The LPGA Tour will begin its 70th season this week as 26 pros and 49 celebrities tee it up in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., starting on Thursday (Jan. 17).

With that milestone in mind, and the fact that three local players — Colorado residents Jennifer Kupcho and Becca Huffer, plus former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi — will be LPGA rookies in 2019, it prompted us to revisit the long, rich history the LPGA Tour has in Colorado.

Many local golf fans are very familiar with the many visits the PGA Tour has paid to the Centennial State, including 21 straight Internationals and six major championships. But the LPGA’s time in Colorado is less well remembered, mainly because its run as a regular tour stop ended in 1987, the year after The International’s began.

All told, 22 LPGA Tour events have been held in Colorado over the last 70 years, in addition to the 2013 Solheim Cup team event that Colorado Golf Club hosted. That includes four LPGA majors — three U.S. Women’s Opens and the 1950 Women’s Western Open, which was just the ninth event following the launch of the LPGA Tour in January of that year.

The LPGA made an annual tour stop in the Denver metro area for 16 straight years beginning in 1972, with seven courses hosting or co-hosting over that stretch:

— Green Gables Country Club (six times).

— Columbine Country Club (five times).

— The Club at Rolling Hills (once).

— Pinehurst Country Club (once).

— Lone Tree Golf Club (co-host three years).

— Meridian Golf Club (co-host two years).

— Glenmoor Country Club (co-host one year).

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about LPGA Tour events held in Colorado is the number of current World Golf Hall of Famers who have won them. Sixteen times in the 22 LPGA tournaments (73 percent), the champion has been a current World Golf Hall of Famer.

Here’s a quick summary of the LPGA Tour events — plus the Solheim Cup — that have been held in Colorado (winners that are members of the World Golf Hall of Famers are noted with an *):

— 1950 Women’s Western Open — an LPGA major at the time — at Cherry Hills Country Club, won by Babe Zaharias* in a match play final over Peggy Kirk. That year, Zaharias was named the top women’s athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Associated Press. Zaharias, who lived in the Denver area during part of the 1940s, ended up winning eight LPGA events in 1950 alone. She was one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and was part of the inaugural class of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, being inducted posthumously in 1973.

— 1955 Mile High Open at Lakewood Country Club, won by Marilyn Smith*.

— 1956 Denver Open at Lakewood Country Club, won by Marlene Bauer Hagge*.

— 1972 National Jewish Hospital Open at Green Gables Country Club, won by Sandra Haynie*.

— 1973 National Jewish Hospital Open at Green Gables, won by Sandra Palmer.

— 1974 National Jewish Hospital Open at The Club at Rolling Hills, won by Sandra Haynie*.

— 1975 National Jewish Hospital Open at Pinehurst Country Club, won by Judy Rankin*.

— 1976 National Jewish Hospital Open at Green Gables, won by Sandra Palmer.

— 1977 National Jewish Hospital Open at Columbine Country Club, won by JoAnne Carner*.

— 1978 National Jewish Hospital Open at Green Gables, won by Kathy Whitworth*, now the LPGA Tour’s career leader in victories with 88.

— 1979 Columbia Savings Classic at Green Gables, won by Sally Little.

— 1980 Columbia Savings LPGA Classic at Columbine, won by Beth Daniel*.

— 1981 Columbia Savings LPGA Classic at Columbine, won by JoAnne Carner*.

— 1982 Columbia Savings Classic at Columbine, won by Beth Daniel*.

— 1983 Columbia Savings Classic at Columbine, won by Pat Bradley*.

— 1984 Columbia Savings Classic at Green Gables, won by Betsy King*.

— 1985 LPGA National Pro-Am at Lone Tree Golf Club and Meridian Golf Club, won by Pat Bradley*.

— 1986 LPGA National Pro-Am at Lone Tree and Glenmoor Country Club, won by Amy Alcott*.

— 1987 Columbia Savings LPGA National Pro-Am at Meridian and Lone Tree, won by Chris Johnson.

— 1995 U.S. Women’s Open (the 50th ever held) at the East Course at The Broadmoor, won by Annika Sorenstam* (left). It was the first of Sorenstam’s 72 LPGA Tour victories and of her 10 major titles.

— 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills, won by Birdie Kim after she holed out for — you guessed it — birdie from a deep greenside bunker on the 72nd hole of the tournament.

