Withdrawals come with the territory in golf tournaments, particularly when you’re dealing with players 50 and older.

But this week’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor has had an unusual number of big-name participants who have pulled out of the field over the last week.

Fan favorite John Daly is the latest to withdraw as the USGA announced on Monday morning that the two-time major champion isn’t coming to Colorado Springs due to a right knee injury.

Daly, who finished seventh on Sunday in the American Family Insurance Championship in Wisconsin, said via Twitter that the USGA had denied his request to use a cart at The Broadmoor:

“I had to WD from the U.S. Senior Open. The deteriorating osteoarthritis isn’t helping my rt knee,” Daly wrote on Twitter. “I fall under the ADANational but USGA turned down a cart for me this week. Just going to give the knee a rest. Don’t know what’s ahead for me.”

Said the USGA on Twitter: “Consistent with the ADA, the USGA reviews each request for cart usage on a case-by-case basis, and can confirm John Daly followed the USGA process, which includes working with a medical consultant.

“… However, his submission did not support a waiver of the walking condition. We offered Mr. Daly the opportunity to provide additional information to support his request for a cart. He informed us this morning that he decided to withdraw.

“Scott Verplank also followed the USGA process for requesting cart usage and the information he provided supported his request.

“We respect the privacy of all of our players and unfortunately we are not at liberty to discuss any player or caddie’s medical condition.”

Previously withdrawing from the U.S. Senior Open in the last week have been World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson (personal reasons), 1996 U.S. Open champion and former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones (knee surgery) and 12-time PGA Tour winner Steve Stricker (overloaded schedule).

Slotted into the field with Daly’s WD on Monday was Australian David McKenzie, the first alternate from the South Bend, Ind., qualifying site.

Also withdrawing from the Senior Open on Monday was Len Mattiace (for personal reasons), who will be replaced in the field by Todd McCorkle, the second alternate from the Opelika, Ala., qualifying site. Mattiace had earlier replaced Watson in the field.

The Senior Open begins on Thursday.

Tee Times Matters: It’s not unusual for players to be paired together for a particular reason, and that’s certainly the case for a couple of tee times for the first two rounds of the Senior Open.

For example, the 1:43 p.m. tee time off No. 1 on Thursday and the 8:13 a.m. time off No. 10 on Friday will feature three winners of the U.S. Open: Hale Irwin (1974, ’79 and ’90), Tom Kite (1992) and Corey Pavin (1995).

And the group off at 1:12 p.m. on No. 1 on Thursday and 7:42 a.m. on No. 10 on Friday includes three winners of the PGA Championship: Vijay Singh (2 PGAs, one Masters), Davis Love III (one PGA) and David Toms (one PGA).

TV Factoids: For its coverage of the U.S. Senior Open this week, FS1 will utilize 38 cameras, 84 microphones, 16 miles of fiber optics, five mobile production units and 225 staffers.

Notable: During the practice days, various CGA volunteers are serving as honorary starters at The Broadmoor. And some volunteers and staffers are also helping out at one of the holes that they’ve “adopted” for the championship. (At left, CGA co-president Juliet Miner was starting on the first tee Monday.) … A total of 234 junior players are scheduled to participate in the Drive Chip & Putt qualifying event that will be held on Tuesday at the 18th hole of the West Course of The Broadmoor. … Throughout the week, a Youth Golf Experience (pictured below), hosted by the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, is situated near the first hole of the West Course.

(Pictured at top is Bernhard Langer.)

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For all the essentials regarding this week’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, CLICK HERE.

The USGA said that Watson, winner of 39 PGA Tour events and eight majors, has pulled out for personal reasons. And Jones, who in March posted his highest finish ever in a PGA Tour Champions event, withdrew due to knee surgery.

Those two WDs come on the heels of 12-time PGA Tour winner Steve Stricker withdrawing on Wednesday due to an overloaded schedule after playing in the U.S. Open last week.

Jones, the winner of eight PGA Tour events, finished a PGA Tour Champions career-best sixth at the Toshiba Classic in March. His two tournaments on the circuit this year were his first since December 2015, when he suffered an elbow injury. The knee problem is the latest in a series of injuries and maladies that have considerably curtailed the former Buff’s career.

