In the first event of the four-tournament Web.com Tour Finals, Knous shared the lead through three rounds at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio. And he was still in very good shape as he was even par for his Sunday round through 10 holes.

But that’s where he started a stretch of seven holes that he wishes he had back. Knous bogeyed the 11th, 12th and 15th holes and double bogeyed No. 7, going 5 over for that run.

He birdied the 18th hole to shoot a 4-over-par 75 and tie for 10th place, marking his second straight top-10 on the Web.com Tour.

Knous’ 8-under-par 276 total left him four strokes behind champion Robert Streb, with whom the Coloradan was tied after three rounds.

Should Knous (pictured) finish in the top 25 in cumulative money earnings for the four Web.com Tour Final events, he’ll earn a PGA Tour card for the coming season.

Another player who grew up in Colorado, Wyndham Clark, gained PGA Tour playing privileges by virtue of finishing in the top 25 on the regular-season Web.com Tour money list. Clark defeated Knous in a playoff to win the 2010 CGA Amateur at Boulder Country Club.

Players eligible to compete in the Web Finals include the top 75 money winners for the 2018 Web regular season and golfers who finished in the 126-200 range on the PGA Tour’s FedExCup points list at the end of the regular season.

Upcoming in the Web Finals are the DAP Championship in Beachwood, Ohio (Aug. 30-Sept. 2), the Albertsons Boise Open in Idaho (Sept. 13-16) and the Web.com Tour Championship in Atlantic Beach, Fla. (Sept. 20-23).

End of the Line for Laird, Saunders: The two players with strong Colorado connections who made the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs saw their postseason end on Sunday after one tournament.

Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird and former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders both finished in the top 125 on FedExCup regular-season points list to advance to the Northern Trust this week in Paramus, N.J.

But the top 100 was needed to move on to next week’s Dell Technologies Championship, and neither Laird nor Saunders made the grade. That means the season is over for both.

With a 60th-place finish on Sunday, Saunders remained 120th in FedExCup points. Laird placed 73rd in New Jersey and ended up 115th on the points list.
 

It isn’t even an every-year occurrence.

It’s fair to say it happens rarely, especially since Q-school is no longer is a direct route to the PGA Tour.

Prior to this year, the last Colorado golfer to land a PGA Tour card for the first time was Denver native Mark Hubbard, who made the grade in 2014 and played on the world’s top tour for three seasons before losing his card.

But on Sunday, another Denver native formally joined the elite group. Wyndham Clark, who grew up south of the Denver metro area and graduated from Valor Christian High School, landed his PGA Tour card by finishing in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list in 2018.

Clark — winner of the 2010 CGA Amateur and the 2017 Pac-12 individual title, both at Boulder Country Club — certainly didn’t finish the Web.com Tour season the way he wanted as he missed cuts in four of his last five events, including this weekend’s WinCo Foods Portland Open.

But the 24-year-old did the necessary work in the first six months (and one day) of the year. In his first 15 Web events of the season, Clark recorded four top-five finishes with a second, a third, a fourth and a fifth. With $187,817 for the year, he finished 16th on the Web’s regular-season money list.

“It was a tough week but an awesome year and I’m so happy to be getting my card,” Clark said to ColoradoGolf.org via text this weekend.

Clark, the 2017 Pac-12 Player of the Year at Oregon and the 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year at Oklahoma State before transferring, turned pro just 14 months ago. In addition to his Web.com Tour starts, he’s played in eight PGA Tour events in 2017 and early ’18, making two cuts and finishing as high as 17th.

“I knew and believed I could do it (earn a PGA Tour card) in one short season,” Clark texted. “I just had to stay focused and play my game and let the results take care of themselves — and they did. It’s an awesome feeling and I can’t wait to be on the Tour.”

But Clark’s Web.com Tour season isn’t quite over — just his regular season. The Web.com Tour Finals begin on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, and Clark is in the field there. He’ll try to improve his 2018-19 PGA Tour status with his performances throughout the four-event Finals, which culminate with the Web.com Tour Championship Sept. 20-23 in Atlantic Beach, Fla.

The 2018-19 wraparound season for the PGA Tour begins with the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., Oct. 4-7.

Joining Clark in the Web.com Tour Finals — thanks to finishing in the top 75 on the regular-season money list — will be Jim Knous of Littleton and Hubbard. That will also guarantee Knous and Hubbard full Web.com Tour status in 2019 if they don’t get PGA Tour cards through the Web Finals.

Knous, a former Colorado School of Mines golfer, finished a Web-career-best-tying fourth on Sunday at the Portland Open and 52nd on the Web regular-season money list. He shot rounds of 70-67-68-67 for a 12-under-par 272 total, which left him six strokes behind winner Sunjae Im.

It was Knous second top-four finish on the Web.com Tour since July 1.

Meanwhile, Hubbard placed 40th on Sunday in Portland, leaving him in the 72nd position on the final Web regular-season money list. Hubbard went 66-70-70-73 for a 5-under 279 total.

