Jack Vickers, who founded both Castle Pines Golf Club and The International PGA Tour event that was held there for 21 years, passed away on Monday in Castle Pines. He was 93.

Vickers, who also made his mark on a variety of other sports in Colorado, was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1995. As a Denver Post headline aptly called Vickers in a 2013 story, he was a “Colorado sports shaker and mover”.

“We lost a tremendous friend today in Jack Vickers — not only a friend to Barbara and me, but a great friend to the game of golf,” Castle Pines course designer Jack Nicklaus said on Facebook Monday. “I have known Jack Vickers since I was 18 years old, when I played in the 1958 Trans-Miss. at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas. It would be pretty hard not to remember the first time Jack and I played golf. It was at Muirfield Village Golf Club in the mid-70s — not long after it opened. Jack made a hole-in-one on the 16th that day. I think it was the first one made on the golf course.

“Jack was someone who cared deeply about the history and the traditions of the game of golf, and wanted to protect them for the future. Jack was always a huge supporter of the game — whether it was in Colorado or nationwide; whether it was the game played at the highest level or his support of grassroots programs. Simply put, Jack Vickers was very good for the game of golf. Jack was a good man, and very well-liked by all.
Jack always handled himself incredibly well, and always with integrity. He was a very good man, and I’m blessed to say he was my friend.

“When Jack got ready to do his own golf course at Castle Pines Golf Club, I was flattered and honored that he asked me to be his designer. The golf course at Castle Pines is a very good one — challenging, beautifully maintained, and located in a fantastic spot. People seem to love it and we’re proud of it. My hope is Castle Pines will forever stand as a tribute to Jack Vickers. I know that through Castle Pines, a wonderful relationship with Jack Vickers only grew. He was involved from day one and until his passing. Everyone at Castle Pines loved Jack Vickers.”

Vickers’ most visible contribution to golf in Colorado was, of course, The International at Castle Pines Golf Club, which opened in 1981. The event ran from 1986 through 2006. It featured a unique modified Stableford scoring system, which promoted aggressive play as a birdie and a bogey were worth more than two pars. The tournament produced quite a few big-name champions including including Greg Norman, Davis Love III (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.

In addition, among the competitors over the years were Tiger Woods (twice), Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Nick Faldo, Ray Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Payne Stewart, Bernhard Langer, Nick Price and John Daly. (Vickers and Nicklaus are pictured at left.)

“The words that come to mind (when reflecting on Vickers’ legacy) are ‘visionary’ and ‘innovation’,” said CGA executive director Ed Mate. “I have a much greater appreciation today than I did when The International started about how much courage it takes to do some of the things he did. He really pushed the envelope and tried to create something brand new and outside the box. That’s who he was.

“Those were arguably the best years in terms of the profile of golf in Colorado when we had a regular Tour stop here. Having just started working at the CGA in 1988, I just sort of assumed that that was normal. Now I’ve seen since The International has gone away that it was not normal.

“It’s a loss for sure. He was also smart enough to recognize at the end that (golf) can’t compete with football. He had very good instincts for sure.”

In an interview with the Denver Post in 2013, Vickers reflected fondly on The International. The event formally went into the history books in early February 2007, when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and Vickers announced the event’s demise at a Denver-based news conference. The end came due in large part to the lack of a title sponsor, with Woods’ often bypassing the tournament being another significant issue.

“I miss it,” Vickers told the Post in 2013 regarding The International. “I still think about The International a lot. If I got involved and there were the right circumstances, I’d like to revive it. I belong to a lot of clubs around the country, and I’ll put (Castle Pines) up against any of them. If I did another tournament tomorrow, it would go right on and it would be first-class.” (Vickers is pictured at left, in a red tie, at a 90th birthday celebration for journalist Kaye Kessler, who’s sporting a beige pullover.)

Beyond the entertainment The International produced, over the years its non-profit arm donated about $14 million to charities in Colorado and elsewhere.

“The other thing The International did that I was always appreciative of was that they became a very big sponsor of the CGA,” Mate said. “The Boys & Girls Clubs were always talked about (as beneficiaries), but they also made annual contributions to the CGA that (Vickers) was responsible for which led to a nice junior golf endowment fund, which now has about $300,000 in it that we use for junior golf. A good chunk of that money came from The International. And when we started our newsletter, The International sponsored it. They did a lot of great things for us for sure.”

