The 54-hole event is set for Friday through Sunday (Sept. 28-30). An 84-man field is planned, and the top 40 players and ties after two rounds will advance to Sunday’s action.

Let’s run down some of the top entrants according to their past performance in the event:

— Defending champion Chris Thayer of Golden has two wins and two seconds at the Mid-Am in the last four years.

— Jon Lindstrom of Lakewood Country Club owns three titles (2008, ’15 and ’16) and finished third last year.

— Keith Humerickhouse of Glenwood Springs Golf Club won the Mid-Am four consecutive years (2010-13), becoming just the third player in history to captured the same CGA championship four times in a row.

— Steve Irwin of Lakewood CC has claimed the Mid-Am title twice (2003 and ’05) and contended on numerous other occasions.

— As for those who have yet to win the Mid-Am, Ryan Axlund of Valley Country Club has certainly been impressive, with five consecutive top-10s, including four top-5s. He placed third last year.

And those are by no means the only players who could be in the hunt for the championship come Sunday. There’s 2009 winner Michael Harrington, the 2014 CGA Player of the Year; former Colorado State University golfer Dominic Kieffer; Nick Nosewicz, who won the 2015 CGA Match Play at CommonGround; 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier Matt Evelyn; 2008 CGA Amateur champion Jonathan Marsico; and Jeff Chapman.

The list goes on and on.

All told, the winner of every CGA Mid-Am since 2007 — when Robert Polk prevailed — is in the field this weekend.

And this year’s tournament at CommonGround has a new twist. For the first time, players who are 40 and older will also be entered in a Super Mid-Amateur competition. And since the same tees will be used for everyone at CommonGround, those older players can still contend for the overall title.

For Friday’s tee times at CommonGrond, CLICK HERE.

But there was at least one surprising omission from the 20-team field: World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin and son Steve. Hale, who grew up in Colorado, and Steve, a longtime resident of the state, were the only team to stay intact for the first 19 Father/Son Challenges — starting in 1995 with a three-year hiatus by the tournament beginning in 2009. But this will be the first year they’re not part of the field.

Asked the reason, Steve Irwin said via email, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

The Irwins won the tournament in 2003 and have finished second three times. They’ve placed 11th the last two years. Hale Irwin has won three U.S. Opens and a record 45 tournaments on PGA Tour Champions. Steve is a former CGA Player of the Year who has competed in a U.S. Open and three U.S. Amateurs.

The Father/Son Challenge, which features a scramble format over 36 holes, will take place Dec. 16-17 in Orlando, Fla.

Two British Open champions based in Colorado — Duval of Cherry Hills Village and Justin Leonard of Aspen — will be in this year’s field.

Duval and Karavites won last year’s title by one stroke, becoming the third team with at least one Colorado resident to capture the championship, following Craig and Kevin Stadler (2002) and the Irwins (2003).

Leonard will become the first PGA Tour player to compete in the event with his dad (Larry). Justin Leonard was part of the broadcast team for last year’s Father/Son Challenge.

“I’ve got to reacquaint myself with my golf clubs between now and then,” Leonard said on Golf Channel, where he’s an analyst. “I’m not sure how I’m going to do that in Colorado, but we’re looking forward to a fun weekend.”

Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino are among 11 World Golf Hall of Famers scheduled to compete in this year’s PNC Father/Son Challenge. For the complete field, CLICK HERE.

To qualify for the Father/Son Challenge, players must have won either a major championship or The Players Championship in their careers. The professional’s partner must not currently hold a Tour card.

A field of 82 players will be vying for four spots into the national tournament, set for Oct. 7-12 at Capital City Club in Atlanta.

Jon Lindstrom of Broomfield, the winner of the last two CGA Mid-Amateurs and the U.S. Mid-Am Qualifying medalist last year, qualified for the 2017 event earlier this week as a co-medalist in Carson City, Nev.

But among those in the Murphy Creek field are 2016 qualifiers Chris Thayer of Golden and Wes Martin of Denver. Thayer advanced to match play at the national championship, losing in the round of 64.