A local player who like Clark missed the cut at the Portland Open was at the center of an unfortunate incident during Friday’s round. ESPN reported that part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler accidentally injured a fan when he slammed an iron on the ground and against his foot and the head came loose and hit a spectator in the head. ESPN indicated that Web.com Tour rules official Orlando Pope said the fan required six stitches, being treated on site then at a hospital before being released.

“It was a very freakish accident,” Pope told ESPN. “Kevin is devastated. He had trouble trying to finish the round. He was quite worried and felt so bad.”

Saunders, Laird Advance to PGA Tour Playoffs: A year after narrowly missing qualifying for the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs, former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders made the “postseason” for the first time on Sunday.

Saunders, a grandson of Arnold Palmer. finished 45th at the regular-season-ending Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., which left him at 120th in the FedExCup standings. The top 125 are fully exempt on the PGA Tour next season and advance to the playoffs.

Also tying for 45th place at the Wyndham and making the playoffs was former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird. He’s 113th in the FedExCup standings.

The opening playoff event is The Northern Trust in Paramus, N.J., starting Thursday. The top 100 in the FedExCup standings after that will advance to the Dell Technologies Championship.

Notable on Tour This Week: Three players with strong Colorado connections finished in the top 11 Sunday in the PGA Tour Canada’s Players Cup in Winnipeg. James Love of Denver tied for fifth, while fellow Coloradan Michael Schoolcraft and former Louisville resident George Cunningham shared 11th place. For Love, it was his best PGA Tour Canada showing in more than two years. He went 66-67-70-69 for a 16-under-par 272 total, which left him six behind champion Tyler McCumber. Schoolcraft, with his second top-11 showing of the month, and Cunningham checked in at 274. … Former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones, who has been sidelined by knee surgery, according to the USGA, played in his first PGA Tour Champions event since mid-April, finishing 70th at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open (68-80-76). Jones is best known for winning the 1996 U.S. Open.
 

It’s gut-check time for players on the bubble on many of the world’s top golf tours.

That comes with the territory this time of year as tours wind down their season schedules. And plenty of those doing some figurative nail-biting are golfers with strong Colorado connections.

Some of those players are looking to get “promotions” to higher-profile tours next season. Others are mainly aiming to keep similar tour cards for next year, given their current situation.

We’ll take a look at some of the local players on the bubble, but first we’ll mention one who is virtually guaranteed to earn a promotion. That would be Wyndham Clark, a Denver native and former Highlands Ranch resident, who, barring some wild happenings in the final two tournaments of the Web.com Tour season should secure a PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 wraparound season.

“It’s pretty awesome, a dream come true,” the current Las Vegas resident recently told the Portland Tribune. “I’ve always wanted to be on the PGA Tour. It is amazing it has only taken one year (playing as a pro) to do it. It’s surreal.” 

Clark (pictured), the 2010 CGA Amateur champion, hasn’t played his best golf in the last month, but his strong play in the first six months of the season has put him in 13th place on the 2018 regular-season Web money list with $187,817. The top 25 at the end of the regular season — on Aug. 19 — will earn PGA Tour cards.

Clark, the 2017 Pac-12 Conference individual champion, has posted four top-five finishes this Web.com season, with a best showing of second place at the United Leasing & Finance Championship in April. He’s a Web.com rookie in 2018.

Clark is no stranger to PGA Tour events, having competed in eight of them since June 2017, many via sponsor exemptions. His best PGA Tour finish was 17th place at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October 2017. All told, he’s made two cuts in those eight PGA Tour starts.

Speaking of the PGA Tour, the top 125 finishers in the FedExCup point standings after the PGA Championship (Thursday through Sunday) and the Wyndham Championship (Aug. 16-19) will keep their fully-exempt status for next season. And two “local” players who are not in the PGA Championship field are currently sitting in the 110-125 range.

Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird is 113th in the standings and former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders is 120th. Should either fall out of the top 125 — and if they didn’t place highly enough in the Web.com Tour Finals — they would still have conditional status on the PGA Tour, but that would mean far fewer starts next season.

Back on the Web.com Tour, the top 75 threshold on the regular-season money list is an important one as those who make that grade guarantee themselves at least full Web exemptions in 2019, along with spots in the Web.com Finals, where another 25 PGA Tour cards will be up for grabs.

With two Web events left, former Denver resident Mark Hubbard is 63rd on the season-long money list, while Englewood resident Jim Knous is 69th.

On the Symetra Tour, the top 10 players on the money list after the final eight events of the 2018 season will land LPGA Tour cards for 2019.

Three golfers with strong local ties have outside shots at making the top 10.

Former University of Colorado golfer Jenny Coleman (left), who held an LPGA card in 2017, sits in 23rd place on the Symetra money list. Becca Huffer of Denver is 28th, and former CU golfer Esther Lee is 33rd.

Meanwhile, the top five finishers on the PGA Tour Canada money list will earn Web.com Tour cards for 2019. And with four tournaments left in the season, former Louisville resident George Cunningham sits in third place with $66,167.

Cunningham — grandson of the late Chuck Melvin, who played in six Colorado Cup matches — won the GolfBC Championship in June and finished 29th in the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open last month.

For weekly updates on all tour players with strong Colorado ties, CLICK HERE.

