That’s when the Arthur Schaupeter-designed Scottish links-style course will host its first big-time tournament. The 54-hole Colorado PGA Professional Championship is scheduled for Monday through Wednesday (Sept. 10-12). It’ll be a worthwhile preview for what’s planned for the course (left) starting next year — a stop on the Web.com Tour, which is just one step below the PGA Tour.
The Web.com Tour — then known as the Nike Tour — previously had a tournament in Colorado in 1996 and ’97, when Riverdale’s Dunes Course in Brighton hosted the Nike Colorado Classic. Stewart Cink, who has since won six times on the PGA Tour including the 2009 British Open, claimed the title in 1996.
(For more on TPC Colorado, CLICK HERE.)
The Colorado PGA Professional Championship will feature a formidable field of most of the top professionals from the Colorado Section. That includes Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale, who won this event three straight years starting in 2013. Other winners of the event in the 21st century who are in the field next week include Caine Fitzgerald (2012), Rob Hunt (2009 and ’11), Chris Johnson (2010), Mike Northern (2006), Heikke Nielsen (2005), Bill Loeffler (2000, ’02 and ’04) and Micah Rudosky (2001). Loeffler and fellow participant Ron Vlosich are members of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.
Others who are entered are 2017 runner-up Rick Cole, 2018 Colorado Senior PGA Professional Champion Mike Zaremba, Ari Papadopoulos, TPC Colorado host head pro Stephen Arendt and Eric Bradley. Among the female members competing are Alexandra Braga and Sherry Andonian-Smith. Braga won the first two Colorado PGA Women’s Championships and Andonian-Smith qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open this year.
But the last two winners from the Colorado PGA Professional Championship aren’t in the field this time around — John Ogden (2017) and Geoff Keffer (2016). Ogden is injured and Keffer, a five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year, didn’t enter.
The top finishers next week will advance to the 2019 PGA Professional Championship, set for April 28-May 1 in Bluffton, S.C.
For Monday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
]]>John Elway figures to receive much of the attention from fans and the media on Monday at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, whether the Pro Football Hall of Famer qualifies for the U.S. Senior Open or not. More than 2,000 fans are expected to watch him try to qualify Monday at The Broadmoor.
Attention comes with the territory for Elway, who has an official role to play for this particular U.S. Senior Open even if he fails to earn a spot in the 156-man field. The Broncos general manager is the honorary chairman for this year’s Senior Open, which the East Course at The Broadmoor will host June 28-July 1.
On the golf course, Elway does have some game. He’s made the cut in the CoBank Colorado Open once, and has posted two top-30 finishes in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open. And he’ll be helped out on Monday by oilman and philanthropist George Solich, an Elway friend who grew up caddying at The Broadmoor. George Solich and brother Duffy have lent their names and support to the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy. Elway is scheduled to tee off at 10:10 a.m. from No. 1 on the East Course.
But the bar will be set high on Monday for Elway and the other 83 competitors in the 18-hole qualifying tournament at the East Course as just two players from the site will advance to the U.S. Senior Open itself.
The field is full of formidable players. Ron Vlosich of Lakewood has qualified for five U.S. Senior Opens and Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale for three, and Rohrbaugh has also won a Colorado Senior Open and three Colorado PGA Professional Championships in recent years. Dale Smigeksy of Fort Collins and Charlie Post of Castle Rock played in the 2017 Senior Open.
On top of that, there’s several Colorado Golf Hall of Famers, in addition to Vlosich — Bill Loeffler (the 1986 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion), Kent Moore and John Olive, who’s competing at his home course. There’s 2017 Colorado PGA Professional Champion John Ogden of Cherry Hills Village; Mike Zaremba of Pueblo West, winner of both a Colorado Open and a Colorado Senior Open; Mike Northern of Colorado Springs, who finished fourth in the 2016 national Senior PGA Professional Championship; amateurs David Delich, a two-time U.S. Senior Open qualifier, and Robert Polk, who went to the 2007 Senior Open; 2016 U.S. Senior Open qualifier John Hornbeck of Wyoming; and Chris Johnson, who along with Rohrbaugh is competing in this week’s Senior PGA Championship.
