There’s no two ways about it: AJ Ott was Ram tough on Friday.

There are examples of greater margins of victory in the finals of the CGA Match Play than the one the Colorado State University golfer dealt out this week, but not many.

When the player from Ptarmigan Country Club beat University of Colorado golfer Ross Macdonald, from the Country Club at Castle Pines, for the title in the CGA’s oldest championship on Friday, it was by a formidable 9-and-8 score.

In the 118-year history of the tournament, that made it into the top five in terms of most lopsided results in scheduled 36-hole finals for this event.

The only ones higher on that list are:

— 12 and 11: Brandt Jobe over Bill Fowler in 1985.

— 12 and 11: Harold Fisher over D.B. Ellis in 1909.

— 10 and 9: Zen Brown over Tom Glissmeyer in 2007.

— 10 and 9: N.C. “Tub” Morris over E.A. Campbell in 1927.

And there are two other finals that matched the 9-and-8 score from Friday at The Club at Ravenna in Littleton.

But suffice it to say that Ott’s performance was a rarity. In a matchup of two friends who happen to play at rival college programs in Colorado, the Fort Collins resident never trailed and ended up playing the 28 holes of the match in 8 under par, with a few concessions thrown in that might have lessened that total slightly.

It’s the first CGA championship for Ott (left and above), who was the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s male player of the year in 2016.

“Ross is a year older than me and I’ve looked up to him since I was 9 or 10 years old. He’s one of my really good friends,” Ott said. “Just to be able to play him in the final was an honor. I know he probably didn’t have his best game today, but a match like that can go either way any time. But he’s been a role model to me, honestly, for 10 or 12 years, so it was cool to be able to play him.

“With the CU-CSU thing, we honestly just embrace it and have more state pride, so that was really cool. We both play in a lot of the same (college) tournaments, so it’s cool to be able to have a match against one another like this. We loved it.”

Macdonald will second that.

“To make it to finals and to play AJ, there’s no one I’d really rather lose to,” said the 21-year-old. “He’s an amazing player. It was fun playing one of your best friends.”

Ott, a junior-to-be at CSU, birdied six of the first seven holes of the match — with a bogey on No. 3 — to grab a 5-up lead. From there on, Macdonald got no closer than 4 down.

The 20-year-old Ott shot a 4-under-par 67 in the first 18 and led 7 up. He earned a conceded eagle from 12 feet on the par-4 seventh hole in the afternoon to go 9 up, then halved the final three holes. Had Ott made a 4-foot par putt on the 28th hole, he would have won 10 and 8, but he lipped it out, settling for a 9-and-8 margin.

“I didn’t think about the margin the whole round because I knew I was playing such a great player,” Ott said of Macdonald, winner of two Colorado Junior Amateurs. “I had to leave every hole behind me and focus on my next shot.”

Ott said he chatted on Thursday night with CSU teammate Jake Staiano, the 2017 CGA Player of the Year, about what to expect in the finals.

“Jake has been in a few of these matches, so I asked him if he had any advice on 36-hole matches,” Ott said. “He gave me some good input. He said to stay patient, and that was the mindset all day. That really helped.”

Macdonald (above and below), a former Colorado junior player of the year himself (in 2014), couldn’t continue his strong play from Thursday, when he was a combined 8 under par for two matches. On Friday, the 2018 Pac-12 Conference runner-up was 5 over par for the 28 holes.

“I couldn’t really get it going the whole day. It’s a long week,” Macdonald said. “AJ and I were both tired and fatigued after playing the Southwestern Amateur (in Scottsdale, Ariz.) last week, then the Match Play.

“Getting off to a slow start, especially against AJ, I knew it was going to be tough. I didn’t have my best stuff. I tried to fight, but I was just so far back. It was asking a lot. And he wasn’t going to stop (playing well). I was just in a hole and I was trying to dig myself out.”

Each of the two finalists played eight rounds of golf in five days at Ravenna, including six rounds in the last three days. To add to that, Ott was driving back and forth each day to his home in Fort Collins, often with tee times in the 7 a.m. range.

“It’s been a really long week,” he said. “We were both just exhausted all day today. I got up at 3:45 this morning and drove down at 4:30. But I was so excited. It was fun.”
 

