The Broadmoor Golf Club overcame a finish in near darkness, some “crazy” pin placements and a major challenge from Rifle Creek Golf Course to win the CGA Team Interclub title for the second time in five years on Saturday.

The Broadmoor, competing in the finals of the season-long Team Interclub for a record fourth time, defeated Rifle Creek at the CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora 13-11 in Saturday’s championship match.

Coincidentally, The Broadmoor beat Rifle Creek in the finals the other time it won the Interclub title, in 2014.

The only other club that has captured the CGA Team Interclub championship twice is Lone Tree Golf Club, which prevailed in 2011 and ’12.

The eight Broadmoor players all wore black on Saturday in honor of prominent club member Char Berglund, who unexpectedly passed away on Oct. 10. Berglund was the wife of Art Berglund, a longtime hockey executive and former general manager of the U.S. hockey team who is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

“We won today for Char,” said team captain Mike Allred. “(Her death) was a shock to the golf club at The Broadmoor. We all wore black because the funeral was today.”

Four players won both their singles and concurrent four-ball matches on Saturday, two from each side: Allred — who scored crucial 1-up singles and four-ball victories by sinking a tough 5-foot par putt on No. 18 — and Tom Haggard from The Broadmoor, and Tod Smith and Mark Sours from Rifle Creek.

Joining Allred and Haggard on the championship-winning team from The Broadmoor were Curtis Olson, Ron Crowder, Luke Travins, Joe Diver, Roger Perry and Scott Meagher. Allred, Crowder, Perry and Meagher have been on both Broadmoor teams that have won Team Interclub titles. (This year’s champions are pictured above.)

In fact, in every year The Broadmoor has competed in the CGA Team Interclub since 2013, it’s made the finals. The club didn’t entered the competition last year.

“It feels pretty good, right boys?” Allred said, speaking to his teammates. “Every year we’ve played (in the last five) we’ve made it to the finals. We’ve won two and lost two. Not bad.” (Allred, left, and four-ball partner Curtis Olson are pictured.) 

As noted, Rifle Creek has been on the losing end both years The Broadmoor has prevailed, and it also fell to Lone Tree in the 2012 title match.

“The Broadmoor is a good team and they came out on top,” acting Rifle Creek captain Jeb Savage said. “But we’ll be back next year. We love playing in this. It’s a fun format. It’s good to play other teams — guys you don’t know. It’s good to play other competition and at other courses. We enjoy it a lot and like traveling. It was an all-around good season.”

A frost delay at CommonGround caused tee times to be pushed back for the Interclub finals on Saturday afternoon, and for the second straight year many of the matches finished in near darkness. This time around, the final group concluded its round at 6:45 p.m., a half-hour past sunset.

In addition, a “Heaven and Hell” tournament held earlier in the day led to some wicked pin placements for the Interclub finals at CommonGround. 

“It was a funky golf course today,” said Savage (pictured in green with four-ball partner Manuppella). “We all played the (same pin placements) but it was tough.”

In one case, on No. 10, the cup was located on such a slope that offline putts in the 5-7-foot range were making 180s and ending up in nearly the same place where they were initially stroked. 

“On hole 10, I honestly felt in the spirit of competition, we’d just say ‘Good, good, good, good’ (conceding all four players’ putts) and get out of there. Just pick ’em up,” Allred said.

But despite the darkness and hole locations and some solid play from Rifle Creek, The Broadmoor kept its perfect record for 2018 intact, finishing the season 7-0. Rifle Creek, which was making its third finals appearance, ended up 5-1-1.

“We’re all super competitive,” Allred said of the players from The Broadmoor. “The weird thing is we all play against each other all year. I hate losing to all these guys. But they’re all really fun, good golfers.”

The CGA Team Interclub stands apart among CGA championships. Every other championship on the schedule is contested over the course of one to four days. The Team Interclub, on the other hand, typically lasts five months or more, with a regular-season round-robin of geographically-linked groups of teams going from May through July, then a 16-team single-elimination playoff from August to October.ӬӬ

Both in the regular season and the playoffs, teams of eight golfers each — of widely varying abilities — square off, with net singles and net four-ball matches held concurrently. Each individual match is worth two points — two for a win and one for a tie. Rosters can vary throughout the season.

This year’s original CGA Team Interclub field featured 32 teams, six more than last year. Rifle Creek and The Broadmoor came from the two round-robin groups that were the furthest from Denver.”¨”¨

As part of the Team Interclub, the CGA will donate $500 to each of the junior golf programs at the clubs which qualified for the finals.ӬӬ

The ninth annual Team Interclub finals concludes the 2018 CGA championship season.