Besides Colorado, states represented in Monday’s field including Arizona (6), Utah (5), Wyoming (3), Oklahoma (2), California (1), Florida (1), Montana (1), Ohio (1), Tennessee (1) and Texas (1).
Monday marks just the fourth time a U.S. Senior Open host course has also held a qualifying tournament leading up to the event. All told, 34 sites will host U.S. Senior Open qualifying events this spring.
Spectators are welcome for Monday’s qualifying tournament at The Broadmoor, and admission is free.
Despite that, the Lakewood resident had never won the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Until Tuesday, that is.
The 60-year-old PGA Life Member (pictured) shot a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 in Tuesday’s final round to prevail by one stroke at Valley Country Club in Centennial.
Vlosich, a five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year and two-time runner-up in the Colorado Open, finished with a 9-under 135 total after playing his final five holes in 3 under. He made just one bogey over the 36-hole tournament. Tuesday’s victory was worth $1,125.
Finishing a stroke behind Vlosich was defending champion Mike Northern of Colorado Springs, who closed with a 70 after going 1 over for his final five holes.
Mike Zaremba of Desert Hawk at Pueblo West, the 2005 champion, tied for third place at 137 with Don Hurter of Castle Pines Golf Club. Hurter posted a final-round 68 and Zaremba a 70.
Those four players, plus Valley head professional Barry Milstead, Rick Cole and Bill Hancock, qualified for the national Senior PGA Professional Championship, scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 1 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Milstead, Cole and Hancock tied for fifth place on Tuesday. Bill Loeffler, who placed 11th at Valley, was exempt into the national tournament by virtue of winning it in 2007.
Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship
Aug. 14-15, 2017 (final) at Par-72 Valley CC in Centennial
1. Ron Vlosich 69-66–135
2. Mike Northern 66-70–136
T3. Don Hurter 69-68–137
T3. Mike Zaremba 67-70–137
T5. Rick Cole 68-70–138
T5. Barry Milstead 69-69–138
T5. Bill Hancock 71-67–138
T8. Chris Johnson 67-72–139
T8. Doug Rohrbaugh 68-71–139
10. Sherry Andonian-Smith 71-69–140
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
A field of 77 golfers will compete over 18 holes for two berths in the U.S. Senior Open, which is set for June 29-July 2 at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass. The 2018 U.S. Senior Open will be contested at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs.
Vlosich has qualified for the U.S. Senior Open five times, including last year. Rohrbaugh, who had conditional status on PGA Tour Champions in 2015, has gone to three U.S. Senior Opens, most recently two years ago.
Also in Thursday’s field are Utahn Steve Schneiter, who in the fall won the national Senior PGA Professional Championship; Mike Northern of Colorado Springs, who recently played in the Senior PGA Championship (along with Schneiter); Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Kent Moore, John Olive, Tom Woodard and Vlosich; three Coloradans who posted top-10 finishers at last week’s CoBank Colorado Senior Open (Rick Cole, Dale Smigelsky and Doug Wherry); three-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Robert Polk; and Wyoming resident John Hornbeck, who joined Vlosich in qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Senior Open.
For Thursday’s pairings, CLICK HERE.
Geoff Keffer has long been an unmistakable presence on Colorado golf courses.
His colorful outfits, punctuated by knickers, have been a mainstay for him since his dad, Don Keffer, passed away in 2012. You see, Don was a big fan of Payne Stewart, who sported knickers for many years on the PGA Tour, and he liked their look.
Don was an outstanding player for many years, as a professional and later in the Colorado amateur ranks. Twice he finished runner-up in the CGA Match Play during the 1980s, losing to current Colorado Golf Hall of Famers in the finals each time (Ron Moore and Brandt Jobe).
And, not surprisingly, it was Don who introduced Geoff to the game. In fact, the first time Don took Geoff out to a golf course, the younger Keffer holed about a 50-yard shot from the fairway, showing great promise from the get-go. Geoff Keffer would go on to win the 1997 CGA Junior Amateur (then called the CGA Junior Stroke Play) in Fort Morgan.
“My dad first brought me out when I was 5,” Geoff recounted on Wednesday. “He won a junior set of clubs in some tournament. We went out, and in my first round I knocked one in from the fairway for a par. It was the first time I ever played. He was only planning on walking nine, but he walked 18 that day and 18 the next day — three or four days in a row.”