Filling the spots previously held in the 156-man field by Watson and Jones will be PGA Tour veterans Len Mattiace and Guy Boros, who were the first alternates at separate qualifying sites.
 

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.
 

Kenny Perry was sitting within a few feet of a U.S. Senior Open trophy at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs on Monday, but given that he won the championship last summer, he’s got one of his own back home in Franklin, Ky.

“It makes me nervous every day where it’s sitting,” Perry explained during a U.S. Senior Open Championship Preview seven weeks before the tournament comes to The Broadmoor. “I have a little muni (course) I opened in 1995 (named Country Creek). I’ve got the trophy right there on the counter where everybody who comes in and gets a greens fee can see it, have your picture taken with it or whatever. It makes me so nervous because we’ve been broken into four or five times, and I’m afraid somebody is going to get it. But I’ve still got it.

“We keep it shiny, keep it looking nice. When people grab that trophy and just start looking at the names (of the champions), I just sit back and take pictures of them. Everybody is in awe of all the names on that trophy.”

Along with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Hale Irwin, engraved on that trophy is Perry’s name — twice, in fact. The 57-year-old has won the U.S. Senior Open, arguably the top event in senior golf, two times in the last five years. The only other players who have claimed the title two or more times are Nicklaus, Player, Irwin, Allen Doyle and Miller Barber, the only three-time champ.

And if Perry plays well enough come June 28-July 1 at The Broadmoor, he could join Barber in the three-timers club.

Perry came to The Broadmoor Resort for the first time on Sunday, though he didn’t arrive until late at night. So he truly had his first good look on Monday morning after he woke up. And his first reaction to the resort was the same as many people’s.

“As a golfer, you travel the world, but you don’t see the world,” he said. “You just see golf courses. Last night I flew in from Houston. I got in here about midnight. I didn’t have an idea of what we pulled into, so this morning when I woke up early, they’d given me this beautiful suite. I opened the curtains and there was this panoramic view. There was The Broadmoor out there in front of my eyes. I was like, ‘Wow. This place is amazing already.’

“The place is phenomenal. It’s beautiful. Thank you all for picking a golf course where every hole goes from right to left because that’s (the only shot) I can hit. I noticed there’s a lot of hooking holes out there. That’s right in my wheelhouse. I’m looking forward to coming here.”

Russ Miller, The Broadmoor’s longtime director of golf, gave Perry a quick tour of the East Course, where the championship will be contested. Miller made sure Perry took notice of the Will Rogers Shrine on the side of Cheyenne Mountain above the course as putts break away from it to the point of being very deceptive.

As Dale Douglass, a longtime Coloradan who won the 1986 U.S. Senior Open, noted on Monday, “I wake up having nightmares about having to make a 15-footer at this place.”

Added Ben Kimball, director of the U.S. Senior Open Championship: “This is a very, very interesting venue and every time I come here I tell Russ I struggle to figure out The Broadmoor — and I think the best players in the world will too.”

Perry is sure to be fooled too — at least on occasion — during the U.S. Senior Open, just like about all 156 players in the field will. But he didn’t win 14 times on the PGA Tour and nine times on PGA Tour Champions by lacking for talent. And though he lost two major championships in playoffs — to Mark Brooks at the 1996 PGA Championship and to Angel Cabrera at the 2009 Masters — he’s won four majors on the senior circuit: a Senior Players and a Tradition to go along with his two U.S. Senior Open victories.

“When you’ve got Palmer, Nicklaus, Player on that trophy, it makes you feel pretty special you’re part of that company,” Perry said. “It’s been pretty rough on me my whole life. I’ve always come up a little short in my career. To finally break through and win a couple of these titles really means a lot.

“This takes the edge off the pain I still carry with me to be able to have some major titles associated with my name. It still motivates me very highly. It keeps me going, keeps the fire burning inside of me.”

Elway, Solich Will Team Up in Qualifying: As was noted months ago, U.S. Senior Open honorary chairman and Broncos general manager John Elway will attempt to qualify for the championship on Memorial Day at The Broadmoor. And, as Elway indicated in a video message on Monday, he’ll have a secret weapon of sorts to help bolster his chances.

