David Delich earned low-amateur honors Friday in the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, but suffice it to say he had bigger things in mind during the final round at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

The Colorado Springs resident won the amateur competition by a whopping 11 strokes, and he played so well that he had a legitimate chance at the overall title.

No amateur has won the Colorado Senior Open championship since John Olive — a Broadmoor Golf Club member like Delich — captured the inaugural title in 1999.

On Friday, Delich (pictured above) was in position to match Olive’s feat, having moved into a tie for the lead after draining a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th. But in the end, he couldn’t keep up with a birdie binge by Phoenix-based professional Greg Bruckner, and Delich had to settle for a runner-up finish.

“I’m chasing John Olive,” the 55-year-old Delich said. “I’ll get a little teasing from John that I couldn’t get it done.”

Since Olive won, no amateur has finished as high in the Colorado Senior Open as Delich did on Friday.

“I have no regrets,” said Delich, who won the Southern California Senior Amateur this summer to go along with his two CGA Senior Match Play titles. “Finishing second is great, I guess. But I’m not sure I’ll get back in this position so when you do get in position you like to try to win it.”

Bruckner, a 52-year-old who has won five senior state opens in the last three years (Arizona, Texas, Nevada, California and Colorado), played holes 9 through 15 in 5 under par Friday to go ahead for good. He shot the only final round in the 60s — a 4-under-par 68, in windy conditions — to win by three strokes with a 7-under 209 total. The victory was worth $8,500.

Despite bogeying Nos. 15 and 16 to fall out of contention, Delich carded a final-round 71 to come in at 212. Another Coloradan, PGA professional Perry Holmes of Denver, finished third for the second consecutive year, this time with a 213 total after closing with a 70. He earned $5,000.

Jim Carson of Anaheim Hills, Calif., who led after each of the first two days, shot a final-round 77 to tie Barry Conser of Scottsdale, Ariz., for fourth at 214.

Coming from four behind in the final round to win “feels fantastic,” said Bruckner (pictured at left), a winner on the Web.com Tour in 1992. “I came up here with my good friend R.W. Eaks. He won last year and that was my first time here; I finished fifth. I kept it in my mind: ‘Just have a good time like R.W. did.’ It turned out fantastic.”

After three-putting from 7 feet for bogey on No. 8, Bruckner hit the pin with a 5-iron on the par-5 ninth and made a 4-foot eagle for a share of the lead. On No. 10, he caught a bad break by ending up in a divot for his second shot, but he holed a 25-foot par putt. Then he made three birdies from inside of 8 feet on Nos. 12, 14 and 15.

But Delich was on quite a role of his own on the back nine. After a 2-foot birdie on No. 12, he canned the 30-footer on 13 that briefly tied him with Bruckner for the lead. But the Colorado amateur missed a 5-foot birdie attempt at No. 14, and had a 2-foot par putt do a 180-degree lipout on 15.

Bruckner, playing in the second-to-last group, said he didn’t know exactly how he stood until the 17th or 18th holes. And he said that worked out just fine.

“It was hard to (accurately) keep track of what was going on, so I said, ‘Forget it. I’m not even going to keep track.'” Bruckner said. “So there wasn’t as much pressure. It was much easier.”

As for Delich, he thought the overall title was within his grasp on Friday, despite having started the day four out of the lead.

“There was only one guy in front of me” most of the day, he said. “It wasn’t like I had to pass six or seven guys. And when you get yourself in that position, you want to close it. And you kind of put out of your mind who you’re playing against (top mini-tour professionals). They’re just golfers at this point. They’re pretty seasoned and tough to beat, but you just go out and play.”

And though he didn’t win the overall title, Delich did capture low-amateur honors by 11 strokes over Kelly Crone of Littleton.

“That’s certainly something you like to check off the box,” the former Colorado College hockey standout said. “Being low amateur is great. Being second place is real special too. It’s a boost for the year.”

Meanwhile, 61-year-old Scott Masingill pf Payette, Idaho (75 Friday for a 221 total) captured super-senior honors for players 60 and older.

For scores, CLICK HERE.

“I never dreamed that course would close up,” said Ron Vlosich, a former longtime director of golf at the private club in west Denver. “You think of all the great times out there, and you get real sad.”

Green Gables is scheduled to close for good after this weekend, ending a run that dates back to the Roaring ’20s. The financially troubled club was sold in June to a group of investors who plan to redevelop the property at 6800 W. Jewell Ave.

According to the Colorado Golf Guide, only about 20 existing golf courses in Colorado have been around longer than Green Gables, which was established in 1928, with a nine-hole course debuting the following year.

“This is pretty sad for a golf course that old,” Green Gables director of instruction Perry Holmes said recently.

“It was a great club,” added Vlosich, who led the golf operations at the club from 1989 through 2006. “It’s been there since 1929. It’s been a mainstay in the Jewish community and the golf community.”

And few courses in Colorado have hosted more big-time professional golf tournaments than Green Gables.

Six times, the LPGA Tour played events at Green Gables (1972, ’73, ’76, ’78, ’79 and ’84), and the Senior PGA Tour paid a visit in 1983. Among the winners of those tournaments were three World Golf Hall of Famers: Kathy Whitworth, Betsy King and Sandra Haynie.

And another World Golf Hall of Famer, Paul Runyan, who won two PGA Championships and was a world-renowned golf instructor, served as the director of golf at Green Gables from 1972 until the early 1980s. Runyan was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame this year.