Saunders, who needed a good finish to boost his chances of keeping his fully-exempt PGA Tour status for next season, tied for seventh on Sunday in the tournament in Reno, Nev.

That marks the third straight top-10 in this event for Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson. He finished ninth in 2016 and eighth last year.

The Barracuda Championship utilizes a modified Stableford scoring format, like The International at Castle Pines did from 1986 through 2006. In that format, a birdie and a bogey are worth more than two pars.

Saunders (pictured) had a bad day on Sunday, accumalating a minus-1 point, but finished with 34 points for the week, 13 fewer than champion Andrew Putnam.

It was Saunders’ fourth top 10 showing of the 2017-18 PGA Tour season.

Elsewhere in major professional tour golf:

Two players with strong Colorado ties — former Louisville resident George Cunningham and former University of Colorado golfer Yannik Paul — posted top-five finishes Sunday in the PGA Tour Canada’s Syncrude Oil Country Championship in Edmonton, Alberta.

Cunningham — grandson of the late Chuck Melvin, who played in six Colorado Cup matches — placed third and Paul fifth.

Cunningham, who won a PGA Tour Canada event in June, posted rounds of 67-64-72-65 for a 16-under-par 268 total, which left him five strokes behind champion Tyler McCumber.

Paul shared the lead going into Sunday but dropped four spots on the scoreboard with a final-day 70, a round during which he was stung by a wasp. He went 70-64-66-700 for a 270 total.
 

Even from afar, World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III had an impact on Sunday’s proceedings down the stretch at the CoBank Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.

With his son, Dru Love, in a playoff for the title, but having hit some poor shots in the last three holes of regulation, the younger Love quickly gave the old man a call.

“He gave me some advice,” Dru relayed later. “He’s been in a lot of playoffs. He’s won a lot of them and lost a lot of them so he knows what he’s doing. He gave me some good advice. I went to the range and did what he told me. And under that much pressure I didn’t hit a single bad shot in the playoff.

“I told him the last three holes (of regulation) I didn’t hit it good. Someone told me, ‘You’re tied for the lead’ after I chipped in for birdie (from 30 feet on No. 15). When they told me that, I got really excited, a little nervous, and I didn’t play very good golf the last few holes. To get in with three pars the last three was actually really good from where I was a few times.

“(Davis) told me to go to the range, slow everything down and take big, long, slow swings and get clean contact. Hit 9-irons 100 yards with big, smooth swings, so you can get your feel back. I had kind of lost it there the last hole, skulling a 9-iron from the rough (with his third shot before hitting his fourth to 6 inches from a bunker 135 yards out and saving par). So he just told me to get back my contact, get some confidence back and go beat ’em. Take ’em down.”

And Dru did just that.

The 24-year-old from Sea Island, Ga., prevailed on the second hole of a playoff in spectacular fashion. Playing the par-5 18th hole — a dogleg right with trouble all along the right side — for the third time in an hour, Love hit a 2-iron from 280 yards that ran up 30 feet short of the hole. And he rolled the putt right into the middle of the cup to defeat Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, who had shot a 12-under-par 60 to force the playoff.

“It feels great to get this done,” said Love (pictured left and above). “I know my dad is really happy for me and we’ll have a big party when I get home.”

Love notched the biggest win of his career and earned $100,000 in the process. Saunders settled for a far smaller check — $20,000 — for finishing second.

Love closed with an 8-under-par 64 despite bogeying his first hole on Sunday. Counting the playoff, he made an eagle and nine birdies in his final 19 holes. He finished with a 19-under-par 197 total in the weather-shortened event.

Dru Love is far from the first member of his family to win significant golf tournaments in Colorado. His dad captured the PGA Tour’s International twice at Castle Pines (1990 and 2003). And his grandfather, Davis Love II, won the CGA Junior Match Play in both 1953 and ’54.

As for Saunders (below) on Sunday, he carded an eagle, 10 birdies and one bogey in regulation. Needing to make a 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 59, he left the putt a foot short and “settled” for a 60, which was two strokes better than the previous course record at GVR.

Coloradans Shane Bertsch and Riley Arp, who were 1-2 going into the final round, each birdied the final hole to share third place at 198, good for $9,500 apiece.

Other Coloradans to place in the top 10 were two-time Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan (seventh place, 203) and amateur Kyler Dunkle of Parker (ninth, 204). Tolan made six straight birdies on the front nine en route to a 65 on Sunday.

While Love’s championship-winning eagle was plenty impressive, he needed a disjointed par on his 54th hole to even force the first Colorado Open playoff since 2008. His drive there went left, narrowly avoiding the hazard. His next shot went about a foot into the primary rough, where he drew a good lie, but skulled his next about 50 yards into a bunker near the right hazard line. Love admitted the shot “rattled me pretty good.”

But from there, he almost holed out a stellar sand shot from 135 yards, leaving himself with just a tap-in par.

“It was the worst shot I’ve ever hit in pro golf, without a doubt, followed up with maybe one of the best,” he said.

Between the final full swing in regulation and the eagle on the second playoff hole, “There’s nothing like being in the moment and pulling shots off. It’s why we play,” Love noted.

“This is my best win ever. I’ve played some better golf, more complete golf, but I’ve never beaten a field this good. It’s rewarding.”

