Cody Kent Wins CGA Match Play in Playoff

Castle Pines Pro Shop Assistant Revels in Breakthrough Title

University of Tulsa student-athlete Cody Kent narrowly won the 114th Colorado Golf Association Match Play Championship last Friday, claiming an extra-hole victory over University of Colorado-Pueblo standout Jacob Allenback at The Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster.

Kent, 22, won the prestigious event by parring the first extra hole after he tied the back-and-forth final match on the 36th hole. It’s a major title the 22-year-old pro shop assistant at the Country Club of Castle Pines has been chasing for years.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Kent, whose recent, oh-so-close golf résumé includes two second-place finishes at the Colorado 5A state tournament and a runner-up at the 2010 CGA Junior Stroke Play. “I put in a lot of hard work this spring and early summer. It’s starting to pay off.”

It was a victory that almost wasn’t for Kent, who was named 2009 CGA Junior Player of the Year and qualified for the 2010 U.S. Amateur. He traded the lead six times with Allenback, 19, who was 1-up going into the final hole of regulation play. But Kent went par-par on the 36th and 37th holes, while Allenback suffered a momentum swing and carded bogey-bogey.

Kent puts his name on the CGA Match Play trophy that includes the names of Hale Irwin, Steve Jones (’80), Brandt Jobe and Kevin Stadler. This is the first time since 2005 and the eighth time overall that the event has gone to extra holes.

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Chris Duthie is a contributor to Colorado AvidGolfer, the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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