Jennifer Kupcho is a national champion — just not yet in the U.S.
The Westminster resident led wire-to-wire this week in earning the prestigious Canadian Women’s Amateur title on Friday at Cutten Fields in Guelph, Ontario, west of Toronto.
Kupcho, ranked No. 4 in the world among women’s amateurs after finishing 21st this month at the U.S. Women’s Open, prevailed by five strokes on Friday. She posted rounds of 65-70-66-72 for a 7-under-par 273 total. She made 20 birdies over the four days.
“I’m really excited,” Kupcho said. “I played really well this week and I’m just excited to get a national title.”
Next best in the 104th Canadian Women’s Am was another American, Lilia Kha-Tu Vu of Fountain Valley, Calif, the No. 5-ranked women’s amateur, who closed with a 73.
Kupcho becomes the second player with strong Colorado ties in the last decade to win the Canadian Women’s Amateur as then-University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock claimed the title in 2007.
Kupcho, a Wake Forest junior-to-be, has proven herself to be among the best women amateurs in the world over the last two-plus months. She finished runner-up individually in the Women’s NCAA Championship in May, 21st and second low am in the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month, then earned the Canadian Women’s Amateur title on Friday. And in the midst of all that, last month the 20-year-old won her third consecutive CWGA Stroke Play, this one by 13 shots.
The next major championship on the agenda for Kupcho will be the U.S. Women’s Amateur at San Diego Country Club Aug. 7-13. Locally, Kupcho recently committed to compete in the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.
For scores from the Canadian Women’s Amateur, CLICK HERE.
Colorado-based fans of big-time women’s golf have had the opportunity to see LPGA Tour events up close and in person twice in the last three years and three times since 2005.
In the coming week, several Coloradans would like nothing more than to join the big show and be inside the ropes in 2014.
The third and final stage of LPGA Tour qualifying for this year will be held Wednesday through Sunday (Dec. 4-8) in Daytona Beach, Fla. A field of 153 players will tee it up on two courses, with the top 20 finishers after five rounds earning Category 12 status on the 2014 LPGA Tour, and the next 25 and ties gaining conditional status.
The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties after four rounds, with all those who make the cut being guaranteed of at least Symetra Tour status in 2014.
Four players with strong Colorado ties will be in the field: Kelly Jacques, who grew up in Longmont; Dawn Shockley, who grew up in Estes Park; Ashley Tait (pictured above), who grew up in Littleton; and Stephanie Sherlock, who, like Shockley, is a former University of Denver golfer. Also competing is Birdie Kim, who won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club just south of Denver.
Two of the four local players have held LPGA Tour cards. Sherlock just completed her third straight year on the circuit, but she made just five cuts in 2012 and ’13 combined. She had a solid rookie campaign in 2011, surviving five cuts and earning almost $38,000.
And Jacques (pictured at left) was a rookie on the LPGA Tour in 2013, but only competed in five events because of her conditional-status finish in last year’s Q-school. (She tied for 17th place, but lost out in a playoff.) In her five LPGA Tour events, she made one cut, finishing 58th in the Marathon Classic.
Meanwhile, Shockley and Tait made it to the final stage of Q-school by virute of top-80 finishes in stage II, which featured 194 players. Shockley placed 45th in that tournament, while Tait was 56th.
Shockley, winner of the 2009 NCAA East Regional title while at DU, has split her time between the Ladies European Tour and the U.S.-based Symetra Tour the last couple of years.
Jacques and Tait had stellar records in junior golf in Colorado a decade ago. Jacques won two 5A state high school titles while at Skyline, and swept the major CWGA junior championships in 2002. Tait claimed three 4A state high school titles at Mullen, and won the 2003 CWGA Junior Stroke Play and the 2008 CWGA Stroke Play.
Among the other players in the LPGA qualifying tournament field this week are North Dakota State graduate Amy Anderson, the all-time victory leader in women’s college golf with 20, and Cheyenne Woods, Tiger’s niece. Anderson won the second stage qualifying tournament by six strokes.
But that’s not to say that golfers from Norway haven’t made their mark. For instance, Norwegian Suzann Pettersen is among the top 10 players in the Rolex women’s world golf rankings.
And, locally speaking, the top college golfer for a Colorado-based team this season hails from Norway.
University of Denver junior Tonje (pronounced Tonya) Daffinrud is ranked one of the top 50 women’s college golfers in the country by both Golfstat (43rd) and Golfweek (38th).
Though Daffinrud hasn’t won an individual title this season — she did claim a victory as a freshman — she’s been a model of top-level consistency. In the six college tournaments she’s played this season, the 21-year-old has posted a remarkable five top-10 finishes.
“We’ve had many great players at DU in recent years, but Tonje is something,” said coach Lindsay Hulwick, the new head coach at DU, where she served as an assistant coach from 2005 to 2012. “I don’t know if any player has had (a run of top-10s like that). She’s quite impressive, but I’m not at all surprised by what she’s doing.”