And what did dad say after Dru called him after he won?

“He answered the phone yelling, ‘Way to go!’,” Dru said of Davis. “I’m sure my girlfriend (who was at GVR) was texting him and my family and letting them know what was going in. As soon as that putt went in, I walked in here, grabbed my phone and called him. He just right away (said), ‘Way to go.’ He was real happy. Everybody was real happy. We’re just going to have to celebrate.”

Love’s recovery on the final hole of regulation and his playoff eagle after he had missed a 6-foot birdie attempt on the first extra hole left Saunders with a roller-coaster of emotions.

“It sucks (not to win), but he played great and he made a great putt there. That’s all you can do,” said Saunders, who isn’t to be confused with the golfer with the same name who used to live in Fort Collins and is Arnold Palmer’s grandson. “I would have taken (second) coming into the week, so it was a good week.”

Saunders’ course-record 60 in the final round was a sight to behold as he forced overtime despite starting the day in 17th place and eight out of the lead.

Saunders had been struggling so badly with his game that within the last couple of months he’d contemplated giving up professional golf until he turned things around and recently won the San Juan Open. And on Sunday he tied the Colorado Open scoring record — set by Nick Mason at Saddleback Golf Course in 2007 — and was very close to shooting the elusive 59.

Saunders was 12 under through 16 holes, but missed a 15-foot birdie attempt on 17 and was in the front bunker in two on the par-5 18th. But he hit his sand shot a little fat, then didn’t get his 20-foot birdie attempt to the hole.

“I just wanted to shoot 59,” the former Univeristy of New Mexico golfer said. “You don’t have very many opportunities. But 60 is great. It’s my best competitive round ever (by two). I played great. I just couldn’t miss. so I can’t complain. … It was a great day, so much fun.”

Before Love drained his winning eagle putt, Saunders had hit an outstanding long bunker shot on the second playoff hole and had 8 feet left for birdie.

As for the top Coloradans, Arp (left) essentially hit every green in regulation on Sunday until he slightly pulled his drive on 15 and his ball went into the water, leading to a bogey. His only other bogey was of the three-putt variety, on No. 8.

“I don’t necessarily see it like I lost (the tournament),” the former Colorado State University golfer said. “They came back and beat some guys, including me. It’s not the end of the world. I’m just going to take this and learn from it.”

Bertsch, a veteran of the PGA and Web.com Tour, had two hiccups on his front nine, going into the sand on 5 and pulling his tee shot into the native on 6. Those were the only bogeys of the day for the 36-hole leader.

“All in all I obviously played good golf this week,” the 48-year-old said. “But it only takes one shot just to get you thinking a little bit. And you know these guys are going to come at you. … I feel good about what I’ve found in my game in the last month, but I sure would have liked to win it today.”

Low-Am Honors Another Feather in Dunkle’s Cap: It’s been a good last few weeks for Kyler Dunkle of Parker.

The 2016 CGA Player of the Year qualified earlier this month for the U.S. Amateur, and on Sunday he tied for ninth in the Colorado Open and earned low-amateur honors.

The senior-to-be at the University of Utah shot rounds of 66-70-68 for a 12-under-par 204 total. That was one better in the amateur competition than Griffin Barela of Lakewood, who closed with a 67, and two better than CGA Match Play champion AJ Ott of Fort Collins (69 Sunday).

“This is my fourth time playing this tournament and I’ve missed the cut the last three years by one,” Dunkle (left) noted. “To be able to play well enough this year to where I can take home low-amateur honors, that’s really cool. I played some good golf. I’m really happy. It’s hard to be disappointed when you shoot three rounds under par.

“It was a lot of fun. My dad was caddying for me and I’m sure he was a little more stressed out this week than I was, but it was a lot of fun for us to be out here.”

On Sunday, Dunkle had an eagle from 1 1/2 feet, a birdie where he hit to 3 inches and another birdie to 1 foot. But he also three-putted from 4 feet once.

For the week, he capitalized big-time on the par-5s, playing them in 11 under par.

“It’s been fun to see how much my game has progressed,” the 21-year-old said. “It feel like I’m playing some good golf right now and I’m excited to go to the state am next week and to the U.S. Am in a couple of weeks.”

Award for the CGA, CWGA: After the conclusion of the tournament, the CGA and CWGA were presented with the Robert M. Kirchner Award, which is given to an individual or organization for contributing greatly to amateur, professional and/or tournament golf in Colorado. The CGA and CWGA, each more than a century old, became one organization on Jan. 1 after a two-year integration process, joining forces to serve golfers in the state.

“For over a hundred years, two great organizations have represented amateur golf here in the state of Colorado — from championships to course ratings to the handicap system,” said Chris Nordling, chairman of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “And now these two organizations have come together to be one, for hopefully the next 100 years.”

The CGA’s co-presidents in 2018, Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary, accepted the award. (Pictured are, from left: Pat Hamill, founder of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, Miner, McCleary and Nordling.)

“We get to represent over 60,000 golfers in the state of Colorado and we also get to work with young people,” Miner said. “We try to help all the young people so that someday they can play in this tournament and make their parents proud.”

For scores and the payout from the Colorado Open, CLICK HERE.