Elway said George Solich, a co-founder of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy who himself caddied at The Broadmoor as a teenager en route to receiving the Evans Scholarship for caddies, will be looping for the Pro Football Hall of Famer on May 28.

“He was a caddie down there for a long, long time,” Elway said of Solich, a friend for years. “He told me he’d get me through it and make sure I qualified.

“I’m excited for the opportunity just to play in a qualifier. I don’t have high expectations. My practice for the last three months has been inside the (Broncos) draft room. It’s been the mental side of practice and nothing physical. But I’m glad to be part of the Senior Open and bringing it back to Colorado.”

A lifelong golf amateur, Elway has finished as high as 19th in the CoBank Colorado Senior Open, has made the cut once in the Colorado Open, and has placed in the top 10 14 times in the nationally televised American Century Championships celebrity tournament in the Lake Tahoe area. He and Tom Hart won the 2009 Trans-Miss Four-Ball at Cherry Hills and tied for second in the 2010 CGA Four-Ball.

In all, more than 2,200 golfers posted entries for the U.S. Senior Open, with most of them competing at one of 34 qualifying tournaments. The qualifier at The Broadmoor on May 28 has a full field of 84 players.

Irwin, Watson Conducting Kids Exhibitions: Russ Miller, The Broadmoor’s director of golf, said Monday that two World Golf Hall of Famers will conduct kids exhibitions the week of the U.S. Senior Open June 25-July 1. Former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin, the career victory leader on PGA Tour Champions, will do the honors on Tuesday afternoon (June 26) and Tom Watson on Wednesday afternoon (June 27).

Miller said that in addition to Irwin, Watson and Perry, among those who are planning to play in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor are Bernhard Langer, Davis Love III (who was previously announced) and Steve Stricker.

In Short: Among those in attendance at Monday’s U.S. Senior Open Championship Preview at The Broadmoor was a who’s who of Colorado golf. On hand were Judy Bell, a former USGA president; Dow Finsterwald, winner of the 1958 PGA Championship among his 11 PGA Tour titles; and Dale Douglass, who owns three PGA Tour wins and 11 on PGA Tour Champions, including a U.S. Senior Open. (Douglass and Finsterwald are pictured above.) Also at the festivities was Broncos placekicker Brandon McManus. … At least 21 hours of TV coverage is planned for the U.S. Senior Open, almost all on FS1. … The Broadmoor’s East Course will play 7,264 yards — and thereabouts — and to a par of 70 for the Senior Open. The 17th hole will be a par-4 rather than a par-5 for the championship. And the seventh and 11th holes will be flipped for the tournament, with both playing as par-4s.
 

In Albrecht’s case, he’s hoping for a strong showing in qualifying to land a berth in the national championship, which this year is being held in his home state, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs June 28-July 1. Also falling into that same category, as we reported late last month, is Broncos general manager John Elway, the honorary chairman of the championship.

Online registration for the U.S. Senior Open began on March 7 and will wrap up on May 16. After that, the USGA will release a list of all the exempt players who have entered the tournament.

But we’ve already gotten an indication of some of the big-name players who are definitely coming — and how they feel about The Broadmoor, the historic venue that will host its eighth USGA championship and second U.S. Senior Open.

Tom Watson, arguably one of the top 10 golfers of all time after a career that’s included 39 PGA Tour victories and eight titles in major championships, recently indicated he plans to return to The Broadmoor, where he finished 23rd in the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. Watson owns 14 career wins on PGA Tour Champions.

“I’m looking forward to playing in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor — love that place — and of course the British Senior Open at St. Andrews, the Old Course there, that will be neat,” the 68-year-old Watson said on PGATour.com. “Looking forward to those tournaments.”

Another World Golf Hall of Famer who plans on competing at The Broadmoor is Davis Love III, who will be making his U.S. Senior Open debut. In fact, if Love doesn’t play in the Regions Tradition or the Senior PGA Championship in May, it’ll be his first senior major. To date, he’s played in nine PGA Tour Champions events, with a best finish of third place. Love has won 21 titles on the PGA Tour, including a PGA Championship.

“I’m really happy that my first U.S. Senior Open will be at The Broadmoor, one of America’s historic resorts,” said Love, who turns 54 on April 13. “Colorado has been a special place for my family. I won two PGA Tour tournaments at Castle Pines (1990 and 2003 at The International) and my father captured two (Colorado Junior Match Play) tournaments on the state level here in the 1950s (1953 and ’54).

