindsay Kuhle went to Heritage High School with Dietz, knows his family, and came up with the idea to pay tribute to Dietz through the Folds of Honor Foundation program. Dietz’s story was part of the book and movie “Lone Survivor”.

Below are the rankings for the Colorado-based NCAA Division I teams as of the end of the fall season (updated Nov. 14):

Men
Colorado State ( 47th Golfstat, 51st Golfweek)
Colorado (73rd Golfstat, 81st Golfweek)
Northern Colorado (118th Golfstat, 122nd Golfweek)
Denver (137th Golfstat, 149th Golfweek)
Air Force Academy (203rd Golfstat, 204th Golfweek)

Women
Colorado (36th Golfweek, 42nd Golfstat)
Colorado State (69th Golfstat, 74th Golfweek)
Denver (79th Golfweek, 81st Golfstat)
Northern Colorado (149th Golfstat, 150th Golfweek)

And here are the rankings of local players in the top 250 in the nation:

Men
91. Longtime Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah (Golfweek)
110. Daniel O’Loughlin, CU (Golfstat)
118. Oscar Teiffel, CSU (Golfweek)
120. Coby Welch, UNC (Golfstat)
189. Davis Bryant, CSU (Golfweek)
238. Trevor Olkowski, CU (Golfstat)

Women
11. Robyn Choi, CU (Golfstat)
57. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest (Golfweek)
72. Kirsty Hodgkins, CU (Golfweek)
87. Mary Weinstein, DU (Golfweek)
97. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang, Harvard (Golfweek)
192. Katrina Prendergast, CSU (Golfstat)
 

In two appearances — six rounds — of playing in the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Fazio layout, Weinstein has posted scores including a 68, a 66 and a 64.

That 8-under-par 64 — her best round as a college player and a program record at the University of Denver — came in Wednesday’s final round of this year’s Conference Challenge and led to her best individual finish since transferring from Regis to DU in the summer of 2017.

Weinstein, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Girls Player of the Year in 2015 and ’16, placed third Wednesday at Red Sky with a 10-under-par 206 total for three rounds. That left the junior (left in a DU photo) behind only two UCLA players — champion Mariel Galdiano (203) and Patty Tavatanakit (205) — in the Pioneers’ season opener.

Weinstein, a U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier this year and the CGA Women’s Match Play runner-up, closed out the tournament with an eagle on the 542-yard second hole — her 18th — after earlier making seven birdies and a bogey. The 64 was the low round of the tournament.

Weinstein led DU to a third-place finish in the 18-team event that the Pioneers won last year. They ended up at 9 over par, 41 shots behind champion UCLA.

Women’s Golfweek Conference Challenge
Sept. 24-26 2018 at Par-72 Fazio Course (final) at Red Sky GC in Wolcott
3. (out of 18 teams) Denver 293-295-285–873
3. Mary Weinstein 68-74-64–206
19. Sophie Newlove 70-76-72–218
32. Alyson Bean 78-72-74–224
40. Camille Enright 79-73-75–227
79. Alison Armstrong 77-85-76–238
Competing Only As Individual
32. Trussy Li 77-72-75–224

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

The host Buffaloes stand at 8-under-par 568 for the first two rounds. Utah, which won last year’s playoff with the Buffs, trails by three going into the last day at CNGC (pictured in a CU photo).

Northern Colorado, the only other school from the Centennial State fielding a full team for this year’s event, sits in 13th place in the 16-team field, at 610.

Several local players are in contention for the individual title with one round remaining. Kyler Dunkle of Utah, a longtime Coloradan until moving away after winning last month’s CGA Amateur, shares the lead with CU’s Trevor Olkowski of Grand Junction and Daniel O’Loughlin. The three are at 5-under-par 139. Dunkle won the individual title at Colorado National last year.

Tee times for Tuesday’s final round will run 7:55 to 8:35 a.m.