CGA Match Play
At The Club at Ravenna in Littleton

THURSDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
Ross Macdonald, CC at Castle Pines, def. Chris Korte, CGA Club, 1 up
Josh Hill, Omni Interlocken Resort, def. Jake Staiano, Glenmoor CC, 19 holes
Brian Dorfman, Cherry Creek CC, def. Jackson Solem, The Fox Hill Club, 5 and 3
AJ Ott, Ptarmigan CC, def. Jake Ice, Walking Stick GC, 5 and 4

THURSDAY’S SEMIFINALS
Ross Macdonald, CC at Castle Pines, def. Josh Hill, Omni Interlocken Resort, 1 up
AJ Ott, Ptarmigan CC, def. Brian Dorfman, Cherry Creek CC, 3 and 1

FRIDAY’S 36-HOLE FINAL
AJ Ott, Ptarmigan CC, def. Ross Macdonald, CC at Castle Pines, 9 and 8

To view the brackets from the CGA Match Play, CLICK HERE.

Consider it a Rocky Mountain Showdown, only with clubs.

There have been other CGA Match Play finals that have featured golfers from both the University of Colorado and Colorado State University — most recently in 2013, when CU’s David Oraee prevailed over CSU’s Parker Edens — but the current installment of the rivalry on the golf course will take place on Friday.

This time around, it will be Ross Macdonald from CU and the Country Club at Castle Pines taking on AJ Ott from CSU and Ptarmigan Country Club in a scheduled 36-hole final that will conclude the 118th CGA Match Play at The Club at Ravenna in Littleton.

“I know AJ well,” Macdonald said. “I know he’s a Ram; that’s the only thing I don’t like. No, he’s a great friend — in golf and outside. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Both of the college players won two matches for the second straight day on Thursday, highlighted by the 530-yard par-5 14th hole Thursday afternoon. That’s where Ott (left) made a double eagle in his semifinal (4 iron from 220 yards) and Macdonald narrowly missed one of his own 10 minutes later, settling for a mere eagle there after a 7-iron from 178 yards finished 5 feet from the cup.

Ott didn’t see his shot turn into an albatross — his first in competition — but was elated nonetheless.

“I couldn’t do that out of another 500 balls,” he said. “It was a lucky bounce. But it was a good match.”

Said Macdonald, who was informed of the feat as he approached the 14th green: “I was a little rattled by it. That is incredible. To make it with that (front pin), that’s almost unheard of.”

That hole gave Ott a 2-up lead and helped lift him to a 3 and 1 semifinal victory over 28-year-old Brian Dorfman of Cherry Creek Country Club, the 2012 champion and the last mid-am remaining in the bracket. And Macdonald’s eagle squared up his match after he was 3 down through eight to Josh Hill of the Omni Interlocken Resort, who was 5 under through his first seven holes.

Macdonald (left), who had 2014 champion and current Ravenna assistant pro Cody Kent caddying for him in the afternoon, went 1 up on 15 when Hill lost his ball on his tee shot and Macdonald made a conceded birdie. The CU golfer went on to prevail 1 up when Hill narrowly missed a 7-foot birdie attempt on the final hole. In the semis, Ott played his final six holes in 6 under par, while Macdonald was 5 under for his final 18 after being 3 under in the quarterfinals.

In those quarterfinals, Macdonald ended the nine-match win streak of defending champion Chris Korte in this event. The CU junior-to-be beat the recent University of Denver graduate 1 up by getting up and down from a bunker from 60 yards to halve the 18th hole.

“I shot 68 in the morning and 66 in the afternoon and made one bogey all day,” noted Macdonald. “I played really solid and didn’t do anything stupid.

“I didn’t have a great range session this morning so I wasn’t quite sure. I told myself to stay in it, one hole at a time. That’s what my assistant coach (at CU, Pat Grady) told me and he’s won this before (in 2005). He said eliminate the dumb stuff. If you don’t have a chance to look at a pin, then (hit it to) 30 feet and put the pressure on them to make a putt. I kind of did that all day, and it was good enough.”

In his quarterfinal, Ott defeated former Colorado State-Pueblo golfer Jake Ice 5 and 4.

“It’s awesome” to make the final, Ott said. “It’s been a lot of golf (six rounds from Monday through Thursday), that’s for sure. I didn’t have my best stuff in a few of my earlier matches, but I played nice this morning and played good this afternoon. Now I’ll just rest up and get ready for another 36.”

For Ott, it wasn’t like his double eagle on No. 14 in the afternoon was an isolated good shot. In fact, right after his albatross, Dorfman put the pressure on by hitting his approach on 15 to within a foot. After conceding that birdie, Ott proceeded to hit his to 4 feet and halve the hole with a birdie.

“He threw a great shot in there,” Ott said of Dorfman. “I had to sack up and hit a good one. It felt good to make birdie there, especially after making two on the last hole.”

