Following up from earlier this week, when we started our two-part retrospective on the top Colorado golf-related stories of 2018 (CLICK HERE for the first installment), we continue our countdown with the top dozen stories of the year — in reverse order. And at the end, included is a list of honorable-mention selections.

12. Stewart Signs With No. 1-Ranked College Team in Nation: It’s not often that a Colorado golfer signs a national letter of intent with the No. 1-ranked college program in the nation. But such was the case in November when Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins put his John Hancock on the dotted line with Oklahoma State. Stewart, who graduated from Fossil Ridge High School this month, will be headed to Stillwater for the fall semester next year. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Boys Player of the Year is one of at least nine Colorado residents or JGAC members from the Class of 2019 who are headed to NCAA Division I golf programs. READ MORE

11. Another National Honor for Colorado PGA: Dating back to the late 1950s, members of the Colorado PGA or the Section itself have won 19 national awards from the PGA of America. Ten of those 19 have come since 2007, including this year’s Herb Graffis Award for player development, which the CPGA received for the second time since 2011. READ MORE

10. New CGA President Janene Guzowski Continues Trend in Colorado: The last several months of this year have proven to be a major boon for women in leadership roles in Colorado golf. Janene Guzowski is the new president of the CGA, Janet Moore is the new president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and Molly Greenblatt has become the new chairperson of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. And that’s in addition to Suzy Whaley being elected the first national president of the PGA of America. READ MORE

9. Colorado, Hiwan Shine as Girls Junior Americas Cup Hosts: The Girls Junior Americas Cup — a team competition featuring players from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico — is hosted just once every 18 years by Colorado, and 2018 was the Centennial State’s turn. Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, where the Colorado Open was held from 1964 to ’91, was a fitting mountainous setting for the event. While Mexico swept the team and individual titles, Colorado posted its best finish since 2013 by placing fifth out of 18 teams. Staff and volunteers from the CGA and the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado played major roles in running this major junior event. READ MORE

8. Colorado Sweeps Team, Individual Titles at Boys Junior America’s Cup: At the same time the Girls Junior Amerias Cup was taking place at Hiwan, a Colorado team (left) was making history at the boys Junior America’s Cup in Montana. For the first time in the 44 years in which Colorado has competed in the event, its squad claimed the team title. In fact, a Colorado team had never finished better than third before this year in the competition that includes players from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico. To add to the feat, Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins won the individual title out of the 72-player field. Joining Stewart on the winning team were Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch, Davis Bryant of Aurora and Walker Franklin of Broomfield. Former longtime CGA staffer Dustin Jensen captained the Colorado squad. READ MORE

7. 2 Coloradans Qualify for PGA Tour, 2 More for LPGA Tour: Seldom have players who grew up in Colorado enjoyed so much success in qualifying for the top men’s and women’s golf tours in the world as they did in the final half of 2018. Wyndham Clark and Jim Knous earned promotions to the PGA Tour with their performances on the Web.com Tour regular season and Finals, respectively. And Jennifer Kupcho and Becca Huffer landed spots on the LPGA Tour in 2019 by both finishing in the top 10 in the eight-round LPGA Q-Series, with Kupcho placing second and Huffer 10th. All four Coloradans will be rookies on those top circuits in 2019. In fact, the PGA Tour’s wraparound season began in October, and Knous recorded a top-10 finish in his first event as a member of that Tour. Joining Kupcho and Huffer in earning an LPGA card last month was former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi.

6. Gearing Up for Rules Changes: With the modernized Rules of Golf set to take effect on Jan. 1, the USGA and its affiliated Allied Golf Associations have been very busy trying to bring members up to speed on the changes. For the CGA, that effort has included weekly “Ready for the 2019 Rules” videos and four-hour Ready for the Rules seminars held at various locations around the state late in 2018 and also planned for the first several months of 2019. READ MORE

5. Year 1 of New-Look CGA: Our No. 1 story of 2017 in Colorado golf was the unification a year ago of the CGA and CWGA after both associations had celebrated their 100th anniversaries as separate — but complementary — organizations serving golf in Colorado. With 2018 being their first full calendar year together, things have gone, by just about any measure, extremely well. All of which is very good news, considering how many golfers the new-look CGA serves as members. There’s still work to be done, but it’s certainly been a stellar first year together.

4. CSU Golfers Claim USGA National Title: Golfers with strong Colorado ties don’t often get to say they’re reigning USGA national champions, but Colorado State University golfers Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor (left) earned that honor by winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title in early May in Tarzana, Calif. The two never trailed in the first four matches they played at El Caballero Country Club. In the title match, they were 2 down with four holes left, but a big-time rally down the stretch netted them a 1-up victory over teenagers Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei and Lei Ye of China — and the national championship. The victory was believed to be the first USGA national amateur championship by a person or team with strong Colorado ties since Jill McGill won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. READ MORE

3. Vickers Passes Away: There are almost 12 dozen people in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, but even in that select group, there are some that took it to the next level. A good rule of thumb as to who those people are is if they’ve also been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. There are less than a dozen people who are members of both Halls of Fame. One of them passed away in September — 93-year-old Jack Vickers. Vickers made his mark in a variety of sports, but likely will be most remembered as the founder of Castle Pines Golf Club and The International that hosted PGA Tour events for 21 years. No less than Jack Nicklaus, who designed Castle Pines, paid tribute to Vickers the day he died. Vickers’ International 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 Greg Norman, Davis Love III (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Vijay Singh and Ernie Els. READ MORE