Just last week, Daffinrud (pictured in a DU photo) made her way into the Pioneer record book alongside two of the best players the program has produced. In firing a 7-under-par 65 at the Anuenue Spring Break Classic in Kapalua, Hawaii, the junior tied the lowest round in DU women’s golf history. Current LPGA Tour player Stephanie Sherlock and former LPGA Tour competitor Katie Kempter previously shot 65 at tournaments for DU, both during the 2007-08 season.
“It’s fun to have records and have that in my resume,” Daffinrud said this week. “But for me it’s not about that. It’s a nice bonus.”
If nothing else, it confirms that Daffinrud may also have what it takes to make it to the LPGA Tour, like Sherlock and Kempter have done.
“It kind of confirms how far I’ve come,” Daffinrud said. “For a long time, I’ve had the goal of going professional. Shooting rounds like that inspire and motivate me to work toward that.”
After tying the course record with the 65, Daffinrud finished second in the tournament, behind only Pepperdine’s Grace Na, one of the top 10 women’s college players in the country.
In addition to that runner-up showing, Daffinrud has one third place, a fifth, a seventh and a 10th this season. Only once has she finished outside the top 10: a 33rd-place showing at the Bruin Wave Invitational a month ago.
Daffinrud, who owns a 73.2 stroke average this season, was named the Western Athletic Conference’s Women’s Golfer of the Month for October, and the Women’s Golfer of the Week for last week.
Daffinrud actually missed the season opener for DU, but she had a good reason: She was playing for her homeland of Norway in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey in late September. Individually, Daffinrud had a solid showing at that worldwide amateur event, finishing 32nd out of 157 competitors.
Daffinrud has been playing on national teams for Norway since age 13. In 2008 as a junior golfer, she won every tournament in which she competed. But given Norway’s climate, she’s been a big fish in a small golf pond, relatively speaking.
“The season (in Norway) is pretty short; it starts in May and ends in September,” she said. “And golf is not as big a sport (as it is in some other countries). The weather and courses are not as good everywhere. But the Norwegian Golf Federation has put a lot of resources into building junior golf.”
The NGF’s support has helped Daffinrud develop as a player over the years. In fact, one of the keys she cites as a reason for her good play this season is due in part to the federation’s help. Since last summer, Daffinrud has been working on the mental side of the game with Dr. Joseph Parent, author of the popular “Zen Golf”. In fact, Daffinrud had some in-person sessions with Parent before going to Hawaii for last week’s tournament.
Daffinrud came onto DU’s radar four years ago in Illinois at the Junior Solheim Cup. Among Daffinrud’s matches that week was one against Lexi Thompson, who would go on in 2011 to become then the youngest winner ever of an LPGA Tour event, at age 16. Thompson barely defeated Daffinrud, 1 up, in singles.
Hulwick, then a DU assistant under Sammie Chergo, was at the Junior Solheim Cup recruiting.
“(Daffinrud) really caught my eye,” Hulwick recalled. “She’s very athletic, tall, and has a great swing. Her game and maturity were already at a high level. I knew we had to get her.”
And the timing was right. Though Daffinrud was also being recruited by some of the top college programs in the country, DU was coming off its best finish ever at the NCAA Championship Finals, a fifth place.
And why did Daffinrud choose Denver?
“At the end it came down to the coaches,” she said. “I’m pretty independent in how I practice and play golf. Of course, we have a team structure, but the coaches let me do it my way. I want to follow my own path, and at DU I found that (opportunity). And being from Norway, the cold doesn’t really affect me. The eduction is very impressive as well.”
Daffinrud is double majoring in international business and economics, and she said there’s no question she’ll return to DU for her senior season.
But the most important part of this college season remains ahead, and that’s what Daffinrud is concentrating on now. The Pioneers have a maximum of four tournaments remaining, starting with this weekend’s SMU Invitational in Dallas. Then there’s the team’s one and only Western Athletic Conference Championship, where the Pioneers will try to win their 10th straight conference title, the last nine coming in the Sun Belt. Then DU hopes to earn a spot in the NCAA regionals, and the NCAA Championship Finals.
“We’re in a new conference, and our goal for sure is to win and keep our streak going,” Daffinrud said. “Regionals are our most important tournament; we want to make it to nationals.
“Individually, my goal is to win the last four tournaments. I play to win. I’ve come close (this season), but I’m not satisfied. Hopefully, I’ll make it to nationals regardless of how the team does. And a top 10 at nationals would be something I would be happy about. I want to get after it.”
Hulwick said big goals are within reach for Daffinrud.
“She’s very disciplined and committed,” the coach said. “She sets goals and she achieves them. She’s very independent, and she wants to be the best. She puts in the extra time before and after practice. You don’t see her kind of drive very often.”
]]>It happens at the start of every year in football, baseball, basketball and other team sports, but it’s certainly there for golf as well.
The bottom line is, when everyone begins fresh, hope springs eternal.
This week will mark the first event of 2013 for tour players with major Colorado ties. Specifically, Kent Denver High School graduate Kevin Stadler and one-time Golden resident Andrew Svoboda are entered in the Sony Open, the first full-field tournament of the season on the PGA Tour. The event is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday (Jan. 10-13) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
As a Colorado-oriented preview for the 2013 season on the various tours around the world, it’s worth taking a look at the changes in store for some of the top players with in-state ties. We’ll also examine which local golfers may be on the verge of bigger things.