— 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at the East Course at The Broadmoor, won by So Yeon Ryu in the first three-hole aggregate in tournament history. The 2005 and ’11 Women’s Opens each drew more than 130,000 spectators for the week.

— 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club, where Europe won the event for the first time on American soil, 18-10 over the U.S.

Wang, an 18-year-old who moved from Colorado to California in 2010, ended up 34th overall out of the field of 156.

She shot a 5-over-par 77 on Sunday, posting one birdie, four bogeys and a double bogey. That left her with a 6-over-par 294 total and 17 strokes behind champion Ariya Jutanugarn.

Finishing ahead of Wang in the amateur standings were Patty Tavatanakit (286), Albane Valenzuela (291) and Kristen Gillman (293).

Here are the scores for the players with strong Colorado ties who competed in the U.S. Women’s Open:

34. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang 72-74-71-77–294
Missed 36-Hole Cut
CU golfer Robyn Choi 75-75–150

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.

This year, a former Colorado resident, 18-year-old amateur Elizabeth Wang, is in position for a similar performance. Wang, who moved from Parker to California in 2010, shares 23rd place after Saturday’s third round of the Women’s Open at Shoal Creek in Ala.

Wang, the 2015 national girls Junior PGA Championship winner, has carded rounds of 72-74-71 for a 1-over-par 217 total, which leaves her 13 strokes behind leader Ariya Jutanugarn. Wang (pictured) played her first nine of round 3 in 3-under-par 33, but made a couple of bogeys on her back nine.

Meanwhile, the other competitor with strong Colorado ties in the field, University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi, missed the 36-hole cut by two strokes on Saturday after posting scores of 75-75. Choi, who’s qualified in Colorado for the last two U.S. Women’s Open, also missed the cut last year.

Here’s the scoring for the players with strong local ties:

23. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang 72-74-71–217
MC. CU golfer Robyn Choi 75-75–150

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.

Play was suspended due to dangerous weather, and round 2 is scheduled to resume at 6:45 a.m. (CT) on Saturday. Many players are still early in their second round, so getting back on track, schedule-wise, may take some doing.

Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang stands in 28th place after having played a total of 29 holes. The former junior phenom who now lives in southern Californian is 1 over par overall, 11 strokes behind leader Sarah Jane Smith of Australia (67-67).

University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi, an Australian who has qualified in Colorado for the last two U.S. Women’s Opens, has completed two rounds with back-to-back 75s. She’s in 97th place.

The top 60 players and ties after 36 holes are completed will make the cut and play the final two rounds.

Here’s the scoring for the players with strong local ties:

28. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang 72-(+1 through 11 holes)
97. CU golfer Robyn Choi 75-75–150

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.

Meanwhile, University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi, who’s qualified in Colorado for the last two Women’s Opens, posted a first-round 75, leaving her in 74th place.

Three players — Ariya Jutanugarn, Sarah Jane Smith and Jeongeun Lee — share the lead after 67s on Thursday.

Wang, who hit the first tee shot in 2009 when the CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course opened, has since moved to California. She made two birdies and two bogeys in Thurday’s round.

Choi, who missed the 36-hole cut in last year’s Women’s Open, recorded 15 pars and three bogeys on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Choi and CU teammate Brittany Fan were named honorable mention picks for the Women’s Golf Coaches Association NCAA Division I All-America team.

For scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.
 

In her second straight year of competing at the U.S. Women’s Open, Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster proved to be a quick learner on the biggest stage in women’s golf.

Not only did the 20-year-old reach her goal of making the cut at the most prestigious women’s tournament, but she finished the No. 2 amateur in the field at Trump National in Bedminster, N.J. Only 17-year-old Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea, the No. 2-ranked amateur in women’s golf, was better — albeit a lot better: nine strokes, to be exact. It was the second straight year for Choi to be low am at the U.S. Women’s Open. She was the overall runner-up on Sunday, setting an amateur scoring record for the championship (9-under-par 279), ending up two shots behind champion and countrywoman Sung Hyun Park.

Kupcho, 20, finished 21st overall after a 1-under-par 71 on Sunday left her at even-par 288 for the week. The Wake Forest golfer (pictured), the runner-up in the Women’s NCAA Championship in May, proved more than able to keep up with the best players in women’s golf in making birdies as she racked up 17 for the week.