For scores from the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, CLICK HERE.
 

DU’s Weinstein Tied for Lead at Red Sky: In another NCAA Division I tournament being held in Colorado, the defending champion University of Denver women are in fourth place after Monday’s first round of the 54-hole Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott.

The Pioneers opened with a 5-over-par 293 and trail leader UCLA by 16 strokes.

DU’s Mary Weinstein, from Highlands Ranch, shares the individual lead after making six birdies in a round of 4-under-par 68.

Also at that figure are UCLA’s Clare Legaspi and Patty Tavatanakit, and Campbell’s Stacey White.

For all the scores from the Golfweek Conference Challenge, CLICK HERE.
 

It’s been an eventful last several months for the Colorado State University women’s golf team.

In May, CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor won the national title at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. In July, the Rams hired a new head coach, Laura Cilek. Last week, Prendergast led after the first two rounds of the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open and ended up finishing second while competing against a field comprised mainly of pros. And on Wednesday, for the third consecutive year in Colorado, a pair of CSU teammates earned medalist honors in the Colorado-based qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball.

And for the record, the college season hasn’t even begun.

CSU junior Jessica Sloot, from Fruit Heights, Utah, and sophomore teammate Haley Greb, from Pendleton, Ore., fired a 5-under-par 66 best-ball in Wednesday’s qualifying tournament at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Lakewood. That earned them the one available berth — out of an 11-team field — in the national Women’s Four-Ball, which will be played April 27-May 1 at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. (The qualifiers are pictured, with Sloot at left.)

The last two years in the Colorado-based qualifying tournament, Prendergast and Secor were the medalists. And, as noted, they went on to win the national title in May, which makes them exempt from qualifying for the 2019 championship.

“Knowing that they won this event last year kind of drives us a little bit because we’re so competitive,” said Sloot, who will be going to her fifth USGA championship (second Four-Ball to go with three U.S. Girls’ Juniors). “We want to be there and able to push them a little harder and try to give them some competition at the national level.”

Said Greb, a former 5A state high school champion in Oregon: “We compete all the time in practice with those two. You could maybe call us the underdog, but in our minds we’re not. It’ll be fun. Hopefully we get there and maybe even see them in the championship (match). That would be pretty cool.”

Another set of college teammates — the University of Denver’s Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch and Annie Heck from Eagan, Minn. (together at left) — finished a stroke behind the two Rams, at 67. It’ll be the second time Weinstein has been first alternate in a Colorado qualifying tournament for this event, as she also was in that role in 2015 with Jaclyn Murray. The first alternates from Colorado last year — Hailey Schalk and Charlotte Hillary — ended up landing a spot in the national championship in May.

Sloot and Greb shot a best-ball score of even-par 35 on the front nine on Wednesday, but kicked it into gear with an eagle by Greb on the 455-yard, par-5 10th hole. There, she hit a 4-iron from the rough to 8 feet and sank the putt.

“I’ve probably never hit that good of a 4-iron in my life before,” said Greb, who will be going to her first USGA national championship. “That helped our momentum going into the back nine because we only shot even on the front. We needed to get after the back and that definitely helped us get going. It led to a strong finish.”

Indeed, the CSU teammates shot a 5-under-par 31 on the back nine despite both bogeying the last hole after each driving a ball into the left hazard.

“I always thought, ‘We’re not playing well right now, but it’s going to turn around. We’re going to get after it,'” Greb said. “Once we had something happen. it seems so much easier after that.”

In addition to the eagle, they made four best-ball birdies, with Sloot sinking putts of 55 feet on No. 14 and of 45 feet on No. 17. Both putts hit the back of the cup, popped up in the air and fell in, meaning both would have rolled well past had they not gone in.

“After nine I said to (Greb), ‘We’ve got to go low on this back nine.’ And we did just that,” said Sloot (left), who previously played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Secor in 2016. “Us teammates, we’ve learned to ham and egg it really well. We play together all the time at practice, so playing with a teammate in this event helps out for sure.”
 

