Who would have guessed this day would ever come?

The top golfers in the most recent watch lists for the ANNIKA Award (given at the end of the season to the national player of the year in women’s college golf) and the Haskins Award (presented to the men’s national player of the year in college golf) are both Colorado residents.

Not Californians, not Texans, not Floridians, but Coloradans — in this case Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster (a sophomore at Wake Forest) and Wyndham Clark of Highlands Ranch (a fifth-year senior at Oregon). Both never finished outside the top 10 in their fall college tournaments, with Kupcho winning her last two events of the autumn, becoming the only NCAA Division I woman in the country to win more than one full-field event in the first two months of the season.

We’ll delve more into college golf when both the men’s and women’s fall season is complete, but the rankings of Kupcho and Clark are two of the many highlights of the 2016 tournament season in Colorado and for Colorado golfers. With the tourney season in the Centennial state now complete, it’s worth taking a look back at some of the top moments of the year:

— Kupcho (pictured) is a good place to start given that she’s had a season few Colorado women golfers have ever matched. That includes becoming the first player to win three straight CWGA majors since the late 1980s as she swept the 2016 Match Play and Stroke Play titles. And the 19-year-old did it by amazing margins — 12 and 10 in a 36-hole match play finale, and 19 shots in the Stroke Play. In the Stroke Play, she set the women’s course record at historic Denver Country Club with a 7-under-par 65, breaking the previous mark of 68 established by world-renowned athlete Babe Zaharias on July 3, 1946.

Out of the state, besides notching her first two college victories, Kupcho placed sixth in the women’s NCAA Championship Finals as a freshman. And she and fellow Coloradan Hannah Wood both qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, arguably the top women’s tournament in the world.

It’s little wonder why Kupcho was recently named the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Golf Person of the Year.

— As for Clark, he posted three top-six finishes in his first three tournaments at Oregon after transferring from Oklahoma State. Over the summer, Clark qualified for his fifth U.S. Amateur — quite a feat for a player 22 years old. And once he made it to the U.S. Am, he advanced to the round of 32 in match play out of an original field of 312.

— Though, as mentioned above, NCAA Division I golfers from Colorado accomplished plenty in 2016, it’s worth noting that two golfers from the Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference won the CGA’s top two open-division championships in 2016. Nathaniel Goddard, who wrapped up his Colorado Christian golf career last spring, prevailed in the CGA Match Play, while current University of Colorado-Colorado Springs golfer Colin Prater (left) won the CGA Amateur by five shots.

— Two of the most remarkable scores shot in tournament golf in recent months were recorded by players with strong Colorado connections. University of Colorado senior Esther Lee set the NCAA women’s record for lowest score in relation to par as she shot an 11-under-par 61 in September at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, held at the University of New Mexico’s Championship Course in Albuquerque, where Lee claimed the title.

Then last month, Denver resident James Love fired a 12-under-par 59 in a Web.com Q-school event at Sunriver Golf Course in St. George, Utah. That helped earn the former University of Denver golfer a spot in a second-stage tournament this week.

— Speaking of former DU golfers, former Pioneers had the distinction of qualifying for two of the biggest tournaments in the world in 2016.

Oskar Arvidsson earned medalist honors in a British Open qualifier in Scotland, landing a spot in the third men’s major championship of the year, where he missed the 36-hole cut.

Also this summer, Espen Kofstad qualified for the Olympics by winning a tournament on the European Challenge Tour. He finished 43rd in the men’s tourney at the Summer Games.

— Several players with strong Colorado ties made a splash in USGA championships in 2016.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton made it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur for a remarkable fourth time. Earlier in the year, Eaton made the CWGA Senior Match Play the 22nd CWGA title of her career.

Also advancing to the final eight in a USGA championship was Alex Buecking of Columbine Valley, who joined former SMU teammate Jason Enloe in making the quarters of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

And CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Kyler Dunkle (left) earned a berth in the final 16 of the U.S. Amateur just a year after finishing 311th out of 312th in stroke play at the same event.

— Certainly one of the biggest oddities of the year took place at the CGA Mid-Amateur. The top finishers at the 2016 tournament looked almost identical to the 2015 version.

Not only did Jon Lindstrom win by four strokes for the second straight year, but the top four finishers were the same in 2016 as they were in 2015. In fact, they were almost in the exact same order, with the only difference being Steve Irwin tying for second this year and placing third alone in 2015. For the record, Chris Thayer tied Irwin for second and Ryan Axlund was fourth.

