Sometimes it takes a rookie to topple an undefeated champion.

At least apparently it did on Tuesday at Red Rocks Country Club in Morrison.

Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton had won the CWGA Senior Stroke Play all four previous times she’d competed, with the last two victories coming by margins of 16 and 10 shots, respectively. She had claimed the CWGA Senior Player of the Year award for five straight years before opting to “retire” from CWGA championships in 2013. But the three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist decided to return to CWGA competition this week, making her a good bet to hoist the Senior Stroke Play trophy again.

But Jill Gaschler of Denver, a newly minted senior player at 50 years old, had another storyline in mind. The player from Willis Case Golf Course went head-to-head with Colorado Golf Hall of Famers such as Eaton, defending champion Christie Austin, Janet Moore and Lynn Zmistowski, and emerged victorious from the stellar field.

Gaschler (pictured above and at left), playing in the same group as Eaton, Austin and Deb Hughes on Tuesday, kept them all at bay in capturing the title in the 33rd Senior Stroke Play. The senior rookie shot a 6-over-par 78 in Tuesday’s final round at Red Rocks CC and prevailed by two shots with an 8-over 152 total for two days.

“She’s a great player,” Gaschler said of Eaton. “I have great respect for her. I enjoyed playing with her today, I really did. I’m sorry that she didn’t win, but I’m glad I did.”

Eaton, now a full-time resident of Arizona, carded her second consecutive 77 and was runner-up at 154. Austin was in contention for her third Senior Stroke Play title until a triple bogey derailed her on the 11th hole Tuesday. There, she hit a shot out of bounds and another into the water, but drained a 30-foot putt from behind the green, giving her a score of 7 with — technically — 0 putts. Austin (bottom photo), who shared the lead with Gaschler after round 1, placed third at 158 after an 84 on Tuesday. And Moore posted the best second-round score, a 75, to share fourth place with Zmistowski at 163.

Eaton (left) has won 14 or 15 individual state senior titles — in Colorado, Arizona and California combined, including stroke play and match play — since turning 50 in 2009. So prevailing against her is no easy feat.

But a combination of Eaton not being in peak form and Gaschler making few costly errors did the trick for the golfer from Willis Case. Gaschler never made anything worse than a bogey in the two rounds, while recording six birdies, including two on par-3s on Tuesday.

“You know, Jill played very steady today,” Eaton said. “She really didn’t make any big mistakes. She made a few bogeys.

“I was starting to catch up and I made a really stupid double bogey on 8. I was just very flat today. I just couldn’t get anything going. That putt (on No. 18, where she drained a 25-foot par) was probably the only putt I made (of significant length) the last two days. My putting was pathetic today and I didn’t hit my fairway woods very well. But Jill played very steady and she putted very well.”

And Gaschler was in control almost all the way during Tuesday’s final round. Indeed, after she made pars on the first two holes, her lead was never less than two shots the rest of the way.

Gaschler has won club championships at Willis Case and at Foothills, but Tuesday marked her first CWGA championship.

“It feels great,” she said. “It was my first time in this tournament and my first time winning anything CWGA-wise.”

In that sense, Gaschler’s mindset coming into the championship probably helped her cause.

“I really didn’t have much expectations,” she said. “I just wanted to play and have fun.I was trying to be relaxed and play golf. So that (victory) was a real surprise.”

Gaschler comes from a long line of strong women players from Willis Case, including Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Katie Fiorella and Zmistowski. In fact, when Gaschler started developing as a golfer after taking up the game in her 20s, she played a considerable amount with another Hall of Famer, Carol (Sorenson) Flenniken. Flenniken is one of the top female amateurs in state history, having won a dozen CWGA Match/Stroke Play championships after claiming titles in the 1960 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 1964 British Ladies Amateur.

“I’m fortunate to play out of Willis Case,” Gaschler said. “There are a lot of good players there. We have a lot of strength. And I played a lot with Carol Flenniken when I started golfing, and that was real good for me too. That was a big part of it in me becoming better.”

For the scores from all eight flights of the Senior Stroke Play, CLICK HERE.

Anyone who knew Katie Fiorella won’t soon forget her, but some of her friends and acquaintances are making doubly sure her name is immortalized.