For a regularly-updated list of local golfers on the world’s top tours — and how they’re faring, CLICK HERE.
Moving Up in the World
— Former Longmont resident Kelly Jacques (pictured) earned an LPGA Tour card for the first time, though she’ll only have conditional status in 2013. The two-time Colorado girls state high school champion landed her tour card by finishing 17th in the final stage of LPGA Tour qualifying last month. Jacques appeared on Golf Channel’s “Big Break Ireland” in 2011, and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open last year.
— One-time Golden resident Andrew Svoboda gained his PGA Tour card for the first time by finishing among the top 25 on the season-long Web.com Tour money list in 2012. By earning $203,717 on the Web.com last year — his third straight season on that circuit — Svoboda placed 21st on the 2012 money rankings.
— Former University of Denver golfer Espen Kofstad landed a spot on the 2013 European Tour in stellar fashion by winning the 2012 money title on the European Challenge Tour. Kofstad won twice on the Challenge Tour last year, including the season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final. After the first two events of the “2013” European Tour season, which actually began in December, Kofstad ranks 37th on the money list.
— Sue Kim, who played just one semester at DU before turning pro, will be a rookie on the LPGA Tour in 2013, though she only has a conditional exemption. She earned that status by finishing 32nd in the final stage of tour qualifying after placing 23rd on the Symetra money list in 2012.
— One-time Castle Rock resident Esteban Toledo turned 50 in September and earned a spot on the Champions Tour by placing fourth in the final stage of qualifying. Toledo won more than $3.7 million in his PGA Tour career and another $900,000 (with a victory) on the Web.com Tour.
Moving Down
— Shane Bertsch of Parker missed regaining his fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour by two strokes in the final stage of qualifying last month. Bertsch will still get some PGA Tour starts in 2013, but the majority of his time figures to be spent on the Web.com Tour, where he’s won twice in his career.
On the Mend
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe will begin 2013 on the PGA Tour’s major medical extension list. After sitting out the last half of 2012 with a herniated disc in his neck, the Kent Denver High School graduate must earn at least $303,178 in his first 10 starts of the year to retain his fully-exempt status on Tour.
— David Duval of Cherry Hills Village was sidelined for much of the fall after breaking a toe on his right foot while chasing his kids early in September. But he did return in mid-December to finish fourth — along with stepson Nick Karavites — in the PNC Father-Son Challenge. Once again, Duval will rely on his past-champions status and sponsor exemptions to get into Tour events.
Looking to Take the Next Step
— Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird owns two PGA Tour victories, but he hasn’t won in 22 months. And after five career runner-ups, he’d like to get back into the win category soon.
— Kent Denver High School graduate Kevin Stadler will turn 33 years old next month and has won more than $6 million on the PGA Tour, but he’d like nothing better than to break through for his first Tour victory. So far, his best finishes in 208 Tour starts are two second places.
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Steve Jones is 54 years old, but has played in just 22 Champions Tour events after having his career derailed by elbow problems. After finishing 11th in the final stage of qualifying in November, the former University of Colorado golfer has conditional status in 2013. A victory by the 1996 U.S. Open champion would solve a lot of issues.
— Former University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock will be starting her third year on the LPGA Tour after finishing 10th in the final stage of qualifying last month. But she has yet to post a top-10 showing in any official LPGA Tour event, so that should be a high priority.
That makes this an ideal time to look back on how tour players with major Colorado connections fared this year. Specifically, let’s pinpoint the top 10 tour highlights of 2012 from the perspective of the participating local players:
1. Hallberg Fires 63 En Route to Second Place at the Senior British Open: Gary Hallberg (pictured) of Castle Rock had one of the most memorable rounds of the year on the Champions Tour en route to finishing second in the Senior British Open at Turnberry, Scotland in July.
Hallberg’s 7-under-par 63 in very windy conditions at Turnberry was the best score of the second round — by five strokes. He finished two shots behind champion Fred Couples in the senior major.
How good was Hallberg’s 63?
“I think Gary’s 63 is the round of the year,” Bernhard Langer said. “Shooting 7 under today is like 10 or 11 under on a decent day. That’s how good it was and I take my hat off to him.”
Added Tom Lehman: “When I saw Gary’s score going on the board I thought, ‘Wow! Did he play the par-3 course across the road?’ He’s a bit of a character, so nothing surprises me what he might shoot.”
With six top-10 finishes for the year, Hallberg ended up a career-best 20th on the Champions Tour money list.
Adding even more local flavor to the Senior British Open was Aurora’s Mark Wiebe finishing sixth after taking eighth in the U.S. Senior Open earlier in July.
2. Kofstad Wins European Challenge Tour Money Title: While it may not have made a big ripple for American golf fans, former University of Denver golfer Espen Kofstad’s finish to the European Challenge Tour season is certainly worthy of note.
The Challenge Tour is the European equivalent of the Web.com Tour, and Kofstad used it to punch his ticket to the 2013 European Tour.
Kofstad won twice on the 2012 Challenge Tour, and the second of those gave him the Tour’s season-long money title with 131,099 euros.