— Back on the college front, the CGA’s 2015 Junior Player of the Year made a remarkably quick adjustment at the next level. University of Northern Colorado freshman Coby Welch, competing in just his fourth college tournament, won the individual title at the 108-man Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational after a final-round 66 at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie.

— Also in college, Colorado State University senior Blake Cannon pulled off a remarkable feat in September, winning two college titles in one week, the first one coming at CSU’s Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club. This was after going his first three years as a collegian without an individual victory.

— Geoff Keffer used his first victory in the Coloado PGA Professional Championship to move into some rarefied air. Keffer subsequently received the CPGA’s Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year award for the third straight year and fourth time in the last five seasons. Only three other players have captured that honor three straight years: Bob Hold (1966-71), Vic Kline (1977-79) and Ron Vlosich (1986-88). Vlosich, by the way, qualified for his fifth U.S. Senior Open in 2016.

— Mary Weinstein (left) of Highlands Ranch had a rather remarkable run to wrap up her junior career. After winning the 5A state individual title to close out her high school career at Regis Jesuit, Weinstein won the first two Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors ever held, the Colorado Junior Amateur and the Colorado Junior PGA Championship. Then she finished strong in national events, placing 15th at the Junior PGA Championship a week after ending up fifth at the Optimist International Junior.

Not surprisingly, Weinstein was named the JGAC’s female player of the year, while AJ Ott of Fort Collins earned the male award. Ott won the boys title at the Colorado Junior PGA at Indian Tree, shooting a course-record 7-under-par 63 on day 2.

— Kent Moore‘s victory in the CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play certainly wasn’t the most prestigious victory of his career, but it did continue to expand upon a rather remarkable distinction. The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer has now claimed titles in seven different CGA individual championships — the Junior Match Play, Amateur, Match Play, Mid-Amateur, Senior Amateur, Senior Match Play and now the Super-Senior Stroke Play — an unprecedented feat in CGA competition. Moreover, he’s won CGA championships in five consecutive decades, starting with the 1973 CGA Junior Match Play at Flatirons Golf Course.

— In team competition, the amateurs broke new ground in 2016. This year marked the first time ever that amateurs from the CGA and CWGA won all three competitions in the Colorado Cup matches against the pros from the Colorado PGA — the open-division men, senior-division men and open-division women. But later in the year, the Colorado PGA earned a big team victory of its own, winning the biennial Taylor Cup matches against the Sun Country PGA for the first time since 2008.

Also on the team front, Kent Denver High School set a Colorado High School Activities Association record by winning its ninth boys golf state title. Kent captured the 3A team title this time around.

— Sherry Andonian-Smith, an instructor at Valley Country Club, made some history of her own this fall when she became the first female to win one of the Colorado PGA’s top tournaments. With a 5-under-par 139 total, she prevailed by three shots at the Colorado PGA West Chapter Championship at Aspen Glen Club.

Also scoring a first in 2016 was Alexandra Braga from Denver Country Club, who won the inaugural Colorado PGA Women’s Championship, held at Cherry Creek Country Club.

— And, let’s finish off with the biggest-money event of the year … Neil Johnson of Phoenix earned the distinction of being the first winner of the CoBank Colorado Open after the tournament more than quadrupled its first-place prize money, to $100,000. Johnson was playing in his first Colorado Open after qualifying for the tournament on Monday of championship week.

Part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye, winner of two PGA Tour events, tied for second place in his first tournament in two years.
 

It’s funny how the golf gods work.

Just ask Neil Johnson. He can certainly attest.

On Monday at Legacy Ridge Golf Course, the Phoenix-based golf professional qualified for the CoBank Colorado Open for the first time — and by the narrowest of margins. After surviving a playoff, he earned the 15th and final position at stake at the fourth and final Colorado Open qualifying tournament.

“Maybe literally I was the last guy in (the field),” said Johnson, who also noted he made a hole-in-one on the eve of the qualifying tournament

Then less than a week later, the 34-year-old parlayed his good fortune into the richest payday and the biggest victory of his life, winning the 52nd Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

“The elephant in the room is the big $100,000 check, which is awesome,” he said. “But for me I always just loved playing golf. On the first day (of the tournament) when you asked me, ‘What’s your signature win?’, it was like, ‘Geez, I’ve been doing this for eight years and I don’t have a signature win. But this obviously changes that.