Fiorella, a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee who was as well known for her love of Willis Case Golf Course in Denver as she was for her considerable golfing ability, already has a four-hole kids course at Willis Case named for her (Katie’s Course).

And now Fiorella will have a prominent spot on the regulation course as well, as a stone bench honoring her has been built behind the 18th green, on a high point with expansive views of the Front Range. “Katie’s Bench” will be formally dedicated in a ceremony on June 9 at 4 p.m.

“There was such a strong love between Katie and Willis Case that it’s appropriate to have a memorial bench there,” said fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Lynn Zmistowski, who estimates she played thousands of rounds of golf with Fiorella over several decades. “Her heart was so much in that course. You think about Katie and how she’s looking down from heaven with a smile. We knew how much she loved Willis Case, and this shows our love for her. It’s really special.”

Fiorella was a fixture at Willis Case in northwest Denver for the better part of six decades until passing away at age 80 in 2008. She won the women’s club championship at the course an amazing 22 times. In May 1956, she accomplished an extremely rare feat by making two holes-in-one in a single day at Willis Case, acing the 158-yard 10th hole in a morning round, then the 158-yard fourth hole in the afternoon. For that, she received some national attention as the Associated Press ran a short story that was printed in several prominent newspapers. (Fiorella would go on to make six holes-in-one in her lifetime.)

But Fiorella’s golfing ability certainly extended well beyond Willis Case. She was a five-time runner-up in the CWGA Match Play Championship, then dominated the senior ranks in the mid-1980s, winning the CWGA Senior Stroke Play in 1984, ’85 and ’87. She also captured the CWGA Brassie team title seven times, including six with Zmistowski.

In addition to her accomplishments as a competitor one of Fiorella’s favorite memories was being invited to play a round with professional tour players Patty Berg and Gloria Armstrong in 1958. Another was having a photo taken with Jack Nicklaus when the Golden Bear was in Vail.

“It’s important to honor someone who gave so much to the state and was such an outstanding golfer,” said Laura Fischer, president of the Willis Case Women’s Golf Association, which raised the money to pay for Katie’s Bench.

But as much as Fiorella made a mark with her outstanding play, it was her personality that made her beloved by many in the Colorado golf community.

“Everyone who ever played with Katie knew she was always so encouraging,” Zmistowski said. “Even when things weren’t going well for your golf game, she always had something good to say. She’d always say, ‘Keep plugging.’ She pulled for the other person, even though it sometimes worked to her detriment (in tournaments).”

In fact, that “keep plugging” phrase is one of four inscriptions on the recently completed Katie’s Bench. Others note that she was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1989, that this resting place is indeed called “Katie’s Bench” and that it’s in memory of Katie Fiorella 1928-2008.

Zmistowski tells a story which gives some indication of how much Fiorella was loved at Willis Case. For most of her time at the course, Fiorella walked the layout using a manual push cart. But as Fiorella was getting up in age, Zmistowski had the idea of getting her a Kangaroo electric cart. She asked many of Katie’s other friends if they could each kick in $10 or so, and within about 10 days Zmistowski had collected $1,500.

They gave Fiorella the Kangaroo cart for her 66th birthday, threw her a party and had more than $600 left over. That money went to Fiorella, who used it for her green fees at Willis Case.

After Fiorella passed away, Zmistowski and the Willis Case Women’s Golf Association spearheaded the effort to build a memorial bench for Katie at the course, but the idea took a couple of years to become a reality. Since Fiorella always talked about how the 17th hole needed a permanent bench, the original thought was to put it there. Since City of Denver officials weren’t keen on that location, Fiorella’s sister, Agnes Brady, suggested the picturesque spot behind the 18th green. After all, Fiorella never seemed to tire of the view of the mountains from the higher spots on the course.

Because city officials wanted a uniform type of bench for memorials, it was finally decided that Colorado red sandstone that came from a Lyons-based company would be used for Katie’s Bench. The Willis Case Women’s Golf Association raised money for the project by selling metallic ball markers and through donations.

With Zmistowki’s architect husband, Bill, helping considerably with the project, the superintendent at Willis Case, Bobby Murtaugh, installed the bench and the surrounding base and flagstone, putting it all together in the off-season.

“It took time and patience, but it ended up being perfect,” Lynn Zmistowski said. “It was worth the wait.”