The now-25-year-old Norwegian golfer posted a 19-under-par 265 total in late October to win by one in the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final in Savelletri, Italy. Kofstad went bogey-free over the final two rounds.
Kofstad will be a rookie on the European Tour in 2013.
3. Laird Runner-Up in Players Championship: Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird nearly scored the biggest victory of his career in May.
Laird finished second in the Players Championship, arguably the most important tournament outside the majors. He ended up two two strokes behind champion Matt Kuchar, the same player who beat Laird in a playoff at the Barclays in 2010.
It was Laird’s second runner-up showing of the 2012 PGA Tour season. He also placed second in the season-opening Tournament of Champions.
4. Irwin Posts Another Top-5 in Champions Tour Major: Former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin turned 67 in June, but that didn’t keep the all-time Champions Tour winner from contending in one of the circuit’s top events.
With a third-place performance in the Senior PGA Championship in late May, the three-time U.S. Open champion posted his third top-five finish in a Champions Tour major since turning 65.
5. Stadlers, Father and Son, Come Up Big on Same Day: On Aug. 5, Evergreen resident Craig Stadler and son Kevin, a Kent Denver High School graduate, both recorded top-11 finishes on major tours.
Craig placed seventh in the Champions Tour 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn. — matching his best showing on the circuit since August 2009 — while Kevin was 11th in the Reno-Tahoe Open Stableford event in Nevada.
6. Kevin Stadler Makes a Run in the Tour Playoffs: Kevin Stadler began the PGA Tour playoffs with a flurry late in the summer, finishing 10th in both of the first two playoff events, The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship.
For the year, Stadler posted five top-10 finishes, including a fourth in April’s RBC Heritage, which marked his best Tour performance since August 2009.
Stadler finished a career-best 54th on the 2012 Tour money list.
7. Wiebe’s Ace Helps Him to Second Straight Top-3 Finish: Mark Wiebe of Aurora had an October to remember on the Champions Tour. He recorded two straight top-three showings on the circuit, in the SAS Championship and in his title defense at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn.
At Rock Barn, Wiebe helped his cause with a first-round hole-in-one.
Wiebe finished 23rd on the 2012 money list, meaning he’s placed in the top 30 each of the five Champions Tour seasons in which he’s played a full schedule.
8. Sherlock, Jacques Earn 2013 LPGA Tour Cards: At the LPGA Tour’s final stage of qualifying, which concluded this month, former University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock regained fully-exempt status on the LPGA Tour, while former Longmont resident Kelly Jacques earned status on the circuit for the first time.
Sherlock, an LPGA Tour player since the start of 2011, finished 10th in the final stage of Q-school, while Jacques tied for 17th then lost in a playoff that could have earned her fully-exempt status.
Jacques, a two-time Colorado state high school champion, earlier this year qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open.
9. Svoboda Gains PGA Tour Card Through Web.com Money List: One-time Golden resident Andrew Svoboda rode two runner-up finishes on the Web.com Tour in the period from February through April to earn a PGA Tour card for the first time.
With the top 25 players on the Web.com money list landing PGA Tour exemptions, Svoboda finished 21st with more than $200,000.
10. Jones Makes Inroads on Champions Tour: Former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones didn’t make his Champions Tour debut until he was 52 — due to a severe case of tennis elbow — but he’s been making steady progress on the circuit.
Jones, who grew up in Yuma, Colo., finished 13th in the First Tee Open in July, marking his best showing ever in an official Champions Tour event. Then he gained conditional status on the 2013 Champions Tour by finishing 11th in last month’s national qualifying tournament.
When Jacques (pictured at left) landed a spot on “Big Break Ireland” last year, it led to an opening of the floodgates for her golf career.
Besides receiving some national and international exposure on the golf skills show, Jacques has seen her golf fortunes improve immeasurably over the last year and a half, and particularly the last six months.
She finished third in the 2012 HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open, qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open and posted three top-20 showings on the Symetra Tour.
And then there’s the biggest development. On Sunday, the former Longmont resident earned conditional status on the 2013 LPGA Tour thanks to finishing 17th in the final stage of qualifying in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Though Jacques birdied the final hole of regulation from 15 feet to move into the top 20, she lost in a seven-person playoff for the final four full exemptions available. The playoff lasted five holes — a three-hole aggregate, then sudden death — and Jacques’ even-par total wasn’t good enough to join the top 20, who receive “Category 12” exempt status.
Instead, she’ll get the Category 17 status given to the players who finish between 21st and 45th (and ties).
“I’m excited to have some status, but it stings” to fall just short of a full exemption, Jacques said in a phone interview Sunday night.
Meanwhile, former University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock landed a Category 12 spot.
Sherlock, who’s played the LPGA Tour each of the last two years, finished 10th in the qualifying finals, as a final-round 74 left her at 5-under-par 355 in the five-round tournament. She earned $2,250.
Jacques, who opened with a double bogey on Sunday when she hit a ball into the water after a disagreement with her caddie about which club to hit, carded a 75 to check in at 357. That was good for $1,242.
Former DU golfer Sue Kim also landed conditional LPGA status — Category 17 — by placing 32nd on Sunday. Her final-round 69 left her at 360.