The three-time CWGA Player of the Year, who’s accustomed to lapping the field in Colorado tournaments, kept pace with many of the best players in the game in New Jersey. On Sunday, she finished with three birdies and two bogeys, and parred her last seven holes. Had it not been for the quadruple-bogey 9 she sustained Friday in very rainy conditions on her 35th hole, Kupcho would have placed 11th on Sunday.

As it was, Kupcho finished better than the likes of Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Lydia Ko, Karrie Webb, Brittany Lang and Suzann Pettersen.

Kupcho, the No. 10-ranked amateur in women’s golf, posted the best U.S. Women’s Open finish by a golfer who grew up in Colorado since Cherry Creek High School graduate Jill McGill ended up 12th in 2002. Of course, McGill was a veteran LPGA Tour professional at that that time, while Kupcho still has two years of college eligibility left at Wake Forest.

Here are the round-by-round scores for each of the players with strong in-state connections who have competed this week:

21. Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster 74-72-71-71–288
Missed 36-Hole Cut
CU golfer Robyn Choi 76-77–153
Former CU golfer Emily Childs 77-80–157

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.
 

But, barring a final-round collapse by Choi, Kupcho is certainly in position to finish No. 2 in the amateur ranks in the top women’s golf tournament in the world.

Kupcho shares the No. 2 spot among ams at 1-over-par 217 after she shot a 1-under 71 on Saturday. Choi owns a 208 total, while Lauren Stephenson is tied with Kupcho at 217, and Rachel Heck is at 218. (Kupcho is pictured; photo courtesy of Janet Kupcho.)

Kupcho, the Women’s NCAA runner-up and a three-time CWGA Player of the Year, stands in 27th place overall. She’s improved her scores each round, having gone 74-72-71. On Saturday, she made five birdies and four bogeys, finishing with a bird on No. 18 after dropping three shots from 13-17.

The Wake Forest junior-to-be has made a remarkable 14 birdies over the first 54 holes. She ranks No. 7 in putting this week with a 27.33 average per round.

Kupcho will be paired with Moriya Jutanugarn and will tee off at 10:02 a.m. (MT) on Sunday. The Fox Network will televise the final round beginning at noon (MT).

Here are the round-by-round scores for each of the players with strong in-state connections who have competed this week:

27. Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster 74-72-71–217
Missed 36-Hole Cut
CU golfer Robyn Choi 76-77–153
Former CU golfer Emily Childs 77-80–157

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.
 

And that wasn’t easy, with a “9” on her card — plus two double bogeys — on Friday at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. And that’s after getting about five hours of sleep on Thursday night and playing 22 holes in rainy conditions on Friday.

As Jennifer’s father/caddie, Mike, said by phone Friday evening, “It’s been a wild day and a half.”

The three-time CWGA Player of the Year climbed into the top 15 on the Women’s Open leaderboard as she was 4 under par through 11 holes in round 2 after finishing off a 2-over-par 74 in the first round.

But the Women’s NCAA runner-up from Wake Forest endured a major roller-coaster ride as it began to rain hard during the late portion of her second round. Specifically, Kupcho’s last five holes went this way: double bogey, par, birdie, quaduple-bogey 9, and a bounceback birdie. That’s 4 over par during that stretch, but the final-hole birdie, on the par-4 ninth, kept her from packing her bags due to a missed cut.

As it is, the 20-year-old, currently No. 10 in the women’s amateur rankings, stands in 52nd place heading into the weekend. Her eventful even-par 72 on Friday — which featured six birdies — put her at 2-over 146, 10 strokes behind leader Shanshan Feng.

The stretch on Friday featured two long-range birdies from off the green as she putted in from 25 feet on the seventh hole (her 16th) and from 75 feet on her last to make the cut.

In between was the quaduple-bogey 9 on the 533-yard eighth hole (her 17th). There, she pushed her drive far enough right that she hit a provisional, but she ended up finding her original ball. From extremely wet rough, her second shot went into the rough on the other side of the fairway. With a nearly plugged lie, she chipped out to the fairway. Her fourth shot didn’t get past the green’s false front and the ball rolled back down — as did her subsequent putt. Then she hit two chips and two putts. Add it up and it was a 9 without a penalty shot.