CGA Team Interclub Finals
FINAL SCORE: THE BROADMOOR GC 13, RIFLE CREEK GC 11

Singles (The Broadmoor 9, Rifle Creek 7)
Mike Allred (B) def. Cole Manuppella (RC), 1 up
Jeb Savage (RC) def. Curtis Olson (B), 3 and 2
Tod Smith (RC) def. Ron Crowder (B), 6 and 5
Luke Travins (B) def. Eric Copen (RC), 3 and 2
Joe Diver (B) def. Michael Higginbotham (RC), 2 up
Mark Sours (RC) def. Roger Perry (B), 1 up
Tom Haggard (B) def. Tim Roe (RC), 3 and 2
Scott Meagher (B) halved with Pat Hayes (RC)

Four-Ball (The Broadmoor 4, Rifle Creek 4)
Allred/Olson (B) def. Manuppella/Savage (RC), 1 up
Smith/Copen (RC) def. Crowder/Travins (B), 2 up
Higginbotham/Sours (RC) def. Diver/Perry (B), 2 up
Haggard/Meagher (B) def. Roe/Hayes (RC), 3 and 2″¨ 

Road to the 2018 CGA Team Interclub Title
THE BROADMOORӬ
Regular Season (3-0 with 57 points)
“¨– Defeated The Club at Flying Horse 18-6″¨
— Defeated Garden of the Gods Club 15-9
ҬРDefeated Colorado Springs Country Club 24-0
PlayoffsӬ
— Round of 16: Defeated Lone Tree 14-10″¨
— Quarterfinals: Defeated Elmwood 14-10″¨
— Semifinals: Defeated The Meadows 16-8
— Finals: Defeated Rifle Creek 13-11

Over the years, 10 different clubs have advanced to the finals of the Team Interclub. And half of those have made at least two finals appearances. But the two clubs that have qualified for the finals most of all are The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs and Rifle Creek Golf Course in Rifle.

And guess who the two 2018 finalists are who will square off on Oct. 20 at CommonGround?

That’s right — The Broadmoor and Rifle Creek.

The Broadmoor will be making its fourth appreance in the finals and Rifle Creek its third. But the only time either club has actually won the title was in the one previous year that they squared off in the finals, 2014. The Broadmoor earned the trophy that year with a 23-13 victory. This year will mark the first time two teams have met twice or more in the Interclub finals.

(For the record, the other three clubs that have made the Team Interclub finals more than once are Lone Tree, Todd Creek and Battlement Mesa. And Lone Tree remains the only two-time champion of the event, having won in 2011 and ’12, though The Broadmoor would give LT company should it beat Rifle Creek next weekend.)

The CGA Team Interclub stands apart among CGA championships. Every other championship on the schedule is contested over the course of one to four days. The Team Interclub, on the other hand, typically lasts five months or more, with a regular-season round-robin of geographically-linked groups of teams going from May through July, then a 16-team single-elimination playoff from August to October.

Both in the regular season and the playoffs, teams of eight golfers each — of widely varying abilities — square off, with net singles and net four-ball matches held concurrently. Each individual match is worth two points — two for a win and one for a tie. Rosters can vary throughout the season.

This year’s original CGA Team Interclub field featured 32 teams, up six from last year. The record number of team entrants for the event was 64 in 2013. Notably, both Rifle Creek and The Broadmoor come from the two round-robin groups that are the furthest from Denver.

Two changes took effect for this year’s Team Interclub — going from teams of 12 to teams of eight, and teams are now comprised of four “A” players of low handicap indexes of 9.9 and under and four “B” players of low handicaps between 10 and 20.

Both clubs in this fall’s Team Interclub finals are undefeated going into the last match of the year, with The Broadmoor being 6-0 and Rifle Creek 5-0-1, with the tie coming against Battlement Mesa during the regular season.

The Broadmoor is the top seed in the playoff bracket, having scored more points in the regular season (57) than any other club, but it was tested in getting to the finals. Representatives of the Colorado Springs-based resort course edged Lone Tree and Elmwood by 14-10 margins in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, respectively, before beating The Meadows 16-8 in the semifinals. The Broadmoor’s previous finals appearances came in 2014, ’15 and ’16.