Don Keffer may be gone now, but his son did the old man proud on Wednesday by winning the Colorado PGA Professional Championship, the Section’s top tournament.
After being the Colorado PGA’s Player of the Year three of the past four seasons, the one thing Geoff Keffer had yet to accomplish in Section events was winning this tournament. And at Cherry Creek Country Club, he checked that off his bucket list.
Keffer (left and above), a Lakewood resident who now works at the PGA Learning Center at Park Hill, matched the best score of the tournament — a 5-under-par 67 — in Wednesday’s final round to rally for the title and the $8,000 that goes with it.
“For all the Section tournaments, this was the one I was missing,” he said. “It was definitely on the list to get, and I got it, so I couldn’t be happier.”
The lifelong Coloradan, now 38, finished at 6-under-par 210 to prevail by three strokes over Mike Northern of Colorado Springs, the 53-year-old who won the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship last month. Northern, winner of this event a decade ago, played his final seven holes in 4 under par en route to a 69.
Ari Papadopoulos of Red Sky Golf Club was the only other player to finish under par, placing third at 214 after a final-round 69.
Doug Rohrbaugh of Ironbridge, who was attempting to win an unpredented fourth consecutive Colorado PGA Professional Championship, saw his winning streak end as he finished 10th, 11 back of Keffer.
Keffer, Northern and Papadopoulos, along with five other players, qualified Wednesday for the PGA Professional National Championship, set for June 18-21 at Sunriver Resort in Oregon, based on their finishes at Cherry Creek CC. Also advancing to nationals were Eric Bradley of The Pinery (217), Kirk Trowbridge of the Country Club at Castle Pines (217), Joseph Carlton of Legacy Ridge (218), Caine Fitzgerald of Meadow Hills (218) and Dale Smigelsky of Collindale (219).
It will be the second PGA PNC for Keffer and roughly the 10th for Northern, who parlayed his trip to the 2001 PNC into qualifying for his first PGA Championship that year.
“It’s a special place for that reason,” Northern said of Sunriver. “That’s like my second home. I think this will be my fourth (PGA PNC) there.”
On Wednesday, Northern (left) put the most pressure on Keffer down the stretch, but he still got no closer than two strokes during the final nine holes.
Northern birdied four holes in a five-hole stretch starting at No. 12 — including a nifty downhill chip-in at No. 13 — but he made very little headway against Keffer, who carded three straight birdies starting with a 30-footer on No. 14.
“Geoff played good,” said Northern, a four-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year. “He played solid all day long. I think I got within two at 13, then he birdies 14, 15 and 16. I birdied 15 and 16 as well. He played good and I was just glad to finish second.”
It didn’t hurt that Keffer played all three rounds alongside Fitzgerald, a good buddy with whom he worked about five years at Murphy Creek Golf Course. (The two are pictured together below.)
“We’re really good friends,” Keffer said. “Anytime we travel to the same place, we usually stay together. We worked together. Playing with him, we just kind of feed off each other. It’s more a fun round. We don’t get down on ourselves too much when we play with each other.”
But Wednesday wasn’t Fitzgerald’s day. The left-hander, who won the Colorado PGA Professional title at Cherry Creek CC in 2012, took a two-stroke lead into Wednesday, but struggled to a 77 and tied for seventh place.
Keffer, though, was virtually flawless after bogeying the first hole on Wednesday. The next hole, he just missed a 10-foot eagle putt and made birdie — the first of six for the day.
“Some of the best rounds I’ve ever had came after bogeying the first hole,” Keffer noted. “My whole goal this week was not to leave myself second putts (of any significant length). And I didn’t three-putt all week. I made a few really good ones, but I was really trying not to shoot myself in the foot.”
Keffer managed to do that — and a lot more — at Cherry Creek Country Club.
Notable: Among those working the Colorado PGA Professional Championship was Rich Langston, a longtime rules official in Colorado who last year moved to Oklahoma. … The 2017 Colorado PGA Professional Championship will be held at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, site of the 2013 tournament.