Among the others scheduled to compete in Aurora are Steve Irwin of Arvada, who recently competed in his third U.S. Amateur; Kyle Danford of Fort Collins, who has qualified for two U.S. Ams in recent years; 2008 CGA Amateur champion Jonathan Marsico; 2015 CGA Match Play champion Nick Nosewicz of Aurora; two-time CGA Senior Player of the Year David Delich; and this week’s CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play champion Gary Albrecht.

After next year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur is held at Charlotte, N.C., Colorado Golf Club in Parker will host the national championship in 2019, with the dates set for Sept. 21-26.

The U.S. Mid-Amateur is limited to golfers at least 25 years old.

For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
 

After all, you have to finish in the top 64 out of a field of 312 in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the event.

This year, the Colorado contingent fell short of the mark. None of the seven players with strong Centennial State connections extended his stay past Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

AJ Ott of Fort Collins just missed out, finishing one stroke out of a playoff for the final match-play berths. The Colorado State University golfer shot rounds of 73-72 at Riviera Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club to post a 5-over-par 145 total, good for a share of 70th place. But playing his final eight holes in 3 over par — despite a birdie on 18 — proved costly.

Two former University of Colorado golfers were next best among locals. Former CGA Player of the Year Steve Irwin of Arvada bounced back from a first-round 79 with a 1-over-par 71 on Tuesday at Bel Air, finishing with a 150 total. And Kenny Coakley of Phoenix also checked in at 150 after consecutive 75s.

Steve Irwin’s dad, three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, was among the spectators at the U.S. Am. Hale won the first of his two U.S. Senior Opens at Riviera CC, in 1998.

Oklahoma State golfer Hayden Wood, son of former PGA Tour player and 1984 Colorado Open winner Willie Wood, earned medalist honors by going 64-67 for a 9-under-par 131 total in stroke play.

Match play will begin on Wedesday.
 

U.S. Amateur
In Pacific Palisades, Calif.
FAILED TO ADVANCE TO MATCH PLAY
70. AJ Ott of Fort Collins 73-72–145
154. Steve Irwin of Arvada 79-71–150
154. Former CU golfer Kenny Coakley 75-75–150
199. Li Chen of Broomfield 77-75–152
233. Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village 77-77–154
233. CU golfer John Souza 77-77–154
279. CSU golfer Parathakorn Suyasri 79-79–158

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

The Colorado State University golfer shot a 3-over-par 73 at Riviera Country Club — a PGA Tour venue — and shares 97th place out of 312 competitors at the halfway point of the stroke-play portion of the championship.

The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s male player of the year in 2016, Ott made two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on Monday.

Only the top 64 players after Tuesday’s second round of stroke play will advance to match play, which begins on Wednesday. After Monday’s opening round, the 64th position fell at 2 over par.

Meanwhile, former University of Colorado golfer Kenny Coakley started with a 75, good for 152nd place. The rest of the local contingent shook out this way: CSU golfer Jake Staiano, CU player John Souza and the University of Northern Colorado’s Li Chen all had 77s, leaving them in 212th place; and Steve Irwin of Arvada and incoming CSU golfer Parathakorn Suyasri carded 79s for a share of 262nd place.

University of Oregon golfer Norman Xiong, of San Diego, Oklahoma State’s Hayden Wood, of Edmond, Okla., and Virginia Tech’s Mark Lawrence Jr., of Richmond, Va., shot 6-under-par 64s to lead the way after Monday.

Players will switch courses for the second round — going from Riviera to Bel-Air Country Club or vice-versa.

U.S. Amateur
In Pacific Palisades, Calif.
97. AJ Ott of Fort Collins 73 (Riviera)
152. Former CU golfer Kenny Coakley 75 (Riviera)
212. Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village 77 (Riviera)
212. Li Chen of Broomfield 77 (Riviera)
212. CU golfer John Souza 77 (Bel-Air)
262. Steve Irwin of Arvada 79 (Riviera)
262. CSU golfer Parathakorn Suyasri 79 (Bel-Air)

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

A summer after LCC members Steve Irwin and Richard Bradsby captured the championship at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Jon Lindstrom and Tom Lawrence from Lakewood CC earned the victory this week.