“Having competed in more than 20 U.S. Opens, I know that I’ll have the same type of challenges at the Senior Open because of the course and the world-class field. I’ll have to use all my skills to pass this ultimate test, but I am ready for it.”

Then there’s two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, another winner of The International at Castle Pines (1995), who entered the U.S. Senior Open earlier this month.

“@USGA my entry is in for the US Senior Open at the Broadmoor,” Janzen tweeted. “Excited to play there for the first time. Heard lots of great things about the venue.”

Among the other prominent players exempt for the U.S. Senior Open — and still competing at least on a semi-regular basis — are World Golf Hall of Famers Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie and Fred Couples.

Like the championship itself, the Colorado-based qualifying tournament — for players who aren’t exempt — will be contested at The Broadmoor’s East Course, on May 28.
 

Two life events — coincidentally both occurring on the same day last week — prompted me to take a stroll down memory lane.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Jack Nicklaus celebrated his 75th birthday amid much attention. On that same day, my father-in-law, Keith Bunker, passed away in St. George, Utah.

Given that Keith was born in the same year as Arnold Palmer (1929), died on the same day Nicklaus turned 75, and had the last name of Bunker, perhaps it was inevitable that he was a huge golf fan. And so it was.

He and his wife, Donna, not only played many a round of golf over the years, but Keith marshaled at the Bob Hope Classic (now the Humana Challenge) on several occasions as they once lived near Indian Wells Country Club, one of the courses that’s been regularly used for the PGA Tour event. Keith proudly displayed numerous autographs of golf greats, including Palmer’s impeccable signature. (The two are pictured together at left.)

With Keith passing and Nicklaus hitting a milestone birthday, I had the urge to find a Ziploc bag that was stuck in a file in my closet nearly 34 years ago. That’s where I keep the mementos from one of my favorite days of my pre-adult years.

That plastic bag includes a fading photo from the Denver Post (top), a white Golden Bear golf glove, and a scorecard from Pinehurst Country Club in Denver (complete with a couple of autographs, below).

It all comes from a caddying gig I had on Aug. 24, 1981. On Nicklaus’ path to turning 75 last week, I was fortunate enough to spend five or six hours with him that day in 1981. The Golden Bear, one of my favorite sports figures as a teenager, came to Denver and Pinehurst to play a charity exhibition with Tom Watson and Dow Finsterwald. In case you’re wondering, that trio now has won a combined 27 major championships.

My good fortune in being picked to caddie for Nicklaus was due to Tony Novitsky, then the head professional at Columbine Country Club and now a well-deserved member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. I was the caddiemaster — and previously a caddie and a bag-room attendant — at Columbine under Novitsky, and he was nice enough to make my decade by one day asking me, rather nonchalantly, “Gary, how would you like to caddie for Nicklaus in that charity event coming up?”

I couldn’t spit out “That’d be great” fast enough, and I’m sure I had a silly grin on my face the rest of the day.

As it turned out, the caddie that was looping for Watson would ask me to switch bags for the exhibition, but being a huge fan of Nicklaus, I had no interest. Nothing against Watson — it would have been a great loop under any other circumstances — but I wasn’t going to miss the chance to caddie for arguably the greatest golfer of all time.

Having Nicklaus, Watson and Finsterwald play an exhibition in Colorado was a big deal back then, long before the state hosted a PGA Tour event — The International — on an annual basis. How big a deal?

Watson was driven to the event in a 1940s-era Rolls Royce, while Nicklaus came in a late-model limo. Just prior to the first tee shots, the scorecards were delivered by skydivers. About 7,000 people attended the exhibition, with some reportedly paying more than $1,000 to rub elbows with the Tour greats and get pictures taken with them.

A few things I’ll never forget from that day, good and bad:

— Getting introduced to the players in the locker room, and being a fly on the wall as Nicklaus and Watson exchanged fishing stories and swapping information about hot spots they’d frequented.

— On the practice range, Watson doing imitations of several fellow Tour standouts, including Nicklaus — complete with the long pause at address and the cock of the head just before takeaway.