Recalling some of the good times, Vlosich can remember when the golf shop received a call out of the blue in the 1990s, and a guy named Phil Mickelson said he’d be coming to the club in a few days. When he showed up, he gave a little clinic and played golf with one of the members.

“The club had a great group of members — a lot of different characters and different personalities,” said Vlosich, who was given an honorary membership after departing as director of golf. “There were a lot of great times and good memories. It was always interesting and fun.”

The course at Green Gables was expanded from nine to 18 holes in 1948, according to worldgolf.com. But the course underwent a total redesign — by Arthur Hills — that started in the fall of 2003 and lasted to the spring of 2005. The total make-over cost a reported $6 million, which led to financial stress for the club.

“It was a matter of a couple of things coming together at the same time,” Vlosich said. “When they did the renovation they took on some debt, then the economy tanked in ’07 and ’08. They couldn’t at least break even anymore.”

Vlosich played one of his last — if not the last — round at the course on Monday of this week. He’s prepared himself for the end, but that still doesn’t make it easy to say goodbye.

“Anytime you lose such a good course, it’s kind of tragic,” he said.
 

He has a state title to his credit — but in basketball, not golf, as he helped Mitchell claim a 1971 Colorado high school championship on the hardwood. He went on to score more than 1,000 points in his UNC basketball career in the early and mid-1970s, and he’s now a member of the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

It was long after Eaks’ days of living in Colorado that he made a big-time name for himself in golf. He won three times in the 1990s on what is now known as the Nationwide Tour and four times on the Champions Tour in 2007 and 2008.

But this week, at age 59, Eaks (pictured) may be on the verge of his big Colorado golf breakthrough. He shot a 6-under-par 66 Thursday and will take a two-stroke lead into Friday’s final round of the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

“Oh yeah, I’d like to win this thing,” said Eaks, who stands at 9-under-par 135. “It would be nice to finally win something in Colorado. I don’t think I’ve ever won anything in Colorado before.”

First-round leader Jim Kane of Edmond, Okla., fresh off a top-10 finish in the open division of the Oklahoma Open, birdied four of his last seven holes on Thursday — making five straight 3s in the process — to card a 69, which leaves him at 137 overall. Perry Holmes of Denver (67-139), who eagled a par-4 Thursday, and Mark Balen of Orchard Park, N.Y. (65-139) are third, while 2001 champion Greg Harmon of Mesa, Ariz. (71-140) is fifth.

Danny Edwards, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, remained on the leaderboard as a 71 on Thursday put him at 141.

Eaks, who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., made seven birdies while his only bogey came on a three-putt on his 17th hole Thursday.

“I was very happy with my round,” he said. “I made a few more putts today. It’s probably one of my better rounds (in competition this year). I shot in the 60s a couple of days (last week also), so it’s coming around.”

Holmes, winner of the Colorado PGA Professional Championship in 2008, knows it won’t be easy to make up four shots or more on a veteran tour player like Eaks, but he certainly hasn’t given up hope.

“He’s probably not going to choke it up,” Holmes said of Eaks. “But it could be more pressure on him.”

Eaks, winner of more than $4.6 million in his Champions Tour career, is using the Colorado Senior Open and other late-summer tournaments to help determine whether he’ll return to the Champions Tour qualifying event this fall.

One of the reasons Eaks hasn’t had much golf success in Colorado is that he’s seldom competed in the state since hitting the peak years of his career.

“I never played in any of these (state open-type tournaments) when I was on the Champions Tour or the regular tour because I didn’t think it was right,” he said. “I didn’t like it when the big boys would come down when I was playing, so I tried to stay away while I was playing full-time.”

Eaks is looking for his first tournament victory since his last Champions Tour win in 2008.

“Everything seems to be pretty well in order, but we’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” he said. “You never know how the nerves and stuff are going to be, no matter what you’re playing in.”

A year after no Coloradans finished in the top 10 in the Senior Open, Holmes still has a shot at the title. The highlight of his bogey-free round Thursday was an eagle on the par-4 fourth hole, where he holed a wedge shot from 50 yards. He followed that with a near-gimme birdie on No. 7, and added birdies on 9 and 11. All told, he hit 17 greens in regulation and got up and down on the one he missed.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing — fairways and greens,” said Holmes, a 52-year-old teaching professional at the soon-to-close Green Gables Country Club as well as at Coal Creek Golf Course.

Other Coloradans in the top 10 are Eric Hoos of Denver, David Brown of Lafayette and Rick DeWitt of Arvada, all of whom share ninth place at even-par 144.

Notable: University of Denver men’s golf coach Eric Hoos and David Brown remain tied for low-amateur honors as each has fired 71-73 for even-par 144 totals. … A total of 56 players made the cut by being 8 over par or better after 36 holes. … Greg Harmon, the 2001 Senior Open champion, is the leader of the super-senior division for players 60 and older. He’s at 4-under-par 140, one stroke ahead of fellow 60-year-old Danny Edwards, a five-time PGA Tour champion. Harmon is the Colorado Senior Open’s all-time money leader with $24,582. … The total purse up for grabs Friday will be $50,000, with $8,500 going to the low professional. … Tee times for Friday’s final round will start at 7:30 a.m., with the leaders starting at 10:30 a.m.

For HealthOne Colorado Senior Open scores, CLICK HERE.