Lindstrom, winner of three CGA Mid-Amateur titles, and Lawrence, a former CGA president and current president and CEO of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, defeated Brooks Ferring and Oliver Lewis from Lakewood CC in the final match, 2 and 1.

In the semifinals, Lindstrom and Lawrence beat the defending champs, Irwin and Bradsby, 4 and 3. (The champions are pictured, with Lawrence at left, in a photo by Mic Garofolo of Mic Clik Photography).

For 75 years in the 20th century, The Broadmoor Invitation was considered one of the nation’s top amateur events. Among its winners are World Golf Hall of Famers Hale Irwin and Lawson Little, along with two-time U.S. Amateur champion Charlie Coe. But its run ended in 1995. It was resurrected in 2014 as a scratch four-ball championship for amateurs.
 

In 2016 and ’17, a dozen players have qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Amateur. Eleven of the 12 have been college age or younger.

Then there’s Steve Irwin.

On Thursday, the 42-year-old from Arvada and Lakewood Country Club struck a blow for the slightly older set by punching his ticket to the U.S. Am — and for the second time in three years, no less.

At Fort Collins Country Club, Irwin joined two Coloradans who play their college golf in the Centennial State, Li Chen of Broomfield and AJ Ott of Fort Collins, in advancing to the national amateur championship. (The qualifiers are pictured, from left, Ott, Irwin and Chen.)

Irwin, son of three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, earned his third trip to the U.S. Am by shooting rounds of 67-74 for a 1-over-par 141 total. It marked his second time in three years qualifying at Fort Collins CC. (“I may need to join up here. This course has been good to me,” he said.) Irwin also competed in the championship in 2011, when he was exempt after playing in that year’s U.S. Open.

“This will be No. 3. I’m pretty proud of that — especially at 42,” he said. “I’ve always thought the U.S. Amateur is one of the hardest tournaments to qualify for. There’s so many guys and so many great players — a lot of young guys that are playing every day. When you’re only taking two, maybe three, guys (at a given qualifying site), it’s always been one of those harder ones for me to qualify for. Now to do it a little later in my career — and also with all the other things I’ve got going in my life, it feels pretty good.”

Irwin (below), a former CGA Player of the Year and University of Colorado golfer who currently serves on the CGA Board of Governors, made six birdies and seven bogeys over the 36 holes. He got up and down from in front of the green on his final hole to avoid a playoff.

The reward is a trip to a USGA championship for the 13th time, by his reckoning. Give or take, there’s been one U.S. Junior Amateur, three USGA State Teams, five U.S. Mid-Amateurs, the U.S. Open, and now his third U.S. Amateur.

And this time around, he qualified despite playing much less golf than usual in the first half of the year.

“Golf most definitely has not been the focus this year. It hasn’t even been in the top five,” said Irwin, a guiding force — along with his dad — behind Hale Irwin Golf Services and Irwin Golf Management. “I’ve been busy with work, and been involved in an exciting new business venture. We’re getting ready to merge with another company, so I’ve been focused on that. Golf has been one of those things where I might go out for 20 minutes a couple nights a week and that’s about it. I don’t want to say it’s a surprise (to qualify) but it’s gratifying to know that when I focus on it for a little bit, I can still play a little bit.

“When you get on the golf course, your mind frees up a little, which happened in the first round today. The second round I was holding on for dear life. My swing felt like an unfolding lawn chair and I couldn’t make a putt. Other than that it was a good round.”

In all, 81 players teed it up Thursday for three spots in the U.S. Amateur, which is set for Aug. 14-20 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Coincidentally, one of Hale Irwin’s 20 PGA Tour wins came at Riviera, in the 1976 Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open.