Seventh-seeded Rifle Creek, a public course that also made it to the finals in 2012 and ’14, defeated Broken Tee Englewood 17-7 in the round of 16 and Mariana Butte 16-8 in the quarterfinals. Then in the semis, RC ousted defending Team Interclub champion Saddle Creek/Murphy Creek, 16-8.

When The Broadmoor and Rifle Creek met in 2014 for the title, it was the first of three straight final appearances for the Colorado Springs club. The 23-13 win gave The Broadmoor a 7-0 record that 2014 season. In fact, it won all seven of its matches by double-digit margins.

Four Broadmoor players on that winning team in 2014 will compete again in the finals on Oct. 20: Mike Allred, Ron Crowder, Roger Perry and Scott Meagher. And five Rifle Creek competitors from that 2014 runner-up team are back: Jeb Savage, Tod Smith, Mark Sours, Michael Higginbotham and Pat Hays.

The Team Interclub finals will conclude the 2018 CGA championship season.

CGA Team Interclub Finals Pairings

Singles

Mike Allred (B) vs. Jeb Savage (RC)

Curtis Olson (B) vs. Tod Smith (RC)

Ron Crowder (B) vs. Cole Manupella (RC)

Luke Travins (B) vs. Eric Copen (RC)

Joe Diver (B) vs. Mark Sours (RC)

Roger Perry (B) vs. Michael Higginbotham (RC)

Tom Haggard (B) vs. Tim Roe (RC)

Scott Meagher (B) vs. Pat Hays (RC)

Four-Ball

Allred/Olson (B) vs. Savage/Smith (RC)

Crowder/Travins (B) vs. Manupella/Copen (RC)

Diver/Perry (B) vs. Sours/Higginbotham (RC)

Haggard/Meagher (B) vs. Roe/Hays (RC)  

Road to the 2018 CGA Team Interclub Finals

THE BROADMOOR
Regular Season (3-0 with 57 points)
— Defeated The Club at Flying Horse 18-6
— Defeated Garden of the Gods Club 15-9
— Defeated Colorado Springs Country Club 24-0

Playoffs
— Round of 16: Defeated Lone Tree 14-10
— Quarterfinals: Defeated Elmwood 14-10
— Semifinals: Defeated The Meadows 16-8

RIFLE CREEK
Regular Season (2-0-1 record with 45 points)
— Defeated Glenwood Springs 15-9
— Tied with Battlement Mesa 12-12
— Defeated Lincoln Park 18-6

Playoffs
— Round of 16: Defeated Broken Tee Englewood 17-7
— Quarterfinals: Defeated Mariana Butte 16-8
— Semifinals: Defeated 2017 champion Saddle Rock/Murphy Creek 16-8

For more information on the CGA Team Interclub, CLICK HERE and go to CGA Team Interclub tab.

John Elway drew the majority of the crowds Monday at U.S. Senior Open qualifying at The Broadmoor Golf Club — no surprise there — but it was Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale and Chris Johnson of Castle Rock who will be competing in front of the really big galleries at the Colorado Springs resort in four weeks.

While an estimated 500 fans came to The Broadmoor to see the Pro Football Hall of Famer — an extemely high number for a Colorado-based USGA qualifying tournament — Rohrbaugh and Johnson earned the two available U.S. Senior Open berths at stake on the historic East Course. (The two qualifiers are pictured, with Rohrbaugh at left.)

The Broadmoor, of course, will host this year’s Senior Open come June 28-July 1, which makes it an even bigger bonus for Colorado PGA professionals like Rohrbaugh and Johnson, both of whom competed in last week’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Michigan.

Rohrbaugh, who was paired with two of the best senior players in the world (Scott McCarron and Miguel Angel Jimenez) at the Senior PGA, fired a stellar 1-under-par 69 Monday at The Broadmoor to earn medalist honors. On a course that takes a toll on many a player’s scorecard, Rohrbaugh was rock solid. He made two birdies on the day — most notably from 3 feet on the 520-yard par-4 17th — and his only bogey came when he three-putted No. 15 by missing a 2-foot putt.

Johnson, the 2010 Colorado PGA Professional Champion, carded a 2-over 72 to land the second and final qualifying spot out of a field that originally numbered 84. He made two birdies and four bogeys on the day.

Meanwhile, Elway, the honorary chairman of the 2018 U.S. Senior Open, won’t to adding “competitor” to his title for this year’s championship. The Broncos general manager posted a 10-over-par 80 in a round that was interrupted for 75 minutes by a lightning delay. The 57-year-old was even-par for the first four holes, but ended up with eight bogeys and a double bogey. Still, an 80 was tied for the 18th-best score of the day. Oilman and philanthropist George Solich, who earned an Evans Scholarship as a caddie at The Broadmoor in the late 1970s, looped for Elway on Monday. (The two are pictured at left.)