U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying
At Par-71 Fox Hollow GC in Lakewood
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Haley Greb, Pendleton, Utah/Jessica Sloot, Fruit Heights, Utah 35-31–66
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Mary Weinstein, Highlands Ranch/Anni Heck, Eagan, Minn. 32-35–67
Paris Hilinski, La Quinta, Calif./Allyn Stephens, Houston 34-34–68

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

The USGA announced last week that Kupcho will be one of three golfers who will represent the U.S. in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Dublin, Ireland Aug. 29-Sept. 1. The Women’s NCAA Division I individual champion from Wake Forest earned that automatic selection by virtue of being the top-ranked American player in the Women’s WAGR as of the July 25 update.

“Jennifer is a terrific young woman and golf talent who represented the United States at this year’s Curtis Cup Match,” said Stasia Collins, the American team captain for the WATC. “We couldn’t be prouder to have her as our ambassador in Ireland.”

It will be the third time in the last few months that Kupcho (left) will play for the U.S. in a major team competition. She helped American squads claim titles in both the Curtis Cup and the Arnold Palmer Cup. Kupcho is now No. 2 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings behind fellow American Lilia Vu.

The other two U.S. representatives for the U.S. Women’s World Amateur Team Championship will be determined after this week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs. The tournament champion will be guaranteed a spot on the team.

The U.S. finished sixth at the last biennial Women’s WATC, in 2016 as South Korea won. The top two scores for each team each day will count toward the team total.

Another player with strong Colorado ties who will compete in the 2018 Women’s WATC will be University of Colorado golfer Kirsty Hodgkins, who will represent her native Australia.

Players from Texas have made themselves right at home competing for the CGA women’s major championships.

When Kennedy Swann from Austin defeated Mary Weinstein from Highlands Ranch 5 and 3 in a scheduled 36-hole final at the 103rd CGA Women’s Match Play on Friday, it marked the third straight CGA women’s major to have been won by a golfer from Texas.

Emily Gilbreth started the trend by winning last year’s CGA Women’s Match Play three months after moving from her lifelong home in Houston to Denver. Then Kristin Glesne of San Antonio claimed the title in the CGA Women’s Stroke Play last month. And Swann made it a Texas trifecta on Friday at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont.

Swann, a junior-to-be on the Clemson golf team who is doing a P.J. Boatwright USGA internship with the Wyoming State Golf Association this summer, trailed 2 down after three holes on Friday. But the 19-year-old rallied by making 11 birdies in her next 30 holes to defeat Weinstein, a University of Denver golfer and the 2017 CWGA Player of the Year.

“This is my first win in a while,” Swann said. “I grew up coming in second a lot to a lot of really good girls from Texas. So I think this is definitely in my top five tournament accomplishments.”

Swann, winner of the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in the girls 14-year-old age group in 2013, didn’t take the lead on Friday until she birdied the 15th hole. That started a stretch in which she made seven birdies in 13 holes, after which she led 4 up through 27 holes. And on the 33rd hole, she closed out Weinstein with a two-putt birdie.

“Finally I got my putter rolling and I made probably four or five putts between 20 and 40 feet that I drained for birdie,” said Swann (above and left). “That was definitely the best match I played (this week). 

“On the putting green (before the round), my dad and I talked about making sure that everything was square (to the target line). I did that this morning and it fixed everything right up (with her putting stroke). That little inch I was missing putts by in earlier matches, I just started making them today.”

Swann finished 7 under par for 33 holes, while Weinstein was 2 under.

“The bottom line is Kennedy Swann is an amazing player. She’s phenomenal,” said Weinstein (below). “She played her best game today and if I had to lose to anyone, I’m glad it’s Kennedy. She played amazing. Toward the end, it wasn’t my best game, but I gave it my all. It wasn’t enough today, but that’s OK.