Former University of Colorado golfer Emily Talley, after making a run at an LPGA spot on Sunday, fell back to finish 59th, which leaves her with Symetra Tour status for 2013. She shot a 71 Sunday for a 364 total.
For the 26-year-old Jacques, finally earning a spot on the LPGA Tour is a dream come true.
“My game has come really far the last one or two years,” she said. “It’s neat to see my hard work pay off.”
Still, coming up just short of full status was hard to swallow.
“I was in the top 10 all week, and for my worst day to be the last day was frustrating,” Jacques said.
The issue is that by ending up with Category 17 status instead of Category 12, it will mean getting into fewer LPGA tournaments next year, and possibly a significant amount fewer. But the number will depend on how Jacques performs in her early season events.
As it stands, she anticipates that she’ll split her tournament starts between the LPGA Tour and the Symetra Tour, which is a level lower than the LPGA circuit.
“I have no other choice,” she said. “The problem is, sometimes if you play seven events on each tour, you can’t do well on either. But I plan to play in the LPGA events I can get in, get experience and see how it goes.”
Perhaps it was a good omen for Q-school when, on the very first hole of the finals on Wednesday, Jacques eagled a par-4, holing a 3-wood into the wind from 191 yards. The Skyline High School graduate shot under par every round except Sunday’s.
As it turns out, Jacques indicated that being a contestant on Golf Channel’s Big Break Ireland last year helped her deal with the pressure of big-time golf.
“At first, when you find out you’re going to be on the show, you’re overwhelmed with excitement and joy and then you get so deathly scared,” Jacques said this past week. “You’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to be on TV’ and if you hit a bad shot, it’s going to be shown to everybody. So it was really neat to be a part of that and to see how your game holds up under pressure.”
Sherlock, winner of seven individual tournament titles at DU, earned the right to play the LPGA Tour for a third consecutive season. She lost her fully-exempt status in 2011 after finishing 101st on the money list, and in 2012 by placing 139th on the money rankings.
But, by virtue of finishing 10th in Q-school on Sunday, Sherlock has better status for 2013 than she had in 2012. This marks her third straight year of placing 20th or better in the Q-school finals.
The former Canadian women’s amateur champion has made seven cuts in 22 LPGA Tour events over the last two years. She finished the 2012 season strong with a win in the SunCoast Ladies Series Tournament in Daytona Beach.
Kim, who played at DU only one semester before deciding to turn pro, earned conditional LPGA status for 2013 by shooting 70-69 the final two rounds to move up to 32nd. Kim, who made the cut in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, will be an LPGA Tour rookie next season after placing 23rd on the 2012 Symetra Tour money list.
Talley was inside of the top 45 after shooting a 3-under-par 33 on her front nine Sunday. But the winner of the 2012 California Women’s (Amateur) Championship carded a 2-over 38 on her back side to finish 59th. That leaves her with a spot on the Symetra Tour in 2013.
Here are the round-by-round scores for the players with Colorado ties who competed in the Q-school finals:
10. former University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock 71-70-71-69-74–355; 17. Kelly Jacques of Longmont 70-71-71-70-75–357; 32. former DU golfer Sue Kim 76-71-74-70-69–360; 59. former University of Colorado golfer Emily Talley 74-74-73-72-71–364.
And after successfully negotiating the second stage of qualifying earlier this month, the Parker resident will take another crack at the 108-hole finale this week and early next. The tournament runs Wednesday through Monday (Nov. 28-Dec. 3) at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.
Meanwhile, the third and final stage of LPGA Tour qualifying also is on tap this week, with the five-round tournament set for Wednesday through Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. There, the competitors with Colorado ties include Kelly Jacques of Longmont, former University of Denver golfers Stephanie Sherlock and Sue Kim, and former University of Colorado standout Emily Talley. More on that event later.
And, to complete the trifecta, the final stage of European Tour qualifying is wrapping up this week. After Monday’s third round of the six-round tournament, Colorado resident and former CU golfer Matt Zions is tied for 118th place out of a 156-man field after rounds of 74-73-74 for a 211 total in Girona, Spain, where the top 25 finishers will be fully exempt next year. A cut to the low 70 and ties will be made after round 4. Zions, winner of a 2011 event on the European Tour, is trying to improve his 2013 status after finishing 146th on the money list this year.
As for Bertsch (pictured above in a USGA photo), he’ll join onetime Golden resident Andrew Svoboda in the finals of PGA Tour Q-school. Svoboda already has a 2013 Tour card secured by virtue of finishing 21st on the 2012 Web.com Tour money list, but he’s hoping to improve his status with a strong showing in La Quinta.
Bertsch, a PGA Tour veteran, knows how it feels to finish just inside or outside the cut line in the finals of Q-school. (The top 25 finishers and ties earn PGA Tour exemptions, while the rest of those in the field have to settle for Web.com Tour status.)
Bertsch, the 1998 Colorado Open champion, has snuck in by three shots or less twice in his career at the finals of Q-school (1996 and 2009). Conversely, last year’s qualifying finals were a heartbreaker for the now-42-year-old Evergreen High School graduate.
