Ex-CU golfer Symons wins Colorado Open qualifier #1 by 5 stokes

Kristen Hicks

Englewood—Luke Symons of Aurora shot an impressive 6-under par 64 to win the first of four qualifying rounds for the 50th annual HealthONE Colorado Open. Symons, who played his collegiate golf at CU Boulder, made seven birdies and one bogey to beat runner-ups Klinton Krieger of Cheyenne, WY and John Kizer of Howell, MI by five strokes.

A total of six players shot even par 70 at Inverness Golf Club, and a playoff was held to determine the last four qualifying spots and three alternate spots.

Derek Rush of Lakewood, Audie Dean of Denver, CO, amateur Chris Korte of Littleton, CO and Nate Stevenson of Steamboat Springs punched their tickets to the Colorado Open by advancing through the playoff. Stevenson sent amateur Chris Reina of Montgomery, TX to the first alternate spot by beating him in a 10-hole sudden-death playoff. Amateur Cole Nygren of Longmont secured the second alternate spot and Tom Krause of Boulder the third.

A field of 67 players teed off vying for their chance to join the championship field and 13 players earned their place in the championship.

Today’s competition was the first of four qualifying rounds for the 2014 HealthONE Colorado Open which will be held at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver on July 24-27. 

The remaining qualifying rounds are:  July 15 at Eagle Ranch Golf Course in Eagle, CO, July 17 and July 21 at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster, CO.  A total of 60 players will advance into the Championship from the qualifying rounds with 13 determined today.  Twelve total players will be placed on the alternate list from the qualifiers and the 3rd, 7th and 11th spots overall were determined today.

Final Results
(a)    denotes amateur

1   Luke Symons          Aurora, CO                           31-33–64 -6 
T2  John Kizer           Howell, MI                           36-33–69 -1
T2  Klinton Krieger      Cheyenne, WY                         35-34–69 -1
T4  Alexander Gutesha    Greenwood Village, CO                37-33–70 E 
T4  Philip Nelson        Xenia, OH                            36-34–70 E 
T4  Ryan Stephens        Lakewood, CO                         35-35–70 E 
T4  Ethan Castle         Denver, CO                           35-35–70 E 
T4  Sam Marley (a)       Centennial, CO                       34-36–70 E 
T4  Justin Searles       Gilbert, AZ                          33-37–70 E 
10  Derek Rush           Lakewood, CO                         35-36–71 +1
11  Audie Dean           Denver, CO                           36-35–71 +1
12  Chris Korte (a)      Littleton, CO                        36-35–71 +1
13  Nate Stevenson       Steamboat Springs, CO                34-37–71 +1
1st Alt. Chris Reina(a)   Montgomery, TX                       35-36–71 +1
2nd Alt. Cole Nygren (a)  Longmont, CO                         36-36–72 +2
3rd Alt. Tom Krause       Boulder, CO                          34-38–72 +2

17  Kevin Carlson        Denver, CO                           36-36–72 +2
T18 Thomas Gempel        Parker, CO                           40-33–73 +3
T18 Vance Pollock        Westminster, CO                      39-34–73 +3
T18 Jesse Burghart       Scottsdale, AZ                       38-35–73 +3
T18 Patrick Reidy        Littleton, CO                        38-35–73 +3
T18 Marc Biagiotti (a)   Highland Ranch, CO                   37-36–73 +3
T18 Greg Arkin           Centennial, CO                       37-36–73 +3
T18 James Kurtenbach (a) Denver, CO                           34-39–73 +3
T25 Andrew Rathbun       Johnstown, NY                        39-35–74 +4
T25 Riley O'Neill        Aberdeen, SD                         38-36–74 +4
T25 Justin Palermo       Clovis, CA                           37-37–74 +4
T25 Doug Wherry          Lakewood, CO                         37-37–74 +4
T25 Rudy Castaneda       Arvada, CO                           36-38–74 +4
T30 Brian Spiva          Casper, WY                           39-36–75 +5
T30 Jackson Solem (a)    Longmont, CO                         39-36–75 +5
T30 Philip Lee (a)       Cherry Hills Village, CO             38-37–75 +5
T30 Pierce Trumper (a)   Fort Collins, CO                     37-38–75 +5
T30 Matthew Kreider      Westlake, OH                         37-38–75 +5
T30 Michael Baird        Castle Rock, CO                      37-38–75 +5
T30 Matt Julander        Highlands Ranch, CO                  36-39–75 +5
T30 Peter Horstman       Castle Pines, CO                     35-40–75 +5
T38 Nicholas Davis (a)   Centennial, CO                       40-36–76 +6
T38 Scott Wells          Highlands Ranch, CO                  40-36–76 +6
T38 Garrett Froggatte    Colorado Springs, CO                 38-38–76 +6
T38 Justin Raigoza       Hutchinson, KS                       38-38–76 +6
T38 Ben Sturgell (a)     Centennial, CO                       38-38–76 +6
T43 Josh Grube           Casper, WY                           42-35–77 +7
T43 Robb Bierbaum (a)    Arvada, CO                           40-37–77 +7
T43 Travis Morton        Littleton, CO                        40-37–77 +7
T43 Kevin Hill           Deer Lodge, MT                       39-38–77 +7
T43 Bill Parker (a)      Denver, CO                           39-38–77 +7
T43 Zachary Wrobel       Burr Ridge, IL                       39-38–77 +7
T43 Josh Woodworth (a)   Colorado Springs, CO                 37-40–77 +7
T43 Clint Miller (a)     Englewood, CO                        37-40–77 +7
T51 Brian Gott           Aurora, CO                           41-37–78 +8
T51 Heikke Nielsen       Boulder, CO                          40-38–78 +8
T51 Brandon Hystad (a)   Colorado Springs, CO                 37-41–78 +8
T51 Brent Barnhill (a)   Parker, CO                           37-41–78 +8
55  Riley Arp            Fort Collins, CO                     38-41–79 +9
56  Cody Leis (a)        Parker, Colorado                     42-38–80 +10
T57 Matt Brunson (a)     Lone Tree, CO                        42-39–81 +11
T57 Alan Berry (a)       Littleton, CO                        40-41–81 +11
T57 J D Shaver           Centennial, CO                       37-44–81 +11
60  Stephen King (a)     Aurora, CO                           38-44–82 +12
T61 Michael Weingartner  Denver, CO                           44-39–83 +13
T61 Josh Pusar (a)       Castle Pines, CO                     44-39–83 +13
T61 Bryce Bervig         Alamosa, CO                          43-40–83 +13
T61 Shawn Wilcox         Denver, CO                           42-41–83 +13
65  Kyle McGee           Mountain View, CO                    40-44–84 +14
66  Austin Hardman (a)   Highlands Ranch, CO                  47-43–90 +20
NC  Eric McCreesh (a)    Aurora, CO