— The crowd was so congested around Nicklaus at times that at one point I got caught up amid all the fans and ended up walking 50 yards past Nicklaus’ ball. Suffice it to say it was a long trek back to the ball, seeing him waiting somewhat impatiently for me to backtrack.

— One of the highlights was being recognized by some of the people in attendance. One friend came up to me between the first and second holes and said, “Not a bad loop today, huh Baines?”

— Nicklaus was gracious enough to ask me what club to hit on numerous occasions. But I didn’t always give him the best guidance. On one par-5, after hitting a perfect drive and facing a blind second shot, the Bear asked for an aiming point. I urged him to hit his ball toward Loretto Heights College in the distance.

On cue, he ripped a 3-wood about 250 yards exactly where I had directed him.

“I hope you’re right,” he said as he handed the club back to me.

“I hope so too,” I replied.

Unfortunately, as we approached the green, it became apparent the ball ended up in a greenside bunker front right of the putting surface. Nicklaus didn’t say anything to me, but joked about betting Watson $10,000 on his sand shot. Fortunately, Nicklaus saved my bacon by getting up and down for birdie — one of few he made en route to shooting an even-par 70.

— I’ve often said I certainly would have caddied for Nicklaus for nothing that day, but what happened at the end of the round took me aback — and remains puzzling to this day. Nicklaus came into the locker room after the other two caddies had left and he pulled out his billfold. I remember never having personally seen so much cash carried by one person; there were $50s and $20s galore.

Nicklaus then proceeded to pull out two $20s and ask me if I had $10 in change. A bit stunned, I said that I did, and handed him the bill. Apparently knowing an explanation seemed necessary, he noted that $30 was the amount the other players had paid their caddies.

I fully admit, the exchange left me a little deflated on an otherwise great day. It wasn’t the amount I was paid that bothered me so much, but I can honestly say that I’d rather have been left empty-handed than have been asked for change.

But that was a mere footnote to one of the best days of my life as a then-19-year-old. I soon became a sports writer and covered Nicklaus at quite a few tour events, including his win at the 1993 U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills Country Club — the last of his eight USGA championships. Through those experiences and others, I’ve come to respect Nicklaus in many ways other than strictly his considerable golf ability. His graciousness in dealing with the fans and the media, his strong sense of sportsmanship, being an outstanding family man — the list goes on and on.

But as a teenager, simply being able to spend half a day with one of my favorite sports figures ever was the experience of a lifetime. And as Nicklaus approaches his twilight years, I cherish it all the more.

I still get a big smile when I look at that Denver Post photo with Nicklaus signing autographs during the exhibition and me walking alongside with his bag and umbrella. And it still brings back memories seeing that old wrinkled white Golden Bear glove (left), and the Pinehurst Country Club scorecard with the side-by-side autographs of Nicklaus and Watson.

I’m sure it was the same way for my father-in-law Keith when he gazed at that Arnold Palmer autograph or thought back fondly to marshaling at the Bob Hope Classic.

Time marches on, but golf gives us memories worth cherishing.
 

As Frank Sinatra noted when signing “My Way”, “Regrets, I’ve had a few.”

Then again, who hasn’t?

My biggest related to golf came in 1992. As the golf writer for the (Boulder) Daily Camera newspaper, I was sent to cover the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, primarily because Boulder High and University of Colorado graduate Hale Irwin was just two years removed from his third U.S. Open victory, and because he had an interesting history at Pebble Beach.

Irwin won the 1984 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am after watching his tee shot on the 72nd hole head for the Pacific Ocean before it bounced off the rocks and out into the fairway. He went on to make birdie, force a playoff, then win the tournament.

Anyway, on the final day of the ’92 U.S. Open that Tom Kite won (my media credential is at left), I learned that I was among the winners of a media “lottery”. That meant that I was among a lucky group of journalists that would be allowed to play Pebble Beach for free on Monday, the day following the conclusion of the Open.

That’s when I did one of the stupidest things of my adult life. I turned down the spot because I had some pressing work-related reason to get back to Colorado on that Monday morning. At this point, I can’t even remember the assignment for which I had to get back.