Going into the final hole of Q-school last December, Bertsch put himself in position to be fully exempt by playing his previous 35 holes in 8 under par. All he needed was a par on his 108th hole to regain his full status on Tour. But a shot into the water and a closing double bogey left Bertsch with conditional standing on Tour in 2012, and though he still got into 17 Tour events, that was probably 10 fewer than he would have if he finished strong in Q-school.
And this year, there’s even more on the line in the qualifying finals for Bertsch. After he finished 215th on the Tour money list this year, he’d be relegated to playing Web.com events for most of next season if he failed to finish in the top 25 in La Quinta.
Bertsch has won more than $2.3 million in his PGA Tour career, but even though he’s played professionally for more than 15 years, he’s had only five seasons (1996, ’97, 2006, ’08 and ’11) where he’s competed in at least 20 Tour events. His best finish out of 172 starts on the big circuit is a fourth-place at Frys.com Open in the fall of 2011. He’s won twice on the Web.com Tour.
As for the situation in this week’s LPGA Tour qualifying finals, the top 45 finishers and ties after 90 holes will earn 2013 Tour cards (with the top 20 getting preferred status), while the rest of the field will receive Symetra Tour exemptions. Sherlock has earned LPGA Tour status each of the last two years, but lost her card each time, including by finishing 139th on this year’s money list. A seven-time winner individually at DU, Sherlock recently notched her first professional victory in a SunCoast Ladies Series Tournament in Daytona Beach. The win was worth $3,000.
While Sherlock was exempt into the final stage of qualifying this year, Jacques, Kim and Talley made it there after strong showings in stage II of Q-school. Jacques, a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier this year, finished third out of 157 players there, while Kim was 20th and Talley 28th.
At this week finals, the field will be cut from 122 to the low 70 players and ties after four rounds.
You’ve heard of win-win situations. Well, June 12 was Wiebe’s variation on that theme.
The Aurora resident and longtime tour player had the honor of being inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on that day. But because he was competing in the final round of a Champions Tour event in Conover, N.C., that Sunday, he couldn’t attend the induction ceremonies, sending son Gunner to accept the honor on his behalf.
Not going to his Hall of Fame enshrinement at Denver Country Club turned out to be very fortuitous for Wiebe as, on the day of his induction, he won the Greater Hickory Classic, marking his first Champions Tour victory since April 2008.
Wiebe (pictured) out-dueled James Mason in a three-hole playoff to earn his third Champions win overall. It was the highlight of a year in which Wiebe finished a career-best 16th on the Champions money list.
“It’s crazy how things work,” Gunner Wiebe noted. “Being inducted and winning on the same day is pretty special.”
Mark Wiebe’s “win-win” leads our list of 2011 highlights for tour players with major Colorado ties.
Here’s the rest of the rundown:
2. Martin Laird had won a PGA Tour event before, but claiming the title in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in late March put the former Colorado State University golfer in a different league.
Since his first Tour win, in October 2009, Laird had had trouble adding to his title total, finishing second twice — both in playoffs — as well as third, fourth and fifth. But in the Palmer Invite, Laird closed the deal, making birdie on two of the last four holes and earning $1.08 million for the victory.
“That was a hell of a day,” Laird said afterward. “That was a tough fight out there, a battle out there, but you know, it makes it even sweeter at the end when I got this trophy.”
Laird finished 2011 a career-best 23rd on the PGA Tour money list.
3. Former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin didn’t add to his record 45 Champions Tour victories in 2011, but rarely in golf history has a player over 65 years old performed so well on one of the top tours.
Irwin, who turned 66 in early June, finished in the top 10 seven times on the Champions Tour in 2011, a record for a player his age. And his best finishes of the year — two fourth-place showings — came in Champions majors, the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship.
The three-time U.S. Open champion shot his age twice and placed 27th on the 2011 money list, marking his best season-long performance since 2007.
4. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe lost his PGA Tour card early in 2009 and didn’t regain it until he finished sixth in Tour qualifying at the end of last year.
That time off the big Tour apparently made the Kent Denver High School graduate extra determined once he regained his card. The result was Jobe, who turned 46 this year, earned more than $1.6 million — the second-best season of his career.
Jobe’s best performance of the year came at the prestigious Memorial, where he posted the fourth runner-up finish of his Tour career, which has yet to include any wins.
5. Former CU golfer Matt Zions only recorded one top-10 finish on the European Tour this year, but he made the best of that one.
In mid-June at the Saint-Omer Open in France, the Denver resident won the tournament by seven strokes. The victory was worth 100,000 euros for the native of Australia.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Zions said afterward. “The last four holes I was wondering when I could start thinking about winning, and when would be too soon that it tempted fate. I had a lump in my throat a couple of times. This is a huge day. It’s hard to believe.”
6. Steve Jones didn’t win on the Champions Tour this year — in fact, he didn’t even come very close — but the fact that the former CU golfer finally returned to competitive golf was a big feat in and of itself.
The oft-sidelined 1996 U.S. Open champion hadn’t competed in a Tour-sanctioned event since August 2007, in large part because a severe case of tennis elbow. But at age 52 he rejoined the PGA Tour at the Bob Hope Classic in January. The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer missed the cut there, but made his Champions Tour debut in the spring and eventually competed in 10 official-money Champions events in 2011.