“I played as well as I could play,” Elway said. “These are hard conditions. If you’re off the fairway by a yard, it’s hard to get it to the green. It’s a lot of work in that rough. But it was fun. I enjoyed playing in these conditions.”

Asked if he thought he had a chance to qualify had he played his best, Elway said, “No. I hadn’t been playing very well and not playing much either. But it was fun to be out here and compete.”

Next month’s championship will mark the fourth U.S. Senior Open for the 56-year-old Rohrbaugh — and the 11th PGA Tour Champions event of his career. Oddly, eight of those 11 will have been senior majors (four U.S. Senior Opens, three Senior PGAs and one Regions Tradition). In Rohrbaugh’s three previous trips to the U.S. Senior Open, he’s missed the 36-hole cut each time — by one stroke (2015), three (2012) and four (2013).

“Four times (in the Senior Open) is obviously amazing, but to play in your backyard …,” Rohrbaugh said. “I’ve been thinking about this ever since I saw it was on the schedule — thinking how cool it would be to have family and friends come down. It’s huge.”

In Colorado, Rohrbaugh has won the 2013 CoBank Colorado Senior Open and three Colorado PGA Professional Championships. As for his day jobs, he’s an instructor at Snowmass Club and a representative at Anderson Ord apparel.

Meanwhile, this will be the second senior major of Johnson’s career, following last week’s Senior PGA. Both the 51-year-old Johnson (77-76) and Rohrbaugh (76-76) missed the 36-hole cut last week.

“I’ll tell you what: It’s been a couple of crazy weeks,” said Johnson, a Life Member of the Colorado PGA. “To get to play in one major was incredibly fun. To get to play in a second one, these are the goals you set when you’re a kid. I’m just tickled.

“I don’t know that I could have played any better than I did today. That was a pretty solid round of golf for me. If you drove the ball in the rough here, you were done. You couldn’t get it to the green. You couldn’t get it close to the hole. On the fourth hole, I hit a 7-iron out of the rough as hard as I could and advanced it 120 yards. You had to hit it in the fairway.”

Rohrbaugh’s score on Monday was surprising to many observers, who didn’t think anyone would match par or better. And as it turned out, only three players broke 76. But a strong finish netted Rohrbaugh a 69. A 310-yard drive on 17 left him 216 in, and he hit a 4 hybrid to 3 feet and sunk the putt for birdie. Then on 18, with a difficult pin placement, Rohrbaugh’s birdie putt ended up 12 feet from the hole. But with the help of a good read from son Tristan, a former 3A state high school champion and 2015 CGA Western Chapter winner, Rohrbaugh rolled in the par putt (left) to shoot in the 60s.

“Going in, I thought par or even 1 over would” qualify, Rohrbaugh said. “I played so good today. I only missed three fairways. And the lies I had when I missed the fairway were decent. And my irons today were really good. I only missed three greens and made just one bogey. That was huge. I had it under par early and just kept going par-par-par and playing smart. I managed my game pretty fricking good, I have to say.”

Besides both being Colorado PGA professionals and both having played in last week’s Senior PGA, Rohrbaugh and Johnson had one other thing in common at The Broadmoor: They both had their sons caddying for them, Tristan for Doug Rohrbaugh, and Cooper for Chris Johnson.

“Tristan was awesome,” Rohrbaugh said. “He read the greens. We all know how tricky these are, but he read them so good.”

All in all, Johnson said it shouldn’t surprise anyone that two guys who competed in the Senior PGA last week should gain the two spots at stake Monday in the U.S. Senior Open.

“It’s no coincidence,” he said. “You go out there for 36 holes grinding your butt off (in Michigan) to shoot your best possible score and you know that you’re striking it good and that you’ve worked really hard to play in that event. Then you come here and there’s this thinking, ‘I can do this.’ So I don’t think it’s coincidental that Doug and I both shot solid rounds today.”

As for Rohbaugh, watching McCarron and Jimenez operate up close for two days paid dividends. After all, the two have combined for 11 PGA Tour Champions wins, including two senior majors.

“With the pairing I had, it could have been very nerve-wracking,” Rohrbaugh said of the Senior PGA. “But I was as comfortable as I’ve ever been playing. It was the advantage of playing in those circumstances so many times. I’ve played with (Bernhard) Langer before and played well.