2. Kupcho Phenomenon Continues: Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster may very well accomplish great things in the coming decades, but even long into the future, 2018 will be a year she’ll remember fondly. Here’s a brief rundown of what she accomplished: The Wake Forest golfer won an NCAA Division I individual title a year (left) after placing second. She became the first Colorado resident to win the prestigious individual championship on the women’s side. She helped three U.S. national teams capture international team titles in 2018 — at the Curtis Cup, the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. In the latter event, Kupcho finished second individually out of a field of 170. She also placed second at the eight-round final stage of LPGA Q-school. After concluding her college career in May, she’ll immediately begin her LPGA career. Kupcho finished an LPGA career-best 16th this year in the LPGA Marathon Classic. Overall in 2018, she won three individual college titles. Kupcho also claimed the prestigious Mark H. McCormack Medal, becoming the first American to win the women’s McCormack honor as the top female player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings as of the conclusion of the U.S. Women’s Amateur. And she was named the world female Amateur of the Year by digital new magazine Global Golf Post. READ MORE

1. U.S. Senior Open a Hit at The Broadmoor: It had been almost four years since Colorado had hosted a big-time tour-level event — the kind that attracts 100,000-plus fans. But the drought ended this year when the U.S. Senior Open (pictured at top) was conducted at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. And the results didn’t disappoint. The announced attendance for the week was 134,500, the most for the Senior Open since the 157,126 in Omaha, Neb., in 2013. David Toms, who won the 1999 Sprint International at Castle Pines but hadn’t captured a title on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions in seven years, captured the victory at the Senior Open by one stroke. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe placed fifth, marking his second straight top-5 performance in the U.S. Senior Open. Shortly after the conclusion of the championship, the USGA announced that the U.S. Senior Open will return to The Broadmoor in 2025.

Honorable Mention

— Lauren Howe, who grew up in Colorado, was a finalist in the U.S. Girls’ Junior as a 15-year-old and went on to win an event on the LPGA Tour, was voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

— Patrick Reidy became the fifth 50-something player in the last six years to win the Colorado PGA Professional Championship.

— Players from Texas swept the two CGA women’s major titles in 2018, giving Texans three consecutive such championships. Emily Gilbreth, a lifetime Houstonian before moving to Denver, won the 2017 CGA Women’s Match Play; Kristin Glesne of San Antonio the 2018 CGA Women’s Stroke Play; and Kennedy Swann the 2018 CGA Women’s Match Play.

— Former BYU golfer Justin Keiley won his second straight Rocky Mountain Open, defeating former Montrose resident Brandon Bingaman in a playoff after the latter shot a course-record 11-under-par 60 in the final round at Tiara Rado in Grand Junction.

— Three Colorado courses — Castle Pines, Ballyneal and Cherry Hills — are ranked among the 150 Greatest International Courses, according to Golf Digest.

— Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs finished sixth — tying the best showing ever by a Coloradan — in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta. At the 2019 National Finals, three Coloradans will compete — Caitlyn Chin of Greenwood Village, Chunya Boonta of Centennial and Grady Ortiz of Colorado.

— The University of Denver women’s golf team saw its remarkable string of league tournament championships end at 14, though the Pioneers’ Sophie Newlove claimed the individual title at Summit League Championship.

— CU’s Robyn Choi qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Open for a second straight year. Choi later earned her LPGA Tour card at the final stage of Q-school.

— Former Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, who won the CGA Amateur in August, claimed the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational championship for the second straight year for his second individual college title in eight days.

— Doug Rohrbaugh, who was paired with Scott McCarron and Miguel Angel Jimenez at the Senior PGA Championship, became the first golfer to sweep the Colorado PGA Player of Year and Senior Player of Year honors in the same season. Like Rohrbaugh, Colorado PGA professional Chris Johnson qualified for two PGA Tour Champions majors in 2018 — the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship.

— Nicholas Pevny of Aspen captured a national title, prevailing in the boys 12-13 age division of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida.

— Former Parker resident Elizabeth Wang finished 34th — fourth among amateurs — at the U.S. Women’s Open. Wang also made it to the round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and to the round of 32 at the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Wang, now playing for Harvard, defeated Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster in 19 holes in the round of 64 at the U.S. Women’s Am.

— Fort Collins resident Dillon Stewart became to first Coloradan to win the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior boys title. Later, he captured a second AJGA championship, this time in Montana, and won 5A state high school individual and team titles.

— New Colorado resident Dan Erickson shot a 9-under-par 61 — a course record by two strokes at Fort Collins Country Club — en route to qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, where he made match play but bowed out in the round of 64 at Pebble Beach.

— Hadley Ashton of Erie finished fifth in the girls 9-10 division at the prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Championships.

— Thirty-two years after winning her first CGA/CWGA title, Kristine Franklin earned her second, this time overcoming five-time champion Kim Eaton in the Women’s Senior Stroke Play.

