Fifty-six two-man teams will be competing on Tuesday, with the top three finishers in the better-ball qualifier advancing to the 2019 U.S. Four-Ball, set for May 25-29 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon (pictured at left in a USGA photo). The event at the The Broadlands will mark the final Colorado-based USGA qualifier of 2018.

Intact teams that have competed in previous U.S. Four-Balls and are in Tuesday’s qualifiying field include Tommy Hart and Jonathan Marsico (2016 and ’18), Nicholas Engen and John Jarmul (2018), Wilson Belk and Greg Carlin (2017), Kyle Danford and David Johnson (2016), Alex Kephart and Kurtis Lucas (2017; Kephart also played in 2015 with a different partner), and Robert Polk and Bill Fowler (2015).

In addition, others who have played in the national Four-Ball who now have different partners include Jeff Chapman (2015, now competing with Michael Harrington) and Alex Buecking (2017, now competing with two-time Colorado Open champion Brian Guetz). Buecking went to the quarterfinals of the 2017 U.S. Four-Ball with Jason Enloe.

Also in Tuesday’s field are 2016 CGA Four-Ball champions Steve Irwin and Barry Erwin, along with Jon Lindstrom and Brooks Ferring, and Brian Dorfman and Richard Bradsby.

For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, a four-time quarterfinalist in the national Senior Women’s Am, earned medalist honors in qualifying in Scottsdale, Ariz., by shooting a 72 on Tuesday. And Kathy West of Castle Pines Golf Club also landed a spot at that site, posting a 79.

The Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs will host the Colorado-based qualifier for the event on Monday after the tournament was moved from the nearby Broadmoor because of hail damage. In Colorado Springs, 29 golfers will be vying for the seven spots in the U.S. Senior Women’s Am, which is set for Oct. 6-11 at Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Fla. That will mark the final USGA championship of 2018.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore of Centennial, who has qualfiied for every U.S. Senior Women’s Am for which she’s been eligible, will be in the field at the Country Club of Colorado. This year, she’s already competed in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, and she’s also qualified for the upcoming U.S. Women’s Mid-Am, which will be her 27th USGA championship.

Also scheduled to play on Monday are fellow 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Am competitors Kristine Franklin of Broomfield, Susan Hartwell of Arvada, Marilyn Hardy of Gunnison, Kathy Malpass of Evergreen, Sandra Bickel of La Porte and Lisa Lee of Longmont.

Hartwell, Eaton and Franklin made match play at last year’s national championship, with Eaton and Hartwell advancing to the round of 32. So far in 2018, Franklin has won the CGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play and fellow Monday competitor Tiffany Maurycy of Denver claimed the title in the CGA Women’s Senior Match Play.

For Monday’s tee times, 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.
 

But in the bigger picture, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the 2019 U.S. Mid-Am national championship will be held at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, with CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora serving as the second course for the stroke-play portion of the event. The dates for that championship are Sept. 14-19, 2019.

For the record, that will be just the second U.S. Mid-Am — which is limited to players 25 and older — ever conducted in Colorado, with Cherry Hills Country Club having hosted the 1983 championship.

As for this year, Charlotte will host the U.S. Mid Am Sept. 22-27. At Tuesday’s qualifying tournament, the 78 contestants will be vying for four spots in the national championship.

Several players who competed in the 2017 U.S. Mid-Am are in the Lone Tree field. That includes five-time national Mid-Am qualifier — and three-time CGA Mid-Amateur champion — Jon Lindstrom, who went to the match play round of 64 last year; 2017 Colorado-based qualifying medalist Ryan Axlund; Pete Mangold; and Walter Koelbel.

Also scheduled to play on Tuesday are 2012 CGA Match Play champion and 2018 Match Play semifinalist Brian Dorfman; 2014 and 2017 CGA Mid-Amateur winner Chris Thayer; four-time CGA Mid-Am champ Keith Humerickhouse; two-time U.S. Amateur qualifier Kyle Danford; 2014 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Michael Harrington; Denver City Amateur champion Jeff Chapman; and Alex Kephart.

