Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction will host the Rocky Mountain Open Friday through Sunday (Aug. 17-19).

As usual, a strong field will be on hand.

Two-time CoBank Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan will be one of the bigger names competing. The former University of Colorado golfer won the Navajo Trail Open in Durango in June.

Also entered are three-time champion Monte Montgomery, a former Grand Junction resident; Doug Rohrbaugh, who has played in two PGA Tour Champions majors this year; 2017 champion Justin Keiley, a former BYU golfer; 2017 CGA Amateur champion Glenn Workman, the low amateur at the RMO last year before turning pro; former University of Colorado golfer Derek Fribbs, the 2015 RMO runner-up; Dillon Stewart, the reigning Junior America’s Cup individual champion; three-time Wyoming State Open winner Kane Webber; and University of Denver men’s coach Erik Billinger.

The RMO has a rich history in western Colorado. Among the winners of the tournament is Orville Moody, who captured the 1975 title six years after claiming victory at the U.S. Open. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, named the top female athlete of the first half of the 20th century, finished third in the 1946 RMO as an amateur and competed in 1950 as a pro. Nate Lashley, a rookie on the PGA Tour this season, won the RMO in 2014.

For the Rocky Mountain Open field, CLICK HERE.
 

Different course closings hit close to home for different people. For me, the one that’s particularly meaningful personally is the impending closure of Fitzsimons Golf Course in Aurora.

After years of talk that the course would soon close, the confirmation came the middle of last month when the landowner, Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, gave the City of Aurora Golf Division formal notice of its intent to terminate the existing Fitzsimons Golf Course management agreement, effective Dec. 31. Both parties agreed that the final day of play on the course with the often-misspelled name will be Dec. 15. That will end a run of more than 75 years as an 18-hole course and nearly 100 years as a facility that started with three holes featuring sand greens.

The 184-acre parcel that includes the course, which is adjacent to the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus, will be developed, with bioscience facilities and residential units among the plans.

“The city of Aurora has always had an understanding that the course would close for development one day,” said Tom Barrett, Aurora’s director of Parks, Recreation & Open Space. “It has been a pleasure to operate this golf course and offer so many golfers memories at this special place.”

That comment about memories certainly is true for me. I’ve probably only played Fitzsimons once since it became public in 1998, when the City of Aurora started managing the course. But in the previous 15-plus years, I played many a round of golf there when it was restricted to military-related personnel and guests. I fell into that guest category as my dad, Clyde, retired from the Air Force in 1967 after an on-and-off 22-year military career.

Certainly from my recollection from all those rounds in the 1980s and ’90s, Fitzsimons wasn’t anything particularly impressive as golf courses go. It was flat, the conditions were iffy, and there were a lot of hardpan lies when a player went a bit astray, as I am wont to do.

But from my perspective, that was totally beside the point. You see, I played all those many rounds with my dad, which gave me countless hours of pleasure during the last 25 years of his life. (We’re pictured above together at Fitzsimons. Please excuse the shorts. What can I say? It was the ’80s.)

I also have some fond memories of the times my dad and I played at the Blue and Silver courses at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy, but that was just a round or two per year. At “Fitz”, as everyone at the course called it, my dad and I would probably play an average of twice a month from spring to fall, often with my dad’s regular partners, Joe and Tony. As a sports writer back then at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, I normally worked shifts that started in the mid-afternoon and ran past midnight, with Fridays and Saturdays being the busiest days, so my dad’s preferred 9 a.m.-ish weekday tee times worked out well.

Besides the pleasure of spending all that time with my dad and a lot of interesting characters at Fitz, that period was special because of what my dad had been through.

He was a huge golf aficionado in general, and weekend visitors coming to my parents’ house in Littleton would almost always find the TV tuned to Tour events. He was a big-time fan of Colorado favorite Hale Irwin, but ironically never favored Jack Nicklaus, a personal favorite of mine who I would have the good fortune of caddying for at a Pinehurst Country Club exhibition in 1981.