— Greg Condon of the southern Colorado town of Monte Vista shared stroke-play medalist honors in the U.S. Senior Amateur, while Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction advanced to the match play round of 16.

(Note: This story was updated on Jan. 2)

CGA executive director Ed Mate had to chuckle at the fitting symmetry of it all.

When Gerry Brown was hired at the CGA in 1992, he was asked to do the wiring for the first computer network at the association offices, though he was brought on board mainly to help run tournaments.

Twenty-six years later, as Brown’s career at the CGA was winding down leading up to his impending retirement, he found himself in much the same situation.

“Just to show how as a lot of things change, they also stay the same, there’s a phone in our huddle room (in the CGA offices) that wasn’t wired properly,” Mate recalled recently. “I said, ‘Gerry, do you want to do one more wiring job for us?’ Sure enough, he got the ladder and pulled the cable and got it done. So he started out pulling cable and he ended up pulling cable for us. But that’s Gerry.

“If you’re on a survival quest, you want people on your team that are resourceful, and that’s Gerry. No matter what it was, if you had a problem in the office — the copier won’t work, my computer is acting weird, my phone is not doing what it’s supposed to — call Gerry. He’d be there in two seconds. And not only was he willing to do it, he wanted to do it. It was almost like he would thank you for the opportunity to help you. He’s just an amazing human being.”

Indeed, as the year comes to a close, it’s the end of an era for the CGA staff. Over the last quarter-century, no one besides Brown has been continuously employed by the CGA. That even includes Mate, the CGA’s executive director since 2000 who also worked with Brown in an earlier stint with the association, but spent four years on the Colorado PGA staff in the late 1990s and early in 2000.

Brown is one of three key CGA staffers who have or will retire in the final four months or so of this year. Ann Bley, longtime director of finance for the CGA, departed at the end of August (READ MORE). And former CWGA executive director and current CGA managing director of membership and integration Laura Robinson (READ MORE) will join Brown in retiring at year’s end. A retirement party honoring the three will be held Wednesday at Pinehurst Country Club.

Brown was initially hired by the CGA to help Jim Topliff, who had had a quadruple heart bypass, with tournaments and to work with the Golf Handicap and Information Network tournament pairing program (TPP) that was just being released. As Brown noted with a laugh in 2012, “Jim was strictly — as he liked to call himself — ‘the out-house guy’ and I was the ‘in-house guy.'” Brown also served as the de facto information technology manager. But he’ll retire after being director of course rating and handicapping — or some variation of that title — since 2001. He’s also the managing director of club and facility services. As Mate said, he’s been a very valuable “utility infielder” for the organization.

(Brown, second from right, is pictured above recently at TPC Colorado with CGA course raters Laurie Steenrod and Dick Simpson, and CGA staffer Aaron Guereca.)

So how does it feel leaving a place where he’s worked since 1992?

“It’s extremely difficult,” Brown said in a phone interview last month. “I feel like I’m leaving so much of my hide — all the blood, sweat and tears we’ve put in over the years. To see how smoothly this office has been operating — I can’t attribute it all to me — but there’s been a lot of consistency with having one person, with that longevity, in there. Comparing to other golf associations, you just don’t see that.

“To me, each day was a new day. I never got bored with coming to work. It was always so much fun to come in and see what was happening with courses and with GHIN. GHIN always had their problems with their software; I always chuckled, thinking that’s job security (for me). I enjoyed waking up each day and coming to work. Each day had its pluses and minuses — and there were a lot more pluses. There was instant gratification when you could do something for a golf professional. The golf professionals here in Colorado treated me very well — as an equal and an authority for handicapping, tournament formats, software support, course rating. Whatever question they asked, if I didn’t have the right answer, I certainly got it for them. I think there was a large amount of respect.”

Indeed, to demonstrate as much, on Oct. 15, exactly 26 years after he started at the CGA, the Colorado PGA presented Brown with a Distinguished Service Award at its fall meeting.

“That was a very nice gesture on their part,” Brown said. “I’ve had a number of them call and say farewell; that’s been heartwarming and gratifying. I’m going to miss that.”

Paul Lobato, PGA head professional at Meridian Golf Club, was among those who sang Brown’s praises.

“Gerry is a golf pro’s best friend,” he said.

“Words can’t describe” what Gerry meant to the CGA, added Mate, who worked alongside Brown for more than 20 years. “He’d become the face of the organization in so many ways. I saw (Cherry Hills Country Club head professional) John Ogden recently and he can’t say enough positive things about Gerry Brown. Whenever a club needed something relative to handicapping or course rating, they would call Gerry. When those calls come up, they tend to be urgent — ‘We have a situation where our computer won’t work or we’re trying to set up a tournament for this weekend.’ Gerry would basically be on call 24/7 and had such an incredible way about him and willingness to help.”

Brown, who will turn 68 next month, has long been highly regarded in his work, to the point that he served on the USGA Course Rating Committee from 2011-18, which he calls “the high-water mark in my career.” In that capacity, he’s assisted the USGA staff with calibration seminars around the U.S. and overseas. At calibration seminars, USGA representatives make sure course raters do their work to consistent standards. Raters evaluate the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers and bogey golfers from the various tee boxes, based on yardage, effective playing length and obstacles. The idea behind both course rating and handicapping is to make the game equitable for golfers of all ability levels.

