The Broadmoor Invitation, which dates back to 1921 in a different iteration, crowned its 2018 champions on Thursday, and they looked remarkably similar to the 2017 winners.
Jon Lindstrom and Tom Lawrence, both Denver-area residents and Lakewood Country Club members, repeated as Invitation champions, marking the first time there have been back-to-back winners since the event was reincarnated as a four-ball team tournament in 2014. The last time someone won two straight Broadmoor Invitations when it was an individual event was 1959 and ’60, when Fred Brown prevailed. (The 2018 champions are pictured, with Lawrence at left. Photo by Mic Garofolo)
Last week also marks the third consecutive year that Lakewood CC members have claimed the title as Steve Irwin and Richard Bradsby did the honors in 2016.
After switching from an event that decided the winners by match play in 2017 and prior, to a 72-hole stroke-play tournament this year, Lindstrom and Lawrence shot gross better-ball scores of 72-67-71-72 at the Colorado Springs resort. Their 6-under-par 282 total matched that of 2015 champions Mike Allred and Brad Grogg. Then Lindstrom and Lawrence prevailed on the first hole of a playoff.
Lindstrom is a three-time CGA Mid-Amateur champion, while Lawrence is a former CGA president and the current president and CEO of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
The winners in the other flights at The Broadmoor were:
Traditions Nicklaus — Mark and John Austin of Norman, Okla.
Traditions Ross — Doug Stimple and Jack Mason Jr. of Colorado Springs.
Traditions Jones — Bill Carder of Colorado Springs and Scottsdale, Ariz., and Kyle Keefe of Denver.
Legends Gullane — Larry Phillips and Steve Cole of Midland, Texas.
For almost 75 years in the 20th century, The Broadmoor Invitation was considered one of the nation’s top amateur events. Among its winners were 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.
The Broadmoor hosted this year’s U.S. Senior Open and will do so again in 2025.
]]>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.)