While this will be U.S. Am No. 3 for Steve Irwin, it will be the first for both Chen, a junior-to-be at UNC, and Ott, a sophomore at CSU.

Chen, twice a runner-up in the 5A state high school tournament when he played at Legacy, earned medalist honors on Thursday. He made seven birdies — including two runs of three straight — in a round of 5-under-par 65 in the morning, then carded a 72 in the afternoon for a 3-under 137 total. The 65 marked Chen’s best score ever for a round. He noted that he felt comfortable at Fort Collins CC after finishing 21st individually there at the Ram Masters Invitational college tournament last September.

“It was a great round this morning, but after the round I tried not to think about it as much,” said the 20-year-old, who’s the son of Windy He, a highly-regarded Colorado rules official. “Everybody knows on 36-hole days, you can shoot 65-85 pretty easy. I tried focus on the next round.”

Not only did Chen earn his first trip to a U.S. Amateur, but it’ll be his first USGA championship of any sort.

“To be honest, I don’t even know when and where (the 2017 U.S. Amateur) is,” he said. “But it’ll be a great experience. It shows me that over the last two years playing college, I’ve improved my game. It’s a great step up and a confidence boost to know I have the ability and skills to make it into a tournament of that size and level.”

Ott, who’s lived his entire life in Fort Collins, is very familiar with Fort Collins CC as CSU practices and qualifies for college tournaments there quite often and hosts the Ram Masters Invitational there each September. Ott figures he’s played the course roughly 50 times, and he used that course knowledge to record rounds of 71-70 to tie Irwin for second place at 141. Ott made three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on the day.

“(This course) has probably been my second home this year just being at CSU,” said the 19-year-old, who was the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s boys player of the year in 2016. “The Ram Masters is set up pretty similar to how they set this up.

“I had to qualify for just about every (college) event, so I was used to hitting the shots around here. I learned a lot this first year about the kind of shots to play on this course and I knew it would culminate with this tournament because this is a big one to get in. It’s definitely an advantage being here at home.”

It will be the second USGA championship for Ott, who competed in the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur.

“It means a lot” to qualify for the U.S. Am, he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to get in since I started playing when I was little. It’s going to be fun.”

Davis Bryant of Aurora, who won the Colorado Junior Amateur on Wednesday, was on pace to earn a U.S. Am berth, but an errant tee shot on his 36th hole led to a double bogey and he missed by one stroke at 142. He’ll be the first alternate.

Jackson Solem of Longmont, like Bryant a 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier, landed the second alternate position at 143. The former 4A state high school champion made two triple bogeys in his morning round of 73.

Last week, three other players qualified at Columbine Country Club for the U.S. Amateur. Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village was joined in advancing by incoming CSU golfer Parathakorn Suyasri and UCLA player Cole Madey. Like Ott, Staiano is a CSU golfer.

Earlier this week, former University of Colorado golfer Kenny Coakley qualified in Morton, Minn., for the U.S. Amateur. The Phoenix resident earned medalist honors at that qualifying site.

Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, who qualified at Fort Collins Country Club for the 2016 U.S. Am, where he advanced to the round of 16, will be competing at a Monday (July 17) qualifying tournament in Highland, Utah. Dunkle plays for the University of Utah.
 

U.S. Amateur Qualifying
At Par-70 Fort Collins CC
QUALIFIED FOR U.S. AM
Li Chen, Broomfield 65-72–137
Steve Irwin, Arvada 67-74–141
AJ Ott, Fort Collins 71-70–141
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Davis Bryant, Aurora 71-71–142
Jackson Solem, Longmont 73-70–143

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

The three Local Qualifiers in Colorado will take place Monday at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster (the former Heritage at Westmoor), May 15 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, and May 16 at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins.

At each site, 84 players will vie for five spots into the second and final qualifying stage. Ten 36-hole U.S. Open Sectionals will be contested in the U.S. on June 5. The U.S. Open itself is set for June 15-18 at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis.