Jones’ best finish came in one of the major championships as he placed 16th in the Senior British Open.
7. Longtime Coloradan Kelly Jacques made her first cut ever on the LPGA Futures Tour in 2011 — she made three, in fact — but that wasn’t the main reason the year was memorable in a professional sense.
The two-time Colorado state high school champion will remember 2011 as the year she was chosen to compete on Golf Channel’s “Big Break Ireland”, where $50,000 in cash and a couple of significant tournament exemptions were on the line for the winner among the 12 contestants.
Alas, Jacques was eliminated in episode 4 of the show, in an “elimination challenge” against Mallory Blackwelder, daughter of former LPGA Rookie of the Year Myra Blackwelder.
“I had a great run here,” Jacques said of the popular Golf Channel program. “I had an absolute blast.”
8. Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks has won four Champions Tour events over the years, but managed to get in just one Champions tournament in 2011.
That wasn’t the highlight of his year, but his victory in the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open probably was. Though he lived in the state for decades and is an outstanding player, the Senior Open marked Eaks’ first professional victory in Colorado.
And for good measure, Eaks set the Colorado Senior Open scoring record in the process with a 15-under-par 201 total. It marked his first tournament victory of any sort since 2008.
9. Former University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock posted one top-20 finish and ended up 101st on the money list in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour.
But just as important, Sherlock didn’t end up being a one-and-done player on the LPGA Tour. Though she didn’t finish high enough on the money list to keep her card, she regained her playing privileges by finishing 20th in the finals of LPGA qualifying earlier this month.
]]>Just take the case of former University of Denver golfer Stephanie Sherlock. She qualified for the 2011 LPGA circuit as a rookie professional, made the cut in almost half of her tournaments and finished as high as 16th place.
Yet in the midst of the season, it wasn’t unusual for Sherlock to be found driving the beverage cart at Simoro Golf Links, the course her family owns in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
“That’s the kind of kid she is,” DU coach Sammie Chergo said Sunday.
Glamorous existence or not, Sherlock earned herself a second consecutive season on the LPGA Tour on Sunday by finishing tied for 20th in the qualifying finals in Daytona Beach, Fla. The 2010 DU graduate shot a 2-over-par 74 in the final round to end up at 5-over-par 365 for five days. Though the top 40 players and ties earn LPGA Tour membership for 2012, Sherlock didn’t gain fully-exempt status as she failed to win the nine-golfer playoff for the final top-20 spot. But she did earn “Category 16” status by ending up among the next 10 finishers.
“I’m thrilled,” Chergo said. “The more pressure there is and the more important the tournament, the better she plays.”
Sherlock won a DU-record-tying seven individual titles during her college days and led DU to sixth- and fifth-place finishes in the NCAA Championships. The former Canadian women’s amateur champion placed 14th at LPGA Q-school in her first try last year, and she subsequently made five cuts in a dozen LPGA events in 2011, including one top-20 showing.
Still, in finishing 101st on the 2011 money list, Sherlock fell about $16,000 short of keeping her LPGA Tour card, which put her back into the finals of Q-school.
“It’s tough these days” to make it on the LPGA Tour, Chergo said. “There are not that many events to play and not that many in a row.”
Still, especially with Sherlock now having a year of experience under her belt, Chergo expects the 24-year-old to take another step in her development in 2012.
“She hits it as good as anyone and she has such a good short game,” the coach said. “I think she can stay out there (on the LPGA Tour), especially as she gets more comfortable. She’s a very smart athlete.”
Unlike this year, when four players with strong Colorado connections started the season with LPGA Tour cards (Sherlock, Jill McGill, Kimberly Kim and Alison Whitaker), Sherlock will be the lone “local” on that circuit in 2012. McGill, Kim and Whitaker failed to make an LPGA cut in 2011, and Kim and Whitaker missed the cut in the qualifying finals.
The only other player with Colorado ties to make the cut in the LPGA Q-school finals was Sue Kim, who spent a semester playing golf for DU before turning professional. Kim finished 64th on Sunday, meaning she’ll be playing on the Symetra Tour (formerly the LPGA Futures Tour) next year.
One competitor who did regain her LPGA Tour card was Birdie Kim, who won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado. Kim, who has battled back following a major car accident in 2009, finished 34th on Sunday.
Here are the qualifying final scores of all the players with strong Colorado ties: former DU golfer Stephanie Sherlock 73-72-72-74-74–365 (20th place); former DU golfer Sue Kim 73-72-79-74-75–373 (64th place). Missed 72-Hole Cut: former DU golfer Dawn Shockley of Estes Park 73-79-76-75–303 (88th place); Ashley Tait of Littleton 75-79-77-74–305 (96th place); part-time Denver resident Alison Whitaker 72-80-74-79–305 (103rd place); Kristin Walla of Aspen 76-76-82-80–314 (131st place); former DU golfer Kimberly Kim 89-79-78-79–325 (137th place).
David Duval knows more about being the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world than he does about PGA Tour qualifying. After all, he’s played in only three Q-school tournaments in his life, while he spent about 3 1/2 months in 1999 atop the World Golf Rankings.
