If the USGA was looking to add first-time participants to its U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship field, the Colorado qualifying site wasn’t the place to go this year.
Three teams qualified on Tuesday at The Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield, and all three have participated in the best-ball national championship previously, even though it’s only been held since 2015.
Kyle Danford and David Johnson from Fort Collins, Alex Kephart and Kurtis Lucas from Colorado Springs, and Greg Carlin from Denver and University of Colorado golfer Wilson Belk all will advance to the U.S. Four Ball — and all have competed in the event at least once before. (Pictured from left are two of the qualifying teams from Tuesday: Danford and Johnson, and Kephart and Lucas.)
Danford and Johnson went in 2016, and Kephart and Lucas and Belk and Carlin both in 2017. In addition, Kephart also played in 2015 with a different partner.
But somehow it never gets old.
“It’s just special to play in USGA events,” said Danford, who will be going to his fourth overall. “If you think how many people try to qualify around the country or world, to get in there is an honor in itself. Hopefully we make (match play at the national championship) and then you never know what can happen. It’ll be a lot of fun.
“My wife is happy because the other three USGA events I’ve qualified for, she’s been pregnant. Now we’ve broken that little schneid so she doesn’t have to get pregnant any more for me to go to a USGA event.”
Danford/Johnson and Kephart/Lucas shared qualifying medalist honors Tuesday at The Broadlands with 10-under-par 62s, while Belk/Carlin posted a 64 despite never having seen the course before. The rewards are trips to the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, with the championship set for May 25-29.
The U.S. Four-Ball has been contested at some of the most prestigious courses in the country, with previous hosts including The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Winged Foot in New York and Pinehurst in North Carolina.
And 2019’s venue isn’t half bad either.
“Bandon Dunes, that’s pretty sweet,” Carlin said. “We saw that on the schedule and signed up.”
Johnson’s one previous USGA championship was the Four-Ball at Winged Foot, which is scheduled to host the 2020 U.S. Open.
“You’re just treated great (at the national championship),” he said. “Winged Foot was just absolutely brutal — in a great way. I think on 20 of the 36 holes I hit 5-iron or more into greens. I know I’m not long, but I’m not that short.”
And the Four-Ball is also about the camaraderie involved. For some teams, both the qualifying tournaments and, ideally, the national championship are about spending some time with good buddies.
“We’re best friends,” Kephart, a five-time USGA qualifier, said of himself and Lucas, with whom he attended high school and now plays about 50 rounds of golf a year. “We’ve played golf together since we were 8 years old. It’s the highlight of the year getting to play in this (qualifier) and it’s a bonus going to the tournament.”
Said Lucas, a Marine veteran: “You get to travel with your best friend. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”
Noted Belk, regarding himself and Carlin: “I think it’s fun for us — his brother and my other brother in law caddied for us (previously in the U.S. Four-Ball) and Greg is my brother in law. It was just super fun to go. We couldn’t even try to qualify last year because I had a college tournament. It’ll be really fun to go back.”
On Tuesday, Lucas and Kephart highlighted their round with two eagles — one each — as did Belk and Carlin. Both teams played the four par-5s in 6 under par. Danford and Johnson, meanwhile, sprinkled 10 best-ball birdies through their round. Lucas shot a 66 with his own ball — including a 31 on the front nine — on Tuesday.
In all, 56 two-man teams were in the field on Tuesday.
Among the people on hand for the Four-Ball qualifier on Tuesday were two two-time Colorado Open champions. Brian Guetz competed with partner Alex Buecking, and Derek Tolan was caddying for the team of Jonathan Marsico and Tommy Hart, who have qualified for this event twice previously. Marsico and Hart shot a 65 on Tuesday, while Guetz and Buecking carded a 66. (Pictured above are Tolan, in red, and Hart.)
U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying
At Par-72 The Broadlands GC in Broomfield
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Alex Kephart/Kurtis Lucas, Colorado Springs 30-32–62
Kyle Danford/David Johnson, Fort Collins 31-31–62
Wilson Belk, Greg Carlin, Denver 32-32–64
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Matt Call/Norton Rainey, Parker 32-33–65
Richard Bradsby/Brian Dorfman, Denver 31-34–65
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
]]>Fifty-six two-man teams will be competing on Tuesday, with the top three finishers in the better-ball qualifier advancing to the 2019 U.S. Four-Ball, set for May 25-29 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon (pictured at left in a USGA photo). The event at the The Broadlands will mark the final Colorado-based USGA qualifier of 2018.
Intact teams that have competed in previous U.S. Four-Balls and are in Tuesday’s qualifiying field include Tommy Hart and Jonathan Marsico (2016 and ’18), Nicholas Engen and John Jarmul (2018), Wilson Belk and Greg Carlin (2017), Kyle Danford and David Johnson (2016), Alex Kephart and Kurtis Lucas (2017; Kephart also played in 2015 with a different partner), and Robert Polk and Bill Fowler (2015).
In addition, others who have played in the national Four-Ball who now have different partners include Jeff Chapman (2015, now competing with Michael Harrington) and Alex Buecking (2017, now competing with two-time Colorado Open champion Brian Guetz). Buecking went to the quarterfinals of the 2017 U.S. Four-Ball with Jason Enloe.
Also in Tuesday’s field are 2016 CGA Four-Ball champions Steve Irwin and Barry Erwin, along with Jon Lindstrom and Brooks Ferring, and Brian Dorfman and Richard Bradsby.