Macdonald (left, with Kent) and Ott are certainly no strangers, having played plenty of junior and college golf together over the last seven or eight years. Both are former male junior players of the year in the state (Macdonald in 2014 and Ott in 2016). In college, Macdonald finished second in this year’s Pac-12 Championships and Ott was fifth in the Mountain West Conference tournament. Both players will be juniors, eligibility-wise, in 2018-19. Ott is 20 years old and Macdonald 21.

Asked what it would mean to prevail on Friday and earn the trophy, Ott said, “It would be awesome. It’s going to be fun. I’ve never made it even close to this far in the match play. So it would mean a lot.”
 

CGA Match Play
At The Club at Ravenna in Littleton
QUARTERFINALS

Ross Macdonald, CC at Castle Pines, def. Chris Korte, CGA Club, 1 up
Josh Hill, Omni Interlocken Resort, def. Jake Staiano, Glenmoor CC, 19 holes
Brian Dorfman, Cherry Creek CC, def. Jackson Solem, The Fox Hill Club, 5 and 3
AJ Ott, Ptarmigan CC, def. Jake Ice, Walking Stick GC, 5 and 4

SEMIFINALS
Ross Macdonald, CC at Castle Pines, def. Josh Hill, Omni Interlocken Resort, 1 up
AJ Ott, Ptarmigan CC, def. Brian Dorfman, Cherry Creek CC, 3 and 1

FRIDAY’S 36-HOLE FINAL
Ross Macdonald, CC at Castle Pines, vs. AJ Ott, Ptarmigan CC, 7 a.m.

To view the brackets from the CGA Match Play, CLICK HERE.

Korte, who just graduated from the University of Denver, was one of two former champions to win two matches on Wednesday and earn quarterfinal berths in the CGA’s oldest championship. Likewise advancing was 2012 champion Brian Dorfman of Cherry Creek Country Club.

Korte (left) defeated 2016 CGA Amateur champion Colin Prater of The Broadmoor Golf Club 3 and 1 in the round of 16. The former DU golfer made an eagle, seven birdies and nine pars in the 17 holes of a match in which he never trailed.

Meanwhile, Dorfman was 2 down to former University of Colorado golfer Brennan Dolan of Walnut Creek Golf Preserve through 15 holes, but won three of the last four to prevail in 19 holes in the round of 16. Earlier in the day, Dolan had beaten another former champion, 2015 winner Nick Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course, 2 up.

Joining Korte and Dorfman in the quarterfinals will be Colorado State University teammates AJ Ott of Ptarmigan Country Club and Jake Staiano of Glenmoor Country Club; stroke-play medalist Jackson Solem of The Fox Hill Club, a DU teammate of Korte last season; University of Colorado golfer Ross Macdonald of the Country Club at Castle Pines; former CSU-Pueblo golfer Jake Ice of Walking Stick Golf Course; and Josh Hill of Guilford College and the Omni Interlocken Resort.

In Thursday’s quarterfinals, Korte will face Macdonald, Staiano will play Hill, Solem will take on Dorfman, and Ott will meet Ice. Then the semifinals await on Thursday afternoon, setting the stage for Friday’s 36-hole final.

For results from the CGA Match Play, CLICK HERE.

Also advancing to the round of 32 were each of the top seven seeds, including stroke-play medalist Jackson Solem of The Fox Hill Club.

Korte, the former University of Denver golfer who has won both the CGA Amateur and the CGA Match Play, defeated 64th-seeded Blake Schneiter, 1 up on Tuesday.

Nick Nosewicz (left) of Meadow Hills Golf Course, the Match Play winner in 2015, posted a 4-and-2 win over Justin Weir of CommonGround Golf Course.

And 2012 champion Brian Dorfman of Cherry Creek Country Club beat former University of Colorado golfer John Luoma of Colorado Golf Club, 6 and 5.

Joining those three top-10 seeds in making the round of 32 were Solem, the DU golfer who’s seeded second and beat Freddie Gluck 3 and 2; the third and fourth seeds, AJ Ott of Ptarmigan Country Club and Colorado State University teammate Jake Staiano of Glenmoor Country Club; Jay Livsey of Lakewood Country Club (No. 5); and Jack Castiglia (No. 6)

Among those falling on Tuesday was 2017 CGA Match Play runner-up Kyle Pearson, who lost 3 and 2 to Pierce Aichinger of Glenmoor Country Club.