For Tuesday’s pairings at Lone Tree, CLICK HERE.
 

Fifty-five players will be in the field, with the top three finishers earning spots in the Senior Am, which will be contested Aug. 25-30 at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.

Of those 55, almost one-fifth have competed in the U.S. Senior Am just in the last five years.

The list includes Wyoming resident John Hornbeck, the 2018 CGA Senior Match Play champion who has played in three U.S. Senior Amateurs, going to the quarterfinals in 2016. Also, there’s three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk (round of 64 in 2017), Guy Mertz (2017), Robin Bradbury (round of 64 in 2016), Gary Albrecht (2016), Jim Reynolds (2016), Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore (2015), Thomas Roos (2015), and David Delich and Harry Johnson (both 2013 and ’14).

Also competing on Tuesday are Steve Ivan, winner of the 2017 CGA Senior Amateur and runner-up in the 2018 CGA Senior Match Play; Charlie Post, who played in the 2017 U.S. Senior Open; 2015 CGA Senior Amateur winner Bill Fowler; 2014 CGA Senior Match Play champ Tom Musselman and Sean Forey.

For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
 

Cameron Brown of Edwards shot a 4-under-par 68 and shared second place at Eagle Ranch Golf Course in Eagle.

And Jimmy Makloski (left) of Pueblo, the 2016 Colorado Open low amateur and the recent winner of the Laramie Open, posted a 69 for seventh place.

Kyle Souza of Sonoma, Calif., the 2011 NCAA Division II national champion from Chico State, earned medalist honors on Tuesday by making seven birdies en route to a a 5-under 67.

Tuesday marked the second of four qualifying events for the Colorado Open, which will be held July 26-29 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver. The remaining qualifying tournaments will be Thursday and Monday at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster.

Here are all 15 qualifiers from Eagle Ranch:

1. Kyle Souza, Sonoma, Calif. 67
T2. Dusty Fielding, Richfield, Utah 68
T2. Ryan Porch, Kalispell, Mont. 68
T2. Ryan Hogue, Mesa, Ariz. 68
T2. Justin Keiley, Haiku, Hawaii 68
T2. Cameron Brown, Edwards 68
7. Jimmy Makloski, Pueblo 69
T8. Jim Mee, Libby, Mont. 70
T8. Shad Tuten, Augusta, Ga. 70
T8. Tony Mike Jr., Kirtland, N.M. 70
T8. Andrew Garner, Jackson Hole, Wyo. 70
T8. Josh Weems, Lake Quivira, Kan. 70
T8. Dalton Stanger, Orem, Utah 70
15. Kyle Beardslee, Canton, Ga. 71
 

Parker Klitzke of Sioux Falls, S.D., who recently wrapped up his golf career at Augustana University, shot a 9-under-par 62, despite bogeying his final hole, to earn medalist honors out of the field of 87. He made eight consecutive birdies, starting on No. 9, and 10 for the day, to post a course-record-tying score for the combined tees which competitors played on Thursday.

The Colorado Open, set for July 26-29 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, will feature a purse of $250,000, with $100,000 going to the winner.

The Coloradans who advanced to the Open include Ross McLean of Boulder (67), Derek Fribbs of Thornton (68), amateur Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch (68), Josh Gardella of Lone Tree (68), amateur Josh McLaughlin of Loveland (68) and amateur Griffin Barela of Lakewood (69). Barela and Joe Parkinson of Alpine, Utah, birdied the 10th hole to prevail in a nine-for-two playoff.

Fribbs, a former University of Colorado golfer and the 2013 CGA Player of the Year, competed in U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying last month.

Also earning spots in the Colorado Open were former CU golfer Josh Creel of Cheyenne (68) and former Colorado State University player Colton Yates (68).

The remaining qualifying tournaments for the Colorado Open are scheduled for July 17 at Eagle Ranch in Eagle, and July 19 and 23 at Legacy Ridge in Westminster.