My dad loved to play the game too, but I only knew that from existence of the clubs gathering dust in the garage when I was a young kid. He grew up caddying at Omaha Field Club and played a fair amount during his first decades of adulthood. But years spent in the military, in World War II and later as a bombardier/navigator in a B-52, along with being a competitive trap shooter for a long time, apparently took their toll. Two or three major back surgeries, plus a multiple-bypass on his heart, kept him from playing for many years. In fact, I don’t remember him taking a full swing with a club until I was in my college years. Even when I played a round or two during a trip to Hawaii during my high school years, all he did was ride along as a spectator.

It was a father-son tournament when I was an Evans Scholar at the University of Colorado that got my dad back on the golf course for real. In his early 60s at that point, he eased into it at first, but when he knew he could tolerate the pain from his many physical ailments, the golf bug bit him big-time.

During his 60s and 70s, my dad played so much golf that it would make my siblings and me chuckle when he would report with a certain pride of exceeding 100 rounds for the year at Fitz. And yes, he did keep track diligently. I don’t know how many consecutive years he hit the 100-rounds-plus mark at Fitzsimons, but it was no small number.

He did his best to make up for lost time, and he savored every minute. It was fun to watch. He enjoyed the ability to get out, the challenge of the game, kibitzing with his pals — the whole thing. And almost all the time, despite his age, he’d walk rather than taking a cart.

Besides me getting a kick out of opportunity to observe all this first-hand, I received some useful fathering even though I was in my 20s and early 30s during the time. If I’d ever use colorful language as my ball went awry — particularly if others were in our group — he wouldn’t hesitate in rightfully admonishing me. (I knew he was serious when he called me Gary instead of his nickname for me, “Sport” — and this was one of those occasions.)

By the time Fitz closed as a military course in the late ’90s, age was taking a toll and my dad was playing less. He and I would get out for occasional rounds at Littleton Golf Club around the turn of the century, but it wasn’t quite the same as the days at Fitz.

I miss those times — hearing about when 1969 U.S. Open champion and Army vet Orville “Sarge” Moody played at the course way back when (he shot a 63 there in 1958 during the All-Army golf tournament), or when President Dwight Eisenhower made the rounds during his six-week recuperation at Fitzsimons Hospital following a 1955 heart attack, or listening as old military vets chatted about their active-service days.

So in my case, it’s not so much Fitzsimons Golf Course per se on which I’ll look back fondly. It’s those indelible memories that were created there.
 

When it comes to Colorado hosting USGA championships, The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs and Cherry Hills Country Club run virtually neck and neck.

Cherry Hills has been the home of nine such championships, dating back to the 1938 U.S. Open. And The Broadmoor, which like Cherry Hills will celebrate its 100th “birthday” within the next decade, is on a similar pace.

With the USGA announcing Tuesday that The Broadmoor’s East Course will be the site of the 2018 U.S. Senior Open — the dates will be June 28-July 1 — the venerable resort at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain will be hosting a USGA championship for the eighth time. It’s scheduled to be No. 6 for the East Course, including the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, which drew 128,714 fans — and at least one bear (pictured below) — to The Broadmoor.

Appropriately, the 2018 Senior Open will be held at The Broadmoor in the summer it celebrates its 100th “birthday”.

“The Broadmoor has a rich and vibrant history in hosting tournament golf,” two-time U.S. Senior Open champion Hale Irwin noted in an email to coloradogolf.org on Tuesday. “The facilities (are outstanding) and, more importantly, the people there are gracious and accommodating hosts who proudly welcome anyone to one of our nation’s greatest resorts. The USGA has chosen a wonderful place to once again play the USGA Senior Open Championship as proven by the last time the tournament was played there in 2008.”

Overall, it will be the third time Colorado has hosted a U.S. Senior Open, which dates back to 1980. Jack Nicklaus won at Cherry Hills in 1993 and Eduardo Romero prevailed in 2008 at The Broadmoor. The resort’s East Course is combination of holes designed by Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones Sr.