Yet the golfer who resides in Cherry Hills Village recently hit the nail right on the head with his take on Q-school.
“It’s people’s livelihoods, the dreams they’re trying to pursue,” Duval said after his runner-up finish in a second-stage tournament of Tour qualifying in mid-November. “I know I’m going to be able to play regardless (of the outcome), and it’s still stressful for me. People who haven’t been out (on Tour) and don’t have that kind of history or record behind them, (the pressure) is exponential.”
By virtue of his stellar play during his 20s — when he won 13 times on Tour, including a British Open — Duval will get to play plenty of Tour events next year no matter how he performs this week in the final stage of Tour qualifying. The 108-hole tournament, where 173 competitors will try to finish among the top 25 players and ties in order to earn their 2012 PGA Tour cards, will be held Wednesday through next Monday (Nov. 30-Dec. 5) in La Quinta, Calif. Those who don’t qualify for the PGA Tour will have at least some Nationwide Tour status next year.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, 142 golfers will be vying for LPGA Tour playing privileges at the final stage of that circuit’s qualifying, which is scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday (Nov. 30-Dec. 4) in Daytona Beach, Fla. The top 40 finishers and ties will gain 2012 LPGA Tour status.
While Duval doesn’t have to sweat bullets over the final outcome of Q-school, the stakes are much higher for most players. In fact, the results could be life-changing.
A total of 11 players — seven women and four men — with significant Colorado ties will be competing in their respective final-stage tournaments. On the men’s side, joining Duval will be Shane Bertsch of Parker (pictured above), Andrew Svoboda of Golden and former University of Denver golfer James Love.
At the LPGA tournament, in the field will be Dawn Shockley of Estes Park, Ashley Tait of Littleton, Kristin Walla of Aspen, part-time Denver resident Alison Whitaker and former DU golfers Stephanie Sherlock, Kimberly Kim and Sue Kim (Shockley also played for DU).
Here’s a brief rundown on each of the players with local ties:
— Shane Bertsch of Parker. A veteran of 155 PGA Tour events — and winner of two Nationwide Tour tournaments — Bertsch faces a crucial week at Q-school. If he fails to finish in the top 25, he’ll need to earn $241,285 in his next Tour event in order to keep his fully-exempt status. That’s because he’s been playing on a medical extension, having started 2011 needing to make $729,869 in 21 tournaments to remain fully exempt. Bertsch played 20 Tour events this year, making $488,584.
— David Duval of Cherry Hills Village. Because he finished outside of the top 150 on the Tour money list this year (152nd), Duval had to go to the second stage of Tour qualifying for the first time this fall. His previous two trips to Q-school, in 1993 and 2009, he went straight to the third and final stage of qualifying. Based on what happened in 2010 after he failed to regain his fully-exempt status, Duval could look forward to getting in more than 20 events next year even if he failed to finish in the top 25 at Q-school.
In any case, Duval knows that if he does come up short, it’s easier to get sponsor exemptions into tournaments after having given his best shot in qualifying.
“It’s an easier thing to ask for help when you’ve tried to help yourself,” said Duval, who turned 40 this month.
— Former DU golfer James Love. Love has never earned a PGA or Nationwide Tour card before this year, so being guaranteed Nationwide status is already a breakthrough for the winner of the 2009 Canadian Tour Championship.
— Andrew Svoboda of Golden. The former St. John’s golfer has been a full-time player on the Nationwide Tour the last two years, but the 32-year-old never has had his PGA Tour card.
As for the local contestants in the finals of LPGA Tour qualifying:
— Former DU golfer Stephanie Sherlock (pictured at left). Sherlock had the most successful season of any of the LPGA players with Colorado connections. In fact, she’s the only who survived a cut on Tour in 2011. Sherlock made five cuts in a dozen LPGA events and finished 101st on the Tour’s money list. She placed 14th in the final stage of LPGA qualifying last year to earn her Tour card.
— Former DU golfer Dawn Shockley. The longtime Coloradan almost earned her 2012 LPGA Tour card through her performance on the Futures Tour this year, but fell just short, finishing 13th on the money list. Now she gets another shot.
— Former DU golfer Kimberly Kim. The former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion had a tough rookie season on the LPGA Tour, missing the cut in all seven of her 2007 Tour events. The former teen phenom finished 14th in the final stage of LPGA Tour qualifying in 2011.
— Former DU golfer Sue Kim. Kim only spent one semester at DU, but she finished 50th in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor, and the Canadian placed 42nd in the second stage of LPGA Tour qualifying to get to this point.
— Kristin Walla of Aspen. The 2008 CWGA Match Play champion made it to the finals by finishing 15th in the second stage of LPGA Tour qualifying.
— Ashley Tait of Littleton. Tait, winner of the 2008 CWGA Stroke Play title, advanced to the Q-school finals by finishing 55th in the second stage tournament.
— Part-time Denver resident Alison Whitaker. Whitaker, a two-time CWGA Match Play champion, missed the cut in all seven of her LPGA Tour events during her rookie season. She finished 22nd in the final stage of Tour qualifying last year.
At the LPGA finals this year, after four rounds the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties, all of whom at least will qualify for the Symetra Tour (formerly known as the Futures Tour).