His fifth-place finish Sunday in the Military Tribute at The Greenbrier tournament in White Sulphur Springs. W.Va., was his best showing in a PGA Tour event since also tying for fifth in the Puerto Rico Open in March 2017. The last time he placed better than fifth was a runner-up at the 2015 Puerto Rico Open.

Saunders — who was using a putter once used by his grandfather, Arnold Palmer — shot rounds of 68-63-67-70 for a 12-under-par 268 total at The Greenbrier. That left him seven strokes behind champion Kevin Na.

The performance was a welcome change for Saunders, who had missed cuts in six of his previous eight official PGA Tour events. It also put him in good position to regain his PGA Tour card for next season by finishing this one in the top 125 in the FedExCup standings (he’s currently 113th).

As for the not-so-good news:

A less-than-stellar stretch run on Sunday not only cost Saunders (pictured) a higher finisher at The Greenbriar, but also a spot in the British Open July 19-22 in Scotland.

Saunders bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes on Sunday to drop spots on the leaderboard. He three-putted for bogey on No. 16, missing a 4-foot par putt. Then on the par-5 17th, Saunders was just in front of the green with his second shot. But he thinned his third over the green and failed to get up and down from there, posting a disappointing bogey.

As it turned out, that last bogey made the difference in not getting into the British Open. The top four finishers at The Greenbrier who didn’t already have a spot at the British Open earned ones on Sunday via the Open qualifying series. Those Open berths went to Kelly Kraft (266), Brandt Snedeker (267), Jason Kokrak (267) and Austin Cook (268). Cook shared fifth place with Saunders — and others — but had the highest world ranking among those who tied for fifth, so he had the tiebreaker to land the final berth.
 

Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99 before moving to Texas, finished a season-best fifth on Sunday in the PGA Tour Champions’ Insperity Invitational in The Woodlands, Texas. In his last two tour stars, Jobe has placed ninth (with Scott McCarron) in the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf team event and fifth at the Insperity.

Jobe (pictured) made six birdies in his Sunday round of 4-under-par 68, which left him with a 9-under 207 total. He endd up two strokes behind champion Bernhard Langer, who notched the 37th PGA Tour Champions victory of his career.

Jobe finished third in last year’s U.S. Senior Open, shooting a third-round 62 in the process. This year’s Senior Open is set for The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs June 28-July 1.

Saunders Emerges from Drought with Top 10 on PGA Tour: Former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders had missed the cut in four of his previous six PGA Tour starts and hadn’t cracked the top 40 in an event since mid-February, but that didn’t stop him from a top-10 finish on Sunday in the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C.

Despite playing his last five holes in 2 over par on Sunday, Saunders tied for ninth place in the event, ending up seven strokes behind winner Jason Day.

Saunders posted rounds of 70-69-68-72 for a 5-under-par 279 total.

It’s the second top-10 of the PGA Tour season for Saunders, who finished eighth at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January.

Ex-Buffs Coleman, Lee, Childs earn top-10s on Symetra Tour: Three former University of Colorado golfers recorded top-10 finishes Sunday in the Symetra Tour’s IOA Invitational in Milton, Ga.

Former LPGA Tour player Jenny Coleman rebounded from a first-round 78 to post back-to-back 69s and share sixth place. Esther Lee, who played her final three seasons at CU after transferring from Duke, and Emily Childs, who played as a freshman at CU before going to Cal, tied for 10th place.

Coleman’s even-par 216 total left her four strokes behind champion Elizabeth Szokol. In notching her best Symetra Tour showing since placing third in February 2016, Coleman made a total of nine birdies in the final two rounds.

Lee, who earned her first Symetra top-10, went 74-71-72 to check in at 217 along with Childs, who carded rounds of 75-70-72. Childs had four top-10s last year on the Symetra circuit.

Sam Saunders, who moved from Fort Collins to Atlantic Beach, Fla., in 2016, posted the low score in Sunday’s final round, shooting an 8-under-par 64 en route to an eighth-place finish at 18-under-par 270. Jon Rahm won with a 266 total after a playoff.

Saunders (pictured), grandson of Arnold Palmer, made nine birdies at the Stadium Course on Sunday in moving up 34 places on the scoreboard and earning $171,100. The top-10 showing was Saunders’ first on the PGA Tour since early August and sixth overall in his career. He has yet to record a win on golf’s premier circuit.

Meanwhile, Tom Whitney made the cut for the first time in a PGA Tour event, finishing 67th in La Quinta, where he went to high school. The Fort Collins resident went 68-68-71-74 for a 7-under 281 total and received $12,095 for his first PGA Tour check.

Whitney, a former Air Force Academy golfer, was playing in just his second PGA Tour event after being awarded a sponsor exemption. He missed the cut earlier this season in the Children Open in Las Vegas in October after winning a Monday qualifier. He missed the 36-hole cut in that tournament.

Whitney spent 2017 on the Web.com Tour, competing in 15 events, with a best showing of fifth place in the Lincoln Land Charity Championship in June. He finished 89th on the Web.com season-long money list.