“To beat a field like this … You’ve got every type of player — you’ve got PGA Tour winners, PGA Tour members, Web.com members, Canadian and Latinamerican Tour players and mini-tour all-stars. To come out on top is definitely the defining win so far of my career.”

Besides earning a tournament-record six-figure check, Johnson posted the best score, relative to par, in the 52 years of the Open. Johnson went 64-69-68-64 for a 23-under-par 265 total at GVR. Derek Tolan shot a 22-under 262 in 2009 when the course was playing to a par-71.

Johnson fended off back-nine challenges Sunday from two-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Kaye of Boulder and 2005 Colorado Open champion Wil Collins of Albuquerque. But Johnson’s bogey-free 8-under-par 64 proved too much, and he posted a three-stroke victory. He capped things off with a fist-pump after sinking an 8-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole (pictured at top).

Awaiting him afterward was by far the biggest check of his career.

“Prior to this it was $21,000,” he noted. “I’m like a mini-tour veteran in a way. I’ve played everything. I can count on two fingers how many checks I’ve had of over $10,000. I get $5,000 here, $2,000 there and whatever, then all of a sudden, BOOM, this.

“The craziest thing is last week I played a tournament and made a little over $4,000, and I’m like, ‘Hey that puts me in the black for the year. I can now afford the rest of my tournaments. I can now afford Q-school — I couldn’t afford it last year; I was broke. So everything is going into my pocket now.’ And the first check is six figures? Come on!”

Kaye (left), competing in his first tournament in two years, held and shared the lead on the back nine Sunday after starting the day birdie-eagle and being 7 under par through 12 holes. But he badly mishit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole — a 5-wood from 277 yards — which went into the hazard, leading to his only bogey and essentially ending his chances of winning his second Colorado Open. Ironically, he then dropped about 5 yards back and hit the same 5 wood perfectly to about 15 feet from the flag, though he missed the putt.

“I kind of had to go for it because I knew I had to make at least birdie and maybe eagle” on 18, he said. “I was in the rough. It wasn’t the greatest lie but I hit a terrible shot. I could probably hit that 10 times and never do that again. It would have been ideal had my tee shot not gone (just into the rough).

“I’d love to have that (second) shot again. It still might not be good enough, but I’d like to give it a better effort.

“For a guy who hasn’t played in as long as I have, I was pretty happy with the way I got it around. (But) I was trying to win. That was my goal. It’s nice to play well, but I don’t care about seconds and thirds at this point.”

The 45-year-old former University of Colorado golfer shared second place at 268 with Collins (left), with each winning $15,250 — a far cry from Johnson’s $100K. Kaye closed with a 66 and Collins with a 69 after bogeying the 17th hole.

Jim Knous of Englewood matched the course record with a 10-under-par 62 — the fourth such score this week — to share fourth place at 269 with Zahkai Brown of Arvada and Martin Trainer of Palo Alto, Calif. Brown, who birdied five of his first six holes on Sunday, now has recorded four top-five finishes in the last five Colorado Opens, winning in 2013, placing second in 2012 and ’15, and ending up fourth on Sunday.

Knous played his last three holes in 4 under par, went 7 under in his last eight, and shot a record 7-under 29 on the back nine.

“It felt amazing,” said the former Colorado School of Mines golfer. “It’s the best nine holes I’ve ever played, coming in with birdie, birdie, eagle. That’s pretty special.”

With Nick Hodge of Littleton tying for nine place at 271, Coloradans earned four spots in the top 10 (Kaye, Knous, Brown, left, and Hodge).

But Johnson reserved the top position for himself. He played three rounds of the tournament (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) without a bogey. And on Sunday, in addition to carding six birdies (including three straight from holes 12-14), he holed his second shot for an eagle on the 463-yard sixth hole.

“Starting the day, I looked at it like I started the week with a 64 and maybe I can bookend it with another 64 and get to 23 (under),” he said. “And I got there on the last putt.”

CSU’s Makloski Best Among Amateurs: Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo made a run at low-amateur honors at last year’s Colorado Open, but a triple bogey on the 15th hole of the final round derailed his chances.

On Sunday, though, there were no such hiccups, and the Colorado State University golfer finished as the top amateur. He played his final 16 holes in 2 under par, shot a 1-under 71 for the day and ended up at 8-under 280 for the week.

“Last year I was real close and blew it out the end,” said Makloski (left), the 2012 CGA Junior Stroke Play champion. “It went down kind of the opposite way as this year. So it was kind of nice.”