Colorado PGA Professional Championship
Sept. 12-14, 2016 (final) at Par-72 Cherry Creek CC in Denver
Top 10 Finishers — 1. Geoff Keffer 73-70-67–210; 2. Mike Northern 70-74-69–213; 3. Ari Papadopoulos 74-71-69–214; 4. (tie) Ron Vlosich 71-73-73–217; Kirk Trowbridge 70-75-72–217; Eric Bradley 73-77-67–217; 7. (tie) Caine Fitzgerald 72-69-77–218; Joseph Carlton 72-72-74–218; 9. Dale Smigelsky 75-70-74–219; 10. (tie) Doug Rohrbaugh 74-71-76–221; Blake Sharamitaro 75-74-72–221; Ryan Wroblewski 75-72-74–221. For complete scores, CLICK HERE.
The left-hander shot a tourament-best-tying 3-under-par 69 on Tuesday, giving him a two-stroke lead heading into Wednesday’s final round at Cherry Creek CC.
Fitzgerald (pictured) carded four birdies and one bogey in round 2, giving him a 3-under-par 141 total.
Fitzgerald and Geoff Keffer of the PGA Learning Center are currently 1-2 on the Colorado PGA Player of the Year points list. And Fitzgerald’s closest pursuer going into the last round is none other than Keffer, the CPGA Player of the Year three of the last four years who is still looking for his first title in this event.
Keffer, who was paired with Fitzgerald each of the first two rounds, posted a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday, putting him at 143 overall. He made four birdies and two bogeys in round 2.
Tied for third place, three behind Fitzgerald, are Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Ron Vlosich, fellow former champion Mike Northern and Joseph Carlton of Legacy Ridge. Carlton had a 72 Tuesday, Vlosich a 73 and Northern a 74.
Still among those in the hunt for the title is Doug Rohrbaugh of Ironbridge, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive Colorado PGA Professional title. Rohbaugh shares sixth place at 145 after a 71 Tuesday.
Fitzgerald, Keffer and Northern will tee off for Wednesday’s final round at 9:05 a.m.
The 60 players who posted 157 totals or better for two rounds survived the 36-hole cut.
The top eight finishers on Wednesday will earn spots in the PGA Professional National Championship, set for June 18-21 in Bend, Ore.
Colorado PGA Professional Championship
Sept. 12-14, 2016 At Par-72 Cherry Creek CC in Denver
Leaders After Round 2 — 1. Caine Fitzgerald 72-69–141; 2. Geoff Keffer 73-70–143; 3. (tie) Mike Northern 70-74–144; Joseph Carlton 72-72–144; Ron Vlosich 71-73–144; 6. (tie) Kirk Trowbridge 70-75–145; Dale Smigelsky 75-70–145; Doug Rohrbaugh 74-71–145; Ari Papadopoulos 74-71–145; 10. (tie) Luke Brosterhous 77-69–146; Derek Rush 75-71–146; Will Panella 70-76–146; Remington Post 75-71–146. For complete scores, CLICK HERE.
Ron Vlosich admits his golf game wasn’t really up to par, so to speak, in the early part of the season.
“In the (Colorado PGA) Section pro-am stuff, I was shooting like 75 all the time,” the golf professional from Lakewood said. “I told my buddy, ‘I think 75 is par now.'”
Fortunately for the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, that changed about 10 days ago, just in time for Wednesday’s U.S. Senior Open qualifying tournament, an event in which he’s thrived over the last decade.
And sure enough, despite playing half of his round in very windy conditions at Lake Valley Golf Club in Niwot, Vlosich earned medalist honors out of a starting field of 63. That means the five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year is headed to the U.S. Senior Open for the fifth time.
“It’s nice to go back,” the 59-year-old said. “You just wish your game was sharper to compete with all those (PGA Tour Champions) guys who are so good. But it’s always fun to go and chop it around. My game is not on that (tour) level, to be honest with you. But it’s encouraging to break par today.”
Vlosich (pictured above) shot a 1-under-par 69 on a day that went from calm to very windy to calm to windy again. He was joined in qualifying by amateur John Hornbeck of Saratoga, Wyo., who locked down the second and final national berth by posting an even-par 70 and prevailing in a playoff.