Elsewhere, former Coloradan Wyndham Clark fired a 6-under-par 66 and shares the lead after Sunday’s first-round action at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

Clark made an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys, and was one of five players who was 6 under par after Sunday. The tournament will continue through Wednesday.
 

It’s the year-ending holiday season, which means different things to different people.

One of the things that comes with this time of year here at coloradogolf.org and coloradowomensgolf.org is a reflection on the past 12 months and compilation of the top stories of the year in Colorado golf. We’ve been doing it annually since 2009, and we’re not about to stop now.

There’s no lack of worthwhile candidates, so in recent years we’ve broken up the list into a two-part series. We go in reverse order, for the sake of preserving some suspense, and add an honorable-mention list that will be included with Part II, which will be published in the coming days.

Today, we’ll cover Nos. 25-13, so without further ado …:

25. Year 2 for Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado: The JGAC, which made quite a splash upon debuting in 2016, continued a significant upward trajectory in 2017. The Alliance — a joint effort of the CGA, Colorado PGA and CWGA — further expanded its reach by creating more tournaments, including several in western Colorado, and adding services. Junior players of all abilities can benefit from JGAC-related programs, including anything from the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy to Colorado PGA Golf in Schools to the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program to Drive Chip & Putt and PGA Junior League competitions.

24. Three Victories by DU Women’s Team: The University of Denver women’s golf team has compiled quite a record from late last season to early this one. In late April, the Pioneers won their 14th straight conference championship, an eye-opening run even if their conference isn’t particularly strong in women’s golf. Then this fall, DU won two tournaments in 11 days — both in Colorado, at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Wolcott and the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch. For the record, that made for three wins in the course of five tournaments spanning two seasons. Denver, ranked among the top 25 women’s teams in the nation to complete the fall (along with the University of Colorado), was given a boost in the offseason when 2017 CWGA Player of the Year Mary Weinstein transferred in from the Regis University.

23. Eaton’s March Toward CWGA Record: This year, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton reached 24 CWGA championship victories by sweeping the Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play titles. That leaves her just one shy of Carol Flenniken’s career-record total of 25. After her third sweep of the Senior Match and Senior Stroke in the same year, Eaton earned the CWGA Senior Player of the Year honor for the eighth time. She’s also been the overall CWGA Player of the Year four times since 2004.

22. Variety is Spice of Life for Moore: Another Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, Kent Moore, added to a rather remarkable feat that likely will never be matched. With his victory in the Super-Senior Match Play, Moore (pictured above) now has claimed titles in eight different CGA individual championships. Over the last 44 years, he’s won the 1973 Junior Match Play, the 1986 Amateur, the 1989 Match Play, the 1995 Mid-Amateur, the 2006 Senior Match Play, the 2014 Senior Stroke Play, the 2016 Super-Senior Stroke Play and the 2017 Super-Senior Match Play. READ MORE

21. Longmont’s Nygren Inaugural Putting Champ: Longmont’s Cole Nygren, a pro for just a couple of months, earned a nice paycheck ($15,000) and plenty of publicity with his Halloween victory in the All Pro Championship at the inaugural Major Series of Putting in Las Vegas. The most eye-catching part of the win was the fact that it came against a field that featured PGA Tour veterans Brad Faxon, John Cook, Tommy Armour III and Colt Knost. Nygren, who placed fourth in the CGA Amateur in August to conclude his amateur career, beat Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur champion, 3 and 2 in the match-play finale. READ MORE

20. Major Changes for Colorado Cup Matches: The Colorado Cup Matches, a Ryder Cup-style competition between CGA/CWGA amateurs and Colorado PGA professionals, have been held annually since 1971. But there were many significant changes implemented in 2017, which will be the last time the matches are conducted until 2019. With no college golfers playing for the amateur team for the first time, the Colorado PGA (left) prevailed 26-14 in the event, which now features open, senior and women players competing for a single Cup. That result came a year after the pros were swept by the ams. READ MORE

19. More National Recognition for Colorado PGA: Mark Pfingston, the PGA head professional at The Golf Club at Bear Dance, this year was named the PGA of America’s national Merchandiser of the Year for public facilities. With Pfingston’s accomplishment, Colorado PGA members continued their roll of the last decade-plus in receiving national recogntion for their work. In the last 11 years (2007 through ’17), CPGA members — or the Section as a whole — have earned nine national awards from the PGA of America. READ MORE

18. Chalk Up Another Honor for Keffer: In the last decade, Geoff Keffer has become one of the most awarded players from the Colorado PGA in the Section’s history. This year, the Lakewood resident received the Section’s Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year Award for the fourth straight season and for the fifth time in six years. To put that into perspective, only one player has been the Colorado PGA’s Finsterwald Player of the Year more times than Keffer, with two others matching his total. And all of the other three members of the five-timers club have all been inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Bob Hold owns the record for most CPGA Finsterwald Player of the Year Awards, with seven earned between 1966 and ’74, including six straight starting in ’66. Other five-time Players of the Year, in addition to Keffer, are Vic Kline (1975 to 1981) and Ron Vlosich (1986 to ’91). READ MORE