All I know is I’ve regretted that move ever since. I’m sure my boss at the time, Dan Creedon, would have told me to stay in Pebble Beach another day if I had explained. But I dutifully returned on time to Colorado.

Over the years, I’ve brought up this “regret” on occasion, mentally kicking myself each time. Anyway, this apparently made an impression on my oldest daughter, Laura, a former high school golfer.

With that in mind, fast forward to a couple of months ago. My wife and I were at a high school football game when we received a text from Laura seeing if I had anything pressing on my calendar Jan. 14-16 of this year. After replying that there was nothing those days that I couldn’t rearrange, I was told that I should keep those dates free.

Then on Christmas morning, Laura clearly had something up her sleeve in having her present to me being the last opened at our family gathering.

First I read the card: “Didn’t want you to live with this regret. Merry Christmas. Love, Laura” Then, with Laura videotaping, I unwrapped a sheet of paper — a tee time confirmation at Pebble Beach Golf Links for Jan. 15.

Now, having been a golf writer for quite a while, I know what green fees run at Pebble Beach, which is one of the reasons for my regret, knowing that I probably wouldn’t ever be able to justify spending that much on a round of golf.

Laura (pictured at left) graduated from the University of Colorado in the spring of 2013 and had just landed her first full-time job. But I knew the amount she was earning, and suffice it to say that paying for golf at Pebble Beach for her and me was a large portion of her monthly pay. And with her saving up for graduate school, the first words out of my mouth were something like, “Laura, you shouldn’t have done that. That’s way too expensive.”

But, realizing the thought she’d put into it and the exceeding generosity she was demonstrating, the least I could do was be grateful — and very thankful.

Fortunately, Pebble Beach didn’t require us to stay on property in order to play golf, so with an inexpensive hotel and dirt-cheap flights, the only real big expense was the green fees.

So our pilgrimage to one of golf’s meccas became reality last week.

And let me join in the chorus by saying Pebble Beach does live up to its hype, and it’s an experience that will be etched into my memory to my dying days. It was great covering the U.S. Open there 22 years ago, but playing the course takes it to an entirely different level.

I can say that despite finishing with the highest score I’ve shot since I was a beginner at the game. While a good final tally would certainly have been nice, it’s somewhat beside the point. When you’re playing nine holes right on the Pacific Ocean — and the other nine holes very close — on a course with so much history and renown, worrying much about your score seems like quibbling.

I realize plenty of Colorado-based golfers have had the pleasure of playing Pebble Beach, but for many — probably including me — this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As a guy who plays most of his golf at courses that charge $30-$35 per round, this was very tall cotton indeed.

For someone like me, among the most enjoyable parts of playing Pebble Beach was recounting for Laura some of what’s occurred on different holes of the course — Nick Faldo climbing a tree on the 14th hole in search of his ball during the 1992 U.S. Open; the incredibly difficult 14th green that last week had the toughest pin placement I’ve ever encountered; Jack Nicklaus’ 1-iron at No. 17 in the 1972 U.S. Open and Tom Watson’s chip-in there in the 1982 Open; Irwin’s improbable lucky shot on 18; and Tiger Woods’ incredible 273-yard second shot that sliced around the fairway trees and over the ocean, hitting the green on the par-5 18th during the 2010 U.S. Open.

While there are beaches adjacent to Pebble Beach Golf Links, it was the sand on the course with which I became most familiar. Even though I was hitting my driver very good — by my standards — and my irons OK, I visited 11 bunkers. And with quite a few of them having nasty-deep faces on them, I felt like I was having a Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day” experience — reliving the same thing over and over.

Part of the reason I encountered so much sand was sheer thick-headedness. I knew my shots at sea level carried roughly 10 percent less than in Colorado, but it took a while before I could pull the trigger on an 8-iron from 130 yards slightly into the wind, when 150-155 is the norm at mile-high altitude.

The golf aside, the day was all you’d expect. With 77-degree weather, sunny skies, little wind, a jaw-dropping setting and sharing the experience with my daughter and some very nice playing partners (a German couple), a person couldn’t ask for much more. Even the inexplicable empty water jugs throughout the course didn’t mar the joy of walking Pebble Beach.

And it didn’t hurt that I hit my best drive of the day on the intimidating 18th hole, with my ball finishing just to the right of the two trees in the fairway.