Makloski, who tied for 34th place overall, finished two strokes better than a trio of players in the amateur competition — his Colorado State teammates from last season Jake Staiano and Dominic Kieffer, plus Connor Klein of Lone Tree. Staiano, the top amateur going into Sunday, closed with a 77, while Kieffer, who wrapped up his CSU career in the spring, had a 75. Klein carded the best Sunday round, with a 69.

“It’s always nice to see your teammates do well,” Makloski said of the Rams being atop the amateur standings. “Hopefully it will carry over into the (college) season.”

Knous Goes Low Again: In a tournament that already featured numerous Colorado Open scoring records, Sunday certainly had its moments. Notably, two players in one day matched the Green Valley Ranch course record of 62, which had previously been shot this week by Wil Collins (round 1) and Alex Kim (round 3).

Both Jim Knous of Englewood and D.J. Brigman of Albuquerque eagled the 18th hole to finish 10 under for the day. That helped Knous tie for fourth place overall and Brigman share seventh place.

It was the third time in less than a decade that Knous has matched or tied a course record in the Denver metro area. He previously did it with a final-round 10-under-par 60 at Boulder Country Club that forced a playoff in the 2010 CGA Stroke Play, and with a 9-under 63 at a USGA qualifier at Heritage Eagle Bend.

Ironically, Knous began his round with a bogey on No. 1 Sunday after hitting his approach over the green and into a hazard.

With his record 29 on the back nine, Knous now not only shares the overall course record at GVR, but has tied the front-nine mark and owns the back-nine standard outright. He recorded a 29 on the front nine in the 2012 tournament.

“I just try not to slow down,” he said. “The putter just got hot, especially on that back nine. It was just birdies galore. Once they start going in, you get a good visual and they all start going in.”

Brigman also made an eagle, nine birdies and a bogey on Sunday. It was his seventh 62 in competition.

“The scoring conditions were ideal this week,” Brigman said. “There were obviously some low numbers this week, but I was happy to end on a great note.”

Stadler Still Hurting; Status in Limbo: Part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler completed his first tournament in a year, tying for 41st place Sunday in the Colorado Open. But the condition of his left hand, which has sidelined him for the better part of the last 20 months, certainly wasn’t promising, he said.

“I can scrape it around here and post a somewhat respectable score, but I can’t do it when it’s going to be at the level I’m going to need it at,” Stadler said, referring to the PGA Tour, where he won once in 2014. “It’s nowhere near the place it needs to be.”

Stadler shot rounds of 73-67-68-74 for a 6-under-par 282 total at Green Valley Ranch. On Sunday, he put together a “bizarre round” in which he shot a 7-over-par 43 on his front nine (the back at GVR) and a 5-under 31 on his back. He made an eagle, four birdies, a quadruple bogey, a double bogey and two bogeys.

“The first three days were pretty good. Today was terrible,” he said. “I had no chance today. I couldn’t really swing all day. After five or six holes I figured out how to move it forward in play. Every shot, (the pain) was kind of zinging me right at address. It felt like (my shots) could go absolutely anywhere.”

Stadler said he’s going to try different treatments and see how the hand responds.

“The way it is right now though, I wouldn’t try to play again if it’s like this until maybe this thing (the Colorado Open) next year,” he said. “Hopefully that’s not the case, but it didn’t respond very well. It was OK for the first days, but doing it four days in a row — then eventually down the road wanting to play three or four weeks in a row, is just not going to be a reality (barring a major improvement).”

Honoring Kensler: At the beginning of Sunday’s awards ceremony, Colorado Open Golf Foundation CEO Kevin Laura asked for a moment of silence for longtime Denver Post golf writer Tom Kensler, who passed away at age 64 on Friday. He was “a guy we all knew and loved,” Laura said. “He loved playing golf as much as he did writing about it. He’s going to be sorely missed.”

A service for Kensler will be held Aug. 6 at 11 a.m., at the Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary Chapel at 12801 W. 44th Ave., in Wheat Ridge.

Notable: Gunner Wiebe had an unusual first seven holes on Sunday, making two eagles and two double bogeys in that stretch. He finished tied for 14th place at 15-under-par 273. … Among the spectators at GVR Sunday was Steve Ziegler, who in 2009 swept both the CGA Stroke Play and Match Play titles in the same year, the only time that’s happened since 1985.

For scores from the Colorado Open CLICK HERE.