Hornbeck avoided Wednesday’s early afternoon winds as he was part of the first group off the tee in the morning. He played his final 10 holes in 3 under par, chipping in from 25 feet for eagle on No. 9.
But four other players — two-time U.S. Senior Open qualifier David Delich of Colorado Springs, Doug Wherry of Lakewood, Brian Harris of Denver and Matt Hall of Grand Junction — also posted 70s, so the five played off for the second spot into the U.S. Senior Open, which will be contested Aug. 11-14 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
Hornbeck (left) rolled in an 18-foot birdie on the first extra hole and Harris matched him with a tap-in birdie, leaving them to vie for the lone remaining Senior Open spot. The other three contestants were relegated to playing for the second alternate position, which eventually went to Hall after four extra holes. Delich, the 2015 CGA Senior Player of the Year, also lost out in a playoff in last year’s U.S. Senior Open qualifier, but that time he later came off the alternate list to earn a spot in the national championship.
After both Hornbeck and Harris three-putted for bogey on the second playoff hole, Harris did so again from long range on the third extra hole. And when Hornbeck’s birdie putt on that hole finished 1 foot from the cup and he made par, he joined Vlosich as a qualifier, while Harris ended up first alternate.
“I wasn’t going to give it away twice,” Hornbeck said of avoiding a second three-putt in the playoff.
While it will be the 58-year-old Hornbeck’s first U.S. Senior Open, he’s previously qualified — in Colorado — for a U.S. Senior Amateur, in 2014.
“I got to play Augusta National in 2013. (Competing in the Senior Open) will be No. 2 on my bucket list,” Hornbeck said.
As for Vlosich, he was 3 under par through 10 holes on Wednesday, but gave a couple back on the back nine when the wind was howling at times. He avoided joining the big playoff at 70 by draining a 5-foot par putt on his 18th hole.
“The wind came up on 9 for us, and it was gusting pretty good,” Vlosich said. “I couldn’t get the ball close to the hole the last nine holes. It was tough conditions and some of the pins (were difficult). I was very happy to shoot under par. Anything under par for me is good.”
Vlosich, a former longtime director of golf at the now-defunct Green Gables Country Club, previously competed in the U.S. Senior Open in 2007, ’10, ’11 and ’14. He’s also played in a U.S. Open, a PGA Championship and two Senior PGA Championships.
While Vlosich and most of the field had to deal with formidable wind at least part of the day Wednesday, Hornbeck and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore were first off the tee and signed their scorecard before the the gusting reared its head. Moore holed a 120-yard shot on the par-4 17th hole for eagle and shot 72.
“We were real fortunate to get done before that,” Hornbeck said of the wind. “We didn’t play our best but we played pretty good. We left a few out there because we had really nice conditions.”
But Hornbeck had to battle some adversity as he was 3 over after seven holes, but rallied to make the playoff. After Moore carded his eagle on the par-4 17th, Hornbeck made a 30-foot birdie.
“I said, ‘I make a birdie and can’t even get the tee,’ Hornbeck said with a laugh.
While this year’s U.S. Senior Open is in Ohio and next year’s is in Peabody, Mass., the 2018 championship will be contested in Colorado, June 28-July 1 that year at The Broadmoor Golf Club’s East Course in Colorado Springs.