“And the two guys (McCarron and Jimenez) were absolute gentlemen. They were so great. It made up for the way I played. What a treat to get to play with them and witness some incredible ball-striking.”

Landing alternate spots on Monday at The Broadmoor were Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler of Castle Rock (round of 74) and low amateur Steve Ivan of Colorado Springs (76). 

(At left was the gallery as Elway walked off the first tee on Monday.)

U.S. Senior Open Qualifying
At Par-70 East Course at The Broadmoor GC in Colorado Springs
ADVANCE TO U.S. SENIOR OPEN
Doug Rohrbaugh, Carbondale 35-34–69
Chris Johnson, Castle Rock 36-36–72
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Bill Loeffler, Castle Rock 39-35–74
Steve Ivan, Colorado Springs 38-38–76

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

The USGA accepted 2,738 entries for the tournament — including 106 from Colorado — with 75 being exempt from qualifying. The entry deadline for the event was Wednesday.

Joining Irwin (20 PGA Tour victories, including three U.S. Opens) among World Golf Hall of Famers who have entered the championship at The Broadmoor’s East Course are Tom Watson (39 PGA Tour wins), Vijay Singh (34), Davis Love III (21), Tom Kite (19), Mark O’Meara (16), Fred Couples (15), Bernhard Langer (3, including two majors) and Colin Montgomerie (41 international victories).

Besides Irwin, players who grew up in Colorado and are in the field are 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones and fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe.

In all, 11 U.S. Senior Open champions have entered the event at The Broadmoor: Irwin (1998 and 2000), Kenny Perry (2013 and ’17), Langer (2010), Montgomerie (2014), Jeff Maggert (2015), Peter Jacobsen (2004), Fred Funk (2009), Gene Sauers (2016), Olin Browne (2011), Brad Bryant (2007) and Roger Chapman (2012).

Others among the exempt players who are planning to play at The Broadmoor are John Daly, Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Stricker, John Cook, Tom Lehman (who won the 2010 Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club), Corey Pavin, Lee Janzen, Billy Mayfair, Rocco Mediate, Gil Morgan, Jesper Parnevik, Tom Pernice Jr., Loren Roberts, David Frost, Jay Haas, David Toms, Scott Hoch, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Scott Verplank and Kirk Triplett.

The Broadmoor is hosting its second U.S. Senior Open and its eighth USGA championship, with winners at the resort including Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster. The Broadmoor is celebrating its 100th anniversary on the Friday of the championship, June 29.

Thirty-four qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Senior Open will be held starting Monday. The Broadmoor will host a qualifier on May 28, with Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway among those competing.

In all, the U.S. Senior Open field will feature 156 players.

One golfer with strong Colorado ties who won’t be playing is Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and former Aurora resident Mark Wiebe. Wiebe said on Twitter this week that he withdrew from the exempt list due to a lingering neck injury.
 

The Golf Professional of the Year award goes to a Section member for overall performance, including leadership, service and promotion of the game of golf.

Kelbel, a member of the PGA since 1993, is a third-generation golf professional and he’s helped 36 assistants advance to become head professionals.

The Broadmoor, of course, will be in the spotlight next summer when the club hosts the U.S. Senior Open for the second time in 11 years. And in between, the U.S. Women’s Open paid a visit in 2011.

Kelbel and the other Section honorees will be given their awards on Oct. 27 at the Colorado PGA’s Special Awards Gala.

(Updated Oct. 12) Here are all of the award winners announced this week, with more honorees being named later.

Golf Professional of the Year — Mark Kelbel, The Broadmoor Golf Club

Teacher of the Year — Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf Academy

Bill Strausbaugh Award (mentoring fellow PGA professionals) — Ty Walker, GolfTEC Denver Tech Center

Assistant Professional of the Year — Cy Twete, The Golf Club at Bear Dance

Horton Smith Award (exceptional contributions to promote and improve PGA educational programs) — Patrick Nuber, GolfTEC, national director of teaching quality and instruction

Player Development Award — Leighton Smith, The First Tee of Pikes Peak

Youth Player Development Award — Todd Laxson, Cherokee Ridge Golf Course

Warren Smith Award (special contributions to game of golf, the Colorado PGA, junior golf and their facility) — Barry Milstead, Valley Country Club

Private Merchandiser of the Year — Steve David, Denver Country Club

Resort Merchandiser of the Year — Phillip Tobias, River Course and Ranch Course at Keystone Resort

Public Merchandiser of the Year — Dale Smigelsky, Collindale Golf Course.