For Tuesday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
]]>The duo from Lone Tree Golf Club overcame the trying conditions to go bogey-free for the second consecutive day, giving them a wire-to-wire victory in the 36th CGA Senior Four-Ball, the association’s first championship of 2017.
Moore and Kelley fired a 1-under-par 71 in the scratch better-ball stroke-play format on Wednesday to post a 12-under 204 total, good for a two-stroke victory at The Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield.
Jeff Slupe of Highland Meadows Golf Course and Steve Scheffel of Ptarmigan Country Club closed with a 68 to earn the runner-up spot at 206.
Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills and Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club, the defending champions, tied for third place at 207 with 2016 CGA Senior Match Play champion Jeff Oneth and Tim Kneen of Colorado Golf Club.
Moore and Kelley (pictured holding their trophies) went progressively higher with their scores each day of the tournament — 65-68-71 — but kept the mistakes to a minimum and covered for each other when one player was in trouble on a given hole.
“I looked at (the three days) like a triathlon,” said the 55-year-old Moore. “We got out of the pool and we were doing well. We got off the bike and we were still leading. It’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got to go run a marathon — and it was going to be a marathon in bad weather.’
“It was tough conditions, but when one would take a hole off, the other one would pick it up. We didn’t make a bogey so that kind of saved our day.”
Added Kelley, 53: “We’re a solid team. We’re good partners together, so I thought we had a real good chance.”
About the closest the two Colorado natives came to making a bogey in the final two rounds was on the last hole of the tournament, where, after being way right with his tee shot, Moore drained a 15-foot par putt to close things out.
“We just save par really well,” Moore said. “We saved par in bad weather, and we didn’t really stress about it. Everybody misses a lot of birdies; we missed ours too today. But somebody was always in the hole to get the par.”
Wednesday marked the second time Kelley and Moore have been in contention to win the CGA Senior Four-Ball title. Two years ago, they finished runner-up.
This wasn’t the first CGA title for Moore or Kelley as both helped Lone Tree Golf Club win season-long CGA Team Interclub championships in 2011 and ’12.
“I think that’s a little more stressful actually,” Kelley said of the Team Interclub. “This here is just me and Doug and if we lose it’s me and Doug. Lone Tree is a group of guys who are real tight and everybody roots for everybody (so) you’re letting down the whole club (if you’re not winning).”
Play in the open division of the CGA Senior Four-Ball was limited to golfers 51 and older as the CGA is looking to eventually match the age criteria the USGA uses for the U.S. Senior Amateur (55 and older).
Netherton/Crone Chalk Up Another Title: It took three extra holes, but Larry Netherton and Kelly Crone of Highlands Ranch Golf Club added another team title to their golf resumes.
Netherton and Crone (pictured in black and blue, respectively) prevailed in a four-team playoff by making three straight pars to earn their second championship in the super-senior division of the CGA Senior Four-Ball. The pair has also captured two open-division Senior Four-Ball titles and a win in the senior division of the since-discontinued CGA Two-Man.
“It’s really not where you play golf, it’s who you play golf with,” said Netherton, who like Crone is 65 years old. “We’ve traveled all over the country and played in senior partner events and we’ve had success everywhere we’ve gone. We really enjoy playing with each other. When I make a mistake, he picks it up and (vice-versa). We’ve played a lot of events and it really helps to know each other that well.”
Netherton two-putted from 8 feet for par on the third playoff hole to prevail over Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club and Stephen Bell of Denver Country Club, who both made bogey.
The two other teams that made the playoff — Kary Kaltenbacher of Glenmoor Country Club and Rod Walters of Indian Tree Golf Club, and Bill Stevens and David Merritt of Meridian Golf Club — had been eliminated from contention for the super-senior title with bogeys on the first extra hole.
Netherton and Crone would have won the super-senior championship in regulation had it not been for a one-stroke penalty incurred when they failed to catch a marker’s error on their scorecard, leaving them with a final-round 73 instead of the 72 they actually shot. All four of the teams in the playoff carded three-day totals of 2-under-par 214.
“Justice prevailed, but it’s our fault because we didn’t really check” each individual scrore, just the team score, Crone noted.
For CGA Senior Four-Ball scores:
OPEN DIVISION
SUPER-SENIOR DIVISION
Moore and Kelley used an eagle — on the 560-yard par-5 13th hole — and seven birdies to shoot a 7-under-par 65 in the two-man scratch better-ball stroke-play event. The leaders played the four par-5s in 5 under par in the opening round.
Louie Lee of the Country Club at Castle Pines and Ab Miller of Red Hawk Ridge Golf Course also made an eagle and teamed up for a 66 that leaves them in second place.
Jeff Oneth, the 2016 CGA Senior Match Play champion, and fellow Colorado Golf Club member Tim Kneen hold down third place at 67.
Defending champions Robert Polk of Colorado Golf Club and Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills share fourth place at 68 with Tom Krystyn of CommonGround Golf Course and Mike Larson of Boulder Country Club, and Mark Brown of Highlands Ranch Golf Club and Wyck Brown of Lakewood Country Club.
Play in the open division is limited to golfers 51 and older as the CGA is looking to eventually match the age criteria the USGA uses for the U.S. Senior Amateur (55 and older).
In the super-senior division, for players 61 and older, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore of Cherry Hills Country Club and Stephen Bell of Denver Country Club opened with a 3-under-par 69. They lead 2011 CGA Senior Four-Ball champions John Applegate and Keith Masters of Meadow Hills Golf Course by one.
The 54-hole tournament will continue through Wednesday for both divisions.
For CGA Senior Four-Ball scores:
OPEN DIVISION
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