U.S. Senior Open Qualifying
At Par-70 Lake Valley GC in Niwot
QUALIFIED FOR SENIOR OPEN
Ron Vlosich, Lakewood, Colo. 33-36–69
John Hornbeck, Saratoga, Wyo. 36-34–70
ALTERNATES (in order)
Brian Harris, Denver, Colo. 35-35–70
Matt Hall, Grand Junction, Colo. 34-36–70
DID NOT QUALIFY
Douglas Wherry, Lakewood, Colo. 34-36–70
David Delich, Colorado Springs, Colo. 37-33–70
Billy Tuten, Sugar Land, Texas 33-38–71
Kent Moore, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 36-36–72
Rick Cole, Eaton, Colo. 37-35–72
Doug Rohrbaugh, Carbondale, Colo. 37-35–72
Guy Mertz, Longmont, Colo. 37-36–73
George Andrews III, Pueblo, Colo. 37-36–73
Gregg Jones, Colorado Springs, Colo. 36-37–73
Michael Larson, Longmont, Colo. 34-39–73
James Blair, St George, Utah 37-37–74
John Hull, Sheridan, Wyo. 36-38–74
Dale Smigelsky, Fort Collins, Colo. 39-35–74
Thomas Roos, Centennial, Colo. 39-35–74
Robert Polk, Parker, Colo. 39-35–74
Victor Minovich, Littleton, Colo. 34-40–74
Doug Perry, Fort Collins, Colo. 40-35–75
Rick Uhlir, Boulder, Colo. 36-39–75
Tom Krystyn, Denver, Colo. 36-39–75
Terry Lorenz, Littleton, Colo. 37-38–75
Richard Kelly, Golden, Colo. 37-39–76
Ray Makloski, Pueblo, Colo. 36-40–76
Patrick Reidy, Littleton, Colo. 37-39–76
Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction, Colo. 39-37–76
Robin Bradbury, Superior, Colo. 39-37–76
Andy Titterton, Parker, Colo. 35-42–77
Jeff Oneth, Greenwood Village, Colo. 38-39–77
Bill Hancock, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 40-37–77
Jeff Crosier, Aliso Viejo, Calif. 35-43–78
Jeff Slupe, Windsor, Colo. 37-41–78
Peter Sylvester, Oro Valley, Ariz. 39-39–78
Greg Parson, Littleton, Colo. 39-39–78
Shawn Wilcox, Denver, Colo. 39-39–78
Mike Rawles, Costa Mesa, Calif. 34-44–78
Mike Northern, Colorado Springs, Colo. 39-39–78
Dennis Cirbo, Littleton, Colo. 37-41–78
Jay Orris, Boulder, Colo. 39-39–78
James Sisneros, Colorado Springs, Colo. 39-40–79
Tom Nosewicz, Aurora, Colo. 38-41–79
John Ward, Denver, Colo. 40-39–79
Owen Ellis, Boulder, Colo. 39-40–79
Quentin Sasser, Salt Lake City, Utah 36-43–79
Thomas Walter, Parker, Colo. 41-38–79
Scott Peterson, Windsor, Colo. 44-36–80
Fred Ward, Willard, Utah 38-42–80
Marshall Clark, Denver, Colo. 40-40–80
Kevin Ott, Arvada, Colo. 38-44–82
Tom Carricato, Castle Rock, Colo. 42-40–82
Jeff Reich, Chandler, Ariz. 40-42–82
Keith Gockenbach, Erie, Colo. 42-40–82
Gary Sladek, Fort Collins, Colo. 42-41–83
Dean Sessions, Westminster, Colo. 40-43–83
Paul Boggini, El Dorado Hills, Calif. 42-42–84
Tom Krause, Centennial, Colo. 41-44–85
Michael Lovato, Colorado Springs, Colo. 47-43–90
Marty Mosher, Bastrop, Texas 48-44–92
Bobby Rennick, Cedaredge, Colo. WD
Todd Waldron, Winter Park, Colo. WD
Scott Hart, Aurora, Colo. WD
The top two finishers out of Wednesday’s field of 67 will advance to the 2016 Senior Open, set for Aug. 11-14 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
Two competitors who came through a Colorado qualifier last year to play in the 2015 U.S. Senior Open will be back for this week’s qualifying tournament: professional Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale and amateur David Delich of Colorado Springs. (They’re pictured, with Delich at left.)
Rohrbaugh, who was conditionally exempt on the PGA Tour Champions last year, made it into a playoff in last year’s qualifying when he holed a 98-yard shot for par on his final hole of regulation. Then he beat Delich in a playoff, apparently for the last national berth. But later Delich, the 2015 CGA Senior Player of the Year, also advanced, in his case off the alternate list.
Others scheduled to compete at Lake Valley are four-time U.S. Senior Open qualifier Ron Vlosich of Lakewood; two-time Colorado Open champion Jim Blair; amateur Kent Moore, like Vlosich a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer; and Dale Smigelsky, winner of the 2015 Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship.
For Wednesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the ninth monthly installment of a series of stories looking back on the last century of golf in Colorado. All the articles are being published on coloradogolf.org. This chapter focuses on the period from 1995-2004. For the previous installments, CLICK HERE.