“The Broadmoor has been a great partner with the USGA and a friend to golf on the international, national and collegiate levels since the 1920s,” said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “The U.S. Senior Open is senior golf’s most coveted championship and we know the East Course will test the players thoroughly.”

By the time the 2018 championship is completed, only Ohio (with six) will have hosted the U.S. Senior Open more times than Colorado, which will be tied with Michigan and Pennsylvania with three each.

“The Broadmoor is thrilled to have the opportunity to host its eighth USGA championship,” said Russ Miller, The Broadmoor’s director of golf. “Not only will it be a time to watch and enjoy the greatest senior golfers in the world, it is a tremendous accolade to the city of Colorado Springs and the state of Colorado to be chosen as its site. We are privileged to once again stage such a prestigious and highly reconizable worldwide golf championship.”

All eight of The Broadmoor’s USGA championships will have been held since 1959, when Nicklaus defeated Charlie Coe in the final to claim the first of his two U.S. Amateur titles. Two U.S. Women’s Opens are among the events that have been contested on the East Course, including the one Annika Sorenstam won in 1995 for her first LPGA Tour victory. Another World Golf Hall of Famer who has won an USGA individual title at The Broadmoor is Juli (Simpson) Inkster, who in 1982 claimed her third consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur championship at what was then the South Course.

Overall, the 2018 U.S. Senior Open will mark the 32nd USGA championship played in Colorado, with The Broadmoor and Cherry Hills combined having hosted more than half of those.

Not only has Colorado been home to more than its share of U.S. Senior Opens, players with strong ties to the Centennial State have captured the title on several occasions. Irwin, a former University of Colorado golfer who grew up in Boulder, won the Senior Open in 1998 and 2000 to go with his three U.S. Open championships. Another former Buff, Dale Douglass, who grew up in Fort Morgan, landed the Senior Open title as a 50-year-old in 1986. And Orville Moody, who was once stationed at Fitzsimons while in the Army, won in 1989.

With the 2018 U.S. Senior Open, Colorado will add to the extensive and diverse list of significant golf championships it has hosted since The International PGA Tour event ended its 21-year run after the 2006 tournament.

That list includes:

— The 2008 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor
— The 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Murphy Creek
— The 2009 Palmer Cup at Cherry Hills
— The 2010 Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club
— The 2010 Trans-Mississippi at Denver Country Club
— The 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor
— The 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills and CommonGround
— The 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club
— The 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills

Other upcoming U.S. Senior Opens are scheduled for Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio (2016) and Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass. (2017).
 

There aren’t too many people living today who can say they’ve personally played golf with Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

Jim English can truthfully make that claim, even though the first four out of that illustrious fivesome were born more than 100 years ago.

The longtime Denver-area resident, who will turn 88 this month, played a couple of holes with Sarazen in Omaha when English was 12 or 13. Then he played three holes with 1930 Grand Slam winner Jones during a practice round for the 1947 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, where English competed that year but Jones did not.

“When you’re around this number of years, you’re going to have a few stories,” English noted in an interview this week.

Yes, English has lived a memorable life in golf. And with U.S. Open qualifying beginning this month, it’s worth noting that 55 years ago he enjoyed one of his biggest moments in the game, earning low-amateur honors in the 1959 U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

English, who had moved from Kansas to Colorado two years earlier, remembers seeing Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady” — along with a couple of other Broadway shows — that week, making for a “pretty wonderful vacation too.” But it was English’s performance at Winged Foot that’s particularly memorable.

In the U.S. Open, he bettered the likes of then-reigning U.S. Amateur champion Charlie Coe and Jack Nicklaus, who three months later would beat Coe in the final match at the Broadmoor to win the first of his two U.S. Amateurs. Also finishing behind English at Winged Foot were defending U.S. Open champion Tommy Bolt, Bob Goalby and Ken Venturi. Billy Casper won the tournament with a 282 total.

“I played fairly steadily” that week at the U.S. Open, noted English, who shot 74-75-77-73 for a 299 total. “Nicklaus missed the cut and I beat Charlie Coe by two. I chipped in for birdie on 16 in the last round, and I guess that made the difference. That U.S. Open had a pretty good amateur field.”