Wednesday will feature both the rounds of 32 and 16. Then the quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, setting the stage for Friday’s 36-hole final.

For all the scores from Ravenna, CLICK HERE.

Jackson Solem of The Fox Hill Club, a University of Denver golfer, earned medalist honors with a 7-under-par 64 after an eight-birdie, one-bogey day. Solem, who made the match play round of 32 at last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur, will be the No. 2 seed in the match-play bracket, behind defending champion Chris Korte, who recently graduate from DU. Korte shot a 74 on Monday.

Colorado State University golfer AJ Ott of Ptarmigan Country Club finished second in Monday’s qualifying, shooting a 65. Another CSU Ram, 2017 CGA Player of the Year Jake Staiano of Glenmoor Country Club, carded a 67 for third place in stroke play.

Among the five players who posted a 68 was 2015 CGA Match Play champion Nick Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course. Another former champion, 2012 winner Brian Dorfman of Cherry Creek Country Club, also broke 70, with a 69.

In all, 64 players will advance to match play, which begins on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will each feature two rounds of matches, setting the stage for Friday’s 36-hole final.

The golfers who shot 79 on Monday played off for the final spot in the match-play bracket, with Blake Schneiter earning the final berth.

Ravenna is hosting the CGA Match Play — the CGA’s oldest championship — for the second straight year, marking the first time the championship has been held at the same site in consecutive years since 2000-01.

For all the scores from Monday, CLICK HERE.

For the round-of-64 matchups, CLICK HERE.

But in all the years since — or at least since record-keeping of sites for the event became consistent in 1934 — only four times has the championship been played at the same course in back-to-back years.

But after this year, make that five times.

As it did last year, The Club at Ravenna in Littleton will host the CGA Match Play, which will be contested for the 118th time next week. The oldest CGA championship will begin Monday (June 18) with a stroke-play qualifying round to set the 64-man match-play bracket. Match play will start Tuesday and continue through Friday, when the 36-hole final is scheduled.

For those who are curious, the previous sites to host consecutive CGA Match Plays are Denver Country Club (1948-49), Lakewood Country Club (1958-59), the South Course at The Broadmoor (1984-85) and Bear Creek Golf Club (2000-01).

Chris Korte, who recently graduated from the University of Denver, won at Ravenna (pictured) in 2017, completing the career sweep of the CGA Amateur and Match Play titles. He’ll try to repeat as Match Play champ next week. As the defending champion, he’ll automatically be seeded No. 1.

Other former champions in the field include Nick Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course (2015 winner) and Brian Dorfman of Cherry Creek Country Club (2012).

The Match Play, which with few exceptions has produced college-age champions in recent decades, will feature plenty of competitors in that age group this time around. That includes 2017 CGA Amateur of the Year Jake Staiano and AJ Ott from Colorado State University; 2016 CGA Amateur champion Colin Prater, recently from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs; Ross Macdonald, the CU-Boulder player who tied for second in the Pac-12 tournament; Coby Welch from the University of Northern Colorado; Jackson Solem from DU; and 2017 Match Play runner-up Kyle Pearson from Colorado Mesa. And there are plenty of others who could get hot and advance to the late rounds.

Among the mid-amateurs entered who might make a run are Nosewicz; Jon Lindstrom of Lakewood Country Club, who recently placed sixth and took low-amateur honors in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open; and Jeff Chapman of Inverness Golf Club.

Wednesday and Thursday will feature two rounds of matches at Ravenna.

For Monday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
 

The second playing of the Colorado PGA Women’s Championship looked a lot like the first, at least regarding the top of the leaderboard.

Like in 2016, Alexandra Braga from Denver Country Club won the championship. Like last year, she led after each round. And just as in 2016, she prevailed by three strokes.

Despite an 8-over-par round of 79 at The Club at Ravenna in Littleton in Wednesday’s final round, Braga earned the trophy again. After five birdies in Tuesday’s round of 69, the 33-year-old managed one on day 2. But that didn’t keep her from going wire-to-wire in the event for the second consecutive year.

Stefanie Ferguson of CommonGround Golf Course, a former CWGA Match Play champion who finished third last year, placed second this time round, with a 76 on Wednesday leaving her at 151 overall.

Tara Morris of the Country Club at Castle Pines ended up third out of the 11-player field at 156 following a second-round 75.

The tournament was open to female players who are either PGA or LPGA members or apprentices based within the Colorado PGA’s boundaries.
 