Todd Phipers Media Award — Stan Fenn and Doug Perry (Morning Cup of Golf radio show)

President’s Award (promoting and enhancing PGA professionals, the PGA Section and the game of golf and contributing to the betterment of the golf professional vocation) — Eric Kenealy

In addition to those named above, the Colorado PGA recently had one of its own earn a national award as Mark Pfingston, the head professional at The Golf Club at Bear Dance in Larkspur, was named the PGA of America’s 2017 Merchandiser of the Year for public facilities. For more on that honor, 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.
 

Most notably, after the Ryder Cup-style competition between the top amateurs and Colorado PGA professionals in the state was limited to an open division for its first dozen years, it broadened its reach. A senior division was added in 1983 and a women’s division in 2002.

But now, the Colorado Cup will undergo changes that make the earlier tweakings pale in comparison.

By agreement of the organizations involved — the CGA, Colorado PGA and the CWGA — the event will undergo the following alterations:

— This year’s 47th annual Colorado Cup, which will be held Oct. 17 at The Broadmoor Golf Club’s East Course in Colorado Springs, will mark the last time it’s conducted on an annual basis. From here on, it will be limited to odd-numbered years — the years the Colorado PGA doesn’t hold Taylor Cup Matches against the Sun Country PGA, based in New Mexico.

— Instead of being three separate Cups being at stake — men’s open, senior and women — the Colorado Cup will now be just a single competition.

— The event also will be streamlined. Instead of each team including a dozen open, a dozen senior and six women players, it will be eight, eight and four, respectively, for each squad.

— The Colorado Cup, which normally was held in mid-season, will be moved to October. In all likelihood, that will mean fewer — if any — college players competing, given that’s in the middle of the fall portion of the college schedule. And with college golfers often being among the best players on the open and women’s amateur squads, that may be a factor in the overall results.

“I love the changes because let’s just go back to everyone working together — collaboration, one big team,” said Dustin Jensen, the CGA’s managing director of operations. “It will kind of re-energize (the matches). That was the hope we had: Let’s have some fun with it.

“When you get to the tournament you’ve got the open division ams sitting here, the open professionals on this side, the seniors separate. Let’s get everybody together to compete. We started to see that in the Junior Ryder Cup: We pulled the girls in and had a great experience with the girls and boys playing together. We pulled the 10-and-unders in last year to get more kids in. Everybody just enjoys it. I think it will revitalize (the Colorado Cup Matches) a little. It should be kind of fun.”

The Colorado PGA and the CWGA second that thought.

“We want to make it more meaningful,” CPGA executive director Eddie Ainsworth said earlier this year. “Having it every other year will add more significance — like the Ryder Cup. And instead of squeezing it in every year for a date in June when everyone is so busy, we can do it at the end of the season.”

Said Laura Robinson, executive director of the CWGA: “We are very excited about the format as I think it will be more competitive all around. We will obviously miss the presence of our college players, all of whom helped the women amateurs to win last year. It was a great experience for them to play against the pros, but we look forward to this new format on such a wonderful course as The Broadmoor.”

The Colorado Cup Matches, which feature four-ball and singles matches held on the same day, are seen by many as a matter of bragging rights between the pros and the amateurs. Last year marked the first time the amateurs have swept all three divisions, prevailing in the open division 13-5, in the senior division 9.5-8.5, and in the women’s division 6-3.

This year will mark a record 13th time the Colorado Cup Matches have been held at The Broadmoor, but the first time since 1989.

Among the players who have competed in the Colorado Cup over the decades are Dow Finsterwald, Steve Jones, Kevin Stadler, Bob Byman, Brandt Jobe and Fred Wampler, all of whom have now won on the PGA Tour and/or PGA Tour Champions. 

The players from Battlement Mesa Golf Club had to travel a long, tough road — literally and figuratively — but that didn’t keep them from emerging with the title in the season-long CGA Team Interclub Championship that concluded Sunday at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.

After a trip of more than 200 miles to participate in the finals of the net match play championship, Battlement Mesa handed The Broadmoor Golf Club its first loss of the season, scoring a decisive 26-10 victory in the title match. Battlement Mesa claimed the trophy despite being the 16th seed in the 16-team playoffs.

It marked the first CGA Team Interclub title for Battlement Mesa (pictured above), which made it to the finals in 2011 but lost to Lone Tree Golf Club, which remains the only two-time winner of the event.