The day was capped off by a little souvenir shopping, looking at the old photos of Bing Crosby in the locker room, and with visits to The Lodge and eating establishments overlooking the 18th hole as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

All in all, life doesn’t get much better.

And now, that old regret is long gone.
 

Ernie Els is without a doubt a man of the world. He’s South African by birth, and as an adult he’s also lived in London and in Florida. And he plays golf all over the globe on a regular basis.

On Monday alone, he finished up his final round of the BMW Championship in the Chicago area in the morning, flew to Denver to become the youngest recipient of the Nicholson Award (given for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf), then took a red-eye flight back home to Florida. (Els is pictured Monday at Lakewood Country Club with Will Nicholson Jr.)

In Lakewood, Els noted that he loves Colorado so much from his visits to play The International at Castle Pines that he very nearly became a resident of the state — at least part-time.

“I made so many great friends here,” the 43-year-old said. “I was this close to buying a house at Castle Pines about 10 years ago. I used to stay with a heart specialist here in town — he’s an ex-South African — and he had a house on the 11th tee. (My) whole family came every year; we’d come on a Sunday and stay until Tuesday (of the following week).

“I saw his kids grow up and he’s seen my kids grow up. He lives near Cherry Hills here now. I said to Liezl (Els’ wife), ‘You know, next year we’re going to come to Cherry Hills (for the BMW Championship) and maybe I’ll still buy that house.'”

Colorado reminds Els a great deal of his native land — “You can take a picture of this and Johannesburg and it’s absolutely the same; everything is just unbelievable here.” — but his fondness for the state is understandable for another reason.

The International PGA Tour event was held in Colorado for 21 years, from 1986 through 2006, and in many respects Els was the king of Castle Pines. He won the tournament in 2000 and finished in the top 10 a remarkable nine times. He’s also the top money winner in the history of the event (more than $1.8 million) and the top cumulative point scorer (with 371) in the Stableford format.

And it doesn’t hurt that Els, who now has four major championships and 19 PGA Tour titles overall to his credit, has a soft spot in his heart for The International because it gave him an opportunity to compete before just about anyone else on the PGA Tour would.

When The International invited the Big Easy to play in 1991, he had competed in a grand total of one previous PGA Tour event, the 1990 Buick Southern Open.

“I didn’t even have a card — no Tour card, no nothing,” Els remembers. “I was as green as they come.

“That was the great thing about The International — it was truly an international tournament. They invited guys from everywhere around the world. I remember they invited Carlos Franco from Paraguay and the Argentine guys. (The officials from The International) were the first guys with this World Championship mindset, letting international players play.”

All things considered, it’s little wonder why Els ended up competing at The International virtually every year from 1991 until the tournament folded after it was played in 2006. When the event left the schedule for good, Els felt the departure down deep.

“I miss this place like I can’t tell you,” he said. “I have so many memories here. Kaye Kessler, Jack Vickers and the Vickers brothers, they invited me to play in 1991. I was absolutely nowhere. I was playing my first big event and I missed the (54-hole) cut, but the impression Castle Pines left with me — it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. I came back every year.

“I was absolutely heartbroken when the tournament got canceled or whatever happened. I remember speaking to Tommy (Vickers) just before they saw (PGA Tour commissioner) Tim Finchem and he was in tears — we were both in tears — that the tournament wasn’t going to make it. To this day, I miss it. It’s been a big loss for the Tour and for the area because obviously it was an unbelievable event.”

In fact, before lousy weather Sunday led to a Monday finish for the BMW Championship, Els said he was planning to arrive in Colorado Sunday evening and spend the night at Castle Pines, then perhaps play some golf there on Monday.

“It’s really one of our favorite places,” he said. “(Unfortunately) it didn’t work out that way, so it’s a short visit.”

One of the people who Els got to know through The International — as well as through his longtime leadership role at the Masters — was Nicholson, the onetime USGA president. This is the eighth year for the Nicholson Award, and Els was a natural to receive it, with all he’s done in golf, as well as for the betterment of society through golf.

Ernie and Liezl have been major fundraisers for autism-related matters since their son Ben, now nearly 11, was diagnosed with the disorder. And Els put his name on the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, which provides major support to selected disadvantaged South African youngsters who demonstrate talent and potential in golf. Louie Oosthuizen, winner of the 2010 British Open, is the most notable success story of the foundation.