“We went from really good to not so good,” Mike Kupcho said. For a while earlier on Friday “it seemed like she could go really low.”

On No. 9, Jennifer Kupcho’s 414-yard finishing hole, she hit a 6-iron from the right rough, then miraculously holed the 75-foot putt that had to go through a lot of fringe-like area along with green.

It’s believed that the last player who grew up in Colorado to have made the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open was Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill, who finished 37th in 2004.

Kupcho, making her second straight U.S. Women’s Open appearance, is tied for third place in the competition for low-amateur honors. Hye Jin Choi of South Korea leads the amateur standings at 138 (69-69, sharing second overall), while American Lauren Stephenson is the No. 2 am at 144.

Meanwhile, the other two players with significant Colorado ties competing this week missed the cut — to the low 60 players and ties — on Friday. Current University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi went 76-77–153 and former Buff Emily Childs 77-80–157.

Here are the round-by-round scores for each of the competitors with strong in-state connections:

Advances to Weekend
Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster 74-72–146
Missed 36-Hole Cut
CU golfer Robyn Choi 76-77–153
Former CU golfer Emily Childs 77-80–157

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.
 

Kupcho, the Women’s NCAA runner-up who is competing in the U.S. Women’s Open for the second straight year, stands at 1 under par through 14 holes and in a share of 29th place after the first day.

A strorm delayed play for about two hours Thursday afternoon and it was halted at 8:33 p.m. Kupcho (pictured) was among the groups that will return at 6:45 a.m. (ET) to complete their first round. Also in that same boat are former University of Colorado golfer Emily Childs and current CU player Robyn Choi.

Childs, who transferred to Cal after playing at CU as a freshman, is at 1 over par through 13 holes, good for a tie for 65th place. And Choi, who joined Kupcho in qualifying in Colorado for the Women’s Open, is 5 over through 15 and shares 124th place.

A 36-hole cut looms, with the top 60 players and ties after two rounds advancing to the weekend.

Kupcho, a three-time CWGA Player of the Year, missed the cut last year in her Women’s Open debut. But on Thursday, the Wake Forest junior had three birdies and two bogeys in her first 14 holes. After being 1 over through 10, she birdied Nos. 11 and 14 before play was stopped.

Shanshan Feng of China shot a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 to hold the lead after the first day.

For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Open, CLICK HERE.
 

Especially regarding how Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster fares at the CWGA Stroke Play, that’s a particularly relevant question to ponder at this point.

When the 70th Stroke Play is held Monday through Wednesday (June 19-21) at Lone Tree Golf Club, the 20-year-old will be attempting to accomplish a couple of things not done for many a moon.

If Kupcho (pictured) wins next week, she’ll become the first player to three-peat “” win the title three consecutive years “” since Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore won four in a row from 1994 to ’97. And a victory would make Kupcho the first golfer since Wendy Werley in 1988 and ’89 to claim the title in fourth straight CWGA majors (the Stroke Play and the Match Play).

Beyond that, it’ll be interesting to see if Kupcho can surpass the very high standard she’s set for herself in her last two CWGA Stroke Play victories. It may be difficult to fathom, but her average winning margin in those events was 20 shots, as she prevailed by 21 in 2015 and by 19 last year.

And, by the way, Kupcho won the first of her four CWGA majors at Lone Tree, the 2014 Match Play.

The Stroke Play will serve as a bit of a warm-up leading up to the U.S. Women’s Open for Kupcho, who’s currently No. 11 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings. Just two days after the disappointment of finishing second at the Women’s NCAA Division I Championships after leading by two going into her penultimate hole, Kupcho earned medalist honors for the second straight year in Colorado-based Women’s Open qualifying. Arguably the most prestigious tournament in women’s golf will be contested July 13-16 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

In all, 59 players will compete in the CWGA Stroke Play, with flighting taking place after the completion of 36 holes in the 54-hole event.

Among the other entrants are University of Colorado golfer Gillian Vance, a former 5A state high school champion who finished second to Kupcho in the 2016 Stroke Play; Jaylee Tait, runner-up to Kupcho in the 2016 CWGA Match Play; and Mary Weinstein, the 2016 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado girls Player of the Year who placed second to Kupcho in the 2015 Stroke Play.

For Monday’s pairings from the Stroke Play, CLICK HERE.