17. Back to North Dakota for CGA’s Jensen: Dustin Jensen, the CGA’s highly regarded and well-liked managing director of operations, recently accepted a job as associate dean of student engagement at his alma mater, the University of Jamestown in his hometown of Jamestown, North Dakota. Jensen was a key administrator in Colorado golf, particularly playing a pivotal role in the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado getting up and running during its initial years. READ MORE

16. Age No Problem for Schalk: Hailey Schalk (left) of Erie was only 15 years old during the 2017 golf season, but that didn’t keep her from becoming the girls Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Player of the Year. In 2017, Schalk was the first Coloradan to win a title at the prestigious AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. And in May, she was the first freshman since 2002 to win a girls state high school individual championship in Colorado. In addition, she captured the titles at both of the JGAC majors in which she competed. She also placed 14th individually while playing for Colorado at the Girls Junior America’s Cup. She and Davis Bryant were recently named “Future Famers” by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

15. Seniors Rule at CPGA Professional Championship: The Colorado PGA Professional Championship is the top tournament of the year for the Section. But this year’s event, held at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, turned into a showcase for the 50-and-over set as 50-year-old John Ogden prevailed in a playoff over 64-year-old Rick Cole, who was ever so close to becoming the oldest winner of this event — by far. As it was, Ogden earned the $8,000 first prize, then promptly donated half of that total to the Colorado PGA REACH Foundation. READ MORE


14. Timely 59 for Sam Saunders: Former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders picked a good time for his career round. Saunders, grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, opened the Web.com Tour Championship with a 12-under-par 59 in Atlantic Beach, Fla., where he moved from Fort Collins last year. It was just the seventh round under 60 in the history of the Web.com circuit. More importantly, it led to a second-place finish in the Web Tour Championship, which secured Saunders’ fully-exempt PGA Tour card for 2017-18 after he had lost that status late in the summer.


13. Bunch, Harvanek Voted into Colorado Golf Hall of Fame: Two Coloradans whose service in golf has made an indelible impact were voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Jim Bunch of Denver and Danny Harvanek of Littleton will make up the 46th class of the Hall of Fame and will be inducted on May 20 at Sanctuary golf course in Sedalia. Bunch has served in high-powered volunteer roles at the USGA and with the Western Golf Association, including as the chairman of the USGA Rules of Golf Committee, of the WGA and of the Evans Scholars Foundation that awards full tuition and housing college scholarships to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means. Harvanek, a longtime PGA Master Professional in Colorado, has long been touted for his highly-effective instruction work with junior golfers, which helped lay the groundwork for the Colorado PGA Golf in Schools program. READ MORE
   

The statewide competitive golf season in Colorado largely shuts down after October and doesn’t crank up again until mid-spring, which makes this the perfect time for a little reflection on 2017.

As usual, there’s plenty that makes the season special — and that’s true even in a year when no large-scale spectator golf tournaments pay a visit. The U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs no doubt will be high on this list for 2018, but that’s for next fall.

Below are one observer’s top 10 list of highlights of the 2017 tournament season and for Colorado-based golfers.

It’s an understatement to say it’s not often that two Colorado residents — one man and one woman — are among the national college golfer of the year finalists, but 2017 was such a year. So it’s not surprising that our list starts with those two players.

1. The Kupcho Show: Jennifer Kupcho (pictured above) of Westminster continues to up her game, as this year has demonstrated. The fact that she’s currently the No. 2-ranked women’s amateur in the world says plenty. The Wake Forest golfer came ever so close to becoming the first Coloradan to win the women’s individual NCAA Division I title, leading by two with two holes left before a triple bogey led to a runner-up finish. She quickly rebounded from that disappointment to qualify for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open — and then to finish 21st overall in arguably the most presigious women’s golf tournament in the world. She also won her first national title, the Canadian Women’s Amateur. Other victories included her third straight in the CWGA Stroke Play, and two wins this calendar year in college golf. She also placed second for the second straight time in the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open.

2. Year to Remember for Clark: Although he previously came close on many occasions, Highlands Ranch resident Wyndham Clark (left) didn’t score his first individual college victory until early in 2017. And that opened the floodgates for the then-University of Oregon senior, who posted three victories in his final 4 1/2 months as a collegian. One of those wins was a storybook ending as he prevailed at the Pac-12 Conference Championship in his home state, at Boulder Country Club, where he also won the 2010 CGA Amateur. With that strong final half of the season, Clark was named the 2017 Player of the Year in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Pac-12. That goes with the 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year honors he earned while at Oklahoma State. Then since turning pro in June, Clark has made two cuts on the PGA Tour, including a 17th-place finish on Oct. 29 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. This fall, he’s also advanced to the final stage of Web.com Tour Q-school.

3. Bryant Slam: A junior golf oddity made this one of the top stories of the competitive season in the state. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado schedule features four major championships, and the Bryant siblings won their own version of a grand slam by combining to claim all four titles. Davis Bryant won all three in which he competed — the Colorado Junior PGA, the Colorado Junior Amateur and the JGAC Tour Championship. And when he missed the Colorado Junior Match Play while he was competing in the national Junior PGA Championship — where he placed 14th — 14-year-old sister Emma pulled through for an improbable victory for the girls title. Davis Bryant went on to be named the boys JGAC Player of the Year after also winning the 5A state high school title, placing ninth individually in the Junior America’s Cup and advancing to the match play round of 64 at his second U.S. Junior Amateur.