In his course rating capacity, Brown has been sent to Scotland (to help instruct the Europe golf associations), the Dominican Republic and Japan.

In fact, Brown has made enough of an impression that he’ll likely continue to help the USGA on the course rating front — but on a volunteer basis, with some expenses paid.

“I think (the USGA) is going to want to keep me as someone to assist with training — and somebody who can travel,” he said. “There’s a lot of small countries and areas with only one or two golf courses so to have a formal course rating group in these areas does not always make sense. The USGA feels comfortable sending me to teach in areas like the Dominican Republican or the islands of the Caribbean. They don’t have any one group that will rate all of these courses. They’re talking about sending me and a team from Colorado to rate the courses as needed. Typically, they only do it every 10 years. … For a larger group like the Japan Golf Association, I’ll continue to do training (through) calibration seminars.”

Brown said he’ll also volunteer to rate courses in Colorado, though now Aaron Guereca, who’s become the CGA’s manager of club and facility services, will do the coordination and the setups. Brown has had Guereca, a former CWGA staffer, “on his shoulder” for 2 1/2 months in the late summer and fall to learn the ropes of the job.

Still, demonstrating his devotion to the CGA and the game, Brown said, “I’ve told Aaron I’m always just a phone call away. If I’m not doing anything, I don’t mind coming in and volunteering an hour or two of time to help him or show him how to do things.”

For a guy who was hired without any background in golf administration — he and his wife Cathey were in the publishing business with their offices located directly above those of the CGA and the CWGA in the early 1990s — Brown has certainly made a name for himself in the business.

“Just the fact that I got this job, given the way golf associations hire staff …,” said Brown, who considered himself a “self-taught computer geek.” “I was in my (early 40s) when I came here and had very little or any golf experience. I was just an avid golfer. But I brought a need to them. I helped them network the office for the very first time and got them onto a singular piece of software. I’ve still kind of hung on to my IT roots and assist with equipment and bits and pieces with the network here in the office.”

But it was in his primary job the last 17 years that Brown especially has made an impression.

“Course rating and handicapping is a very small niche in the golf industry,” he said. “There’s probably not more than five people in the entire United States that did course rating AND handicapping the way that I did. They go hand in hand in my opinion. One feeds the other. It’s been a natural and easy process for me.”

Combine that with Brown’s general helpfulness, and you have one valuable staffer.

“I’ve never met anybody that is as willing to help as Gerry Brown. That’s just his DNA,” Mate said. “I’m not kidding, if I called him and said I have a personal issue, he would drop everything he’s doing. You’d barely get the question out and he’d be there.

“One of my favorite stories about Gerry Brown: Early in my tenure as executive director, I had a tree in my back yard that I wanted to cut down. I had a little get-together at my house for the CGA staff — this was in wintertime around George Washington’s birthday, and I said, ‘We’re going to have a George Washington birthday party.’ People didn’t know why and I said we’re going to cut down a tree. Gerry, who just had shoulder surgery or was just about to, jumped in with both feet, was climbing the tree and doing all the work. I have video of the tree coming down and Gerry being halfway up it. That’s Gerry; he just wants to help people. I’ve never met somebody so willing. He and Dustin (Jensen, the former CGA managing director of operations) have that same quality. That showed every day. When people called, he was like, ‘What can I do to help?’

“On the other hand, he wasn’t a pushover. If a club called and said we don’t like our course rating, can you change it?, he’d say no, absolutely not, that’s not the way that works.”

Coincidentally, Brown’s first course rating came on Sept. 11, 2001 — at Spring Valley Golf Club in Elizabeth.

“I was standing there watching the television with the head professional, and we’re just jaws down to the floor” in seeing what had happened with the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa. “The (rating) team drove up from Colorado Springs and had left before the disaster and had no idea what was going on.”

Seventeen years after that first course rating, Brown is considered a national expert in the field. Which means it certainly won’t be easy to replace him. But you can’t accuse Brown of not giving Mate fair warning about his retirement. Indeed, he first told Mate of his plans early in 2016. And early the next year he reminded Mate by saying, “two years”.

While the powers that be kicked around the idea that Brown’s duties might be better distributed among two people, the CGA’s unification with the CWGA at the beginning of 2018 helped partly solve the matter. That’s when Guereca was tagged to start working with Brown, learning tournament software, handicap issues, course rating, software support, etc.

As for Brown moving forward, the fourth-generation Colorado native and wife Cathey plan to do some traveling. Among the destinations on their bucket list is South America — Machu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands and perhaps a trip to the Amazon River Basin.

But barring the unforeseen, the Parker resident will continue to call Colorado home for the foreseeable future.

“I have no desire to leave these Rocky Mountains,” he said. “My heart is in Colorado.”
 

When PGA head professional Dan O’Shaughnessy and the rest of the folks at Meadow Hills Golf Course in Aurora first heard about the Youth on Course initiative coming to Colorado early in 2018, his reaction was simple:

“Win, win.”

A win for kids in the Youth on Course program, who pay no more than $5 per round at participating facilities. And a win for those courses, which receive a subsidy as part of the initiative, and which can be adding long-term customers. And it’s also a victory for golf in general, helping kids fall in love with the game, which can pay dividends years and decades down the line.