“Anytime you can play for a state title, definitely it’s a big deal for the club,” said Doug Choate, the head superintendent at Battlement Mesa, who won both his singles and four-ball matches on Sunday. In fact, in singles, Choate defeated The Broadmoor’s David Schroeder Jr., the runner-up in the 2011 CGA Amateur that was played at CommonGround. (Choate is pictured at left, in white, with four-ball partner Mark Barlau.)

All in all, the result was quite a feat for the golfers from the Western Slope.

“It’s such a great accomplishment for such a small community,” noted Jack Elsea, Battlement Mesa’s longtime team captain who wrapped up his run with the club as he recently moved to Montrose. “But it’s a quality course and that probably sharpens everybody up.

“For us to come over here and have the opportunity to play The Broadmoor was a great experience. We played them last year and they took us out in the quarterfinals so we kind of owed them one. This is redemption, so to speak.”

Battlement Mesa finished the year 6-1, having avenged its one loss of 2016 — to Lincoln Park Golf Course in the regular season — by beating LPGC in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs. The Broadmoor, which has made the finals an unprecedented three times — each of the last three years — lost for just the third time in 21 matches since the beginning of 2014, the year the club won the title.

“When you get to this point, everybody is good,” noted Mike Allred, one of three Broadmoor players to win in Sunday’s dozen singles matches. “You’ve got to play your best golf or you’re not going to win. We’ve played these (Battlement Mesa) guys two years in a row and they’re good.” (Allred is pictured in purple at left, with four-ball partner Schroeder.)

Both Battlement Mesa and The Broadmoor advanced to the finals from an original field of 42 clubs after roughly five months of competition. First, there’s a regular-season round-robin of geographically-linked groups of teams lasting from May through mid-summer. The team from each group with the highest point total advanced to the playoffs — along with five runners-up, including Battlement Mesa. Playoff matches ran from August through October.

“It starts out pretty relaxed,” Choate said of the Team Interclub season. “But the farther you go the more competitive it gets.”

Both in the regular season and the playoffs, teams of a dozen men each — of widely varying abilities — square off, with singles and four-ball matches held concurrently. Each individual match is worth two points — two for a win and one for a tie.

Seven players won both their singles and four-ball matches on Sunday — six from Battlement Mesa and one from The Broadmoor.

From Battlement Mesa, the 2-0 players were Charles Perrin, Dan Rzonca, Choate, Charles Hall, Fred Inman and Jeff Bradley. (Perrin and Rzonca are pictured below.) The Broadmoor’s Jim Hafemeister, one of six Broadmoor players to have competed on the club’s 2014 title-winning team, also was 2-0.

Five Battlement Mesa players were back after playing in the 2011 finals loss to Lone Tree: Choate, Perrin, Hall, Elsea and Ken Seidel. The seven others on the 2016 championship team are Bruce Knuth, Luke Cody, Rzonca, Barlau, Inman, Eddie Rubin and Bradley. 

As the 16th and last team to make it into the playoffs, Battlement Mesa routed top-seeded Riverdale 29-7 in the round of 16, then defeated No. 8 Lincoln Park 19-17, No. 12 The Meadows 20-16 and No. 3 The Broadmoor 26-10. For three of those playoff matches — versus Riverdale, The Meadows and The Broadmoor — Battlement Mesa made the six-hour roundtrip drive to the Denver metro area.

The seventh year of the CGA Team Interclub concludes the CGA’s 2016 championship season.

As part of the Team Interclub, the CGA will donate $500 each to the junior golf programs at Battlement Mesa and The Broadmoor.
 

CGA Team Interclub

At Par-71 CommonGround GC in Aurora

OVERALL TOTAL: BATTLEMENT MESA 26, THE BROADMOOR 10

Four-Ball Total: Battlement Mesa 9, The Broadmoor 3

Duke Mitchell-Jerry Petersen (B) halved with Bruce Knuth-Luke Cody (BM)
Charles Perrin-Dan Rzonca (BM) def. Marcus Meyer-Tom Foyer (B), 3 and 2
Doug Choate-Mark Barlau (BM) def. David Schroeder Jr.-Mike Allred (B), 2 and 1
Charles Hall-Fred Inman (BM) def. Bill Carder-Scott Meagher (B), 5 and 4
Roger Perry-Jim Hafemeister (B) def. Eddie Rubin-Ken Seidel (BM), 2 and 1
Jack Elsea-Jeff Bradley (BM) def. Jeff Freyschlag-Ed Hayden (B), 3 and 1