Here are the Colorado Open qualifiers from Highlands Ranch GC:

1. Parker Klitzke, Sioux Falls, SD 62
2. Samuel Love, Trussville, Ala. 64
T3. Ross McLean, Boulder 67
T3. Michael Whitehead, Houston 67
T5. Josh Gardella, Lone Tree 68
T5. Derek Fribbs of Thornton 68
T5. Cal McCoy (amateur), Highlands Ranch 68
T5. Josh McLaughlin (amateur), Loveland 68
T5. Colton Yates, Scottsdale, Ariz. 68
T5. Josh Creel, Cheyenne, Wyo. 68
T5. Hans Reimers, Scottsdale, Ariz. 68
T5. Ben Shur, Venura, Calif. 68
T5. Kelby Scharmann, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. 68
T14. Griffin Barela (amateur), Lakewood 69
T14. Joe Parkinson, Alpine, Utah 69

For complete scores from Thursday, CLICK HERE.
 

One thing she hasn’t yet done is qualify for the U.S. Girls’ Junior. But next week will present a great opportunity to rectify that situation.

When the qualifying tournament is held on Tuesday (June 26), it will take place at Schalk’s home course, Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, where her dad Matt is the PGA general manager.

The 2017 JGAC Girls Player of the Year will be one of 33 competitors in the field competing for three spots in the national championship, set for Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, Calif., July 16-21.

Two JGAC members who played in the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior will also be vying for spots — Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village and Nebraskan Shelby Poynter.

Among the other players seeking national spots are University of Colorado-bound Kelsey Webster of Boulder, who just finished third in the CGA Women’s Stroke Play; past girls state high school champs Emma Bryant of Aurora, Lauren Lehigh of Loveland and Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora; and Kaylee Chen of Denver, winner of the Big I Junior Classic state title.

For Tuesday’s tee times at Colorado National, CLICK HERE.
 

But with the change, one Coloradan will have the opportunity for No. 3 this year.

Davis Bryant of Aurora, who has won the last four Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors in which he’s competed, has qualified for the 2015 and ’17 U.S. Junior Ams. And he can add one last one next week before he starts his college golf career at Colorado State University in the fall. Bryant went to 21 holes in the match play round of 64 at last year’s Junior Am.

Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City will host the 18-hole U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying on Tuesday (June 26), with 79 competitors vying for three spots in the national championship. Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J., a major championship venue many times in the past, will be the site for the national event July 16-21.

Also trying to earn a return trip to the U.S. Junior Amateur on Tuesday will be TJ Shehee of Mead, who advanced last year.

Likewise in the field at Buffalo Run will be Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins, who won the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior early this month; Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch, who captured the title earlier this week in the JGAC Tour event at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker; U.S. Open Sectional qualifier Jack Castiglia of Lakewood; and 3A state high school runner-up Walker Franklin of Broomfield.

For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore and part-time Gunnison resident Marilyn Hardy have each competed in dozens of USGA national championships over the years.

They’re all special, but the one they qualified for on Tuesday at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora really sets itself apart.

The two, along with fellow Coloradan Sherry Andonian-Smith and Texan Patricia Beliard, earned spots in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Years from now, they’ll all be able to reminisce about being part of the field for a first-ever national championship. (Andonian-Smith, Hardy and Moore are pictured at left.)

And it’s an added bonus that the event will be contested at one of the oldest and top-ranked courses in the U.S., Chicago Golf Club, which will host the competition July 12-15.

“This one is very special for me,” said Moore, a Centennial resident who will be playing in her 26th USGA championship. “Normally I don’t get too nervous for qualifiers. I was nervous for this one, and already I’m nervous for the tournament and it’s a month away. This is very special to play in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open. It’s the biggest (USGA event) I’ve played in.

“My friend Ellen Port (a seven-time USGA champ) is exempt. And she said, ‘Janet, I want you to come out and watch.’ I said, ‘Ellen, I’m going to try to play.’ She’s like, ‘I’m sorry. I forgot.’ I’m anxious to text her and say, ‘Hey, I’m playing too.'”