Colorado PGA Women’s Championship
Aug. 22-23, 2017 (final) at The Club at Ravenna in Littleton
Top Players After Final Round
1. Alexandra Braga 69-79–148
2. Stefanie Ferguson 75-76–151
3. Tara Morris 81-75–156
4. Liz McCabe 82-81–163
5. Terra Shehee 84-82–166
6. Erica Webster 86-83–169
7. Carina Capobianco 85-85–170
8. Holly Champion 84-92–176
9. Kelly Deimund 91-86–177
10. Katie Milstead 85-94–179

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

Among those joining Kelley in the final eight were 2016 CGA Player of the Year Kyler Dunkle (pictured) of the Club at Pradera, 2015 CGA Stroke Play champion Chris Korte of Lone Tree Golf Club, 2016 5A state high school champion Kyle Pearson of Meridian Golf Club and U.S. Open Sectional qualifier Jake Staiano of Glenmoor Country Club.

Also in the quarters will be Brittain Walton of Collindale Golf Course, Jack Cummings of the Omni Interlocken Resort and Roy Carlsen of Walnut Creek Golf Club. Thursday’s matches will be: Kelley vs. Pearson, Dunkle vs. Walton, Korte vs. Cummings, and Staiano vs. Carlsen. The winners will then compete in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon, setting up Friday’s 36-hole final.

Kelley defeated CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year Chris Thayer 3 and 1 in Wednesday’s round of 16. Korte, a University of Denver teammate of Kelley’s, beat 2015 Match Play champion Nick Nosewicz, 6 and 5.

Among the others ousted in the round of 16 were U.S. Open Sectional qualifiers Ross Macdonald and Hunter Paugh, and 2016 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado boys Player of the Year AJ Ott.

For results from the Match Play, CLICK HERE.
 

Kelley, who shot a course-record 63 for the tees he was playing in Monday’s stroke-play qualifier, scored a 4 and 3 victory Tuesday over Stephen Fernandes of CommonGround Golf Course in the round of 64.

And Korte (pictured), who posted a 65 on Monday, defeated University of Northern Colorado golfer Li Chen of Legacy Ridge Golf Course 2 and 1 in their opening match.

But falling Tuesday were third-seeded Tristan Rohrbaugh, a former 3A state high school champion who plays out of Ironbridge Golf Club (3 and 1 to Pierce Aichinger of Glenmoor Country Club), and No. 4 seed Isaac Petersilie, a DU golfer from Colorado Springs Country Club (1 up to Cole Anderson of the Country Club of Colorado).

Joining Kelley and Korte in advancing to the round of 32 were the three reigning CGA Players of the Year (Kyler Dunkle-open division, Chris Thayer-mid-amateur) and Robin Bradbury-senior). Also moving on were 2016 CGA Amateur champion Colin Prater of The Broadmoor Golf Club, 2015 Match Play winnner Nick Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course, and several 2017 U.S. Open Sectional Qualifiers: Jake Staiano of Glenmoor Country Club, Ross Macdonald of the Country Club at Castle Pines, Daniel Pearson of The Fox Hill Club and former 5A state high school champion Hunter Paugh of Fort Collins Country Club.

Two rounds of matches will be contested on Wednesday, setting the stage for the quarterfinals and semifinals on Thursday and the 36-hole final on Friday.

For results from the Match Play, CLICK HERE.

The 117th CGA Match Play, a fixture on the state golf calendar every year since 1901, will be held at The Club at Ravenna, a highly regarded Jay Morrish design in Littleton.

Stroke-play qualifying is set for Monday (June 19), with the top 64 players advancing to match play, which starts on Tuesday and runs through the 36-hole final on June 23.

Just one former CGA Match Play champion is in the field, 2015 winner Nick Nosewicz, but the last two CGA Amateur champs are entered, Colin Prater of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (2016) and Chris Korte of the University of Denver (2015). And all three 2016 CGA players of the year — Kyler Dunkle (open), Chris Thayer (mid-amateur) and Robin Bradbury (senior) are likewise playing.

Also in the 84-man field are several players who earned spots in U.S. Open Sectionals, the second and final qualifying stage for the Open: Jake Staiano, Ross Macdonald, Jackson Solem, Daniel Pearson, Hunter Paugh and Thayer, who qualified for Sectionals but withdrew. Likewise entered are former 5A state high school champion and 2016 CGA Amateur runner-up Spencer Painton; 2016 Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational winner Coby Welch; 2016 5A state champion Kyle Pearson; and the last three winners of the Colorado Junior Amateur: Braden Bentley (2016), Isaac Petersilie (2015) and Macdonald (2013 and ’14).

For Monday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.