There have been many groundbreaking and pivotal moments for women in the history of golf in Colorado and beyond, but it hasn’t gotten much bigger in the Centennial State than in the mid- and late-1990s.
It started with The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs hosting the 50th U.S. Women’s Open in 1995, marking the first time arguably the top championship in women’s golf has come to Colorado — or the Mountain time zone, for that matter. And though no one realized it at the time, one of the sport’s all-time greats was to emerge, as Annika Sorenstam made that tournament the first of what would become 72 LPGA Tour victories before she unexpectedly retired in 2008.
In the first of her 10 major championship wins, Sorenstam (below) finished a stroke ahead of Meg Mallon and two in front of Pat Bradley and Betsy King at The Broadmoor’s historic East Course. That was the first year the U.S. Women’s Open featured a purse of at least $1 million.
While all that was huge from a historical perspective, the next year was even more unique.
That was when Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell was elected president of the USGA, becoming the first female to hold that post. In fact, Bell’s two-year term beginning in January 1996 remains the only one in which a woman has served as USGA president since Theodore Havemeyer became the first president of the association in 1894.
“I bet that’s the first time the incoming president kissed the outgoing president on the way to the dais,” Bell memorably joked after it was announced she would succeed Reg Murphy.
But, as former USGA president Stuart Bloch noted, “Judy’s gender, I don’t believe, was a consideration in her election. Her abilities, I think, were the consideration that caused her to be selected as the first woman president. If she were a man, she would have been elected.”
Overall, Bell was the third Coloradan to become USGA president, following Denver residents Frank Woodward (1915-16) and Will Nicholson Jr. (1980-81). (Bell is pictured at top in a USGA photo presenting the low-amateur award to Cristie Kerr at the 1996 U.S. Women’s Open.)
During Bell’s presidency, the USGA started the “For the Good of the Game” program, a $50 million initiative which aimed to increasingly spread the game to groups such as youth, minorities and the disabled.
Bell had had a long, distinguished career as both a player and a volunteer golf administrator leading up to her presidency. She had served on the USGA Women’s Committee starting in 1968 and chaired that committee from 1981 to ’84. Then in 1987, she became the first woman elected to the USGA Executive Committee.
On the playing end, Bell won three Kansas women’s amateurs, starting at age 15, and three Broadmoor Ladies Invitation titles, competed in 38 USGA championships and was both a player and captain on U.S. Curtis Cup teams. And in 1964, she shot the lowest round in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open, a 6-under-par 67, a standard which stood for 14 years.
For all this and much more, Bell was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.
But Bell wasn’t the only woman from Colorado in USGA volunteer leadership roles around this time. Colorado Springs’ Barbara McIntire, winner of two U.S. Women’s Amateurs and a British Ladies Amateur, served as USGA Women’s Committee chair in 1995-96, and Denver’s Joan Birkland, another accomplished athlete, followed McIntire in that role in 1997-98.
On a more local level, 1995 marked the debut of the Colorado Women’s Open.
Here are some of the other Colorado golf highlights of the period from 1995-2004:
— Steve Jones (left), who grew up in Yuma, Colo., and played golf at the University of Colorado, won the 1996 U.S. Open, overcoming runners-up Davis Love and Tom Lehman. The victory culminated a remarkable comeback after Jones was off the PGA Tour for almost three years following a dirt-bike accident in November 1991. The victory gave former CU golfers four U.S. Open titles — three for Hale Irwin and one for Jones.
— In 1996, the CGA entered into an agreement with the Lowry Redevelopment Authority to purchase the former Lowry Air Force Base golf course. The CWGA became partner with the CGA in the purchase of the course. The site is now home of CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA.
— From 1996 to ’98, Ken Krieger won three consecutive Colorado PGA Professional Championships, becoming the second player in the 1990s to do so, joining Ron Vlosich (1991-93).
— In the five-year period from 1997-2001, an amazing 42 courses opened in Colorado.
— Cherry Hills Country Club hosted the 1998 Trans Miss, won by Dan Dunkelberg. Coloradan John Olive was the runner-up.
— CU graduate Hale Irwin won two U.S. Senior Opens in three years, in 1998 and 2000. That gave the former Buff a total of five USGA championships, including his three U.S. Opens.