4. Kaye Wins 2nd Colorado Open, 21 Years After His First: Part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye (left) hadn’t competed in a tournament in three months, but that didn’t stop the former University of Colorado golfer from winning the CoBank Colorado Open shortly before his 47th birthday. Kaye, a two-time PGA Tour winner who plays little tournament golf anymore, sank a 9-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Green Valley Ranch to post a one-stroke victory and earn the $100,000 first prize. Kaye, the runner-up in 2016, finished at 23-under par, which tied the tournament’s scoring record, relative to par. He became just the seventh golfer to win at least two Colorado Open titles.

5. Jobe’s Champions Breakthrough: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe came very close to winning on the PGA Tour during his time on that circuit, four times placing second, including at the 2005 International at Castle Pines. Then on the PGA Tour Champions, he finished third three times leading up to this past summer. But in June in Des Moines, Iowa, Jobe scored a breakthrough victory, prevailing in the PGA Tour Champions’ Principal Charity Classic. Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99 before moving to Texas, also had a very strong record in senior majors in 2017, finishing second in the Senior Players, third in the U.S. Senior Open and eighth in the Senior PGA. He also matched the tournament record with a round of 62 at the U.S. Senior Open.

6. Workman’s Stellar Summer: Glenn Workman had a summer to remember in state and regional tournaments in 2017. The Pueblo West resident became the first player in history to win the CGA Amateur and Wyoming State Amateur in the same year. The University of Wyoming golfer also scored low-amateur honors at the Rocky Mountain Open and the Wyoming State Open.

7. Timely 59 for Sam Saunders: Former Fort Collins resident Sam Saunders picked a good time for his career round. Saunders, grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, opened the Web.com Tour Championship with a 12-under-par 59 in Atlantic Beach, Fla., where he moved from Fort Collins last year. It was just the seventh round under 60 in the history of the Web.com circuit. More importantly, it led to a second-place finish in the Web Tour Championship, which secured Saunders’ fully-exempt PGA Tour card for 2017-18 after he had lost that status late in the summer.

8. Seniors Rule the Day: The Colorado PGA Professional Championship is the top tournament of the year for the Section. But this year’s event, held at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, turned into a showcase for the 50-and-over set as 50-year-old John Ogden (left) prevailed in a playoff over 64-year-old Rick Cole, who was ever so close to becoming the oldest winner of this event — by far. As it was, Ogden earned the $8,000 first prize, then promptly donated half of that total to the Colorado PGA REACH Foundation.

9. Age No Problem for Schalk: Hailey Schalk of Erie was only 15 years old during the 2017 golf season, but that didn’t keep her from becoming the girls Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Player of the Year. In 2017, Schalk became the first Coloradan to win a title at the prestigious AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. And in May, she became the first freshman since 2002 to win a girls state high school individual championship in Colorado. In addition, she captured the titles at both of the JGAC majors in which she competed. She also placed 14th individually while competing for Colorado at the Girls Junior America’s Cup. Schalk and Davis Bryant were recently named “Future Famers” by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

10. Longmont’s Nygren Inaugural Putting Champ: Longmont’s Cole Nygren, a pro for just a couple of months, earned a nice paycheck ($15,000) and plenty of publicity with his Halloween victory in the All Pro Championship at the inaugural Major Series of Putting in Las Vegas. The most eye-catching part of the win was the fact that it came against a field that featured PGA Tour veterans Brad Faxon, John Cook, Tommy Armour III and Colt Knost. Nygren, who place fourth in the CGA Amateur in August to conclude his amateur career, beat Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur champion, 3 and 2 in the match-play finale.

–– Honorable Mention: Colorado Springs resident Kaden Ford became just the fourth Coloradan in five years to qualify for the national finals of the Drive Chip & Putt Championship, hosted by Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on the eve of the Masters. Ford will be among 80 contestants on April 1. … Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton captured her fifth CWGA Senior Stroke Play title, with this being her third winning margin of at least 10 shots. She completed a sweep of the major CWGA senior titles (Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play) for the third time. … 2016 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Kyler Dunkle scored his first individual college victory — and did it in his home state — as the University of Utah junior prevailed in the University of Colorado’s Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie in late September. Dunkle closed with a 64 at Colorado National. … Another former CGA Player of the Year, David Oraee, claimed the title in the Wyoming State Open, posting his first professional victory. … Colorado State University’s men’s golf team won its own Ram Masters Invitational team championship for the fourth consecutive year. … Former CU golfer Sebastian Heisele has posted two top-five finishes — a third and a fourth — in his rookie year on the European Tour. … The Colorado PGA defeated the CGA/CWGA amateurs — a team playing without college-age golfers for the first time — in the final Colorado Cup Matches that will be held until 2019. … The University of Denver women’s golf team won two team titles in a span of just 11 days. … The Mile High Showdown World Long Drive event at Park Hill produced drives of 485 yards for the men and 406 yards for the women. … CU teammates Esther Lee and Brittany Fan shared stroke-play medalist honors in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before falling in the round of 16 of match play.