Golf by Numbers: April Issue

Four Colorado courses make Golfweek’s biannual ranking of modern courses

Colorado AvidGolfer

Pictured: Country Club of the Rockies

86 events populate the master schedule of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, the heavily publicized partnership forged between the Colorado Golf Association and the Colorado PGA Section. The season kicks off April 16-17 in Colorado Springs with the Boys and Girls Junior Tour (comprised of aspiring collegiate golfers) competing at the Country Club of Colorado, while the higher-handicap Junior Series players tee off at Valley Hi Golf Course. Four JGAC Majors for top-ranked boys and girls highlight the Tour season. On June 13-15, Eisenhower Golf Club in the Springs will welcome exempt players and qualifiers to the 40th Colorado Junior Amateur Championship. The invitation-only 42nd Colorado Junior PGA Championship takes place July 13-15 at Indian Tree Golf Course in Arvada, with spots on the line for the national PGA Junior Championship the following month in Rhode Island. Thirty-two boys and 32 girls will square off in the 66th Colorado Junior Match Play Championships August 1-3 at The Ridge at Castle Pines North. And the season culminates October 8-9 with 40 boys and 20 girls vying for the the 1st Annual JGAC Tour Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club.   Junior Series players are divided by age, with each group’s season ending in a championship. Kids 10 & Under play 16 events leading into their August 10 championship at Boulder Country Club. The 11- to-13-year-olds end their 30-event season with a championship at CommonGround Golf Course September 10-11. And on the same dates, 14- to 18-year-olds vie for medalist honors at Pelican Lakes Golf Club in Windsor. coloradojuniorgolf.org

4 Colorado courses—Ballyneal Golf Club (in Holyoke), Colorado Golf Club (Parker), Castle Pines Golf Club (Castle Rock) and Country Club of the Rockies (Edwards)—made Golfweek’s biannual ranking of Modern Courses (built after 1960). Four was also the place in which the Tom Doak-designed Ballyneal finished for the second consecutive time, following only Sand Hills (Mullen, Neb.), Pacific Dunes (Bandon, Ore.) and Friar’s Head (Baiting Hollow, N.Y.). The Jack Nicklaus-designed Country Club of the Rockies, which opened in 1984, cracked the list for the first time. It ranked 82nd, the same spot Cherry Hills Country Club occupies on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses list. golfweek.com

8 USGA championships will have taken place at The Broadmoor when the 2018 U.S. Senior Open coincides with the resort’s 100th Anniversary. Asked recently whether the Colorado Springs venue could host a U.S. Open, the USGA’s Senior Managing Director of Open Championships Mike Butz laughed. “I learned never to say never,” he said. “In 1981, I left Merion thinking it could never hold another U.S. Open, and 32 years later, guess where we had it? And the course acquitted itself quite admirably.” broadmoor.com

1 year after welcoming Leslie Core-Drevecky (pictured below) as its first female president, the Colorado PGA Section announced it will stage its first Colorado PGA Women’s Championship June 22-23 at Cherry Creek Country Club in Denver. The event will be open to female Colorado PGA Members and Apprentices and LPGA Professionals who work or live in the Colorado PGA’s domain. In addition to being proud of the event, Core-Drevecky says, it will “allow our female PGA Professionals to showcase their skills on the golf course, and in turn, open the eyes of our community to the Section’s commitment to Diversity & Inclusion.” coloradopga.com

2 golf pros want to serve you a “Morning Cup of Golf” every Saturday from 7 to 9 A.M. That’s the name of the show hosted by veteran radio personality Stan Fenn, who’s the PGA Director of Instruction at Tinmath’s Harmony Club, and Doug Perry, the Head PGA Professional at City Park Nine in Fort Collins. Featuring both national and local guests, educational and call-in segments with prizes awarded, “Morning Cup of Golf presented by Michael Trinen’s RBC Wealth Management” airs weekly April 2 through September 24 on KCOL-AM 600 and the iHeart Radio app on your smartphone or computer. Colorado AvidGolfer’s Jon Rizzi will be a weekly guest. 600kcol.com

25 years have passed since Janet Moore captured the first of her five Colorado Women’s Golf Association Stroke Play titles at Denver Country Club. None of the others came at the august club on 1st Avenue; it hasn’t hosted the event since the 75th version in 1991. DCC did, however, also host the 50th Stroke Play Championship, and with the CWGA turning 100 this year, it will return to DCC August 2-4 with Moore in the field. coloradowomensgolf.org

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This article appeared in the April issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

Colorado AvidGolfer is 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.