In Colorado, Youth on Course was launched at the beginning of 2018 with the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado — founded and operated by the CGA and the Colorado PGA — overseeing the program in the Centennial State. Fifteen courses in Colorado signed on for 2018 — some allowing the kids to play for $5 or less anytime, and others with day and time restrictions.

Those 15 courses include facilities from the western half of the state (Lincoln Park in Grand Junction, Gypsum Creek and Vail Golf Club), the south (Silver Spruce in Colorado Springs) and the north (City Park Nine in Fort Collins), besides the Denver metro area. All five City of Aurora courses were among those to embrace the initiative in its first year in Colorado. For a complete list of the participating facilities in the Centennial State, CLICK HERE.

Overall, 661 junior rounds were played in the state as part of Youth on Course in 2018, with more than $3,800 in subsidies paid out to participating facilities by the national Youth on Course foundation. Soon, Colorado-based funding will be used to pay the subsidies.

Youth on Course was one of the topics of conversation last week at the annual Colorado Public Golf Operators Meeting held at Meadow Hills.

That site was appropriate given that Meadow Hills led the way on the Youth on Course front in Colorado in year 1. O’Shaughnessy, who accepted an award on behalf of Meadow Hills for that reason (left), said the course had about 230 Youth on Course rounds in 2018.

“They gave us the info (on the program) in February or March. We read it over and thought, ‘Win, win,'” O’Shaughnessy said after the meeting. “Number 1, we’re not doing something that reduces our revenue. We keep it the same, but by reducing the cost to the participant, it’s a winner. A kid comes in at 2 o’clock, $5, he’s off and playing. We’ll get our $6 back (on an $11 junior green free). It’s fantastic from that perspective.”

YOC, a non-profit started in 2006 as a Northern California Golf Association initiative, has been steadily taking root across the country, mainly through USGA-affiliated Allied Golf Associations — traditionally known as state and regional golf associations — and affiliated organizations. To date, according to the Youth on Course website, there have been 45,000 members, with 900 participating courses and more than 700,000 rounds of golf having been subsidized.

In Colorado, in order to participate in the Youth on Course program, youngsters must be JGAC members. Youth on Course members in Colorado can play for $5 or less at participating courses outside the state as well.

In Meadow Hills’ case, Youth on Course was used in part to lessen costs for junior golfers as the facility launched a league for kids 14-16 years old — just older than those who participate in PGA Jr. League.

“We did quite a few through that league,” O’Shaugnessy said. “They would come out every Monday, play in a league, play match play, play stroke play, and have fun and it would cost them $5 (per round). That was easy to put into a package and we had about 50 (participants) this year. We hope to double it next year. There were two prices: $250 and $170. All they had to do to get the $170 deal was join the Junior Golf Alliance and become eligible for Youth on Course. It was a pretty simple equation.”

Meadow Hills uses Youth on Course as part of a bigger initiative to build junior golf.

“We didn’t see a lot of loveblood” years ago, O’Shaugnessy said. “But we built a little three-hole course on a dead area on the course. We paired with First Tee of Front Range to bring in their programming here. So this (Youth on Course) was part of a bigger puzzle to try to build our club to be more junior focused. We’ve been doing PGA Jr. League for six years — we’re one of the initial ones to do that — so that’s been a great component. And now we’re building some other components around it because it’s got a lot of momentum. It’s a high priority.”

CGA executive director Ed Mate predicted a year ago that Youth on Course could be a game-changer for player development.

And what’s his impression after one year of having the initiative in Colorado?

“I think it’s a good start,” he said. “Like most things, it takes time to establish them. … My sense is we’re going to double next year easily, then it will just go from there.”

One issue is potentialy making the Youth on Course initiative work for facilities that have “kids play free” programs already in place. It’s possible moving forward that Youth on Course can help such facilities by using subsidy dollars for marketing and advertising such programs.

“Today just proves we need to be nimble to adjust,” Mate said after hearing some feedback from public course operators.

But generally speaking, Mate sees great promise for Youth on Course — and the potential for considerable growth, both locally and beyond.

“It’s such a small footprint of courses doing it (so far in Colorado), but the ones that were — like Dan here — just loved it,” Mate said. “I’d love to see more of the Youth on Course stuff in windows, but I just think we did a really good job of setting the stage for next year.

“This group today (at the Public Course Operators Meeting) is our core audience for that because it’s not something you offer through private clubs. It’s a public golf initiative. That’s one of the reasons I love it. If it wasn’t for public golf, I wouldn’t be a golfer. And if wasn’t for municipal golf, I wouldn’t be a golfer. This is my home here.”

And at facilities like Meadow Hills, the bottom line is that Youth on Course helped increase rounds among junior golfers — which is exactly what the initiative is all about.

“They played a lot more,” O’Shaghnessy said of participants. “You’re just taking the number of rounds up. If they played two or three times — he or she has that many dollars — and now they have more dollars (thanks to the subsidy) and they play five, six, seven times. We definitely saw that.

“I don’t know if it brought a new player into (the game) — there are other avenues to get kids in — but an established kid that wanted to play heard about this program, signed up and played more.”