Vickers’ contributions to the PGA Tour were acknowledged in 2014 when he became the 11th recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award on Sept. 4 during the BMW Championship that Cherry Hills Country Club hosted that year.

The Tour’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals “who have made outstanding contributions to the PGA Tour over an extended period of time through their performances on the golf course as well as their actions off the course in serving as ambassadors of the game.”

Prior recipients had included some of golf’s biggest names: Gene Sarazen (1996), Byron Nelson (1997), Palmer (1998), Sam Snead (1998), Jack Burke (2003), Pete Dye (2005), Deane Beman (2007), Nicklaus (2008), President George H.W. Bush (2009), and Gary Player (2012).

“Jack Vickers was a gracious host of The International for 21 years and remains a great ambassador for golf with a strong commitment to charity,” Finchem said at the time. “Castle Pines’ spectacular mountain setting and the modified Stableford scoring system made The International one of the most unique tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule and a favorite among our players for its unmatched hospitality. Jack’s selection will be celebrated by everyone he touched, including the many hundreds of Tour players he befriended at his tournament.”

When the inaugural International was announced, it featured a $1 million purse, the largest in PGA Tour history at the time.

Even in its post-International days, Castle Pines Golf Club is considered one of the top courses in the U.S., currently checking it at No. 42 on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 greatest courses.

Golf was by no means Vickers’ only foray into sports in Colorado. He was a majority owner of the NHL’s Colorado Rockies; helped found the University of Colorado’s Flatirons Club, a major fundraiser for the school; and helped sponsor Irwin at the beginning of his professional career. He also was involved in early attempts to bring major league baseball to the Centennial State.

Besides the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, Vickers was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame and the Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame.

Vickers also was named the 2003 Ambassador of Golf by Northeast Ohio Charities as part of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

(Updated Oct. 3: Memorial services for Vickers will be held Oct. 12 at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Englewood, 8035 S. Quebec St. Donations in Vickers’ honor can be made to Catholic Charities through the Archdiocese of Denver, 6240 Smith Road, Denver, Colorado 80216, or the Jack A. Vickers Boys & Girls Club, 3365 Holly Street, Denver, Colorado 80207.) 
 

The anniversaries may draw little fanfare, but they shouldn’t pass unrecognized.

Thirty years ago this week, The International PGA Tour event debuted at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Castle Pines Golf Club. And 10 years ago, on Aug. 13, 2006, the final round of the final International was conducted, ending the longest-running and most successful tour event in Colorado golf history.

The tournament didn’t formally go by the wayside until early February 2007, when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and International founder Jack Vickers announced the event’s demise at a Denver-based news conference after a 21-year run. The end came due in large part to the lack of a title sponsor, with Tiger Woods’ often bypassing the event being another significant issue. But after some of golf’s all-time greats claimed the title over the years — including Greg Norman, Davis Love III (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Vijay Singh and Ernie Els — Dean Wilson will go down as The International’s last champion after hoisting the trophy 10 years and three days ago. When Wilson defeated Tom Lehman in a playoff, it proved to be the only PGA Tour victory of his career. (Wilson is pictured below at the trophy ceremony alongside Vickers.)

And just like that, after two decades of having a big-time PGA Tour event visit Colorado each summer, local sports fans were left with a void.

As Keith Schneider, the general manager at Castle Pines Golf Club, noted when the news was announced in 2007, “I think the community will miss this event. The Colorado PGA and the (CGA) will suffer with the way the tournament supported the local golf community. The Colorado Open winner would get a spot in The International field. Now that’s gone. It’s too bad.”

As Schneider pointed out, the impact The International made went beyond its considerable entertainment value. After all, as of 2007 The International’s non-profit arm, along with Castle Pines Golf Club, had donated about $14 million over the years to charities in Colorado and elsewhere.

“It’s a sad day in Colorado sports,” said 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones, now a Colorado Sports Hall of Famer. “I’m sorry to see it go. It’s a favorite of all the players.”

Certainly, life goes on, and there have been many great golf tournaments held in Colorado over the last decade. The list includes a BMW Championship, a U.S. Women’s Open, a Solheim Cup, a U.S. Senior Open, a Senior PGA Championship and a U.S. Amateur, among others. But The International — with its stellar hospitality, great fields and a unique format in which a birdie and a bogey were worth more than two pars — left an indelible mark on the local sports scene. 