“Match play is a different kind of golf. I’m not the best match-play player. I get a lot of pars and I feel like if you want to win in match play you have to make a lot of birdies and a lot of putts. 

“But to make it this far, I’m still proud.”

Swann defeated two 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifiers — Weinstein and the University of Colorado’s Gillian Vance — en route to claiming the title.

The Clemson golfer, ranked No. 720 in the world in women’s amateur golf, often competes in the same college events as Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster and Wake Forest, the top-ranked player in women’s amateur golf. Kupcho is a two-time winner of the CGA Women’s Match Play.

“We see Jennifer Kupcho at pretty much every (college) tournament and we see her win pretty much every tournament,” Swann said with a smile.

Afterward Friday’s match, Swann dedicated the victory to her grandmother, who passed away in late May.

“I really wanted to play well for her,” she said. “She was definitely one of my No. 1 supporters and biggest fans. She always wanted the live scoring link (for tournaments) even if she couldn’t figure out how to work it. I think she would have been really proud of me this week. I got a couple of lucky bounces out there and I definitely think some of them were from her.”

This summer marks the first time Swann has ever played golf in Colorado. And she’s taken a shine to it.

“It is gorgeous and I hit the ball about 30 yards further, which is amazing,” she said.

For the 20-year-old Weinstein, this week marked her fourth straight top-four finish in a CGA women’s major championship. She’s placed fourth at each of the last two CGA Women’s Stroke Play and lost in the semifinals to Gilbreth last year in the Match Play.

“If (winning a major CGA women’s title) is going to happen, it’s going to happen in stroke play. Next year, I’m ready,” said a determined Weinstein.

For a story on the senior championship match, CLICK HERE.

CGA Women’s Match Play

At The Fox Hill Club in Longmont
TITLE MATCHES

Championship Flight (36 Holes) — Kennedy Swann def. Mary Weinstein, 5 and 3

Championship Flight Consolation — Jaylee Tait def. Jennifer Hankins, 2 and 1

Senior Championship Flight — Tiffany Maurycy def. Kristine Franklin, 20 holes

Senior Championship Flight Consolation — Jennifer Hocking def. Susan Hartwell, 4 and 3

First Flight — Megan Vernon def. Marin Halvorsen, 19 holes

First Flight Consolation — Maddie Kern def. Madison McCambridge, 2 and 1

Second Flight — Haejeong Son def. Jennifer Cassell, 8 and 7

Second Flight Consolation — Amanda Westrick def. Sheila Schroeder, 2 and 1

Third Flight — Veronica Crain def. Amy Hicks, 1 up

Third Flight Consolation — Kelly McCormick def. Jennifer Tempas, 2 up

To view all the brackets from the CGA Women’s Match Play, CLICK HERE.
 

Swann, who hails from Austin, Texas, defeated stroke-play medalist Gillian Vance from the University of Colorado 2 and 1 in Thursday’s semifinals at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont.

And Weinstein (pictured in a DU photo), the 2017 CWGA Player of the Year from CommonGround Golf Course, beat Colorado Mesa golfer Hannah More from Pinehurst Country Club, 3 and 2 in the other semi.

The two NCAA Division I college players will square off in a scheduled 36-hole final on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Maurycy advanced to the senior championship final by defeating Eaton 2 and 1 in Thursday’s semifinals. It marked Eaton’s first loss in the event since the 2011 finals, when she fell to Laurie Steenrod. Eaton has won the Senior Match Play each of the last two years since returning following a brief “retirement” from CGA women’s/CWGA events.

Top-seeded Kristine Franklin of Colorado National Golf Club, the 1986 CWGA Stroke Play champion, will face Maurycy in Friday’s scheduled 18-hole senior title match. Franklin, who made match play in last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, defeated 2014 champion Deb Hughes in Thursday’s semis, 4 and 2.

All told, on the line Friday will be championship and consolation finals for the open championship, senior championship and first through third flights.