For more information about Youth on Course in Colorado or to inquire about joining the program, contact Holly Champion from the Colorado PGA at hchampion@pgahq.com

Public Course Operators Meeting Notes: Fifty-two people attended the Nov. 1 Colorado Public Golf Operators Meeting at Meadow Hills (left). As always, much of the discussion at the event was centered around best practices — and bouncing ideas off one another — so that public operators can run as efficiently as possible. Also, attendees were brought up to date on programs and activities operated by the CGA, Colorado PGA and the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado. During the winter and early spring, the CGA compiles data from a rounds and revenue survey of the public golf operators that gives a sense of the general direction of the golf business in the state.

In an unprecedented accomplishment, one person has swept the Colorado PGA’s honors as both the Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year and the Senior Player of the Year.

Doug Rohrbaugh (left) of Carbondale did the honors in 2018, and tonight (Nov. 2) at Colorado Golf Club in Parker he’ll receive both awards during the Section’s Special Awards Gala.

It’s a notable feat in several respects, beyond the aforementioned:

— Rohrbaugh, 56, earned the overall POY honor for the first time, despite having won the Colorado PGA Professional Championship three times — all as a senior golfer.

— Rohrbaugh’s POY award snaps a run of four straight wins in the category by Geoff Keffer, who earned the honor five times overall from 2012-17.

— It’s the fourth time Rohrbaugh has been the Section’s Senior POY, following up on 2012, ’13 and ’14. Only one golfer has been the SPOY more times (Dave Arbuckle, with five), while Bill Majure has four like Rohrbaugh.

Rohrbaugh recorded eight wins — or ties for first place — over the course of the 2018 Colorado PGA season, including in the season-long Match Play Championship. That’s in addition to being medalist in U.S. Senior Open qualifying at The Broadmoor. That was one of two PGA Tour Champions majors in which Rohrbaugh competed in 2018, the other being the Senior PGA Championship. He also recently finished 57th in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship.

“My goal all along has been Player of the Year,” Rohrbaugh, now a sales representative for AndersonOrd Golf Apparel, said after tying for second place in the Colorado PGA Professional Championship in September. “I’ve never been able to do it because I could never play enough events. This year, I’ve been able to play everything.”

In another first, the Colorado PGA this year is naming its inaugural Women’s Player of the Year, with Sherry Andonian-Smith of Centennial earning that distinction in 2018. Like Rohrbaugh, she’s 56 years old, another example of the Section’s depth of quality senior players.

Andonian-Smith recently became the first woman to compete in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship, placing 29th out of 264 players. She also qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open. And she won the Colorado PGA West Chapter Championship for the second time in three years. That was one of two victories for her in CPGA events in 2018. In addition, she and Alexandra Braga became the first women from the Colorado PGA to qualify for the national PGA Professional Championship.

Here are the theColorado PGA award winners who will be honored tonight, including Golf Professional of the Year Ty Thompson (READ MORE):

Golf Professional of the Year — Ty Thompson, Crosshairs Consulting.

Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year — Doug Rohrbaugh, AndersonOrd Golf Apparel.

Senior Player of the Year — Doug Rohrbaugh, AndersonOrd Golf Apparel.

Women’s Player of the Year — Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC.

Associate Player of the Year — Ben Lanting, Bear Creek GC.”¨”¨

Teacher of the Year — Dan Sniffin, Omni Interlocken Resort.”¨”¨

Bill Strausbaugh Award (mentoring fellow PGA professionals) — Stuart Bruening, The Golf Club at Bear Dance.”¨”¨

Assistant Professional of the Year — Ed Marzec, Country Club of the Rockies.”¨”¨

Horton Smith Award (exceptional contributions to promote and improve PGA educational programs) — Ben Welsh, Frost Creek Club.”¨”¨

Player Development Award — Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf Academy.”¨”¨

Youth Player Development Award — Erin Diegel, Legacy Ridge Golf Course.”¨”¨

Warren Smith Award (special contributions to game of golf, the Colorado PGA, junior golf and their facility) — Kyle Heyen, Hiwan Golf Club.”¨”¨

Private Merchandiser of the Year — Jake O’Dell, The Club at Flying Horse.”¨”¨

Resort Merchandiser of the Year — Jeff Hanson, Red Sky Golf Club.”¨”¨

Public Merchandiser of the Year — Brian Carlson, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve.

President’s Award (promoting and enhancing PGA professionals, the PGA Section and the game of golf and contributing to the betterment of the golf professional vocation) — Allen Walters, Colorado AvidGolfer.

Noble Chalfant Inductees (lifetime distinction for PGA members) — Clayton Cole, Dow Finsterwald, Bill Majure.

Todd Phipers Media Award — Joe Cole, Fox21 in Colorado Springs

(Updated Nov. 3) Vic Kline Award (to Section board of directors member for outstanding service and leadership for the Section) — Spencer Zinn, West Edge Energy.
 

Clearly, the 56-year-old from Valley Country Club is not satisfied at just being the first female competitor ever at the event.

A day after surviving the 36-hole cut in the 264-person tourament, Andonian-Smith easily did likewise regarding the 54-hole cut to the low 70 players and ties. In fact, in an event that will reward spots in the 2019 Senior PGA Championship to the top 35 finishers on Sunday, Andonian-Smith is tied for 41st place after Saturday’s third round.