Added Hardy, a veteran of roughly 36 USGA championships, including two U.S. Women’s Opens: “This is huge. I’m so excited about it. It’s fantastic that they got around to (creating this event). It’s way overdue.”

Andonian-Smith, a Colorado PGA professional from Centennial who’s an instructor at Valley Country Club, earned medalist honors Tuesday at CommonGround with a 1-under-par 71. The 55-year-old played her final seven holes in 3 under par and made four birdies and three bogeys on the day.

That left her with a big smile on her face.

“Honestly I thought my USGA tournaments were done,” said Andonian-Smith, who last competed in a USGA national championship as an amateur — at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links — twice each. She was twice a first alternate for the U.S. Women’s Open. “I’m 55 and I’m not going to do the U.S. Open anymore. So when they did this event, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have another chance.’ So I was very excited.

“This is pretty high (on my list of golf accomplishments) because I thought I was done with them. I haven’t slept much the last few nights.”

Andonian-Smith will also play this year in the Senior LPGA Championship, in October in French Lick, Ind.

Moore, winner of five CWGA Stroke Play Championships in the 1990s, tied for second at 74 on Tuesday despite a double bogey on the final hole. The 53-year old finished with three birdies, three bogeys and the double. Sarah Moore, Janet’s daughter, helped Arapahoe win a 5A girls state high school team title at CommonGround in 2010, and she caddied her for mom on Tuesday.

Speaking of Sarah Moore, she played golf at Wheaton College in Illinois, which is about a 10-minute drive from Chicago Golf Club. Janet Moore coached the Wheaton women’s team for several years, and during that time she had the opportunity to play Chicago Golf Club once.

“It was really hard,” Janet Moore recalled of the historic course. “I think that’s part of my being nervous. Just playing it for fun, it was hard. But it’s a great course, and the history of it is impressive. I’m thrilled to be part of it. It will be a really good challenge.”

Hardy, 56, who has advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, matched Moore’s 74 on Tuesday after parring her last 15 holes of the day. Hardy and her husband, renowned golf instructor Jim Hardy, live in Colorado during the summer and in the Houston area during the winter. Jim Hardy served as Marilyn’s caddie on Tuesday, and he does likewise in all USGA championships in which she competes. (The two are pictured above.)

Not surprisingly, Marilyn also works considerably with Jim on her swing and her game.

“How could I not?” she said with a smile. “And he’s always right. I keep that in mind. It’s very comforting having him on the bag.”

And Beliard, a native of France who lives part-time in Houston and has played on the Ladies European Tour for most of the last two decades, earned the fourth and final U.S. Senior Women’s Open berth out of Tuesday’s field of 24. Beliard, 54, birdied the last hole of regulation for a 75, then defeated former LPGA Tour players Lori West of Glenwood Springs and Dede Cusimano of Aspen on the first hole of a playoff. Beliard two-putted from the back fringe for par from 30 feet to advance.

Cusimano and West missed the green short on the extra hole, the par-4 first, and neither could convert their 20-foot par putts. Cusimano ended up two-putting for bogey to earn the first alternate spot, while West three-putted for double bogey, leaving her with the second alternate position.

Beliard (left), like the other qualifiers, relishes the fact that she’s part of the first field for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

“It’s something that it’s great we have it for the first time and I really want to be part of it,” she said. “It was about time we have the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. I think it’s great. I’ll be very, very happy to play in the first one for sure.”

U.S. Senior Women’s Open Qualifying

At Par-72 CommonGround GC in Aurora
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sherry Andonian-Smith, Centennial 71
Janet Moore, Centennial 74
Marilyn Hardy, Gunnison 74
Patricia Beliard, Katy, Texas 75

ALTERNATES (In Order)
Dede Cusimano, Aspen 75
Lori West, Glenwood Springs 75
Kathy West, Tulsa, Okla. 77

For complete scores, CLICK HERE.