To view the results from the CGA Women’s Match Play, CLICK HERE.
 

No. 1-seeded Gillian Vance from the University of Colorado defeated teammate Jaclyn Murray 6 and 4 in the opening match, then beat Alexis Chan of The Links Golf Club 3 and 1 to make the final four.

Mary Weinstein of the University of Denver and CommonGround Golf Course, like Vance soon headed for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, scored two decisive wins — 4 and 3 over Amelia Lee of The Ridge at Castle Pines North and 6 and 5 over BYU golfer Anna Kennedy of Colorado Golf Club — to also make the semis. (Weinstein is pictured in a DU photo.)

Colorado Mesa golfer Hannah More, of Pinehurst Country Club, defeated Gilbreth in the quarterfinals, 2 and 1. Rounding out the semifinalists is Clemson’s Kennedy Swann, who needed 19 holes to beat Caitlyn Skavdahl in the quarterfinals.

Vance will face Swann and Weinstein will take on More in Thursday’s semifinals of the championship flight.

Meanwhile, in the senior championship flight, the top three seeds won their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday. That included stroke-play medalist Kristine Franklin of Colorado National Golf Club, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton and Tiffany Maurycy of Cherry Creek Country Club, in addition to fifth-seeded Deb Hughes of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

Eaton, who is seeking to become the winningest player in CGA women’s/CWGA championship history, scored an 8 and 6 victory over Lisa Lee of Boulder Country Club. Franklin won 7 and 6 over Kathy Malpass of Hiwan Golf Club. Maurycy topped Jennifer Hocking of Cherokee Ridge Golf Couse 3 and 2, while Hughes prevailed 4 and 3 over Susan Hartwell of West Woods Golf Club, who went to the round of 32 at last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.

In Thursday’s semifinals, it will be Franklin vs. Hughes and Eaton vs. Maurycy.

The winners of Thursday’s matches in all of the flights will play in Friday’s finals, with the championship flight title match being a scheduled 36-hole affair.

To view the results from the CGA Women’s Match Play, CLICK HERE.
 

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, who won her first CGA/CWGA championship at the 1977 Colorado Junior Match Play, will attempt to make the CGA Women’s Senior Match Play title No. 26 on her Colorado state resume. If she does prevail at The Fox Hill Club, she’ll break the career record of Carol Flenniken, another Colorado Golf Hall of Famer.

The Women’s Match Play will begin with a stroke-play qualifying round on Tuesday (July 10) for players attempting to qualify for the championship or senior championship divisions. Then match play begins on Wednesday, with 16 players advancing to the open championship bracket and eight to that of the senior championship. The competition will conclude on Friday with championship matches in each flight, including a 36-holer for the open-division finalists.

Eaton, now a full-time resident of Arizona, tied Flenniken’s all-time mark by teaming up with Janet Moore to claim the title in the CGA Women’s Brassie in May. In addition to that being Eaton’s 25th career CGA/CWGA title, it was Moore’s 21st. But the latter won’t be competing in the Match Play as she qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club.

Eaton has won four Stroke Plays, one Match Play, five Senior Stroke Plays, four Senior Match Plays, one Junior Match Play, seven Brassies, one Mashie, one Chapman and one Mixed.

Joining Eaton in the senior field in Longmont will be 2014 champion Deb Hughes; Susan Hartwell, who made the round of 32 — along with Eaton — at last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur; and Kristine Franklin, who likewise advanced to match play at the national Senior Women’s Am in 2017.

As for the open division, Emily Gilbreth, a former University of Houston golfer, will be back to defend her title, while 2017 runner-up Maddie Kern will also return.

Likewise in the open field are University of Denver golfer Mary Weinstein and University of Colorado player Gillian Vance, both of whom recently qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur; and former Match Play runner-up Jaylee Tait.

For Tuesday’s pairings, CLICK HERE.