— In 1998, The Broadmoor hosted the biennial PGA Cup matches, which pits the top club professionals from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland. In Colorado Springs, the U.S. defeated GB&I 17-9.
— In the period from 1999 to 2002, Kevin Stadler won the CGA Match Play title twice, along with the 2002 Colorado Open championship in his pro debut. During the decade 1995-2004, Stadler and Jonathan Kaye (1996) won the Colorado Open en route to becoming PGA Tour champions.
— John Olive, winner of the 1977 CGA Match Play, became one of the top senior players in Colorado history. In addition to claiming titles in five CGA Senior Stroke Plays and four Senior Match Plays during this decade, he won the inaugural Colorado Senior Open (1999) and remains the only amateur to earn the title in that event.
— Colorado PGA members received four more PGA of America national awards in this decade: Alan Abrams (1997 Junior Golf Leader), Mike McGetrick (1999 Teacher of the Year), Charles “Vic” Kline (2000 Golf Professional of the Year) and Russ Miller (2003 Resort Merchandiser of the Year).
— In 2000, Coloradan Kaye Kessler won the PGA of America’s National Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism.
— Also in 2000, Warren Simmons retired as CGA executive director, with Ed Mate succeeding him. Mate continues in the position to this day.
— Nicki Cutler won the CWGA Stroke Play three times in a four-year period from 2000-03.
— Rick DeWitt, the 1999 CGA Stroke Play champ, won the last of his record seven CGA Mid-Amateur titles in 2002 before being inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and later turning pro. He was named CGA Player of the Year a record six times.
— With financial issues and mismanagement burdening the Colorado Open, the 2003 championship was called off during tournament week. Thanks in large part to developer Pat Hamill, the event was resurrected in 2004.
— The International at Castle Pines saw two future World Golf Hall of Famers — Phil Mickelson (1993 and ’97) and Davis Love III (1990 and 2003) win the PGA Tour event for the second time.
— Les Fowler, a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame player and a former CGA president who had a key role in the CGA acquiring the golf course at Lowry, passed away in 2003.
— In 2004, Steve Irwin, a former pro who regained his amateur status, joined his father Hale (1966) as a winner of the CGA Match Play.
— Jamie Lovemark won the prestigious 2004 Western Junior at Denver Country Club. Lovemark later became the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world.
There seemed to be a little of everything in the way of honorees Sunday night at the 43rd annual Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Dinner at Pinehurst Country Club.
Inducted into the Hall was a woman who’s served golf very well, besides having a little game of her own (Christie Austin), along with a respected PGA golf professional with an outstanding playing record (Ron Vlosich).
And receiving awards were some of the biggest philanthropists in Colorado golf (George Solich, and Dave and Gail Liniger), one of the most notable historians of the game in the Centennial State (Dan Hogan), and by far the longest-serving executive director in CWGA history (Robin Jervey).
A crowd of about 190 turned out for the festivities, including roughly two-dozen Colorado Golf Hall of Famers and a few Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductees: Jack Vickers, Joan Birkland and Will Nicholson Jr., among them.
They honored Austin (above), a former USGA Executive Committee member who became the first female chairperson of the powerful USGA Rules of Golf Committee, and Vlosich, a former Green Gables Country Club head professional and standout player, with their inductions.
As Austin noted in her speech, in words that no doubt go double for Vlosich (left): “Have you ever had something happen in your life so special that you just can’t even believe it’s happening? Well, this is my something tonight. This is pretty amazing.”
Meanwhile, Solich was named Golf Person of the Year after being general chairman of the 2014 BMW Championship, the FedExCup Playoff event at Cherry Hills that was named the PGA Tour Tournament of the Year and that raised a record $3.5 million for the Evans Caddie Scholarship. Jervey was honored for Distinguished Service after spending 22 years at the CWGA helm. The Linigers received a Lifetime Achievement Award as their Santuary course in Sedalia has hosted tournaments that have raised almost $90 million for charity over the years. And Hogan, already a Hall of Famer, was given a similar honor as the Linigers for all the historical work he does for Colorado golf and the Hall of Fame.
Perhaps Dave Liniger spoke for all those in attendance when he said, “We love the spirit of the game.”