Though English accomplished plenty in his amateur golf career, that U.S. Open stands out as perhaps the biggest highlight.

“That’s because it was on a national scale,” he said. “Most of the other things I did were on a regional or local basis, though they were good tournaments to win.”

Qualifying for the U.S. Open back then wasn’t quite the task it is now. For instance, there were no “Local” qualifying tournaments, just 36-hole “Sectionals”. But still, 2,385 people entered the 1959 U.S. Open, so making it in the final field of about 150 players was anything but a cakewalk.

Despite that, English said he successfully qualified for nine U.S. Opens over the years. But the odd thing is, he competed in that national championship just five times (1951, ’53, ’58, ’59 and ’60).

There were different reasons different years why he didn’t go to the U.S. Open after qualifying several times in the latter 1940s and in 1950 — he was going to summer school at Creighton a couple of years, his wife was having a difficult pregnancy another, etc. Whatever the case, the USGA apparently took notice and sent English a letter basically asking, why do you bother qualifying if you don’t intend to compete in the U.S. Open?

“After that, they made it a point to ask qualifiers if they would actually go (to the Open),” English recalls. “But one of the reasons I went to the Sectional qualifying was that it was 36 holes at good golf courses and the entry fee was only $10. I liked the competition and I liked to play good golf courses.”

But English finally did compete at the U.S. Open in 1951 at Oakland Hills in Michigan. He missed the cut there, but on a course that allowed only two sub-par scores in four rounds, he was able to follow Ben Hogan during the champion’s final-round 67. That just whet English’s appetite for more.

The 20 years after the end of World War II were a very impressive time for English and his amateur golf career. He won three tournaments with big-time national amateur reputations: the 1950 Trans-Mississippi and the Broadmoor Invitation in 1955 and ’64. In the Trans-Miss, English put together one of the most dominating performances in the history of the championship match, winning 11 and 10.

English also competed in five U.S. Amateurs between 1947 and ’61, with the first and last being at Pebble Beach.

And English really made hay in state and regional tournaments in Colorado and the surrounding states.

He’s won six CGA championships, including three Stroke Plays, two Match Plays and a Senior Stroke Play. (He’s pictured at left with fellow Colorado Match Play champion Joan Birkland in 1960.) He’s claimed two Kansas amateur titles, one in Nebraska, the Iowa Open and Iowa Masters. He even won a championship in a previous incarnation of the Colorado Open.

“For a long time, I just couldn’t get enough golf,” he said.

It’s no surprise, then, that English has been inducted into three state golf halls of fame — for Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa.

In fact, English was so good, he gave some serious consideration to becoming a playing professional. Besides the U.S. Open, he finished low amateur in a PGA Tour event in Kansas City in the 1950s.

“I was sorely tempted to turn pro,” he said. “I competed with the pros successfully. I played four exhibitions with Byron Nelson in the ’40s. He told me I could make money (on the PGA Tour), but I needed to be a better putter to win. But back then, the total purse for tournaments was about $10,000-$12,000. (After learning English had a degree, Nelson) recommended I just stay amateur and enjoy it.

“Later, when Orville Moody was an amateur out at Fitzsimons, he was making a decision whether to re-app (for another Army stint) or turn pro. I told him my experience. I said I’ve got a lot of regrets that I didn’t give it a go. I think I could have made it on the pro tour, but I don’t really regret it now. If I would have (played on the tour), I wouldn’t have the large family I have now.”

English has 11 kids, 25 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

English probably could have added to his list of golf accomplishments, but an injury in the mid-1960s slowed him down. He badly hurt his right hand while hitting a shot on the sixth hole at Denver Country Club. “After that, I was never quite the same,” he said.

While English had a successful career in the insurance business, he still relishes his days as a competitive golfer. Just two years ago (pictured at top), he was among the local U.S. Amateur veterans who participated in a U.S. Amateur Alumni Day leading up to the 2012 championship coming to Colorado.