Andonian-Smith (left), the Colorado PGA’s inaugural Women’s Player of the Year, shot her third consecutive even-par 72 at PGA Golf Club. She overcame a double bogey on the sixth hole on Saturday to play her final dozen holes in 2 under.

Joining Andonian-Smith in making the 54-hole cut was Colorado PGA Player of the Year Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale, who advanced on the number with a three-day total of 3-over-par 219, which leaves him in a tie for 67th place.

Rohrbaugh, a three-time winner of the Colorado PGA Professional Championship, fired a 2-over-par 74 on Saturday. He parred his first 14 holes of the day, but bogeyed two of his last four.

Besides the top 35 finishers on Sunday landing berths in the Senior PGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y., May 23-26, the top top five on the leaderboard will earn exemptions into the final stage of the 2018 PGA Tour Champions Q-School.

Here are the round-by-round scores for competitors from the Colorado PGA:

41. Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC 72-72-72–216
67. Doug Rohrbaugh, Snowmass Club 73-72-74–219
MISSED 36-HOLE CUT
97. Barry Milstead, Valley CC 69-78–147
97. Mike Zaremba, Desert Hawk at Pueblo West 70-77–147
119. Chris Johnson, Colorado PGA Life Member 71-77–148
145. Jeff Hanson, Red Sky GC 73-77–150
247. Mike McCutchen, Family Sports 81-79–160

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.

On Friday, she added a layer to that feat by making the 36-hole cut at the tournament in Port St. Lucie Fla.

Andonian-Smith (left) and three-time Colorado PGA Professional Championship winner Doug Rohrbaugh were the two members of the Colorado Section to advance to Saturday’s third round of the 72-hole event. Another cut will come after Saturday — to the low 70 players and ties.

Andonian-Smith, the Colorado PGA’s Women’s Player of the Year, shot her second even-par 72 and shares 63rd place out of the 264-player field. The 56-year-old Centennial resident carded four birdies and four bogeys on Friday to check in at 144.

Rohrbaugh, the Colorado PGA’s Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year in 2018, matched Andonian-Smith’s 72 and stands at 145, in a tie for 75th place. The 56-year-old Carbondale resident had two birdies and two bogeys on Saturday.

The tournament will continue through Sunday.

The low 35 finishers on Sunday will earn berths into the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y., May 23-26, and the top top five finishers will land exemptions into the final stage of the 2018 PGA Tour Champions Q-School.

Here are the round-by-round scores for competitors from the Colorado PGA:

63. Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC 72-72–144
75. Doug Rohrbaugh, Snowmass Club 73-72–145
MISSED 36-HOLE CUT
97. Barry Milstead, Valley CC 69-78–147
97. Mike Zaremba, Desert Hawk at Pueblo West 70-77–147
119. Chris Johnson, Colorado PGA Life Member 71-77–148
145. Jeff Hanson, Red Sky GC 73-77–150
247. Mike McCutchen, Family Sports 81-79–160

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.

Milstead (left) carded three birdies in a bogey-free round on Thursday. He sits five strokes out of the lead.

Also posting under-par totals for Colorado PGA players were reigning Colorado Senior PGA Professional Champion Mike Zaremba of Desert Hawk at Pueblo West (70, good for 34th place) and PGA Life Member Chris Johnson of Castle Rock (71, 54th place).

Sherry Andonian-Smith of Valley CC, who became the first woman to compete in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship, opened with an even-par 72, leaving her in 80th place. Andonian-Smith, the Colorado PGA’s inaugural Woman’s Player of the Year who originally was an alternate for the competition, recorded three birdies and three bogeys in round 1.

“If you would have given me that score, I would have taken it,” Andonian-Smith told PGA.com. “But once I got out there, I was a little embarrassed on the greens (putting). I’m trying to make Bermuda (grass) my friend.”

The 72-hole tournament will continue through Sunday. The field will be cut to the low 90 players and and ties after 36 holes, and to the low 70 and ties after 54 holes.

The low 35 finishers on Sunday will earn berths into the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y., May 23-26, and the top top five finishers will land exemptions into the final stage of the 2018 PGA Tour Champions Q-School.

Here are the round-by-round scores for competitors from the Colorado PGA:

16. Barry Milstead, Valley CC 69
34. Mike Zaremba, Desert Hawk at Pueblo West 70
54. Chris Johnson, Colorado PGA Life Member 71
80. Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC 72
103. Doug Rohrbaugh, Snowmass Club 73
103. Jeff Hanson, Red Sky GC 73
252. Mike McCutchen, Family Sports 81

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.

McGill (left in a Golf Channel photo) improved on her 35th-place performance in 2017 thanks to an impressive 2-under-par 70 on Wednesday in French Lick, Ind., which tied for the low final round of the event.

The Denver native, who won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and ’94 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, placed 23rd on Wednesday out of a field of 80 players. With a five-birdie three-bogey day in round 3, she posted a total of 12-over-par 228, finishing 20 strokes behind champion Laura Davies, who also won the U.S. Senior Women’s Open this year. McGill’s 70 was 10 strokes better than what she carded on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Sherry Andonian-Smith, the Colorado PGA’s inaugural Women’s Player of the Year in 2018, tied for 37th place on Wednesday (233 total) and World Golf Hall of Famer and part-time Coloradan Hollis Stacy tied for 67th (244).