The odds of qualifying for the U.S. Open after going through both stages are very long, to say the least. The USGA accepted 9,485 entries into the championship, and 51 are fully exempt and many others are exempt into the Sectional Qualifying stage.

Among those scheduled to compete in Colorado-based Local Qualifying tournaments this year, a handful have beaten the odds in the past by qualifying for the Open: Derek Tolan and Ben Portie (2002), Jason Preeo (2010), Steve Irwin (2011) and Nick Mason (2014). Tolan and Mason will be playing at Walnut Creek, and Portie, Preeo and Irwin at Collinale.

Among the other entrants at Walnut Creek are former Colorado Open champions Zahkai Brown and Scott Petersen; NCAA Regional qualifiers Ethan Freeman, Jake Staiano, Josh Seiple and Yannik Paul; and Michael Schoolcraft, who played in this year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour.

At CommonGround, the contestants include the winners of the two most prestigious CGA championships in 2016, Colin Prater and Nathaniel Goddard; and three-time Wyoming Open champion Kane Webber.

At Collindale, a regular host of U.S. Open Local Qualifying, the field includes — besides Portie, Preeo and Irwin — Geoff Keffer, the Colorado PGA Player of the Year each of the last three years; 2015 CGA Player of the Year David Oraee; Riley Arp, who competed in the Shell Houston Open on the PGA Tour in March; and Parker Edens, who finished a shot out of a playoff at a U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying site last year.

For pairings, click on the following: WALNUT CREEK, COMMONGROUND, COLLINDALE.

The 45-year-old, once the No. 1-ranked player in the world, teamed with stepson Nick Karavites to capture the title in the 19th PNC Father/Son Challenge in Orlando, Fla.

Winning again “is wonderful,” Duval said. “It’s wonderful to have the feelings, the nerves of really paying attention to what you’re doing, executing the golf shots and picking your lines.”

The victory marks the third time a team with at least one Colorado resident has won the Father/Son Challenge. Coloradans Craig and Kevin Stadler prevailed in 2002 and former University of Colorado golfers Hale and Steve Irwin came out on top the next year.

This time around, at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Duval and Karavites opened up a three-stroke lead on the back nine on Sunday, then held on for a one-shot win, worth $200,000.

“This is as good as anything,” Duval said of the victory. “It truly is. I know it’s not winning The Players or something like that, but this is what the progression of life is. To be able to come out in a professional event and win and have the whole family here, I’ll never forget it.

“I came home and talked with Susan my wife about six weeks ago and said, ‘You know if I play like I’m playing and Nick plays like he’s playing, we have a chance.'”

Despite playing the last four holes in even par after being 10 under through 14 in the scramble format, Duval and Karavites ended up one better than the Cink, Goosen and Funk teams. The Goosens could have forced a playoff with a birdie on 18, but settled for a par after both Retief and 13-year-old Leo missed a 5-foot birdie putt.

Duval and Karavites (pictured above), competing in the Father/Son for the fourth time, posted a 21-under-par 123 total after carding a 62 on Sunday. One key point came on the 16th hole, where Duval and Karavites made a par — taking advantage of the scramble format after both players hit their tee shots into the water.

“Being here with my mom, my brothers and my stepdad, it was amazing,” the 23-year-old Karavites said. “We were playing so good and it didn’t seem like too much pressure. Just being with David out here, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”

The Irwins finished 11th for the second straight year, this time going 67-61 for a 16-under 128 total.

For scores from the Father/Son Challenge, CLICK HERE.

Duval, a former world No. 1, and Karavites will go into Sunday’s final round with a one-stroke advantage over Fred and Taylor Funk. Five teams posted 63s in the scramble format on Saturday.

Hale and Steve Irwin, both former University of Colorado golfers, fired a 5-under 67 in round 1. The Irwins, the only team to have remained intact for all 19 Father/Sons, won this tournament in 2003.

Sunday’s final round will be televised by the Golf Channel from noon to 1 p.m., and by NBC from 1-4 p.m. (MT).

For live scoring from the PNC Father/Son, CLICK HERE.