Previous recipients of the Nicholson honor are Nicholson himself, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, former USGA president Judy Bell and Hale Irwin.

The last seven who have received the Nicholson Award are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, including Els, who was inducted two years ago. Els subsequently won the 2012 British Open, making him the first male inductee to go on to win a major since Lee Trevino claimed the 1984 PGA Championship title.

Asked about his relationship with Nicholson, Els said, “We’ve known each other for most of my career. Will is one of the pioneers in our game through the USGA, really leading the game into the direction it should be going — the right direction. The fundamentals — he’s a stickler to that. He’s basically showing the young (administrators) the way. I’ve always admired Will with his work at Augusta, with the Colorado Golf Association and the USGA.”

Though Els hasn’t visited Colorado much since The International departed, he’s looking forward to playing in the state next September when Cherry Hills hosts the BMW Championship, the third stop in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Els hasn’t ever competed at Cherry Hills, but he’s no stranger there either.

“What a place,” he said. “I played it a couple of times back in the day when we used to come out here for the International. My great friend Tommy Vickers (and I) used to play a lot of golf around here and Cherry Hills was probably my favorite.”
 

Including this year’s honoree, the last six recipients of the award are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. And the inaugural honoree — Denver’s Will Nicholson Jr., who the award is named for — will be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame next month.

This year’s Nicholson Award winner, like last year’s, has long since been enshrined in the Colorado Sports Hall. Hale Irwin, who graduated from Boulder High School and the University of Colorado before embarking on a career in which he won three U.S. Opens, will receive the Nicholson honor May 8 at the University Club in Denver.

Irwin will follow this stellar cast in earning the Nicholson Award, which is given for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf: Nicholson himself, a former USGA president and a man who for many years was responsible for setting up Augusta National for the Masters; Arnold Palmer; Jack Nicklaus; Tom Watson; Ben Crenshaw; and Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell, the only woman ever to serve as USGA president.

Add it up and those honorees account for a combined 38 major championship victories and two USGA presidencies.

“When informed (about receiving the 2012 award), I was surprised and honored,” Irwin said in a recent e-mail. “To be in that illustrious company is wonderful stuff! … I am delighted.”

Irwin’s credentials fit in quite nicely with his predecessors. With his U.S. Open victories in 1974, ’79 and ’90, only four players in history have won the national title more times (Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson claimed four victories each). And, in capturing the crown in 1990 at age 45 (pictured), Irwin remains the oldest U.S. Open champion.

Beyond that, Irwin owns a total of 20 PGA Tour wins, a record 45 Champions Tour victories (16 more than all-time runner-up Lee Trevino) and the 1967 NCAA title while at CU. He also played on five U.S. Ryder Cup teams and captained the American squad in the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994. He’s competed in more than 1,000 tournaments on the PGA and Champions Tour combined.

Besides all his accomplishments in golf, Irwin quarterbacked the Boulder High football team as a senior and led BHS to the 1963 state golf title while winning the individual championship, and he was an All-Big Eight safety at CU.

As an amateur golfer, Irwin claimed three straight CGA Stroke Play championships (1963-65) and a Match Play crown in 1966.

On top of everything else, Irwin has made his mark as a golf course architect. Among the Colorado courses he’s designed are Indian Peaks in Lafayette, the Mountain Course at Cordillera in Edwards, and Highlands Ranch Golf Club.

Though Irwin now lives in Arizona, his Hale Irwin Golf Services and Irwin Golf Management, with Irwin’s son Steve as vice president, are based in Colorado. The latter company was recently selected to manage Terradyne Country Club in Andover, Kan., near Wichita.

With their prominent positions in golf, and their strong ties to Colorado, Hale Irwin and Nicholson are certainly no strangers to one another.

“I have known Will for a long time,” Irwin said. “He is a man of great integrity and has shown that by example with all the positions in business and golf that he has held.”

Those who wish to attend the seventh annual Nicholson Awards dinner on May 8 (reception at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30) can contact Gary Potter at gpotter@mho.com or at 303-885-4538 for more information. The cost is $125.