Perhaps the PGA Tour will return to Colorado in the not-too-distant future. Certainly another BMW Championship could be a possibility at a site like Castle Pines or Cherry Hills. But with this being the 30th anniversary of the first International and the 10th of the last, it’s worth remembering some of the highlights from Castle Pines. As one of very few media types to have reported from all 21 Internationals — and all seven days of tournament week every year but one — I had the pleasure of covering everyone from Arnold Palmer to Nicklaus to Woods to Tom Watson to Lee Trevino to Johnny Miller to Hale Irwin to Nick Faldo — along with all the aforementioned International champions — when they competed at Castle Pines.

Here are some of my favorite moments (in descending order), as I recalled in a column in the (Boulder) Daily Camera newspaper 11 years ago:

10. Weathering Weather Delays: You’d think that out of the 21 Internationals that once, just once, they’d have gotten through a tournament week without weather interrupting play. But nooooooo. Much to the dismay of the players — and plenty of other folks at Castle Pines — lightning strikes more often in the Castle Rock area than just about anywhere else in the country. And the 2004 tournament was especially a sight to behold, with a couple of inches of hail covering the course at one point, then rain and melting hail forming streams in the fairways at Castle Pines.

9. Big John: As big as Woods has been for golf, John Daly took a back seat to no one in popularity in his prime. And Daly’s first appearance at Castle Pines, in 1991, came directly on the heels of his victory in the PGA Championship. With his “grip it and rip it” mantra, people at Castle Pines couldn’t wait to see how far Big John hit it at a mile-high altitude. And he didn’t disappoint with 400-yard-plus drives.

8. Unlikely Champ Beats Major Winners: Clarence Rose in 1996 became the most improbable winner in the history of The International, edging out Wilson (2006). Rose made eagle twice Sunday on the par-5 17th hole, including once in a playoff against Brad Faxon, to post the only PGA Tour victory of his career. Rose beat a field that included the winners of all four major championships that year — Faldo, Jones, Lehman and Mark Brooks.

7. Doubling Up: Double eagles are a big-time rarity, even on the PGA Tour. But two were recorded on the same day during the 1990 International. Steve Pate holed a 2-iron on the par-5 eighth hole and Jim Gallagher Jr. matched the feat by draining a 5-iron approach on the par-5 17th.

6. Heavy Hitters: In 1986, the first year of The International, the tournament drew a field hard to beat for any event outside a major championship. Playing Castle Pines that year were Nicklaus, Palmer, Watson, Miller, Norman, Irwin, Ray Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price, Payne Stewart and Bernhard Langer. Just that group accounts for more than 50 victories in major championships.

5. Cover Your Ears: This is one few other people witnessed, but it’s a personal favorite. One year I ventured down to the CBS compound to try to interview Gary McCord. And while I was waiting — and waiting and waiting — a scene played out that I’ll never forget. Someone drove off in the personal golf cart of CBS analyst Ken Venturi, and to say Venturi was livid about it would be the understatement of the century. When Venturi located the culprit, he spewed more four-letter words than I’ve heard strung together in my life, and my late dad once had a very rich vocabulary. Suffice it to say that the person who took the cart got the message loud and clear.

4. One for the Senses: A not-so-sterling performance by Tom Pernice Jr. in the final round in 2001 was punctuated by one of the most poignant moments in the tournament’s history. After winning, Pernice was embraced by his two daughters. One of the girls, Brooke, who has a disease that causes blindness, put her hand on her father’s face, trying to feel the emotion of the moment. The scene was caught by CBS cameras and became an indelible image for many onlookers.

3. Big Easy Wins … Finally: Els had long been one of the most popular players for folks at The International, which in 1991 marked just the second PGA Tour event ever in the U.S. for the South African. He had been a regular competitor ever since at Castle Pines. But in 2000, after four top-seven finishes at The International without a win, Els broke through for a victory. In a year in which Mickelson finished second and Norman fourth, Els tied the tournament record for points with 48.

2. Tiger Soars With Eagles: Woods played only twice at The International, but the first time was quite memorable. In 1998, he made a hole-in-one at No. 7 at Castle Pines, resulting in one of the biggest crowd roars in tournament history. For the week, Woods made four eagles (two each in rounds 1 and 3), which tied for the tournament record. Tiger finished fourth, behind Singh, Willie Wood and Mickelson.

1. Beem Me Up: Sunday’s back nine of the 2002 tournament will go down as one of the most exciting stretches in PGA Tour history. Facing a 10-point deficit with five holes remaining, Steve Lowery threw the scare of a lifetime into Rich Beem, who seemingly had the tournament wrapped up. Starting on the 14th hole, Lowery posted the best four-hole stretch in tournament history, going birdie-eagle-bogey-double eagle. Lowery holed out twice from the fairway during the run, which was worth 14 points. Only an eagle by Beem on No. 17 and a missed birdie putt by Lowery at No. 18 kept Beem from having a full-scale nervous breakdown. Beem ended up winning the tournament by one point.
 

At a tournament held the same week as the WGC-Bridgestone, Laird had his best Tour showing in 17 months, while Saunders recorded just the second top-10 finish of his PGA Tour career.

Laird (pictured) tied for seventh at the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev., while Saunders was ninth. Laird racked up 31 Stableford points in an event in which an eagle is worth 5 points, birdie 2, par 0, bogey minus-1, and double bogey or worse minus-3. Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, eagled his final hole to finish with 30 points. Saunders’ other PGA Tour top-10, a second at the 2015 Puerto Rico Open, was also held opposite a World Golf Championship event.

Mark Hubbard, who grew up in Denver, also had a strong showing in Reno, placing 20th with 26 points.

Greg Chalmers won the Barracuda Invitational with 43 points.

In other tour events:

— At the Made in Denmark Challenge, a European Challenge Tour event in Aalborn, Denmark, former University of Colorado golfer Sebastian Heisele finished eighth. Heisele came on strong on the weekend, going 71-72-65-68 for an 8-under-par 276 total, which put him four strokes behind winner Bernd Ritthammer. It was Heisele’s fifth top-15 showing of the year on the Challenge circuit, where he ranks 20th on the 2016 money list.

— And former University of Northern Colorado golfer Carleigh Silvers posted her first top-10 finish ever on the Symetra Tour, tying for seventh in the Tullymore Classic in Canadian Lakes, Mich. Silvers carded rounds of 71-66-72 for a 7-under-par 209 total. That left her five strokes behind champion Paola Moreno.
 

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the 10th monthly installment of a series of stories looking back on the last century of golf in Colorado. All the articles are being published on coloradogolf.org. This chapter focuses on the period from 2005-present. For the previous installments, CLICK HERE

When it comes to big-time golf tournaments being held in Colorado, the last decade has certainly had its ups and downs.

And many of the “ups” may have largely been the result of the biggest “down”.

The dominoes began to fall early in 2007. That was when Jack Vickers, founder of The International and of Castle Pines Golf Club, and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced at a Denver-based press conference that The International’s run in Colorado was ending after 21 consecutive years on the PGA Tour.

Though there were many contributing reasons, the lack of a title sponsor in the final years of the event played a major role. The tournament hadn’t had a title or presenting sponsor after 2002. Tiger Woods seldom playing in the event — he competed in 1998 and ’99 only — was another factor, as were problems with the tournament’s dates.

But whatever the case, there was a sense of mourning on the Colorado sports scene. The International had produced champions such as Phil Mickelson (twice), Davis Love III (twice), Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Among the many other giants of the game to have played at Castle Pines were Jack Nicklaus (designer of Castle Pines GC), Woods and Arnold Palmer.

And the event produced some incredible golf, including in 2002, when one of the most amazing finishes in Colorado golf history occurred. Ten points out of the lead with five holes left, Steve Lowery went birdie-eagle-bogey-double eagle in a four-hole stretch, twice holing out from the fairway during that run. Only an eagle at the 17th hole by Rich Beem and Lowery’s missed birdie putt on 18 kept Lowery from carting off the trophy.

With the International’s exit, for the first calendar year since 1971, Colorado was left without a PGA, LPGA or Champions Tour event in 2007.

But as it turned out, the void was largely filled, and the last decade has been full of top-level spectator events.

— Before 2005, the U.S. Women’s Open had been held in Colorado just once — at 1995 at The Broadmoor, with Annika Sorenstam winning. But twice in the seven-year period from 2005 through 2001, the Centennial State would host the top tournament in women’s golf.

Birdie Kim won the 2005 championship in spectatcular fashion at Cherry Hills Country Club, holing out for — what else, given her name — birdie from a deep greenside bunker on the 72nd hole.

Six years later, at The Broadmoor’s East Course, another South Korean, So Yeon Ryu (left, in orange), prevailed, winning in the first three-hole aggregate playoff in the tournament’s history. Like Sorenstam at The Broadmoor and Kim at Cherry Hills, Ryu made the U.S. Women’s Open her first LPGA Tour victory.

Both the 2005 and ’11 Women’s Opens in Colorado drew more than 130,000 spectators for the week.

–The Broadmoor attracted a similar number for the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, won by Eduardo Romero of Argentina. That tournament is remembered for the black bear that ran across a fairway in which Bernhard Langer was playing. And then there was the presence of then-celebrity couple Greg Norman and Chris Evert …

— Colorado would go on to host two Champions Tour majors in three years as the 2010 Senior PGA Championship came to Colorado Golf Club, with Tom Lehman claiming the title.

— In 2012, the U.S. Amateur came to Cherry Hills for the second time — Phil Mickelson’s win in 1990 being the first — with CommonGround Golf Course serving as the second stroke-play venue. Steven Fox won the championship this time in one of Jordan Spieth’s final amateur events.

— In 2013, the Solheim Cup — the female version of the Ryder Cup — came to the western U.S. for the first time, with Colorado Golf Club being the host. The Europeans (left) won the Cup on U.S. soil for the first time. The 18-10 score marked the largest final margin in the history of the event.

— And then in 2014, the PGA Tour returned to Colorado for the first time since 2006, with Cherry Hills hosting the BMW Championship, the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Billy Horschel won the tournament en route to claiming the 2014 FedEx Cup title.

The 2014 BMW Championship (pictured at top, with Rory McIlroy competing at Cherry Hills) was later named the PGA Tour’s Tournament of the Year for the third straight season. With University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum George Solich serving as general chairman, the event raised a record $3.5 million for the Evans Scholars.

— And, looking ahead, another major spectator event is on tap for the state as the 2018 U.S. Senior Open will be contested at The Broadmoor the same year as the resort turns 100 years old.

Here are some of the other Colorado golf highlights of the period from 2005 to present:

— Two distinguished Colorado PGA golf professionals, Warren Smith and Charles “Vic” Kline, were both inducted into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame in 2005.

— In 2005, the CGA and CWGA officially purchased the former Lowry golf course, the site of the present-day CommonGround Golf Course.

— Rick DeWitt became the oldest (at age 50) winner of the CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Award, in 2006.

— In 2006, the Walking Stick course in Pueblo hosted the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, with Tiffany Joh defeating Kimberly Kim in the final.

— In 2007, former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin won his record 45th Champions Tour event — 16 more than the No. 2 player on the list, Lee Trevino.

— In 2008, Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora was the site of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, with Jack Newman earning the title. Among the other competitors were Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel.

— The Tom Doak-designed CommonGround Golf Course, originally owned and operated by both the CGA and CWGA, opened in 2009, marking the last new 18-hole course to come on the scene in Colorado. A nine-hole Kids Course also opened, thanks in significant part to a $175,000 grant from the USGA. The Kids Course is largely used for junior golf development and community outreach. 

— In 2009 Steve Ziegler became the first player since Brandt Jobe in 1985 to sweep the CGA Match Play and Stroke Play titles in the same year.

— Coloradans John Elway and Tom Hart won the 2009 Trans-Miss Four-Ball title at Cherry Hills Country Club.

— Denver Country Club hosted the 2010 Trans-Miss Championship, won by Scott Pinckney, and the senior Trans Miss, won by Chip Lutz.

— After decades as a U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying site, Columbine Country Club lost that status after 2010.

— Wyndham Clark won the 2010 CGA Stroke Play at age 16, becoming the youngest winner of the event since Bob Byman in 1971. In the final round of the championship, Jim Knous shot a course-record 10-under-par 60 at Boulder Country Club to force a playoff, but Clark prevailed for the title.

— From 2010-13, Keith Humerickhouse claimed four consecutive CGA Mid-Amateur titles, becoming just the third person to win four straight CGA championships.

— In 2011, the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado became partners in the Colorado PGA Golf in Schools initiative, designed to introduce kids to golf through P.E. classes at school. The program has now reached more than 40,000 students.

— Green Gables Country Club, a storied course that dated back to the 1920s, closed in 2011. The course hosted six LPGA Tour events and one from the Senior PGA Tour.

— The CGA hosted the Junior America’s Cup at Hiwan Golf Club in 2011, when the Colorado team finished third, its best showing ever at the event (since matched in 2015).

— The CGA launched the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course in 2012. The Academy, named for University of Colorado Evans Scholar alums George and Geoff Solich, provides incentives to take caddies as it pays the base fee for the caddies, with the players having the option to tip. The caddies attend weekly leadership classes and do volunteer community-service work each summer. In Colorado, the Academy concept has spread to Fort Collins Country Club and Meridian Golf Club.

— Part-time Lakewood resident Hollis Stacy, winner of three U.S. Women’s Opens and six USGA championships in all, was inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

— The philanthropic Colorado Golf Foundation was launched in 2012, with CU Evans Scholar alum George Solich providing a $2 million lead gift. The foundation provides funding for Colorado-based organizations and programs that use golf to build important life skills and character, with an emphasis on instilling hard work and self-reliance in young people.

— In 2012, Coloradan Christie Austin, while serving on the USGA Executive Committee, became the first woman to chair the USGA Rules of Golf Committee.

— Coloradan Derek Tolan, who competed in the U.S. Open as a 16-year-old in 2002, won the HealthOne Colorado Open twice in a four-year period starting in 2009.

— In September 2013, about 14 inches of rain in less than a week caused devastating flooding (left), leading to major damage at many Colorado golf courses, including CommonGround GC and Coal Creek GC.

— Colorado resident Mark Wiebe won the Senior British Open in 2013, marking the first major championship of his career.

— Melissa Martin of Grand Junction became the seventh player to win the CWGA Stroke Play at least three times, doing so in the course of five years (2009-13).

— In 2014, the Colorado Open was played for the 50th time.

— Also in 2014, Kent Moore completed a sweep of major CGA championships — and has won at least one in five different decades. His resume includes victories in the Junior Match Play (1973), Stroke Play (1986), Match Play (1989), Mid-Amateur (1995), Senior Match (2006) and Senior Stroke (2014).

— In December 2014, the Evans Scholarship for caddies surpassed the 10,000 mark in graduates, including 434 from CU.

— Paige Spiranac won the 100th CWGA Match Play Championship in 2015 in a stellar final in which she was 9 under par for 35 holes against University of Colorado golfer Brittany Fan. And Jennifer Kupcho put on an exhibition at the CWGA Stroke Play, winning by an amazing 21 shots in posting a 16-under-par total.

— For the eighth time in a nine-year period (2007-15), members of the Colorado PGA, or the Section itself, won a national PGA of America Award. The honorees during that stretch were Danny Harvanek and Ann Finke (Junior Golf Leaders); George Kahrhoff, Dale Smigelsky and Jim Hajek (Merchandisers of the Year); Clayton Cole (Bill Strausbaugh Award), Kyle Heyen (President’s Plaque Award), and the Colorado PGA Section as a whole (Herb Graffis Award).

— Doug Rohrbaugh won three straight Colorado PGA Professional Championships from 2013-15, tying a record previously established, then matched, by Ron Vlosich and Ken Krieger, respectively. Rohrbaugh also captured the 2013 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open title.

— The CGA and Colorado PGA announced they’re joining forces to bolster junior golf in the state. A Junior Tour, which will include four junior major championships, is scheduled to debut in 2016. 

— The CGA is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2015, culminating with a Century of Golf Gala in mid-November at The Broadmoor. Jack Nicklaus, who won his first and last USGA championships in Colorado (the 1959 U.S. Amateur and the 1993 U.S. Senior Open), is a guest of honor. Also among those who will be recognized are six People of the Century: Judy Bell (Woman of the Century), Hale Irwin (Male Player of the Century), Charles “Vic” Kline (Golf Professional of the Century), Dennis Lyon (Superintendent of the Century, Barbara McIntire (Female Player of the Century) and Will Nicholson Jr. (Man of the Century).

Editor’s Note: With the CGA celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1915, this is the ninth monthly installment of a series of stories looking back on the last century of golf in Colorado. All the articles are being published on coloradogolf.org. This chapter focuses on the period from 1995-2004. For the previous installments, CLICK HERE.

There have been many groundbreaking and pivotal moments for women in the history of golf in Colorado and beyond, but it hasn’t gotten much bigger in the Centennial State than in the mid- and late-1990s.

It started with The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs hosting the 50th U.S. Women’s Open in 1995, marking the first time arguably the top championship in women’s golf has come to Colorado — or the Mountain time zone, for that matter. And though no one realized it at the time, one of the sport’s all-time greats was to emerge, as Annika Sorenstam made that tournament the first of what would become 72 LPGA Tour victories before she unexpectedly retired in 2008.

In the first of her 10 major championship wins, Sorenstam (below) finished a stroke ahead of Meg Mallon and two in front of Pat Bradley and Betsy King at The Broadmoor’s historic East Course. That was the first year the U.S. Women’s Open featured a purse of at least $1 million.

While all that was huge from a historical perspective, the next year was even more unique.

That was when Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell was elected president of the USGA, becoming the first female to hold that post. In fact, Bell’s two-year term beginning in January 1996 remains the only one in which a woman has served as USGA president since Theodore Havemeyer became the first president of the association in 1894.

“I bet that’s the first time the incoming president kissed the outgoing president on the way to the dais,” Bell memorably joked after it was announced she would succeed Reg Murphy.

But, as former USGA president Stuart Bloch noted, “Judy’s gender, I don’t believe, was a consideration in her election. Her abilities, I think, were the consideration that caused her to be selected as the first woman president. If she were a man, she would have been elected.”

Overall, Bell was the third Coloradan to become USGA president, following Denver residents Frank Woodward (1915-16) and Will Nicholson Jr. (1980-81). (Bell is pictured at top in a USGA photo presenting the low-amateur award to Cristie Kerr at the 1996 U.S. Women’s Open.)

During Bell’s presidency, the USGA started the “For the Good of the Game” program, a $50 million initiative which aimed to increasingly spread the game to groups such as youth, minorities and the disabled.

Bell had had a long, distinguished career as both a player and a volunteer golf administrator leading up to her presidency. She had served on the USGA Women’s Committee starting in 1968 and chaired that committee from 1981 to ’84. Then in 1987, she became the first woman elected to the USGA Executive Committee.

On the playing end, Bell won three Kansas women’s amateurs, starting at age 15, and three Broadmoor Ladies Invitation titles, competed in 38 USGA championships and was both a player and captain on U.S. Curtis Cup teams. And in 1964, she shot the lowest round in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open, a 6-under-par 67, a standard which stood for 14 years.

For all this and much more, Bell was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.

But Bell wasn’t the only woman from Colorado in USGA volunteer leadership roles around this time. Colorado Springs’ Barbara McIntire, winner of two U.S. Women’s Amateurs and a British Ladies Amateur, served as USGA Women’s Committee chair in 1995-96, and Denver’s Joan Birkland, another accomplished athlete, followed McIntire in that role in 1997-98.

On a more local level, 1995 marked the debut of the Colorado Women’s Open.

Here are some of the other Colorado golf highlights of the period from 1995-2004:

— Steve Jones (left), who grew up in Yuma, Colo., and played golf at the University of Colorado, won the 1996 U.S. Open, overcoming runners-up Davis Love and Tom Lehman. The victory culminated a remarkable comeback after Jones was off the PGA Tour for almost three years following a dirt-bike accident in November 1991. The victory gave former CU golfers four U.S. Open titles — three for Hale Irwin and one for Jones.

— In 1996, the CGA entered into an agreement with the Lowry Redevelopment Authority to purchase the former Lowry Air Force Base golf course. The CWGA became partner with the CGA in the purchase of the course. The site is now home of CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA.

— From 1996 to ’98, Ken Krieger won three consecutive Colorado PGA Professional Championships, becoming the second player in the 1990s to do so, joining Ron Vlosich (1991-93).

— In the five-year period from 1997-2001, an amazing 42 courses opened in Colorado.

— Cherry Hills Country Club hosted the 1998 Trans Miss, won by Dan Dunkelberg. Coloradan John Olive was the runner-up.

— CU graduate Hale Irwin won two U.S. Senior Opens in three years, in 1998 and 2000. That gave the former Buff a total of five USGA championships, including his three U.S. Opens.

— In 1998, The Broadmoor hosted the biennial PGA Cup matches, which pits the top club professionals from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland. In Colorado Springs, the U.S. defeated GB&I 17-9.

— In the period from 1999 to 2002, Kevin Stadler won the CGA Match Play title twice, along with the 2002 Colorado Open championship in his pro debut. During the decade 1995-2004, Stadler and Jonathan Kaye (1996) won the Colorado Open en route to becoming PGA Tour champions.

— John Olive, winner of the 1977 CGA Match Play, became one of the top senior players in Colorado history. In addition to claiming titles in five CGA Senior Stroke Plays and four Senior Match Plays during this decade, he won the inaugural Colorado Senior Open (1999) and remains the only amateur to earn the title in that event.

— Colorado PGA members received four more PGA of America national awards in this decade: Alan Abrams (1997 Junior Golf Leader), Mike McGetrick (1999 Teacher of the Year), Charles “Vic” Kline (2000 Golf Professional of the Year) and Russ Miller (2003 Resort Merchandiser of the Year).

— In 2000, Coloradan Kaye Kessler won the PGA of America’s National Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism.

— Also in 2000, Warren Simmons retired as CGA executive director, with Ed Mate succeeding him. Mate continues in the position to this day.

— Nicki Cutler won the CWGA Stroke Play three times in a four-year period from 2000-03.

— Rick DeWitt, the 1999 CGA Stroke Play champ, won the last of his record seven CGA Mid-Amateur titles in 2002 before being inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and later turning pro. He was named CGA Player of the Year a record six times.

— With financial issues and mismanagement burdening the Colorado Open, the 2003 championship was called off during tournament week. Thanks in large part to developer Pat Hamill, the event was resurrected in 2004.

— The International at Castle Pines saw two future World Golf Hall of Famers — Phil Mickelson (1993 and ’97) and Davis Love III (1990 and 2003) win the PGA Tour event for the second time.

— Les Fowler, a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame player and a former CGA president who had a key role in the CGA acquiring the golf course at Lowry, passed away in 2003.

— In 2004, Steve Irwin, a former pro who regained his amateur status, joined his father Hale (1966) as a winner of the CGA Match Play.

— Jamie Lovemark won the prestigious 2004 Western Junior at Denver Country Club. Lovemark later became the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world.
 

The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, who has gone through a roller-coaster of highs and lows in his PGA Tour career over the last decade, certainly won’t look upon 2012 fondly from a professional standpoint.

After regaining his PGA Tour card for 2011 and capitalizing by winning more than $1.6 million that year — the second-best total of his career — 2012 was a letdown in a couple of respects.

The Kent Denver High School graduate didn’t play a Tour event after the AT&T National in early July, shutting it down after falling victim to a herniated disc in his neck.

Then, to add insult to injury, MyFoxDFW.com in Dallas-Fort Worth reported that Jobe’s home in Westlake, Texas was burglarized on July 4 — along with the houses of a dentist and Heisman Trophy winner and former Dallas Cowboys standout Herschel Walker.

Media outlets said the burglar(s) took cash and jewelry from Jobe’s residence, including a watch worth $34,000 and a bracelet valued at $26,000.

The good news going into the new year is that Jobe has been granted a major medical extension from the PGA Tour, meaning he can keep his full Tour exemption if he meets the requirements of that medical extension.

Jobe, 47, needs to earn $303,178 in his first 10 Tour events of 2013 to retain his full Tour status. In 2012, Jobe played in 18 tournaments before ending his season, earning $344,332, good for 168th place on the season-long money list. He managed just two top-30 finishes, including a ninth-place showing at the Puerto Rico Open last March.

Jobe is certainly no stranger to playing on medical extensions from the Tour. Just in the last decade, he’s received two other such extensions — one for a left wrist injury and another after severing the tip of his left index finger and the base of his left thumb when a broom handle shattered while he was sweeping his garage.

Jobe is one of the most successful PGA Tour players Colorado has ever produced. After winning three CGA Match Play titles, one Stroke Play and the 1992 Colorado Open, he won a dozen international championships, mostly in Asia, and moved into the top 50 in the world golf rankings. Though he’s never claimed a PGA Tour title, he’s racked up almost $8.7 million in career earnings. In 312 PGA Tour starts, he’s placed second four times and third twice.

A resident of Colorado from 1970 to ’99, Jobe came the closest to a Tour victory at the 2005 International at Castle Pines, where he once resided. At that tournament, he held a substantial nine-point lead going into the final round of the modified Stableford event. But he skulled two bunker shots on the final 18, shot a 4-over-par 76 and finished second, one point behind champion Retief Goosen.

On the strength of two second-place finishes and a third that year, Jobe won a career-best $2.13 million in prize money in 2005. But since his broom accident in November 2006, he’s played in 20 or more PGA Tour events in a year just once. That was in 2011, when Jobe finished second at the Memorial tournament.

Jobe is hoping to regain that 2011 form this year, but he’ll need a strong first 10 tournaments to keep that hope alive.