Singles Total: Battlement Mesa 17, The Broadmoor 7

Duke Mitchell (B) def. Bruce Knuth (BM), 2 up
Luke Cody (BM) def. Jerry Petersen (B), 1 up
Charles Perrin (BM) def. Marcus Meyer (B), 3 and 2
Dan Rzonca (BM) def. Tom Foyer (B), 3 and 2
Doug Choate (BM) def. David Schroeder Jr. (B), 3 and 2
Mike Allred (B) def. Mark Barlau (BM), 1 up
Charles Hall (BM) def. Bill Carder (B), 5 and 4
Fred Inman (BM) def. Scott Meagher (B), 1 up
Eddie Rubin (BM) def. Roger Perry (B), 3 and 2
Jim Hafemeister (B) def. Ken Seidel (BM), 6 and 4
Jeff Freyschlag (B) halved with Jack Elsea (BM)
Jeff Bradley (BM) def. Ed Hayden (B), 4 and 2
 

This marks the third year the Colorado Springs club has earned a spot in the Interclub finals — a record for the season-long net match play championship. Moreover, all three of those finals appearances have come in the last three years.

On Sunday at 10 a.m. at the CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, the 12-man team from The Broadmoor will take on one from Battlement Mesa Golf Club, which returns to the finals after an appearance in 2011, when it finished runner-up to Lone Tree Golf Club. Over that three-year period, The Broadmoor has racked up an 18-2 record in head-to-head matchups.

If The Broadmoor prevails on Sunday, it will join Lone Tree (champions in 2011 and ’12) as a two-time winner of the CGA Team Interclub. The Broadmoor beat Rifle Creek Golf Course in the 2014 finals and lost to Todd Creek Golf Club in last year’s finale. Joining The Broadmoor, Battlement Mesa and Lone Tree as two-time Interclub finalists are Todd Creek (1-1) and Rifle Creek (0-2).

The Broadmoor is unbeaten (6-0) heading into this year’s finals, with Battlement Mesa being 5-1, having avenged a regular-season loss to Lincoln Park with a 19-17 win in the playoff quarterfinals. To earn berths in the finals, The Broadmoor beat Meadow Hills 21-15, and Battlement Mesa defeated The Meadows 20-16 .

Over the entire season, The Broadmoor has outscored its opponents
131-85, while it’s been 106-74 for Battlement Mesa.

Both Battlement Mesa and The Broadmoor advanced to the finals from an original field of 42 clubs after roughly five months of competition. First, there’s a regular-season round-robin of geographically-linked groups of teams lasting from May through mid-summer. The team from each group with the highest point total advanced to the playoffs — along with five runners-up, including Battlement Mesa, which was the 16th and final team to make the postseason. Playoff matches run from August through October.

Both in the regular season and the playoffs, teams of a dozen men each — of widely varying abilities — square off, with singles and four-ball matches held concurrently. Each individual match is worth two points — two for a win and one for a tie.

Here are the team rosters for Sunday’s finals:

THE BROADMOOR
David Schroeder Jr. 
Mike Allred                 
Duke Mitchell                 
Jeff Freyschlag           
Ed Hayden                   
Marcus Meyer           
Tom Foyer                   
Roger Perry                 
Jim Hafemeister        
Bill Carder                     
Scott Meagher           
Jerry Petersen 
 
BATTLEMENT MESA
Doug Choate
Jeff Bradley
Mark Barlau
Jack Elsea
Charles Perrin
Dan Rzonca
Eddie Rubin
Ken Seidel
Fred Inman
Charles Hall
Bruce Knuth
Luke Cody
 

Irwin and Bradsby were the medalists in the stroke-play portion of the event with a four-ball score of 66 at The Broadmoor Golf Club’s East Course. Then they won three matches — two at the West Course and the final at the East — to earn the championship last Thursday.

In the final, Irwin and Bradsby defeated Jordan Wilson and Andy Emerson from Loch Lloyd, Mo., 2 and 1. In the semifinals, the Lakewood team ousted the 2015 champions.

For 75 years in the 20th century, The Broadmoor Invitation was considered one of the nation’s top amateur events. But its run ended in 1995. It was resurrected in 2014 as a scratch four-ball championship, though this was the first time competing in the event for Irwin and Bradsby. This year’s field featured 42 two-man teams, representing 13 states.

Irwin, a former CGA Player of the Year, has competed in one U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs. Bradsby is likewise a regular participant in CGA championships. (Irwin, left, and Bradsby, right, are pictured with Dow Finsterwald, the former director of golf at The Broadmoor.)