It’s been a memorable year for Andonian-Smith, who also qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, finished second at the Colorado PGA Professional Championship, won her second Colorado PGA West Chapter Championship in three years, and became one of the first two Colorado women to qualify for the 2019 national PGA Professional Championship.

Here are the round-by-round scores for the players with strong Colorado ties who competed in the Senior LPGA Championship in French Lick, Ind.:

23. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill 78-80-70–228
37. Colorado PGA member Sherry Andonian-Smith 81-73-79–233
67. Part-time Colorado resident Hollis Stacy 78-80-86–244

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.

The Southwest PGA won the event, played at The Glacier Club in Durango, with 21.5 points, while the Colorado PGA had 20 and Sun Country 12.5.

The biennial event features a Ryder Cup-style format, with three rounds of golf over two days. For the Colorado PGA, it replaces the Taylor Cup Matches against the Sun Country PGA.

The Colorado PGA won the singles session with 14 points, compared to 13.5 for Southwest and 8.5 for Sun Country. But it wasn’t enough to overcome Southwest’s two-point lead accumulated after Wednesday’s four-ball and foursomes matches.

Among the Colorado PGA members who won two singles matches — played simultaneously on Thursday — were Scott Sommers, Doug Rohrbaugh, Visanu Tongwarin, Bryson Hotchkiss and Dan O’Shaughnessy.

Other members of the Colorado PGA team were Ron Vlosich, Sherry Andonian-Smith, Michael Weingartner, Eric Bradley, Blake Sharamitaro, Jeff Carter and Peter Norwood.

The event features eight open-division and four senior players from each Section.

The McPherson Cup Matches are named for Ron McPherson, the CEO of The Antigua Group and a longtime supporter of all three PGA Sections and the PGA of America.
 

Last week it was announced that the Colorado PGA has earned the PGA of America’s national Herb Graffis Award, given to a PGA Section for “extraordinary and exemplary contributions and achievements in the area of player development.” (READ MORE)

And on Tuesday, the Colorado PGA revealed many of its 2018 award winners, including the Section’s highest honor, which goes to the Golf Professional of the Year.

It’s a fairly common occurrence that the GPOY honor goes to the president of the Section, which certainly makes sense given the work a person in that position devotes to the Colorado PGA. And that’s the case this year, with president Ty Thompson (left) of Crosshairs Consulting earning the award.

Over the years, Thompson has worked at D’Lance Golf, Valley Country Club, The Pinery Country Club, Cherry Hills Country Club and Colorado Springs Country Club, where he was head golf professional starting in 2010, later becoming director of golf. Last year, the U.S. Army veteran started Colorado Springs-based Crosshairs Consulting, where he’s helping PGA pros manage efficient, lean operations. He’s been a PGA golf professional since 2005.

The Golf Professional of the Year honors “the working PGA Professional whose total contributions to the game best exemplify the complete PGA Professional. … The highest annual honor bestowed upon a PGA professional, the award is based on the candidate’s entire record, with special emphasis placed on performance and achievement over the past five years in the following criteria: overall performance as a PGA professional at his/her facility; service to the Colorado PGA Section; leadership ability; image and ability to inspire fellow PGA professionals; and promotion of golf.”

Thompson previously received two other awards from the Section: Assistant Professional of the Year in 2006 while on Clayton Cole’s staff at Cherry Hills, and Private Merchandiser of the Year in 2011 at Colorado Springs CC.

Other Colorado PGA awards — including players of the year, the Todd Phipers Media Award, President’s Award and the Vic Kline Award — will be announced later.

The honorees will receive their awards on Nov. 2 at the Colorado PGA Special Awards Gala at Colorado Golf Club in Parker.

Here are all of the award winners announced on Tuesday (updated October 2018):

Golf Professional of the Year — Ty Thompson, Crosshairs Consulting.

Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year — Doug Rohrbaugh, AndersonOrd Golf Apparel

Senior Player of the Year — Doug Rohrbaugh, AndersonOrd Golf Apparel

Women’s Player of the Year — Sherry Andonian-Smith, Valley CC

Associate Player of the Year — Ben Lanting, Bear Creek GC

“¨Teacher of the Year — Dan Sniffin, Omni Interlocken Resort

“¨Bill Strausbaugh Award (mentoring fellow PGA professionals) — Stuart Bruening, The Golf Club at Bear Dance.

“¨Assistant Professional of the Year — Ed Marzec, Country Club of the Rockies.

“¨Horton Smith Award (exceptional contributions to promote and improve PGA educational programs) — Ben Welsh, Frost Creek Club.
Ҭ
Player Development Award — Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf Academy.
Ҭ
Youth Player Development Award — Erin Diegel, Legacy Ridge Golf Course.
Ҭ
Warren Smith Award (special contributions to game of golf, the Colorado PGA, junior golf and their facility) — Kyle Heyen, Hiwan Golf Club.

“¨Private Merchandiser of the Year — Jake O’Dell, The Club at Flying Horse.
Ҭ
Resort Merchandiser of the Year — Jeff Hanson, Red Sky Golf Club.

“¨Public Merchandiser of the Year — Brian Carlson, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve.