Colorado AvidGolfer July 2021 Issue

29-UNDER! HOW LOW CAN THEY GO AT THE COBANK COLOR ADO OPEN?

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Elevating the Game.

THE Z FACTOR Who WILL be this year’s ZALATORIS at the TPC Colorado Championship?

TEE IT HIGH In Vail Valley, Snowmass and Summit County

Play with HALE IRWIN at The Broadmoor

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THE COUNTRY CLUB AT CASTLE PINES A WORLD-CLASS TRANSFORMATION HAS BEGUN The Country Club at Castle Pines has broken ground on their transformation project that will bring stylish new indoor and outdoor dining, bar and patio features to the clubhouse along with new cliffside amenities that showcase our views over Castle Rock and the entire Front Range. The cliffside village will include an infinity-edge pool, new dining and bar, fitness and racket sports.

2021 will also bring the formal grand opening of The Crags, our one-acre putting course perched at 6700 feet and literally built upon the rocky crags behind our Clubhouse. Complete with lighting, music, fire pits and a new bar, Golf Members and their guests won’t ever want to go home.

TO INQUIRE ABOUT AN INVITATION TO GOLF OR SOCIAL MEMBERSHIP, CONTACT:

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CONTENTS | July 2021

DEPARTMENTS

77 10 Forethoughts

Getting Back Our TOUR Card

By Jon Rizzi

12 #coavidgolfer

Playing an App Wedge

14 The CGA

Taking a caddie is a bottom-line decision that pays great dividends.

23 The Gallery

Sky-High in Sterling, Haystack Mountain, AJ Ott, Anna Zanusso, Obits and more

88 Blind Shot

Marking Time with O’Meara

PLAYER’S CORNER 31 Play Away

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF KORN FERRY TOUR

76

FEATURES From Tee To Green to points beyond and between, The Broadmoor is about far more than great golf. By Jon Rizzi

As Will Zalatoris proved at last year’s TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, the Korn Ferry Tour event has quickly put itself in a league of its own. By Jon Rizzi

greater consistency and lower scores.

By Alex Fisher

SIDE BETS

Colorado’s tastiest and most famous

sandwiches…and where to try them.

By John Lehndorff

44 Nice Drives

Coal Creek’s High-Water Mark

Polestar 2, Dodge Charger Hellcat, Volvo XC90, Jeep Wrangler.

By Isaac Bouchard

Eight years after a flood nearly destroyed it, Louisville’s only course looks and plays better than ever. By Chris Wheeler

76

Event of the Year

Pre-shot prep and plan execution will deliver

39 Fareways

82

Grandest Hotel

36 Lesson

ON THE COVER Will Zalatoris at the AT&T

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS DUTHIE

74

Pagosa Springs abounds in transcendent beauty and many ways to enjoy it.

By Chris Duthie

Byron Nelson golf tournament in Texas. AP Photo/Ray Carlin

SPECIAL SECTIONS 51 COBANK COLORADO

59 COLORADO GETAWAYS

Tee it high and let it fly in the Vail

Valley, Summit County, Aspen and Snowmass.

OPEN PREVIEW

Story lines from the country’s richest state championship.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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31 77 coloradoavidgolfer.com

July 2021 | Volume 20, Number 4 president and group publisher

A llen J. Walters editorial director

Jon Rizzi

SALES, MARKETING & ADVERTISING associate publisher

Chris Phillips

vp of sales and marketing

Lori Perr y

director of sales & marketing , golf passport and events

Mike Car ver

digital strategist and content manager

Katie Macleay

business and operations manager

Cindy Palmer

ART & EDITORIAL creative director

Jani Duncan Smith art director

Chelsea Oglesby editor - at- large

Tom Ferrell

automotive editor

Isaac Bouchard style editor

Suzanne S. Brown contributors

Sam Adams, Andy Bigford, E.J. Carr, Anthony Cotton, Clarkson Creative, Tony Dear, Denny Dressman, Sue Drinker, Dick Durrance, Chris Duthie, Neal Erickson, Scott Gardner, Garo Productions, Ted Johnson, Kaye Kessler, John Lehndorff, Kim McHugh

Get a FREE 3 ISSUE trial subscription to Colorado AvidGolfer!

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Colorado AvidGolfer (ISSN 1548-4335) is published eight times a year by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC, and printed by Publication Printers Corp.

Volume 20, Number four. 6143 S. Willow Drive, #406, Greenwood Village, CO 80111. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you can order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. Subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright © 2021 by BakerColorado Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Postmaster: Send address changes to Colorado AvidGolfer, 6143 S. Willow Drive, #406, Greenwood Village, CO 80111. The magazine welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other material.

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COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

Forethoughts

Getting Back Our TOUR Card IN CASE anyone’s counting, 15 years have passed since Colorado had a regular stop on the PGA TOUR. During that postInternational indiction, we’ve hosted two U.S. Senior Opens, a U.S. Women’s Open, a Senior PGA Championship, a Solheim Cup, a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Mid-Am. But only once in that span—the 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills—did the electricity of a PGA TOUR event galvanize Colorado.

What those tournaments all have in common is that during and after them we’ve heard a version of what then-PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem—ironically, the composer of The International’s death knell in 2007—told The Denver Post during the 2014 BMW: “We would love to play here on a regular basis. There are great sports fans here.” The PGA TOUR also named the BMW its 2014 Event of the Year.

These days, rumors fly about another BMW coming to Cherry Hills or Castle Pines.

Or could it be a President’s Cup? Is something in the offing at The Broadmoor or Colorado Golf Club? Whatever arrives will likely be another stand-alone event, not an annual affair.

This is somewhat regrettable but completely understandable, given the inconveniences and sacrifices that a club’s members must endure to host a tournament on a yearly basis.

Yet Colorado does have two outstanding professional golf tournaments every July: The CoBank Colorado Open Championship (page 51) and the Korn Ferry Tour’s TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes (page 76).

The 57th CoBank Colorado Open takes place July 29–Aug. 1 at Denver’s Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Attracted by the largest purse ($250,000) and winner’s share ($100,000) of any state open, the field promises to be exceptionally strong this year, given the absence of any PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour events opposite it. How good are these guys? Last year’s winner, Mark Anguiano, fired a 29-under 259 and was one of four players to break or tie the tournament scoring record. Why not attend and see how low can they go?

Three weeks prior to the Colorado Open, the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, a third-year event on the PGA TOUR’s developmental Korn Ferry Tour, rolls into Berthoud July 5–11. Last year’s tournament springboarded the champion Will Zalatoris’ professional career. Since his win, the wiry former Walker Cup player has finished T6 in the 2020 U.S. Open, runner-up in the Masters and T8 in the PGA Championship.

Zalatoris, who will automatically earn a PGA TOUR card at the end of this unusual 2020-2021 season, won’t defend his title at TPC Colorado. Instead, he’ll tee off at a different TPC in the PGA TOUR’s John Deere Classic as a Special Temporary PGA TOUR Member. That status means he has to win a PGA TOUR event in order to qualify for the lucrative FedExCup Playoffs.

Even without him, the Colorado field will teem with future PGA TOUR stars competing in an event that won the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2019 Tournament of the Year. Like Deere Run and every TPC, this dazzling facility on Lonetree and McNeil reservoirs exists in part to host big-time golf tournaments. Its 450 members know this. They volunteer in droves and embrace the weeks when their tee times vanish like ProV1s in the deep, thick, juicy rough.

“I’ve had players come up and tell me, ‘This place is so good, when is it going to become a PGA TOUR event site?’” PGA TOUR official Bo DeHuff said during last month’s media event at TPC Colorado’s 65,000-square-foot clubhouse.

Once you’ve attended the championship in Berthoud, you’ll be asking the same question. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 15 years to get an answer. —JON RIZZI

10

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#coavidgolfer DIGITAL | SOCIAL MEDIA

Playing an App Wedge

By Katie Macleay

Took It To Social!

DESPITE THE MANY shutdowns and uncertainty that defined 2020, the pandemic sparked a great revival in golf. The National Golf Foundation cited an increase of 61 million more rounds being played in 2020 by U.S. golfers. During this time, the percentage increase in beginners and youth golfers also recorded its biggest gain since 1997 (the year Tiger Woods won the Masters). With this growth in golfers, came a growth in golf apps. And since almost everything is going digital these days, it comes as no surprise that even one of the world’s oldest sports would follow suit. These are two of the myriad apps that have spiked in downloads over the past year as golfers searched for valuable course insights.

GOLFSHOT According to Apptopia, Golfshot more than doubled its downloads this past April. This app offers an award-winning augmented-reality feature that allows golfers to get a 360-degree view of the entire course by using their iPhone camera.* New this month: Using Golfshot on your Apple Watch, you can review each shot you’ve taken after every round.* Golfshot offers three different plans: a standard free edition, Golfshot Pro ($50 per year), or the Golfshot Pro + Golfplan Combo ($70). The Golfplan Combo plan also includes instruction videos from Revolution Golf. *Currently available only for devices running versions of iOS 11 or later.

SWINGU SwingU reported a subscription revenue of more than 85 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the beginning of 2020. This app offers a GPS for every course, scorecards and stats, wind speed and elevation, shot tracking, in-round betting games, virtual lessons and an overall analysis of your golf game. With an increase in new golfers and the opportunity to have a virtual caddie, it’s no wonder so many people got this app during the pandemic. SwingU is free to download, but accessing advanced digital scorecards and stats will cost a golfer $100 annually.

OUR JUNE ISSUE cover subject Greg Roskopf poses with “his” issue of Colorado AvidGolfer. The Colorado-based owner of Muscle Activation Techniques appeared with 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, with whom he has built a powerful relationship. Roskopf gave us a big shout-out, but the pleasure was ours to tell such a great story!

We’d love to see more photos from our fans reading this month’s issue; tag us @coloradoavidgolfer on your social media posts so we can see what you’re up to this summer!

Give Us a Follow IF YOU HAVEN’T done so already, come be a part of the Colorado AvidGolfer digital community by following our social media accounts. Tag and share your golf-related content. We’d love to see it!

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The CGA SERVING ALL COLORADO GOLFERS

Put Us Down for a Triple

Taking a caddie is a bottom-line decision that pays great dividends.

LIKE IT or not, every business is now held to higher standards. As consumers increasingly scrutinize a company’s efforts to serve its community and protect the planet while also delivering economically sensible products, more businesses must consider the triple bottom line—an accounting framework that incorporates the social, environmental and financial dimensions of performance—when looking at their balance sheets.

At the Colorado Golf Association, we are using that same triple-bottom-line approach when it comes to our efforts to support Colorado caddie clubs and establish Solich Caddie and Leadership Academy chapters across Colorado.

The Academy program has become an incredible way for golfers to save money by taking a “free” caddie instead of paying for a cart; reduce their environmental impact on the course by walking; and serve their community by providing kids with their first experience at holding a job.

These caddies earn money through educational grants, and, in some cases, they help their families financially by continuing on to receive the Evans Scholarship at the University of Colorado.

Since 2012, 30 Solich Academy graduates have gone on to receive this prestigious scholarship administered by the Western Golf Association.

The CGA is currently launching its fifth chapter of the Academy. By summer’s end, in addition to our flagship at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, we’ll have outposts in Englewood (Meridian GC), Grand Junction (Tiara Rado and Lincoln Park GCs), Montrose (Black Canyon GC) and Colorado Springs (The Broadmoor Caddie and Leadership Academy).

These programs are teaching kids the values of hard work, financial literacy, leadership and communication through the Be Somebody: Cowboy Ethics Program developed by the Central Wyoming Boys & Girls Clubs and based on the bestselling book by Wyoming businessman and author James P. Owen. With generous funding from a local donor, this curriculum is taught by CGA staff and local volunteers to ensure our caddies live these values with every loop.

Ultimately every golfer makes that triplebottom-line decision when they check in for their next round. Should they pay for another cart so they can keep their phone charged while they play, or enjoy a healthier round of golf with a local caddie while giving back to their community?

Clearly, all of us at the CGA hope more people consider this value proposition and make the best triple-bottom-line decision in golf.

Cowboy Ethics of a CGA Caddie Thoughts from Ellie, a 16-year-old sophomore at Englewood High School who has been a Solich Academy caddie for three years, despite never playing golf before caddying.

TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR WORK “What I have learned most from caddying is how to communicate with people older than myself and improved my math skills when keeping score and gauging yardage if a golfer doesn’t have a rangefinder.”

DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE “One time when caddying, there was a rainstorm in the middle of the round. My golfer didn’t want to make me stay in the rain too long and sent me back to the clubhouse. I listened to the golfer but felt like I let him down in doing so. However, he left me a tip at the clubhouse and requested me as a caddie the next time he played.”

SOME THINGS AREN’T FOR SALE “Being a caddie has been my first job. Earning that first paycheck felt amazing! It feels good to be able to help my parents while also saving money for myself. Hopefully, I can keep caddying and get the Evans Scholarship in the future.”

Golfers can also help local caddies by entering the CGA’s 6th Annual Dream Golf Vacation Raffle. Some of the top golf resorts in the world including Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits, The Broadmoor, Casa de Campo and the six-destination Dormie Network have donated more than 35 rounds and other prizes. Tickets cost $40 and 100% of the proceeds benefit CGA youth programs like the Solich Caddie and Leadership Academy. Enter at coloradogolf.org/raffle.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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PHOTOGRAPH BY E.J. CARR

FOUR FOR A LOOP: Taking Solich Academy caddies like Ellie (second from left) rewards everyone in your group.

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The Gallery

NEWS | NOTES | NAMES

Sky-High in Sterling PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF SKY RANCH GOLF CLUB

ALTHOUGH IT “soft-opened” in February, Sky Ranch Golf Club staged an official grand opening celebration on June 16 with free barbecue, loads of branded swag and a golf-club demo. All were welcome at what once was the members-only Sterling Country Club.

For most of the 20th Century, the private club in Colorado’s far northeastern corner was a hot ticket. One of Colorado’s five oldest courses, Sterling played home-and-home matches with the likes of Denver and Lakewood country clubs, and its annual Labor Day Invitational had a waiting list of golfers from Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas.

The tournament survived the new millennium, yet little else about the club did. After a fire wiped out the clubhouse in 2001, Sterling Country Club built a new structure, but the club itself went the way of Colorado’s sugar-beet industry. By 2020, the now-public facility had gone through four owners and three names.

Then, last September, The Sterling Golf Investment Group, a local group of nine investors and their families, purchased the place—which most recently went by Northeastern 18 (and by Pawnee Pines before that)—and rebranded it Sky Ranch Golf Course.

This time felt different. With the new name came a fresh attitude and energetic approach.

“We are looking forward to the challenge of returning this golf course to its past glory and making this facility a gathering spot for the entire community by providing a fun, family atmosphere,” one of the investors, Paul Schrade, told the Sterling Journal-Advocate at the time of the sale.

The new owners immediately engaged Touchstone Golf to manage the facility. With a Colorado portfolio that includes turnaround successes at Applewood and Fox Acres, the Austin, Tex.-based concern set about remedying maintenance issues and getting the course as healthy as possible before winter.

The company bought new agronomy equip-

NO WALK IN THE PARK: Sky Ranch’s tree-lined, old-school parkland layout normally plays around 6,500 yards, but abundant doglegs, sneaky water and small greens make this a fun test of shot-shaping and strategy.

ment and focused on turf and tree health. “The trees—mostly cottonwoods and elms—really make the golf course,” Touchstone Vice President of Operations Brian Melody says. “But with all the deadwood, it was really unsightly. We took down about 60 trees and started replanting as part of a tree-revitalization plan.”

Winter brought a full renovation of the clubhouse interior. The old locker rooms became the 19th hole with dartboards and pool tables, and the existing restaurant got a full face-lift and softopened in February as the Sky Ranch Bar and Grill. A steakhouse, the Grill cuts its own filet, strip, rib eye and sirloin, and then grinds the trimmings into 7-ounce steakburgers—two of which join four ounces of gooey mac and cheese in the nine-inch-high signature Sky Ranch Burger.

“We serve it held together with a steak knife,” General Manager Brian Benedict explains.

The clubhouse banquet area seats 120 and

COMMUNITY-MINDED: The new ownership’s renovations center around the family-friendly Sky Ranch Grille steakhouse and a tented event center that hosts weddings, receptions, tournaments and concerts.

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an event tent bridges the building and an enormous patio that spills towards the practice green.

“We are invested in becoming the premier golf course and event facility in Northeastern Colorado,” Benedict says. “By July 4th, we will have already hosted 30 events, including weddings and golf tournaments.”

As evidence of the venue’s ascendancy, rising Austin-based country music star Braydon Zink, who grew up 12 miles from Sterling in the tiny town of Iliff (pop. 279), will perform at Sky Ranch July 31.

Coinciding with the opening of the restaurant came the hiring of Superintendent John Waddle, a Sterling native who most recently worked at Blackstone Country Club in Aurora. “He has an eye for detail that the club hasn’t had before,” Melody says. “The course looks better than ever, as does the landscaping around the clubhouse.”

The course itself, which dates to 1916, can stretch to 6,900 yards, but the undulant terrain— the course sits on the highest point in Sterling— and mature trees, tight doglegs, small greens and water on seven holes make this a challenge at any length.

“What’s super sad is that they were doing only 7,000 rounds a year,” Melody says. By maintaining the course, upgrading the hospitality and rebranding the facility, he projects at least doubling that number this year.

“Everybody that lives in Eastern Colorado is used to driving a lot,” he explains, noting that customers arrive not just from Sterling and throughout Logan County, but from Sidney, Neb. (40 minutes away) and North Platte, which is the same distance from Sky Ranch as Denver is.

“For the right experience,” he says, “people will come.” skyranchgc.com

July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

The Gallery

What the Hay?

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

Haystack clubhouse’s old-school screened-in porch will likely clap shut for the last time. Beset with a 78 percent rise in property taxes and financial hardships stemming from the 2013 flood repairs and estate taxes following the 2016 death of matriarch Lois Ebel, trustee Julia Pirnack (one of Lois Edel’s six children) decided in April to sell the business and 112 acres for about $6 million to developer Michael Markel of Markel Homes.

Compounding Haystack’s troubles were the course’s efforts, after Edel’s 2016 passing, to attract weddings and other events—the attendant

increase in activity resulted in neighbor complaints and a lack of Casa Bonita-like community support for keeping the course open.

Markel’s plans call for dividing his land into three parcels, one of which will be for him and his family. The other two parcels will remain vacant until sold, according to one report. Markel will decide Haystack Mountain Golf Course’s final day, which most predict will be September 30.

On the positive side, the humble course lasted 55 years—infinitely longer than even the most artisanally aged dairy product. golfhaystack.com THE MOUND AND THE FURY: Iconic Haystack Mountain looms behind the lush fairways of the nine-hole golf course that takes its name.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN GOLF COURSE

IN A STATE that takes such pride in its skyscraping summits, it seems unthinkable that a conoid mound that rises 300 feet above a valley in Boulder County is called a “mountain.” And it’s more than a bit ironic that foodies around the world associate Colorado with this humble 5,545-foothigh hill because of the sublime artisanal cheeses made in its shadow.

But long before Longmont’s Haystack Mountain Creamery produced its first chèvre, there was Haystack Mountain Golf Course in Niwot.

Designed, built, owned and operated by the Ebel family on the 240 acres on which they also lived, Haystack opened in 1966 due southeast of its namesake—and in all likelihood will close this fall.

The 2,153-yard, nine-hole, walking-only layout winds around Left Hand Creek, threads between mature cottonwoods and requires water carries on three holes. Its flat greens, familyfriendliness and affordable, relaxed ambiance— highlighted by a lighted driving range—have made it a scenic haunt for generations of Boulder County golfers, from beginners to seniors to any player needing an ego boost.

“So many found golf on that quirky little layout,” said CAG editor-at-large Tom Ferrell, a former Boulderite.

This fall, however, the screen door on the

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The Old College Try AFTER TYING for sixth place at the NCAA Stanford Regional, the University of Denver’s Anna Zanusso competed as an individual in the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club and tied for ninth. It was the best finish by a Pioneer at the event since 2008 and made her the highest finisher ever for a Summit League golfer at the NCAA Championship. “To be the highest finisher of any non-power five school and beating six players in the top 10 of college golf shows you her talent and how she’s able to play and compete with the best,” said DU Women’s Golf Coach Lindsay Kuhle, who days later received her seventh Summit League Coach of the Year award. denverpioneers.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN TAFOYA/CLARKSON CREATIVE (LEFT); COURTESY OF LINDSAY KUHLE

BRAVISSIMA: Italian DU sophomore Anna Zanusso (left) made a splash at the NCAA nationals.

Lindsay Kuhle & Anna Zanusso

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The Gallery

AJ is More Than OK PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF NCAA/JAMIE SCHWABEROW/CLARKSON CREATIVE

COLORADO STATE’S AJ Ott certainly made the most of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the pandemic. The Fort Collins native picked up his first two collegiate wins— The Prestige Individual Invitational and Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate—and was briefly ranked by Golfstat as the country’s top men’s Division I golfer. He joined four-time PGA Tour winner Martin Laird as the only Ram golfers to be named All-Mountain West three times.

As an individual, he qualified for the NCAA National Championship, and in his final collegiate round—an even-par 70— he set a school record for rounds played with 150. Ott, who was low amateur in the 2019 CoBank Colorado Open and runner-up last year, plans to play in this month’s event, but hasn’t revealed if that (a) will remain next to his name.

LEFTY LEGACY: In tribute to his five years of dedication and lower scores, CSU renamed its most improved player honor the AJ Ott Award.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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Called Home PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF LEGACY.COM

ON AUGUST 26–28, the longest continually operated open golf championship in Colorado will take place in Grand Junction for the 83rd consecutive time, as scenic Tiara Rado Golf Course again hosts the Sinclair Rocky Mountain Open. The event counts among its champions 10 Colorado Golf Hall of Fame members, including four-time winners Jack Sommers and Pat Rea, and the last amateur overall champ, Paul Brown. Defending title-holder Mitch Carlson of Las Vegas, whose birdie on the 54th and final hole last year sealed his one-shot victory at 18-under par, will face a field that gets stronger each year as the payouts and sponsorships grow. This year’s purse will exceed $80,000, with $20,000 going to the winner. The event features professional, amateur and senior amateur fields. A pro-am takes place August 25. rmogolf.golfgenius.com PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN OPEN

Larry Maurer PHOTOGRAPH BY E.J. CARR

COLORADO GOLF recently lost two of its biggest supporters, Larry Maurer and Dave Richardson.

Maurer, who spent 26 years as an EZ-Go representative before founding Mile High Golf Carts in 2005, succumbed to cancer a month shy of his 80th birthday. The Boulder Country Club member won the 1975 State Amateur (then known as the Stroke Play) and captured a BCC club title.

Richardson represented Spalding, Hogan and Yes! during his long career in the golf industry. He qualified for the 1982 U.S. Public Links Championship and rose to become vice president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, an organization to which he volunteered countless hours.

Richardson, age 74, died June 12.

Both men were honorary members of the Colorado PGA Section. “Someone once said, ‘We are not in the golf business; we are in the relationship business,’” Colorado PGA Section Executive Director Eddie Ainsworth said. “This explains why several years ago the Colorado Section bestowed Honorary Colorado PGA Memberships to both Larry and Dave. Yes, they were great representatives of the companies they worked for, but when it came to dealing with our Colorado PGA members, they were trusted partners and friends, and they will be greatly missed.”

83 Years and Counting

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Dave Richardson

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July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

The Gallery

Unmatched Play

Junior Highs

FOR THE FIRST TIME in their combined 227year history, the Men’s and Women’s Match Play Championships took place simultaneously at the same venues, with eight men and eight women advancing from three days of pod play—similar to the one used at March’s WGC Match Play—at CommonGround Golf Course to two days of elimination matches at Colorado Golf Club that culminated in a 36hole final.

Cole Nygren Cole Nygren, a 27-year-old reinstated amateur from Longmont, defeated 21-yearold University of Denver player Carson Griggs, 3 and 1 for the men’s title, while a pair of 20-yearold collegians—Leigha Devine of Rutgers University and Lauren Lehigh of the University of New Mexico—battled for 38 holes before Devine triumphed. In addition to the trophy, Nygren received a medal honoring 2011 CGA Match Play champ Michael Lee, who died in December from COVID-19.

Every Men’s Match Play winner through 2030 will get one of the medals. coloradogolf.org

Leigha Devine

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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Owen Cornmesser

Lauren Kim

ON JUNE 17, Owen Cornmesser of Fort Collins and Lauren Kim of Surrey, British Columbia, won the boys and girls divisions of the Hale Irwin Junior at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve—the first of three AJGA events contested this year in Colorado.

Cornmesser’s three-day score of 2-under-par 214 tied him with Ty Holbrook, of Granbury, Tex. and Cade McLaughlin of Princeton, N.J. The Fossil Ridge High School senior then won the five-hole playoff. Kim finished 9-under par, 12 shots clear of her nearest competitor. The AJGA will hold the Colorado Springs Junior by Centura Health July 26–29 at The Club at Flying Horse, and the following week will mark the inaugural AJGA Junior Open at The Bridges Golf and Country Club, presented by the City of Montrose, Aug. 2–5. ajga.org

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Player’s Corner PLAY AWAY

Closer to Pagosa Named for its healing waters, Pagosa Springs abounds in transcendent beauty and many ways to enjoy it—including 27 soothing holes of golf. By Chris Duthie PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS DUTHIE

FIRST UP: The drivable 295-yard opener on Pagosa Springs Golf Club’s Ponderosa nine requires negotiating a tight chute of pines to access this razor-thin green.

There’s a heaven on earth that so few ever find, though the map’s in your soul and the road’s in your mind.

–Dan Fogelberg, “The Wild Places” DAN FOGELBERG got it right. In 1980, the multiplatinum-selling singer/songwriter bought a 590-acre spread just outside of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where he would live for 27 years among the soaring ponderosa pines and craggy mountainscapes of the Weminuche Wilderness before succumbing to prostate cancer.

“It’s a pretty calm existence here,” Fogelberg said in a 1990 interview with G. Brown of the Colorado Music Experience. The musician behind coloradoavidgolfer.com

such commercial hits as “Longer,” “Same Old Lang Syne,” “Hard To Say,” “Leader of the Band” and “Run for the Roses” often performed incognito to unsuspecting local audiences or to raise money for worthy organizations like the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs.

“I’m an avid skier during the winter; summertime, there’s so much to do,” he said. “I enjoy the solitude of hiking and mountain biking. The mountains have always been a very healing place for me. You go through a lot of changes in life, but these mountains will always be here.”

Solitude, calm and healing are words often used to describe another popular outdoor amenity: golf. While there’s no evidence that Fogelberg ever showed a predilection for the game, it’s not

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far-fetched to imagine the 2017 Colorado Music Hall of Fame inductee chasing pars and birdies at the area’s premier daily-fee layout, Pagosa Springs Golf Club. As captivating as it is challenging, the 27-hole facility ensconces itself in a forest of old-growth pines and water-brimming meadows, all gloriously framed by 13,000- and 14,000-foot peaks that comprise the San Juan and Weminuche mountains.

Originally designed in 1980 by celebrated PGA Tour player Johnny Bulla as a heavily wooded, 18-hole mountain course, the club expanded 15 years later with a lakes-infused links-style nine deftly crafted by DJ DeVictor. Undoubtedly, the course’s variety adds significantly to the club’s attraction, especially when frost delays—a frequent July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Play Away

DIFFERING VIEWS: A look back from the green at the Piñon nine’s uphill, 366-yard finisher (above) reveals Square Top Mountain and the Weminuche mountain range. Two holes earlier, a pond that’s home to muskrats, ducks and Canada geese partially guards the Piñon’s 436-yard par-4 seventh (right).

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS DUTHIE

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

PHOTOGRAPH BY @KELSIREA

problem even in summer—start players on the sunnier links nine.

The crisply manicured and superbly conditioned threecourse rota—the 3,412-yard Piñon, the 3,130-yard Ponderosa and the newer 3,730-yard Meadows—are an absolute pleasure to play. The elder Piñon/Ponderosa 18 treats players to treepinched tee balls, secluded pine- and piñon-framed fairways and small multi-level greens with modest 10.5 Stimpmeter speeds, plus several elevated hilltop tees that just squeal for players to go long or go home.

Down in the valley, the treeless but toothy Meadows nine eerily suggests South Florida golf: Seven holes border meandering lakes and wetlands—favored stomping grounds for muskrat, mule deer, elk, coyote and bear—and the fairways and greens are generously spacious to accommodate foul-weather winds. The infrequently presented 360-degree big sky and mountain views of the forested upper 18 predominate on the lower Meadows nine.

“Here you get a little mountain golf and a little links golf,” said PGA Director of Golf Derek Pepin. “On the Piñon and Ponderosa, the tree chutes and small sloping greens protect par, while water, bunkering and the wind make the Meadows more of a shot maker’s challenge.

“If you’re a big hitter, the Meadows accommodates,” he said. “Casual golfers and mid-handicappers will appreciate the original 18’s occasional call to hit an iron or hybrid off the tee—but still reach the flagstick in regulation. All told, this is a fun environment for people to come out and play golf.”

A 44-year-old rat-race expatriate, Pepin came to Pagosa three years ago after an 11year stint at Houston’s private Westwood Golf Club. He hasn’t looked back. “Life was definitely stressful there,” he says. “I was on call 24 hours

PAGOSA PANORAMA: A hikerseye view of Pagosa Springs and the verdant San Juan Basin.

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DISCOV ER

ONE Of cOlOr adO’s bEst cOursEs — tHE rIdGE

Located just south of Denver, The Ridge at Castle Pines North is an award-winning example of Tom Weiskopf’s fluent, wellproportioned layout that presents players with roomy fairways, sculpted bunkers and large, rolling greens. The Ridge is recognized by various golf publications as one of Colorado’s top golf courses.

More specifically, The Ridge has been voted as the top Denver region golf course, as well as the top golf course in Colorado multiple times by Colorado AvidGolfer .

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PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS DUTHIE

Play Away

GOLF, ELEVATED: The tee on the Ponderosa’s 408-yard fifth leads to a generous landing zone and narrowing approach to a tree-framed greensite.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF REALTOR.COM

a day. I was ripe for a change.”

So, apparently, are a whole lot of folks who are discovering the area’s vibrant lifestyle. Pagosa is a Ute Indian word for “healing,” which goes part and parcel to the town’s world-famous mineral hot springs—discovered hundreds of years ago

by Native Americans—and the dozens of other outdoor pursuits that are minutes away from historic Main Street.

Water factors many of those pursuits, including guided fly-fishing on the Rio Grande and the Lower San Juan River, as well as paddleboarding, fishing, kayaking or canoeing in Echo Canyon and Williams Creek reservoirs or in “Colorado’s answer to of Lake Powell”—the 35-mile Navajo Lake.

Eightmile Mesa and a latticework of trails in the San Juan National Forest challenge bikers and hikers of all levels. Situated 60 miles east of Durango, Pagosa is also a prime, Nikon-prompting gateway to Telluride, Creede, Taos and Santa Fe; to the nearby Ancestral Pueblo ruins at Chimney Rock National Monument; for riding the region’s historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge and Cumbres & Toltec Scenic railroads; and for casino

HIGH-COUNTRY HIDEOUT: Mountain Bird Ranch, Dan Fogelberg’s former home and studio, sits on 600 acres.

PHOTOGRAPH BY @PAGOSAHOTSPRINGS (LEFT); @SHELEENALOCH (MIDDLE)

gaming at the Southern Ute Casino Resort in Ignacio.

Bed down at the top-rated Springs Resort & Spa, which offers guests 24-hour access to the adjacent 25 pools of therapeutic mineral hot springs. In addition, the sprawling Club Wyndam Pagosa is ideally situated adjacent to Pagosa Springs Golf Club.

Pagosa Springs’ mass appeal is also showing up—where else?—in skyrocketing land sales, which were becoming increasingly apparent even before the ongoing “you can work from anywhere” COVID-19-fueled metropolitan exoduses.

In 2010, the 3,151-acre Boot Strap Ranch at the base of Wolf Creek Pass was sold for $47 million. Then in June 2021 the 9,600-acre Piedra Valley Ranch, located 12 miles west of Pagosa, went for $33.9 million.

One property located southeast of town, the 610-acre Mountain Bird Ranch, is not for sale.

The former home and recording studio of Dan Fogelberg has been off-market for a decade, its current occupant evidently also finding it a “heaven on earth.”

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: Located 15 miles northeast of Pagosa Springs, Treasure Falls (top) cascades 105 feet into Falls Creek, which flows to the San Juan River. A soak in one of the 25 pools of mineral-rich geothermal waters at the Springs Resort & Spa (above) promotes vitality and profound renewal.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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Longtime CAG Contributor Chris Duthie lives in Durango. For more about Pagosa Springs Golf Club, visit golfpagosa.com or call 970731-4755. For visitor information, check out VisitPagosaSprings.com. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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Player’s Corner LESSON

On-Course Cruise Control Pre-shot prep and plan execution will deliver greater consistency and lower scores. By Alex Fisher son you cannot create a playbook of how you are going to manage your way around the course.

Your plan should start from the tee on every hole. Picking the correct side of the teeing area is a fundamental that most golfers tend to overlook. Recognizing where the trouble is and which areas to avoid should influence which side of the teeing ground you use. Simply put, if you want to avoid the trouble on the right, hit from the right side of the tee box; trouble on the left means teeing it up on the left. This might sound counterintuitive, but it will align you towards the safe side of the hole and have you playing away from the danger.

Amateurs often overlook their preparation to play golf. Plan for every shot—that is a key ingredient for playing great golf.

RECOGNIZE AND VISUALIZE Before you even pull the club, stand on the teeing area and visualize the shot you want to execute. Recognize where you do not want the ball to go and be specific on the line you want to take. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging where the danger is, but you must have a clear and specific plan of how you are going to navigate the hole.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS DUTHIE

PLAYING YOUR BEST GOLF requires consistency. But what exactly does that mean?

Contrary to what many amateur players think, consistency is about more than hitting the ball perfectly, making more putts and even having a repeatable golf swing.

Consistency starts before you even tee off on the first hole.

Course management is one of the main reasons why players on tour shoot low scores. Not only do they have a caddie to reconfirm their plan, but they also carry a thick yardage book in their back pocket full of notes on how they are going to navigate the course. Without a plan, you’re like a quarterback who takes his team into the red zone with no idea as to how to score a touchdown. If you have a golf course that you play on a regular basis there is no rea-

WALK THE LINE After you have visualized the shot you want to hit and have selected a club, you have to walk to the ball on the correct line. It is easy to aim too far left or right if you approach the ball from the wrong angle. Stand behind the ball and make sure that your chest, ball and intended target all align. This will help you line up square to your target. If you stand behind the ball but your chest and feet are pointing right or left of the target, you will aim right or left without realizing it.

STEP INTO YOUR SETUP To get your body square and parallel to your target you must follow a three-step sequence: 1. As you approach the ball, plant your back foot first while keeping your chest open to the target and front foot back.

2. Rotate your chest so that it is facing the ball.

3. Bring your left foot in, making sure that your chest and feet are aligned and that you have not compromised your ball position.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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PICTURE PERFECT The power of visualization is often overlooked and underestimated. If you fixate on where the trouble is, you are more likely to be pulled in that direction.

Picture the swing that you want to make and what the ball flight will look like as it leaves the club face and travels towards your target. If you are not committed to the shot or are distracted by something, make sure that you back away and reset.

SWITCH IT OFF The moment of truth has arrived. Having taken all the cognitive steps necessary in order to hit the shot, be autonomous, switch off your brain and swing free. Your pre-shot routine and planning should have gotten you to the point where you are able to hit your shot with full commitment and intent.

Multiple-award-winning PGA Director of Instruction Alex Fisher divides his year between Glacier Club in Durango (May–September) and the JW Marriott Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Reach him at alexfisherpga.com; 602-363-9800

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July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Side Bets FAREWAYS

Colorado’s Sandwich Heroes Colorado’s tastiest and most famous meals between two slices…and where to try them. By John Lehndorff

THE L.E.S. at Rosenberg’s Bagels Rosenberg’s bakes the best authentic bagels in Colorado. For the L.E.S.,

PHOTOGRAPHS BY FROM THE HIP PHOTOGRAPHY

WHEN FOOD & WINE recently went looking for “The Best Sandwich in Every State,” the publication sought those handheld meals “with an extreme sense of belonging, the sandwiches people would fight for, and possibly over.” In Colorado, the editors chose the hot Italian sausage sub with provolone and peppers at Carmine Lonardo’s Deli.

That sandwich, while exceptional, is not even my favorite at this Lakewood institution. It got me thinking about Colorado’s best examples, and I ran into a messy question: What is—and isn’t—a sandwich?

Although I dearly love them all, burgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls and barbecue on buns don’t qualify.

A truly great sandwich is composed like a song. Each ingredient is essential—the condiments and spreads, the meats and cheeses and veggies and how they are cut and layered so every bite is an experience.

These edible icons are so famous they often simply have “The” in front of a name. Think about The Reuben, The BLT, The French Dip and The Club, not to mention all the grinders, hoagies, heroes and subs.

The right sandwich loaf is critical whether it’s a baguette, ciabatta slices or a seeded bun, because it provides structural integrity. A sandwich that falls apart—that you can’t eat without a knife and fork, doesn’t fit the traditional definition.

The man the sandwich is named after, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich (the English city that this month will host the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges), famously requested something he could eat with one hand while continuing to play cards and gamble.

Some notable sandwiches have strong connections to Colorado (see page 43) and the state has birthed well-regarded sandwich-shop chains including Etai’s Bakery Café, Snarf’s Sandwiches and Quiznos. After some seriously tasty research, here are my candidates for Colorado’s most exceptional sandwiches.

L.E.S. IS MUCH MORE: Mouthwatering pastrami, melted Swiss cheese and tangy coleslaw fill Rosenberg’s Deli’s L.E.S., which rivals its Sturgeon B.L.T. with housesmoked fish, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo. Both come with a pickle.

A TASTE OF NEW YORK: Rosenberg’s Deli at Stanley Marketplace is the sequel to its original Five Points location and precursor to the one in Boulder.

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July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Fareways

“Too few people understand a really good sandwich.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

–American culinary pioneer James Beard

DUTCH TREAT: The Old Amsterdam at Dubbel Dutch layers aged Dutch cheese, a hardboiled egg, cucumber, tomato and lettuce inside a liberally buttered baguette for a supremely satisfying taste of the Netherlands.

top-notch pastrami, melted Swiss cheese and tangy coleslaw fills a toasted bagel—my choice is their pumpernickel everything variety.

Also try: Sturgeon B.L.T. with house-smoked fish, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo.

Locations in Denver’s Five Points, Stanley Marketplace and in Boulder; rosenbergsbagels.com

CURRY CHICKEN SALAD at Moxie Bread Co. It figures that the state’s most highly awarded artisan bread bakery would produce sandwiches worth celebrating. Humble chicken salad is elevated at the Louisville destination where chicken breasts, golden raisins, celery, curry mayo, red onion, toasted pepitas and greens are served on your choice of fresh bread. I love it on Moxie’s

Millabrod, heirloom sourdough laced with pine nuts and sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Also try: The family-size Via Moxie Sandwich with smoky speck, Manchego cheese, garlic olive oil, lemon and greens.

Locations in Louisville and Boulder; moxiebreadco.com Continued on page 42

BBQ PORK BANH MI at Vinh Xuong Bakery I love everything about bánh mì (pronounced bun mee)—the crunch of the fresh veggies, the chew of the bread and the well-seasoned grilled meats. At Vinh Xuong, I go with the best-seller: A fresh house-baked bun, buttered and stuffed with grilled pork, crisp pickled carrots, daikon radish, cucumber, cilantro and jalapeño.

Also try: Creamy Vietnamese coffee and a sweet-bean stuffed fried sesame ball.

2370 W. Alameda Blvd., Denver; facebook.com/vinhxuongbakery

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MOXIE BREAD CO.

THE OLD AMSTERDAM at Dubbel Dutch Netherlands-born guitarist and singer Eef Tulp has a simple sandwich menu at her tiny North Denver shop crowned by an Old World masterpiece.

The comfy Old Amsterdam takes a generously buttered Trompeau Bakery baguette and layers on aged Dutch cheese, hard-boiled egg, cucumber, tomato and lettuce.

Also try: Denver’s best licorice assortment including Heksehyl: soft pieces that are salty inside, sugary outside.

4974 Lowell Blvd., Denver; dubbeldutchdenver.com

NO ORDINARY SANDWICH: Packed with golden raisins, celery, red onion, toasted pepitas and greens, the Curry Chicken Salad at Moxie Bread Co. tucks deliciously into the bakery’s millabrod.

40

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Fareways

PHOTOGRAPHS BY FROM THE HIP PHOTOGRAPHY

GETTIN’ PIGGY WITH IT: One of many masterpiece sandwiches at Il Porcellino Salumi (below), The Bacon engages the senses with apple butter and jalapeño aioli, smoked shaved bacon, pecorino cheese sauce, arugula and more. Add the pickled-vegetable crunchiness of giardiniera on the side.

Continued from page 40 THE BACON at Il Porcellino Salumi This Denver maker of fine cured meats and salumi also serves its wares at their Denver deli. The Bacon crowns a great sandwich menu.

Toasted sourdough slices are spread with apple butter and jalapeño aioli, piled with housesmoked shaved (not sliced) bacon with Pecorino cheese sauce, tomatoes and arugula. Ask for a side of hot, crunchy giardiniera.

Also try: The Hoggie with capicola, soppressata, ham, aioli and pickled peppers on ciabatta.

4324 West 41st Ave., Denver; ilporcellinodenver.com

THE GODFATHER II at Carmine Lonardo’s Local East Coasters make pilgrimages to this family-owned Italian grocer, deli and butcher for the real deal wrapped in traditional white paper.

Given my Sicilian bloodline, my go-to is The Godfather II, a baguette filled with Carmine Lonardo’s famous hot sausage plus Italian beef and giardiniera with marinara on the side.

Also try: The Italian Combo with capocollo, salami, pepperoni, ham, provolone and Italian dressing in three sizes including “The Italian Way”—a 24-inch submarine.

7585 W Florida Ave, Lakewood; carminelonardosmeatmarket.com PACHUQUENA TORTA at Las Tortas Tortas are over-the-top warm, full-bodied meals with combinations of barbacoa, sausage, ham, breaded chicken and steak and many toppings COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

PHILLY CHURRASCO SEITAN CHEESESTEAK (City, O’ City): Shaved seitan, red bell peppers, chimichurri, chipotle aioli, green chile queso, gluten-free bun. 206 E 13th Ave., Denver; cityocitydenver.com THE SHREWSBURY STREET (Rise Artisan Bread): Fresh mozzarella tomato, roasted red pepper, pesto mayo, toasted rosemary bread. 403 5th St., Berthoud; riseartisanbread.com THE BEETNIK (Organic Sandwich Co.): Roasted red and gold beets, house made almond “feta,” vinaigrette, arugula, pretzel bread. Locations in Boulder and Louisville; organicsandwichco.com

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF CUBA CUBA SANDWICHERIA

PAN CON BISTEC at Cuba Cuba Sandwicheria A hot press transforms simple ingredients into crave-able memories like Cuba Cuba’s Miamiinspired steak sandwich. Pan con bistec is a Cuban loaf filled with garlic-y steak strips, lettuce, tomato, onions and herbed chimichurri dressing and the coup de grace: hot shoestring French fries!

Also try: The Cubano with roast pork, ham, Swiss, pickles and mustard on pressed bread.

Locations in Denver, Glendale, DTC and Northfield; cubacubasandwicheria.com

Hold the Meat

filling pointy-end bolillo or round telera buns. My choice at Las Tortas is the Pachuquena. Each mouth-filling bite includes pork loin, Milanesa (breaded fried steak), cheese and “everything,” meaning mayo, avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeños and salsa.

Also try: Tortas are available “Ahogadastyle”—smothered in various sauces.

Locations in Denver, Federal Heights, Greeley; lastortasdenver.com

42

HAVANA BITES: Cuba Cuba’s original downtown location (above) has spawned four sandwicherias, all serving the classic Pan con Bistec (left) and Cubano.

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Colorado Claims to Fame When it comes to great sandwiches, our state has an illustrious but elusive history.

THE DENVER SANDWICH Honestly, there is no evidence whatsoever that this ham, bell pepper, onion and egg scramble on toast was created in Denver.

Also called a Western sandwich, the Denver sandwich eventually became the familiar brunch favorite, the Denver omelet.

One origin story credits The Denver to the egg foo yung whipped up in woks by immigrant Chinese railroad workers.

THE CHEESEBURGER Long before Louis Ballast trademarked the word “cheeseburger,” there were plenty of people melting cheese atop hot beef patties. Ballast, who opened Colorado’s first drive-in restaurant, was simply the first to coin the term. There is a small granite monument in a Key Bank parking lot on Speer Boulevard engraved with these words: “The cheeseburger trademark was registered by Mr. Ballast on March 5, 1935.”

THE FOOL’S GOLD On Feb. 1, 1976, Elvis Presley and his crew flew from Memphis to Denver solely to eat Fool’s Gold sandwiches made at the Colorado Mine Company restaurant.

Delivered to Elvis’ plane, The Lisa Marie, at Stapleton Airport, these PB&Js on steroids consisted of an entire hollowed-out loaf of French bread filled with peanut butter, jelly and a pound of crisp bacon. A smaller version of the Fool’s Gold is still available the Nick’s Cafe in Golden.

Colorado Colors oil 30" x 40"

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FAN GIRLS COOK

THE SLOPPER Pueblo’s legendary Slopper is a glorious variation on the open-face blue plate special. Most famously dished at Pueblo’s Gray’s Coors Tavern, the Slopper features open-face cheeseburgers (without the top bun) awash in pork green chile sauce and garnished with onions, grated cheese and / or saltines.

John Lehndorff is the former dining critic of the Rocky Mountain News and food editor of the Boulder Daily Camera. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Side Bets NICE DRIVES

Going with the Current The mainstreaming of electric vehicles like Polestar puts a charge into a couple of gas-powered classics. By Isaac Bouchard

WE’RE NO LONGER on the eve of the EV revolution. It’s here to stay. Barely a day goes by without an ad or announcement of another manufacturer’s entry into a world once inhabited only by Teslas. Meanwhile, cars, trucks and SUVs fueled by internal combustion engines keep chuggin’ along, delivering greater power, improved efficiency and more fun. What a time to be an enthusiast!

2021 POLESTAR 2

EPA RATINGS: 96/88/92eMPG 0-60 MPH: 4.1sec PRICE AS TESTED: $71,400 Polestar started as a race team sponsored by Volvo, which then bought it and turned it into the Swedish company’s performance arm—just like Mercedes did with AMG. Polestar has since been transformed into the tip of Volvo’s EV spear.

Following the division’s first offering—the Polestar 1 plugin coupe—the Polestar 2 directly competes with the Tesla Model 3. The first models released have two motors producing a total COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

horsepower of 408 and combined torque of 487 pound-feet, channeled through AWD. The 2 certainly needs both axles driven—it’s a rocket. Like all EVs, max torque is available from the moment you touch the throttle, and it blasts off like it was fired from launchpad 39A at Cape Kennedy. Anyone with time in one of Elon’s machines will be familiar with this sensation, and it’s very addictive. 60mph arrives in 4.1 seconds, a tenth off a Model 3 Long Range.

What the Polestar does better is engage the driver; its chassis is superb and its steering incisive. The company’s racing heritage is evident in the way the 2 handles and in the tuning of

44

its optional Ohlins dampers. They are very stiff at low speed, but the ride rarely becomes harsh (unlike the Tesla on its bigger wheel options), and it smooths out at higher velocities, all while offering exemplary body control. Grip is impressive too, no surprise considering the 2’s low center of gravity and ultra-sticky 20-inch Continental summer tires.

Those expensive shocks are only adjustable from outside the car, which is hard to imagine many owners doing. Hopefully in the future Polestar will offer cockpit-adjustable stiffness. Meanwhile one could skip the $5,000 Performance Pack option (which features the dampers and coloradoavidgolfer.com

Nice Drives tires) and choose either 19- or 20-inch wheels with all-season tires.

The 74kWh battery pack that currently powers a Polestar 2 can be recharged to 80 percent capacity in 40 minutes on a fast charger.

While on the topic of range, independent testing suggests that, in real-world usage, the Tesla 3 Long Range will go about 40 miles farther than the Polestar 2. Yet the Polestar’s range was sufficient in that it never needed charge during the review period, which suggests it will be adequate for most folks. Polestars are specced and ordered online (at a fixed price) and delivered to top Volvo dealers who also service them. That blend of the Tesla model and the legacy “franchise” automotive retail system has many advantages for consumers, since there are no state restrictions on the number of stores.

The Polestar is also superior in build and material quality. The 2 feels solid and has tight panel gaps and good paint quality. Its interior is gorgeous, with reclaimed wood, WeaveTech textile accents and a grosgrain-like material for the dash and door panels. This is a home run, considering how many car companies have tried at reinventing the graining on these panels and failed. Vegan cloth is standard, while ventilated leather is an expensive option, as is a fixed glass roof.

With no blind to block the glass roof, things can get a little toasty on a hot day, especially because the center air conditioning vents of the Polestar 2 blow from behind the 12.3-inch center screen, creating some air-circulation issues on normal fan settings.

The Polestar 2 is the first vehicle to use Android’s new automotive operating system; not to be confused with Android Auto, it is the embedded OS and allows for some intriguing options for web searches and content playback. It plays well with Apple products but seems optimized for those who use Google.

The Polestar 2 is one of only two EVs (the Ford Mach-E is the other) that really bring the fight to Tesla’s mainstream models. It is competitive on price, pleasurable to drive and delivers real benefits over many Tesla offerings.

2021 DODGE CHARGER HELLCAT REDEYE WIDEBODY EPA RATING: 12 /21/15mpg 0-60: 3.5sec PRICE AS TESTED: $90,060

There’s no need to yearn for the glory days of muscle cars when a street-legal, 797-hp beast like the Hellcat Redeye is available, right off the lot. Dodge has certainly carved out a niche as the purveyor of hot-roddin’ fantasies and it’s hard not to succumb to this Charger’s childish delights.

Its body is outrageous, with an enlarged hood scoop and heat- extracting vents marking out the changes from the “normal,” 707-hp Hellcat. Its bolt-on, bubble flares draw attention to the 20-inch wheels and their 305-section width tires; this is one serious looking sedan.

You’ll be replacing that rear rubber quite often if you indulge, but that’s the whole point. This Dodge will roast ’em for a hundred yards with an injudicious stab of the loud pedal. Exercise a bit more restraint and 100mph will vanish behind you in 7.5 seconds; a few ticks later it’s bye-bye

2021 Volvo XC90 T8 Recharge The XC90 is the vehicle that began Volvo’s renaissance, and its plugin version is the best. The 11.6kWh battery and electric motor smooth out power delivery— and there’s a lot of power, with 400 horses and 472 lb-ft of torque. Continuous improvements to software and the electric architecture have increased the pure electric range of this Recharge model to over 20 miles. Perhaps more relevant is that real world urban fuel economy goes from the low-to-mid teens of the gasoline-only T6 model into the low-to-mid 20s. The XC90 clearly still has one of the most beautifully trimmed interiors in its class; quality is first-rate, with rich textures, lovely colors and carefully crafted shapes. The infotainment system is faster thanks to new software and Volvo seating comfort probably best in class.

Up to seven passengers can fit into its tidy, good-looking body, illustrating why the XC90 continues to sell so quickly.

EPA Ratings: 55MPGe (electric & gas); 27mpg 0-60: 4.9sec PRICE AS TESTED: $81,690

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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Nice Drives quarter mile in 11.5, with a trap speed of 126mph.

Sure, there are faster hypercars—and even SUVs, thanks to AWD harnessing their output. But few are as indulgent as this classic, powerslidin’ rear-driver. It’s obvious how talented the SRT team is at developing cars like this; its middle, “Sport” electronic stability mode was perfect for feeling like you were Bo or Luke Duke without getting in over your head.

The Charger rides better than cars like an AMG E63 S or M5; only at ultra-high speeds was its more compliant suspension obvious. At high velocity the Hellcat’s 4,650 pounds moved around a bit too much for (mental) comfort. It makes a great daily driver, with a commodious interior, large trunk, comfy seating and most all the gizmos one could want. Material quality is decent, the infotainment system easy to use and fast in response.

In the waning days of the internal combustion engine, the Redeye’s classic hotrod techniques make it a winner: a bigger supercharger running more boost, beefed up connecting rods and pistons, stouter valvetrain, an additional fuel pump and brawnier driveshaft and axles. Can the right electric car take it from the lights? Yes. But will that vehicle’s driver have anywhere near as much fun? Not even close.

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2021 Jeep Wrangler 392 The same glorious inclination to excess that created the Hellcat Redeye gives us this 470 horsepower Wrangler 392. Stuffing in a 6.4-liter Hemi was just the beginning; there’s a burlier frame, 2-inch suspension lift, bespoke Fox dampers and bead-lock rims. These clamp the off-road rubber to prevent them spinning on the wheels under the assault of this Jeep’s 470lb-ft of torque. Outside, there’s a giant, functional hood scoop (that will also divert up to 15 gallons of water per minute away from the Hemi’s gullet). While limited to 99mph, the 392 will hit 60 in 4.5 seconds, which is silly, absurd, inane and wonderful. As is its bellowing exhaust. Of course, you could get a 4xe plugin hybrid Wrangler with the same amount of torque, the ability to off-road in electric mode, and a $7,500 federal tax credit. But the 392 launch edition sold out in mere minutes, so there are obviously still quite a few of us nutcases out there.

EPA RATINGS: 13/17/14mpg; 0-60 MPH: 4.5sec.; PRICE AS TESTED: $78,740

Automotive Editor Isaac Bouchard owns Denver-based Bespoke Autos (isaac@bespokeautos.com; 303-475-1462). Read more of his automotive writing, reviews and recommendations on coloradoavidgolfer.com and bespokeautos.com. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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57

The

th

WHERE LEGENDS BEGIN®

JULY 29–AUG. 1, 2021

GREEN VALLEY RANCH GOLF CLUB, DENVER

SAVANNAH VILAUGI, CHAMPION

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHIP BROMFIELD/PRO-MOTION, LTD

2021 COBANK COLORADO WOMEN’S OPEN

HARRY RUDOLPH, CHAMPION

MARK ANGUIANO, CHAMPION 2020 COBANK COLORADO OPEN

2020 COBANK COLORADO SENIOR OPEN coloradoavidgolfer.com

51

July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

JULY 29–AUG. 1, 2021 GREEN VALLEY RANCH GOLF CLUB, Denver

SIX FOR A FIVE PHOTOGRAPH BY JON RIZZI

WELCOME TO THE sixth year of CoBank’s five-year sponsorship of the Colorado Open Championships. Wait. Was the sponsorship handicapped? Did the NCAA grant an extra year of eligibility? Did they just forget to change the logo and the signs?

No, no and no.

In March of last year, five months after CoBank notified the Colorado Open Championships that it would not renew its title sponsorship of the three tournaments and related events past 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown began.

This not only made securing a title sponsor even more challenging; it also THE NAME OF THE GAME: Creative problem-solving led to CoBank’s title sponsorship of the Colorado Opens continuing through 2021, a year longer than contracted. meant no 2020 special events that CoBank had previously sponsored, like the kids clinics and PEAK Performer exhibitions with stars such sources,” including Colorado Open Golf Foundaas Lexi Thompson and Matt Kuchar. tion board members.

But it also meant that the money CoBank had Calling it a “creative solution,” Laura also budgeted for those 2020 events could be applied noted saving “about $80,000 by not having to reto sponsoring the 2021 championships. “We albrand this year’s event by removing CoBank from ready had a deposit from previous years, so no all the signage for just one year.” new money needed to be approved,” Colorado Like last year, the kids clinics and PEAK PerOpen Golf Foundation CEO Kevin Laura said. former events will not take place. Yet, registration “They were very gracious.” in the First Tee-GVR is up 40 percent and 18 First The money covered about one-third of the tiTee kids are enrolled in the Caddie program at tle sponsorship sponsor package. Laura says the Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. remaining two-thirds came from a “substantial Laura anticipates naming the next title spongrant from a private foundation, monies from the sor no later than the CoBank Colorado Senior 2020 championships and donations from multiple Open Aug. 25–27.

Two and Tree COMPETITORS WILL FIND two major differences in the Green Valley Ranch course this year: • The second hole, which has played as a 577-yard par 5 the last few years, will play as a par 4 between 510 and 521 yards. This changes the course par from 72 to 71—the same number it was before 2015, the year 12th hole went from a par 4 to a par 5. No. 2 yielded two eagles and 35 birdies in last year’s championship, its average score of 4.43 trailing only the 12th (4.41) as the least difficult hole.

• For safety reasons, the largest of the large cottonwoods that blocked the right-side approach to the 16th green was cut down in March. Its enormous trunk had become a decaying husk. “It was going to fall,” CoBank Colorado Opens CEO Kevin Laura says, “and we didn’t want anyone to get hurt when it did.”

HOW LOW CAN THEY GO?

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

could go for flags. There’s no way the course plays the same way when the conditions are firm and fast.”

In the year since winning the event, Anguiano has qualified for the PGA TOUR’s Waste Management Phoenix Open and missed the cut. Prior to arriving in Denver to defend his title, he’ll compete in the Waterloo and Cedar Rapids opens. “It’s the same thing I did last year.”

Does his 2020 performance in Colorado give him extra confidence?

“No way. I have to pretend it’s my first time again. Otherwise, you can slip mentally and be way behind where you should be.”

If that happens in a field as strong as this year’s portends to be— aside from the Olympics, there are no PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions or Korn Ferry Tour events scheduled that weekend—even a guy capable of going 29-under doesn’t stand a chance.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHIP BROMFIELD/PRO-MOTION, LTD

AT LAST YEAR’S CoBank Colorado Open, Mark Anguiano of Playa Vista, Cal., shot better than his age. The 27-year-old went 29-under. His fourround total of 259—which included a course-record-tying 12-under-par 60 in the third round—shattered by five strokes the event’s previous record of 24-under set by Albuquerque’s Sam Saunders the previous year (Saunders also carded a round of 60 in 2018, as did Nicholas Mason in 2007).

“I had no expectations,” Anguiano says, “but going into event, I was playing really consistent, solid golf. I’m just glad I performed under pressure.”

He had to. Nipping at his heels were Carson Jacobs of Tennessee, who finished at 27-under and Jose Toledo of Guatemala (26-under).

That’s three players who broke Saunders’ short-lived scoring record, while fourth-place finisher, former DU Pioneer James Love, tied it.

Colin Prater, who took low-amateur honors, laughs with disbelief.

“My goal was to be top-10 overall, and I shot 12-under,” says Prater, who won last year’s State Amateur with a 14-under. “I tied for 34th, seventeen shots behind the winner and eight out of the top 10.”

The flood of professional talent and impressively low scores correlate almost directly to the 2016 increase in the event purse to $250,000 and the winner’s share of $100,000.

“The prize money lures a lot of players from all over the country,” Anguiano says, noting that last year was his first time competing in the event. “The level of competition in the Colorado Open is the closest thing to playing in a tour event. You definitely want to peak for it.”

Another appeal, Anguiano reflects, is greens that “are unbelievably smooth. For a state open, that’s incredible.”

He also ascribes last year’s exceedingly low scoring to rain falling the nights before the third and fourth rounds. “It softened the course to the point you knew that your shots were going to stick,” he reasons. “You

Mark Anguiano

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JULY 29–AUG. 1, 2021 GREEN VALLEY RANCH GOLF CLUB, Denver

Hacienda Colorado THERE MUST BE SOMETHING in the water at Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra Heights, Cal.—and it’s probably not golf balls. This year’s CoBank Colorado Women’s Open champion Savannah Vilaubi and 2020 CoBank Colorado Open Champion Mark Anguiano both play out of the venerable 101-year-old club, where Tiger Woods’ 62 in the 1992 California Amateur stands as the course record. “She just joined last year,” Anguiano says. “We talked about what that tournament did for me last year and what to expect from the course, and she said that helped her coming down the stretch.”

Savannah Vilaubi

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHIP BROMFIELD/PRO-MOTION, LTD

OH, SAVANNAH!

Hailey Schalk

HEADING INTO the 54th and final hole of this June’s CoBank Colorado Women’s Open, Savannah Vilaubi had a five-stroke lead over Colorado’s Becca Huffer and a chance at tying the event’s 16under-par scoring record if she birdied Green Valley Ranch’s long par-5 finisher. But the 27-year-old pro from Downey, Cal. wasn’t taking any chances. She hit an iron off the tee, took the safe route to the green and made her seventh consecutive par for the win—and $50,000.

That amount exceeded the $48,774 she has earned during her five years on the Symetra Tour—a total that includes the $16,733 she made May 30th with her runner-up finish in the Mission Inn Resort & Club Championship. Her victories in the 2016 and 2019 Texas Women’s Open yielded payouts of $5,000 and $10,000, respectively.

“You guys make us feel like the professionals we strive to be,” she said addressing the organizers and volunteers during her victory speech. “It’s nice to have women’s golf be as celebrated as it has been this week. We hope other tours and tournaments can learn from the example you guys set.”

On the amateur side, three-time Colorado high-school state champion Hailey Schalk, who hadn’t made the cut in her two previous Colorado Women’s Opens, took low-amateur honors. Now a sophomore at the University of Colorado, the 19-year-old carded a 3-under 213, one shot better than the University of Denver’s Caroline Jordaan and strong enough for a T10 overall.

COULD A COMPANION or alternate course be in the future of the Colorado Open Championships? Last month, Oakwood Land Company —the same developer of Green Valley Ranch— announced it had closed on a 907-acre parcel located east of Parker Road between the Chenango community and E-470. Called Kings Point, the activity- and amenity-rich neighborhood will comprise approximately 1,700 homes of diverse sizes and price points, as well as a championship golf course and country club.

“Kings Point is the last undeveloped area of southeast Aurora that provides access to Denver International Airport and downtown Denver,” Oakwood Homes Chairman and CEO Pat Hamill explains. “The opportunity to build a community that affords urban access and views of Pikes Peak, Mount Evans and Longs Peak is rare.”

Those views also come on a property that’s ideally suited to building a golf course.

“It’s similar in topography to Colorado Golf Club,” Hamill says, referring to the private club 10 miles south. “It has 250 feet of elevation COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

change, native grasses, yucca and pockets of ponderosa pines.”

Preliminary plans call for the course to occupy the northwestern edge of the property with little, if any, real estate lining the fairways.

“It will be connected to the community,” Hamill says, “but not wind through subdivisions or neighborhoods.”

The community will have clublike atmosphere,” he says, “with four or five activity zones—parks, pools and playgrounds for community and socialization for everyone from young families to empty nesters. That diversity has always been key to our communities.”

He has not settled on a course architect.

“Ultimately, some designers don’t want to be part of a master-planned community, but we’ve narrowed it down from five to two candidates,” he explains.

Groundbreaking on both the course and the community will happen next year, with the course opening in 2024 or 2025. Kings Point will likely be private, with golf and social memberships, but Hamill insists he hasn’t yet worked

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PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN STANLEY

A FUTURE VENUE?

The future location of Kings Point

out the details.

Hamill does say, however, that rotating some of the tournaments with venues other than Green Valley Ranch “has always been one of our intentions. Nobody likes to take their course out of play for a week at a time.”

Above all, though, he intends to make the golf operation the “crown jewel” of the Kings Point community. “We want to marry an outstanding community with families that will be there for hundreds of years and have a golf course that can be not only fun but also endure the test of time. And we have some exciting plans on how to achieve that.” coloradoavidgolfer.com

Colorado PGA REACH Colorado PGA Professionals make a positive difference in the lives of others through the game of golf with programs and opportunities that promote diversity and inclusion within the game.

We are on a mission to ensure that the game of golf is inclusive and looks more like America. PGA WORKS leverages fellowships, scholarships, and career exploration events to inspire and engage talent from diverse backgrounds to pursue key employment positions across the golf industry.

Through our Pillar Grants, we provide funding for programs that strive to make golf inclusive for all.

Designed to diversify the golf industry's workforce, PGA WORKS leverages fellowships, scholarships, career exploration events to inspire and engage talent from diverse backgrounds to pursue key employment positions across the golf industry.

The Colorado PGA REACH Women’s Leadership Summit serves as a catalyst to empower women on and off the golf course. The Summit is an investment in current and future women leaders by providing content, tools, mentoring and networking opportunities to support their career advancement.

Each year COLORADO PGA REACH awards Pillar Grants to local PGA Members and golf facilities that offer programming that strives to make golf inclusive of people from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds and for individuals with disabilities. Since 2008 more than $320,000 in grant funding has been distributed to Colorado PGA Members who developed programs and opportunities that met our strict Diversity & Inclusion guidelines.

Colorado PGA REACH is the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of the Colorado PGA. To learn more about the DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PILLAR of Colorado PGA REACH, visit us online at coloradopga.com or call 303-681-0742

JULY 29–AUG. 1, 2021 GREEN VALLEY RANCH GOLF CLUB, Denver GOOD SPORTS: 2001 British Open champion David Duval shakes hands with Hunter Swanson at a 2017 Kids’ Clinic at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF COLORADO OPEN GOLF FOUNDATION

A FIRST TEE FIRST

ON JUNE 20–24, as this issue headed to press, Hunter Swanson and Kyle Leydon of First Tee GVR were heading to the first tee of The Walker Course at Clemson University in South Carolina to compete in the first-ever The First Tee National Championship.

And to that list of firsts, add a few more: Should either of them come in first among the 24 boys competing in the event, he’ll be the first to win the Tattersall Cup, named for Richmond, Va., business and community leader Fred Tattersall, a longtime First Tee trustee who, according to First Tee CEO Greg McLaughlin, “created this opportunity for teenagers from across our 150 chapters who have worked hard to advance their golf games while also staying involved in school and their chapters.”

Plus, the winner of the boys division of The First Tee National Championship will also join the medalist from the 24-player girls division as competitors in the PGA TOUR Champions’ PURE Insurance Championship Sept. 24-26 at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

In all, the 48 participants came from 32 chapters, with First Tee-GVR one of 12 with multiple representatives (the Central Florida, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City and Roanoke Valley chapters each produced three).

The 2020 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Boys Player of the Year, Swanson is a rising senior at Northfield High School. In adCOLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

dition to participating in First Tee since 2009, he belongs to the Hale Irwin Player Program at CommonGround Golf Course, won two Junior Golf Alliance (JGAC) events last year and was runner-up in the Colorado Junior Amateur.

In this June’s 121st CGA Match Play Championship, Swanson advanced to the Quarterfinals, defeating 2015 champion Nick Nosewicz 4 & 3 before losing to eventual champion Cole Nygren 2 & 1. On a national level, Swanson carded a respectable 4-over 220 to tie for 18th in a field of 235 competitors in last August’s High School Golf National Invitational at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

Leydon, who just finished his sophomore year at Brighton High School, won April’s JGAC boys Tour event at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo and last year’s Optimist Tournament of Champions at Green Valley Ranch. Also a member of the Hale Irwin Player Program, he ranks second on the JGAC Points list as of June 15.

Starting at First Tee-GVR in 2014, he is now an Eagle-level member who volunteers as a junior coach and has caddied at Cherry Hills.

Postponed from its original 2020 dates because of the pandemic, The First Tee National Championship will be held annually at various college campuses around the nation, providing participants the opportunity to network and take in the college experience.

At Clemson, Leydon, Swanson and other

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participants also had the opportunity to hear from PGA Head Golf Professional Steve Scott on how his values intersected with his experience of finishing runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 1996 U.S. Amateur Championship.

To find out how Swanson and Leydon fared at Clemson, visit coloradoavidgolfer.com.

Kyle Leydon

coloradoavidgolfer.com

SERVING OUR RESIDENTS IS THE AIR WE BREATHE.

We work to ensure every aspect of living at an AIR community is fulfilling and rewarding. From the start of the leasing process and throughout the time spent living at any of our communities, we’re here for our residents. Our focus is on building community and creating living experiences that live up to the highest expectations.

AIR Communities is proud to support the Colorado Open Golf Foundation.

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Colorado

Getaways VAIL VALLEY • SUMMIT COUNTY • SNOWMASS PRESENTED BY

HIGH-COUNTRY COOL On- and off-course ways to escape the heat

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

with the sound of big drives, fat tires, happy kids, music and more

PHOTOGRAPH BY JACK AFFLECK

EAGLE RANCH

A mountain-golf gem everyone can play

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July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

THE CLUB AT CORDILLERA

We believe our lives are best lived while enjoying the rewards of membership here - our private slice of heaven that provides ample opportunity to relax, connect and savor Mother Nature's majesty. It is our personal four-season playground, and it feeds our passion for an outdoor life invigorated by crisp mountain air, awe-inspiring scenery, aspen tree lines, fresh alpine snow and summer blossoms.

WE CONTINUE TO OFFER FULL GOLF, YOUNG PROFESSIONAL, NATIONAL AND OUR POPULAR FAMILY LIFETIME LEGACY MEMBERSHIPS

WWW.CORDILLERA-VAIL.COM

GOLF . TENNIS . SWIMMING . FITNESS . NORDIC SKIING . HIKING . FLY FISHING . EXPLORING

THE PLACE YOU'LL WANT TO BE

OUR MEMBERS ENJOY THE TOTAL CORDILLERA LIFESTY LE Y EAR ROUND

tJ;:1 63 exceptional holes of golf by four renowned designers

tJp

Soul stirring views and a lively social calendar at each clubhouse

tJ;:1 As a Cordillera Golf Member, you have access to over 100 Troon Privé private golf clubs worldwide for only a cart fee, and over 150 Troon Golf managed courses at a preferred rate

We invite you to come by for a visit today, and see how The Club at Cordillera is changing the way golf memberships are being experienced in the Vail Valley, and throughout the world.

For more information, please contact Allyson Mason at 970-926-4687

WWW.CORDILLERA-VAIL.COM

GOLF . TENNIS . SWIMMING . FITNESS . NORDIC SKIING . HIKING . FLY FISHING . EXPLORING

PRESENTED BY

Getaways | Vail Valley

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A Vail Complement High-soaring Eagle County abounds in summer fun.

VERTICAL FEAT

The Club at Cordillera’s three 18-hole championship golf courses alight at different elevations, providing experiences that are as unique as the architects who designed them. The Tom Fazio-designed Valley Course perches 7,200 feet above sea level; Hale Irwin’s Mountain Course sits at 8,250 feet; and the Jack Nicklaus Summit Course crests at 9,200 feet.

That equals 2,000 vertical feet of changes in climate, topography and club selection. At the same elevation as the Mountain Course, Cordillera also features the nine-hole Dave Pelz Short Course, where you can master 90 percent of the shots in golf. While private, the courses welcome Troon Privé members and guests of select hotel partners. cordillera-vail.com

G.O.A.T. PERFORMANCE

Valley Course at The Club at Cordillera

A COOL, COOL SUMMER

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EDGEFIELDCONCERTS.COM

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GORE CREEK FLY FISHERMAN

By July, the snow you skied on has become the water you play in. Vail not only boasts its own Whitewater Park in the center of the village; it also serves as a great base for Class I to Class V river trips on Gore Creek and the Eagle and Colorado rivers. Lakota Guides, Sage Outdoor Adventures and Timberline Tours provide rafting, kayaking and SUP resources. Abundant wild brown and rainbow trout in the Eagle River make for excellent fly fishing, as do the brookies and cutthroat in Gore Creek. Hook up with Vail Valley Anglers or Gore Creek Fly Fisherman for a guide, a float or some local knowledge. visitvailvalley.com

On Aug. 15 at the Vilar Performing Arts Center, the Not Our First Goat Rodeo tour will reunite virtuosi Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Edgar Meyer (bass) and Chris Thile (mandolin) for a knee-slapping night of bluegrass, folk and classically inspired music. The concert, featuring guest vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, is one of dozens on a stellar concert calendar. vilarpac.org

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Getaways | Vail Valley

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’SHROOMS WITH A VIEW

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BONFIRE BREWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY JACK AFFLECK

The Commercial Village of Eagle Ranch will abound in fungi and the fun guys and gals who love them at the 11th Annual Eagle Mushroom and Wild Food Festival Aug. 27-29. Attendees hear from experts in mushroom and wild food foraging, cuisine, cultivation and preservation.

Mountain forays and a four-course wildmushroom dinner and wine pairing at The Assembly restaurant are part of this celebration. eaglemushroomfest.com

WHERE EAGLES SOAR

BONFIRE IN A GLASS Tucked into a dead-end street in downtown Eagle, Bonfire Brewing opened 11 years ago and has become widely known for its Firestarter IPA and the 19 other beers that flow in its taproom. Pair any of them with regular live music, a festive patio, food truck and a commitment to building community and you have the recipe for a great place to gather. bonfirebrewing.com

One of the most affordable public golf courses in Eagle County is also one of its foremost. The site of a July 13 CoBank Colorado Open qualifier, Eagle Ranch Golf Club nestles in the town of Eagle’s Brush Creek Valley, east of Vail and Beaver Creek. The Arnold Palmer Signature layout spans 5,423 to 7,461 yards. More of a links-style than a mountain layout, the course sports long native grasses, large mounds and wide fairways. Set at 6,600 feet, lower than other mountain courses, Eagle Ranch has play as late as November. eagleranchgolf.com

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

TAKE A HIKE! Vail’s mountain grandeur is legendary. If you’re willing to spend four hours on a golf course, you might not want to invest another four to six on a hike to Gore Lake, Pitkin Lake or Lost Lake.

Instead, take a half-hour getting views of Mount Holy Cross and the Gore Range on the Eagle’s Loop or spend 90 minutes on the Ridge Route or Strawberry Gore Lake Lane (both 2.8 miles round-trip).

Well worth the three hours of your time are both the Booth Creek Falls (4.2 miles round-trip), and Shrine Ridge (4.3). alltrails.com

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SUSAN FERRARI

As an international resort town, Vail drips with fabulous restaurants.

There’s fine dining at Sweet Basil, Mountain Standard, Matsuhisa, Russell’s, Swiss Chalet and Game Creek Club, and you can’t beat the solid fare at Blue Moose Pizza, La Tour and Bart & Yeti’s. Did you know that the The Assembly private Country Club of the Rockies (Edwards), Red Sky Golf Club (Wolcott) and Frost Creek Club (Eagle) all boast restaurants that are open to the public? Eagle also features The Assembly, which Vail Daily voted the Best Newcomer for its delectable, seasonal, globally inspired food.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JESS TIFIED

EAT IT UP

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Mountain Golf at its Level Best

Eagle Ranch Golf Club is located in the beautiful small town of Eagle, Colorado, just 30 minutes from Vail. The majestic Colorado Rocky Mountains provide a spectacular setting for this Arnold Palmer Signature Design Course. The course opened in 2001 as part of the master-planned residential community Eagle Ranch. Our unique Western golf club features an 18-hole course, including a terrific practice facility, grille and patio.

For golfers also interested in dining at the Eagle Ranch Grille, ask about our $85 golf and lunch special for tee times booked after 12:00 noon. For more information, visit us online at EagleRanchGolf.com to book a tee time or call 970.328.2882.

0050 Lime Park Drive | Eagle, CO 81631 | 970.328.2882 | EagleRanchGolf.com

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PRESENTED BY

Getaways | Vail Valley PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF VAIL GOLF CLUB

ELEVATE YOUR GAME 18 Hole Championship Course Par 3 Course & Practice Facility

THE O.G. OF VAIL VALLEY GOLF Colorado’s first mountain course, Vail Golf Club will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2023, and playing the classic 6,766-yard layout still never gets old. Located just south of I-70 and two miles east of Vail Village, the municipal course always enjoys superb conditions, a swift pace of play and glorious views of the Gore Mountain. Its ski-lodge-style clubhouse, which doubles as a nordic center in winter, features the ambiance of a private club, but Vail Golf Club is avowedly public, with one of the area’s better restaurants, Grill on the Gore, serving spectacular sandwiches and craft cocktails. vailrec.com

Golf Grill & Clubhouse

at 7650 Feet Audobon Society Certification for Environmental Excellence

LOCAL FAVORITE

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EAGLEVAIL GOLF CLUB

Spectacular Rocky Mountain Views

A five-minute drive from both Vail and Beaver Creek, EagleVail Golf Club offers 18 holes of affordable, pristine golf. Spanning 6,538 yards, the course created in the 1970s by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge serves up an authentic mountain golf experience, featuring intense elevation changes—such as the plunging tee shot on the par-3 10th—and the presence of rivers, streams, ponds, wetlands, forests and gardens on both its 18-hole and Willow Creek Par-3 courses. eaglevailgolfclub.com

GOING, GOING, GONDOLA PHOTOGRAPH BY JACK AFFLECK/VAIL.COM

EagleVail Golf Club Live, Play, Relax, Enjoy.

Take the family to the top of Vail Mountain via Eagle Bahn Gondola (#19) or Gondola 1. The ride rewards you with incredible vistas of the Gore Range and Mount Holy Cross and, upon arrival, exhilarating activities such as mountain biking and a ride on the Forest Flyer mountain coaster. vail.com

www.EagleVailGolfClub.com COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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PRESENTED BY

Getaways | Summit County

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To Summit Up... ...the mountains are calling, and you must go.

REDS, WHITES AND YOU Beaver Run is the host hotel for the Breckenridge Wine Classic (Sept.

16-19). Featuring more than 100 food artisans, wineries, breweries, distilleries, purveyors and locally-made products, this ultimate epicurean experience spans tastings, seminars, luncheons, pairing dinners and other indulgences. breckenridgewineclassic.com

ON THE TOWN

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF BEAVER RUN RESORT

Home to the state’s largest historic district, Breckenridge offers numerous heritage tours of buildings and mines, while also treating visitors to superb dining options, music at the Riverwalk Center and even a free 1,800-foot kayak park on the Blue River. gobreck.com

STAY BUSY AS A BEAVER Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center’s location at the base of Peak 9 affords walking access to downtown Breckenridge and a latticework of mountainside hiking and biking trails. The 515-room resort can arrange everything from fly-fishing on the Blue River to hot-air balloon rides. On-site amenities include pools, hot tubs, a steam room and sauna, bike rentals, the Spa at Beaver Run, indoor mini-golf and indoor-outdoor dining at the superb Spencer’s Restaurant. Spencer’s firepit patio hosts live mountain music from 4-7 p.m. on Fridays, nightly family-friendly activities and so much s’more. beaverrun.com

A THREE-JACK IN BRECK

THE FUN NEXT DOOR

Arranged in order alphabetically and chronologically, the Bear, Beaver and Elk nines comprise the breathtaking 27 holes designed by Jack Nicklaus at Breckenridge Golf Club. Not only do the nines take their names from the animals that live there, they also present three distinct experiences. Opened between 1986 and 2001, the Bear is the most open, the Beaver the tightest, and the Elk the highest. All three deliver great fun, glorious mountain views and enough challenges to earn one of the highest Slope Ratings in the state. breckenridgegolfcourse.com COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

Summit County was once branded “Colorado’s Playground.”

Beyond Breck’s bountiful fun, nearby Keystone’s five-acre lake is a water-sport enthusiast’s delight. Others love sailing on Lake Dillon, bicycling between Dillon and Frisco and enjoying performers like Melissa Etheridge at the Dillon Amphitheater. exploresummit.com

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Come Home TO BEAVER RUN Play Breckenridge’s Award-Winning 27-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed course Then Stay at the best location in Breck at Beaver Run

relax

Treat yourself and let us take care of you

dine Fireside dining on the patio

Exclusive 20% OFF Summer Lodging Enter code AVID when booking online Offer valid through 9/30/2021. Blackout dates apply.

2-Night minimum stay. Other restrictions apply.

play

Play Breck’s 27-hole Jack Nicklaus course

BeaverRun.com 800.525.2253

PRESENTED BY

Getaways | Snowmass

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Snowmass Appeal Turn the Roaring Fork Valley into your private playground.

CLUBBED UP Blessed with views of Mt. Daly and Capitol Peak and situated just eight miles west of Aspen, Snowmass Club provides a fourseason mountain lifestyle for members who are year-round area residents, second homeowners and owners of the club’s private residences. In summer, this lifestyle means 18 holes of golf on a Jim Engh-designed course that deftly knits Irish links into mountain ranchland topography. Summer also means tennis on one of the club’s two indoor or 11 outdoor courts, hanging at the pool, hiking, biking or riding horses on nearby Tom Blake Trail or indulging in an alfresco repast at the club’s redesigned Three Peaks Restaurant and Black Saddle Bar & Grille. snowmassclub.com

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF SNOWMASS CLUB

GUEST APPEARANCE

Get treated like a Snowmass Club member by renting one of its two- to fivebedroom luxury residences by the week ($4,400-$7,000) in summer and by the night ($550-$1,750) in winter. snowmassclub.com

SPA TREATMENT The same capital-improvement project that transformed Snowmass Club’s restaurants and lobby involves renovating its 20,000-square-foot Spa & Fitness Center. Sporting new lockers, specialized spin and Pilates studios and multiple other upgrades, the facility is slated to reopen in August. snowmassclub.com COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

THE VILLAGE Home to the largest of the Aspen Skiing Company’s four ski areas, Snowmass Village is a vibrant town highlighted by restaurants such as Il Poggio and the hip, new Snowmass Base Village development. gosnowmass.com

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BETTER TOGETHER

A relaxed & contemporary private members club, with a complete year-round mountain lifestyle.

Call Today & Your First Round Is On Us! Complete Renovation of the Spa & Fitness Center coming in August 2021.

SNOWMASS CLUB

.

.

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GOLF RACQUET FITNESS AQUATICS SPA ASPEN SNOWMASS

SNOWMASSCLUB.COM 970.923.0930 mjames@SnowmassClub.com

Next Month!

SIGN UP TODAY!

2021

“This two-day tournament is truly spectacular!

Experiencing the event is memorable; not to mention all the great prizes and player gifts. I look forward to participating every year!” –Marc Steron

View more of the amazing host club at

ccatcastlepines.com

JOIN US!

Monday and Tuesday

August 16--17, 2021 for an Exclusive Golf Tournament held at

The Country Club at Castle Pines featuring Two Days of Golf Pairings Party at Eddie V’s prior to the Event Cocktail Reception and Dinner Party after Day 1 On-Course Food, Cocktail Stations, Player Gift Bags and much more Competitive and Non-Competitive Flights A Chance to Win a Two-Year Lease on a BMW

To learn more or to register, visit coloradoavidgolfer.com/schomp-bmw-cup or contact Mike Carver | 720-493-1729 ext. 15 | mike@coloradoavidgolfer.com

A two-day Colorado Golf Experience like no other!

Grandest

Hotel

From TEE TO GREEN to points beyond and between, The Broadmoor is about far more than great golf.

by JON RIZZI ROSS LIKE A BOSS: Playing away from the hotel, the East’s picturesque par-3 4th has tested players since 1918.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

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coloradoavidgolfer.com

“We make it so all

guests can enjoy a championship course setup similar to what the pros

PHOTOGRAPH BY E.J. CARR

face, just with lower rough heights and slower green speeds.”

ONE HALE OF A DEAL: Fans of the great Hale Irwin, whose ties to The Broadmoor date to the 1960s, now have an opportunity to play with the World Golf Hall of Famer.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE BROADMOOR

THE GLORY OF GOLF: Remodeled for resort’s 100th Anniversary in 2018, the lobby of The Broadmoor Golf Club leads upstairs to archivally appointed meeting rooms overlooking the course—and through the doorway to the award-winning golf shop, impressive Heritage Hallway and delectable Grille.

A PEDIGREED PAST Perpetually ranked at or near the top of every list of greatest North American golf resorts, The Broadmoor has set an unrivaled standard of excellence since debuting in 1918 with 18 holes laid out by the masterful Donald Ross at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain. By 1964, Robert Trent Jones had added 18 more. Today, The Broadmoor’s East and West courses each seamlessly mix nine holes from both architects.

The East, which has hosted two U.S. Women’s Opens and will welcome its third U.S. Senior Open in 2025, enjoys more cachet, though both layouts feature the fiddly greens that Bernhard Langer compared to Augusta National’s.

The East launched the careers of Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sörenstam, who won, respectively, the 1959 U.S. Amateur and 1995 U.S. Women’s Open. You can immerse yourself in that legacy and so much more in the plush Heritage Hallway between The Broadmoor Golf Shop and its vintage-photo-filled Grille.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE BROADMOOR

ADD TO THE LEGACY The Broadmoor Golf Club is private, but also considers hotel guests “visiting members,” providing a locker and all the requisite services and amenities. To be clear, you need to stay there—which is not exactly roughing it—to play there.

These are championship courses, but as PGA Director of Golf Russ Miller says, “We make it so all guests can enjoy a course setup similar to what the pros face, just with lower rough heights and slower green speeds.”

Late summer and early fall present an ideal time to

coloradoavidgolfer.com

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book. Through October 31, the Unlimited Golf Package allow non-group participants stay overnight Sunday through Wednesday and play as many rounds as they want—all for the base price of $695 per night, double occupancy.

For something truly special, check into the “Golf with a Legend” package featuring Colorado native and World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin. Starting at $9,000 per room based on a minimum of six double-occupancy rooms, a group of 12 to 24 players gets a three-day, three-night feast of golf, fly-fishing, food and, on the third day, a round of golf with Irwin. He’ll play an equal number of holes with each foursome on the East Course. The experience caps off at The Broadmoor Seven Falls with a classic Colorado dinner at 1858 restaurant.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS It doesn’t get much better than The Broadmoor precisely because The Broadmoor doesn’t settle for just being better.

Every visit brings a new experience—even avoiding threeputts. There’s the return of the Cog Railway up Pike’s Peak; fly-fishing at Emerald Valley Ranch; rustic elegance at Cloud Camp; zip-lining through canyons; beginning falconry; and upscale bowling. These represent just a few of the ongoing enhancements that complement the wide range of restaurants, shops, spa services and accommodations that make this the state’s only five-star, five-diamond resort.

The Broadmoor. 1 Lake Avenue, Colorado Springs.

855-516-1090; broadmoor.com July 2021 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

The

Will to

Succeed A year after launching golf ’s next big star, the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes is primed to do it again.

By JON RIZZI

REVETTING DRAMA: Hard against Lonetree Reservoir, TPC Colorado’s par-4 10th yielded one of 2020 champion Will Zalatoris’ four Sunday birdies.

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WHEN DISCUSSING the 2020 TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, the old saw about a tree falling in the forest comes to mind. Untelevised and closed to spectators because of COVID-19, the Korn Ferry Tour tournament represented just the second event to take place after the PGA TOUR’s threemonth pandemic-related suspension.

“We were in the bubble, and we were able to step up and do things safely,” Drew Blass, the tournament director for the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, says. “If that hadn’t been the case, who knows if Will would be Will.”

“Will,” of course, is Will Zalatoris, whose victory at TPC Colorado—his first as a professional—would ultimately lead to his “special temporary membership” on the PGA TOUR, where he has had five top-10 finishes. Three of them have come in major championships: sixth place at the 2020 U.S. Open, eighth at the 2021 PGA Championship and, in between, a memorable runner-up performance at the 2021 Masters.

At Augusta National, the 24-year-old former Wake Forest standout’s 9-under left him one shot behind first-time champion Hideki Matsuyama, $1.2 million richer and an instant fan favorite. The best player on the PGA TOUR without an official PGA TOUR card, he would currently rank 20th on that tour’s money list, but he’ll only be eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs if

he wins a PGA TOUR event between now and August’s Wyndham Championship.

Although it’s way premature to compare it to the inaugural triumphs of Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sörenstam at The Broadmoor, Will Zalatoris launched his star on an overcast Sunday at TPC Colorado in Berthoud even if nobody except the volunteers, media members and tour officials saw it.

For the record, the Dallas native shot a final-round 69 to withstand a run by Kent State University alum Chase Johnson, who leapfrogged from 20th to second place with a blistering 9-under 63. Zalatoris finished 15-under, one shot clear of Johnson and two shots ahead of four other competitors.

“I know Will’s from Texas, but Colorado can claim him,” Blass says. “And I don’t think he minds that one bit.”

“ONE OF THE BEST COURSES WE PLAY” Zalatoris’ winning score of 15-under in 2020 was identical to that of Argentina’s Nelson Ledesma, the tournament’s inaugural winner in 2019.

“It’s not a birdie-fest,” explains Jared Wolfe, who finished tied for 10th, five shots behind Zalatoris at 10-under. “That makes it a fun course to play. It allows one part of your game to make up for the other. If you’re playing in a shootout, that

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMIE SCHWABEROW/CLARKSON CREATIVE

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doesn’t happen.”

“Having played a full season on the Korn Ferry, I think it’s one of the best courses we play,” Johnson says of the 7,991-yard Arthur Schaupeter design. “I’m not alone.

Everyone I talked to loves the course. The views are unbelievable, there’s a healthy mix of drivable greens and other holes where you just man up and hit it. And in terms of conditions, it’s one of the closest to a PGA TOUR venue.”

Johnson, an Ohio native, experienced PGA TOUR conditions at this year’s Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide, playing on an invitation from Jack Nicklaus and missing the cut by one. “You really get punished for hitting it in the rough, like you do in Colorado,” he shares.

“Zalatoris’ victory shows how good this course is,” Tom Whitney, an Air Force Academy graduate who has four top-10s during the current Korn Ferry season, says.

“The caliber is unmatched on this tour.”

“I’ve had players come up and tell me, ‘This place is so good, when is it going to become a PGA TOUR event site?’” Bo DeHuff, the PGA TOUR’s director of tournament business and sponsor relations, says.

One of those players, Michael Gellerman, who tied for third in 2019, called it “a different kind of test than we see all year—a big championship-style golf course that requires precise shots all the way around. Not to mention, it requires a big-time finish. I love that place and know it always produces a deserving champion.”

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Because of the pandemic-instigated wraparound 2020-21 season, no players graduated to the PGA TOUR last year. However, any player who wins three events during the 46-event schedule automatically advances to the PGA TOUR. As of June 20, only Chile’s Mito Pereira—who won the Country Club de Bogotá Championship in February of ’20 and the Rex Hospital Open and BMW Charity Pro-Am last month, received what’s colloquially known as a “battlefield promotion.” In addition, the five top-ranked players from PGA TOUR University are eligible.

POISED FOR PROMOTION STEPHAN JAEGER A veteran of 60 PGA TOUR starts, he’s a lock to return for his 61st, being the KFT’s top-ranked player.

DAVIS RILEY Almost a year has passed since his second Korn Ferry Tour win but still ranks in top 5 in points.

JARED WOLFE Solid player needs to avenge his threebogey finish in 2020 event.

CAMERON YOUNG Wake Forest teammate of Zalatoris has more eagles than any player on the KFT.

BRENT GRANT The longest driver on the KFT, he’s worth watching on the three drivable par 4s and 773-yard 13th.

CHASE JOHNSON His Sunday 63 in 2020 proved he could go low here, but can he do it more than once?

TAYLOR PENDRITH Canadian ranks 4th in driving distance and 5th in the points standings.

PGA TOUR UNIVERSITY ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY PGA TOUR

“IT TAKES A VILLAGE” To Whitney, the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes “really gives you a sense of what the PGA TOUR feels like.”

Adding to that feeling, he says, is the ubiquity of marshals, standard-bearers and other volunteers. “There are twice the number of volunteers out here than at most of our events,” he observes.

The statistics bear him out. According to Blass, 300 people volunteer for an average Korn Ferry Tour event, and 550 signed up in 2019.

“We have 700 this year,” he boasts. “We had to do a waiting list. I know it’s cliché but it really does take a village. The local hotels, the caterer, the sponsors like Citywide Bank, PointsBet, BirdieBall and Pepsi, Centura Health and Landmark Homes and so many others…organizations like the Colorado PGA Section, which is putting on a kids’ clinic, and the Colorado Golf Association, the JGAC. There are so many. We have

WHOM TO WATCH

AUSTIN ECKROAT

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the glorious 65,000-square-foot clubhouse, which had yet to be completed the last time the event took place.

With few trees on the property, the tournament has also added more shaded viewing decks, as well as a shuttle with stops at holes 3, 6 and 10. The shuttle stop at the third green also serves the 13th.

“The Korn Ferry Tour named us the 2019 Product of the Year, and the PGA TOUR really believes in this event,” Blass says. “They want to keep Colorado on the professional golf map.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATT HORTON/COURTESY TPC COLORADO

CARD GAMES: After winning last year’s championship in Berthoud, Zalatoris finished top 10 in three majors, yet still only has special temporary PGA TOUR status.

members of clubs like Colorado National, Fort Collins Country Club, Boulder and Highland Meadows marshaling holes.”

The event is one of the few on the tour that has standard-bearers with every foursome. Blass says some of the players even wrote thank-you notes to their standard bearer saying how much they appreciated seeing their names on every hole.

“The whole Northern Colorado community is behind this, and I volunteer because you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is,” says Chris Parkes, a TPC Colorado member who ferries players starting on the 10th tee from the practice range.

“Without volunteers, these events simply do

not happen, and without someone getting a player to the tee on time, he gets a twostroke penalty.”

Parkes’ enthusiasm for the event earned him the tournament’s “volunteer of the year” award. He loves having access to the players.

“Most of them are kids living out their dream, which is cool,” he says. Plus, “words can’t describe the sound of the ball coming off the face when these guys hit it.”

More people will hear that sound in 2021 than in 2019, when the tournament broke a Korn Ferry Tour record for firstyear attendance. Ticket sales are trending much higher than two years ago. This time, patrons will also get to experience

“NOT THE MINOR LEAGUES” The Korn Ferry Tour may be the PGA TOUR’s “developmental” tour, but DeHuff says the quality of the players makes it “more of an expansion or extension of the 150-member PGA TOUR.” “This is not the minor leagues,” Blass says flatly. “These players are among the best in the world. And as you get to see them up close and get to know them, you start to take pride in their achievements.”

“The talent pool these guys are in is just amazing,” Jon Turner, the owner and developer of the Heron Lakes community, says.

“There’s just wave after wave of good talent.

Basically, there’s a whole pack of golfers vying for automatic entry to the PGA TOUR. So, the field is going to be very exciting.”

The first TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes included such players as Scottie Scheffler, Lanto Griffin, Mark Hubbard and Harry Higgs—all of whom now play on the PGA TOUR. And the second one featured Will Zalatoris, who won’t be playing in Berthoud but in Iowa at the John Deere Classic, and a raft of future stars that fans can say they got to see in person at the 2021 TPC Championship at Heron Lakes.

Jon Rizzi is the editor of Colorado AvidGolfer.

INFO TO GO

HOLE

RATING/SLOPE

TOUR

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TPC COLORADO CHAMPIONSHIP AT HERON LAKES July 5–11, 2021

ADDRESS: TPC Colorado 2375 TPC Pkwy, Berthoud

PURSE: $600,000 WINNER’S SHARE: $108,000

TICKETS: tpccoloradochampionship.com/ticket-information/

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273

580

140

495

531

4103

7991

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THE SINCLAIR ROCKY MOUNTAIN OPEN

LE

ARS

AUGUST 25TH - 28TH, 2021 Pro Am Wednesday, Tournament Thursday -Saturday

−

The RMO is the longest running continuous open golf tournament in the state of Colorado. − The tournament is held at Grand Junction’s beautiful Tiara Rado Golf Course at the base of the Colorado National Monument.

To register, go to www.rmogolf.org If you are interested in being a tournament sponsor please email info@rmogolf.org

Coal Creek’s

HighWater Mark Eight years after a flood nearly destroyed it, Louisville’s only course looks and plays better than ever.

By CHRIS WHEELER Photographs by WHEELER GOLFSCAPES

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THE HOLE PICTURE: With snowcapped peaks in the distance and Coal Creek flowing behind the green, you can see from the tee box on hole 3 that Coal Creek Golf Course sits in a flood plain.

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GO WITH THE FLOW: During the flood, the normally placid Coal Creek turned into a raging river.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

around,” describes golf course architect opened doors of opportunity. The City of Kevin Norby, who surveyed the destruction. Louisville tapped into their “rainy day” fund “Trees were uprooted. Cart paths swept and committed over $3 million to bringing away.” back their local links. Grants from FEMA Silt, sediment and trash from the began to flow into the course. flooded Coal Creek poisoned fairways, Within days, Landscapes Unlimited greens and ponds. Four to six inches of and course architect Kevin Norby of Norby precious topsoil washed downstream. Golf Design began the awesome task of Large chunks of splintered concrete from bringing Coal Creek Golf Course back cart paths littered the course. The worst to life. In 2014, the devastated irrigation damage was to the very heart of golf course system was replaced with a new design that operations. “Pump stations were damaged,” promoted more efficient use of water. Norby Coal Creek’s Head PGA Professional implemented ways to improve Coal Creek’s David Baril recalls. “Irrigation lines were design. He widened fairways, repositioned broken. Communication lines with the irrigation system were destroyed.” It appeared to be a lethal blow to the city-owned golf course. “At the time, we didn’t know if we could rebuild it,” Gill says. “We thought we might lose it.”

Within the storm clouds of catastrophe came a silver lining.

“This was a chance for a reboot,” said Baril, a thirty-year veteran of the golf industry. “We could OVERFLOW: On September 13, 2013, take an older design and update floodwaters from Coal Creek turned Coal Creek Golf Course into a lake of mud and debris. it.” The floodgates of Coal Creek PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF NORBY GOLF COURSE DESIGN

BY 2013, Coal Creek Golf Course sorely needed a face-lift. After 23 years of steady play and invasive trees and vegetation, Louisville’s Dick Phelps-designed layout was showing its age. The course staff and city officials had already initiated a comprehensive management plan identifying the issues, but as storm clouds gathered in the late summer, the team got a not-so-subtle shove from Mother Nature.

On September 13, 2013, torrential rains in the mountains west of Boulder turned the normally placid Coal Creek into a raging torrent of water that surged over its banks on the course’s west side. “This wasn’t the 100year flood,” City of Louisville Parks Planner Allan Gill remembers. “It was a 400- or 500year event.”

The floodwaters backed up at the south side of Dillon Road, a four-lane street that bisects Coal Creek Golf Course. Logs, rocks, garbage and other upriver debris clogged three golfer/pedestrian underpasses. Within minutes, the pressure of the water was too much. Like the breeching of a dam, the floodwaters shot through from the underpasses, unleashing chaos onto the north side of the course. “The water moved fast enough to push rocks and boulders

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and reconstructed bunkers, leveled tees and elegantly resculpted numerous holes. “We were doing major reconstructive surgery,” recalled David Baril.

Important to the new design was Norby’s plan to make Coal Creek a more prominent part of the course. Before the flood, overgrown trees and walls of brush blocked views of the creek as it meandered through the layout. “It is the namesake of the course, but before the flood, the creek no longer contributed to the natural beauty,” Norby says. “So, we began to open up the corridors to make the course more playable and once again reveal the beauty of Coal Creek.”

In the spring and summer of 2014, the fairways, greens and rough began to be seeded with T1 bentgrass on the greens LEGENDS OF THE FALL: The flood of 2013 and Kentucky bluegrass on the gave architects and course staff incentive to reinvent the design on holes like the par-3 16th. rest of the course. Working with Landscapes Unlimited and Norby Designs was newly hired Course Superintendent David Dean. they put together could handle a flood.

“I’ve always wanted to do a new build or Everything design-wise worked the way it a reconstruction,” says Dean, who came was supposed to.”

Amid much joy and fanfare, Coal Creek aboard a year after the flood.

Remarkably, less than two years after reopened on schedule in June 2015. After floodwaters devastated it, the Louisville two years of “reconstructive surgery,” Baril’s layout was slated to reopen in June 2015. work was in many ways just beginning.

But the course, which is built on a flood plain, Managing golfer expectations would be would first undergo one final critical test. A another phase of the rebuild. “People storm on Mother’s Day once again brought would ask, ‘Why isn’t the ball sitting up in Coal Creek from its banks. “The flood tested the fairway like it used to? Why aren’t the the redesign, especially the elevated greens greens faster?,’” Baril recalls. “We had to and tee boxes,” Dean says. “It proved what educate people that this is a brand-new golf

Chris Wheeler is an avid golfer who has been creating documentary films for more than three decades. Many of his award-winning works tell the stories of our National Parks.

THE BIG REVEAL: In the reconstruction, brush around Coal Creek was cut back, opening up beautiful views along the 17th hole and others.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | July 2021

course. It just takes time to become a mature golf course.”

Eight years after being devastated by flood, Coal Creek’s grow-in is now complete.

“People are happy with the design, the greens, the turf health,” Dean reports. “The end result is a far superior product than what was here before,” Baril adds.

Yet when the clouds dump snow and rain onto the Continental Divide, the staff of Coal Creek cannot help but look upriver– and imagine the worst. “Creeks and rivers have one job: to flood,” says Baril. “It’s going to happen again. You just hope it is not as devastating.”

The rebirth of the beautiful course along Coal Creek is model of collaboration between architects, engineers, golf professionals and civic leaders. However, the story of Coal Creek Golf Course is a sobering reminder that in the ebb and flow between nature and man, nature holds the upper hand. Everyone at Coal Creek Golf Course is proud to be part of its renaissance.

But no one wants to go through this kind of experience again.

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Annual

GOLD CROWN GOLF C CLASSIC

Fundraiser

MONDAY, AUGUST 9TH Lakewood Country Club

6800 W 10th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214

8:00 a.m. shotgun start Foursome includes: Player gifts, breakfast, lunch, and team prizes Foursome includes: Player gifts, The Gold Crown Foundation is a breakfast, 501c3 nonprofit organization established in 1986. lunch, and team prizes We “prepare kids for the game of life” through youth sports, STEAM, community, and health and wellness programs. Each year, GCF gives back $830,000 to our community and participants. Learn more at GoldCrownFoundation.com.

Blind Shot THE UNSEEN GAME

Marking Time The Open Championship returns this month to Royal St. George’s after a year’s hiatus, during which we visited the 1998 champion.

IN 2020, a golf season in which the oldest major championship didn’t take place for the first time in 75 years, getting to see any “Champion Golfer of the Year” pose with the iconic Claret Jug certainly imparted a measure of order to a cattywampus year.

In my case, that Champion Golfer was Mark O’Meara, whom I had the privilege of interviewing last October during my short-lived retirement from this publication. On assignment for Links magazine, I met him at his stunning home at Tuhaye Golf Club, the course he designed near Park City, Utah, as part of the four-season Talisker Club.

In 1998, at the age 41, O’Meara hoisted the Jug at Royal Birkdale three months after his good friend Tiger Woods had slid the green jacket on him at O’Meara’s first and only Masters victory. Though he and Woods have grown apart—it still irks O’Meara that Woods, “who meant so much to me in my life,” did not attend his 2015 World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the

University of St Andrews—the avuncular O’Meara insists he still “would do anything for him.”

As genuinely likeable and upbeat as he appears in interviews, O’Meara possesses an incandescent enthusiasm that fills a room in much the same way his golf trophies—including those from his two majors, the 1979 U.S. Amateur, 1999 Ryder Cup and five AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams—sparkle behind glass in his living room. These days, at age 64, he’s as impassioned about fly-fishing and snowmobiling as he is about golf.

Utah’s a great place to cast a line; it’s also prime turf to be a “sled head,” as the owner of six snowmobiles refers to himself.

O’Meara, who decided the most recent Masters would be his final one, last made the cut in the Open in 2016. When he asked if I wanted a picture with the Claret Jug, how could I refuse?

“You know what the best part about this trophy is?” he joked. “Tiger’s name isn’t on it yet.” —Jon Rizzi PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JON RIZZI

HOLD THAT POSE: Easily golf’s oldest and most iconic trophy, the Claret Jug commemorating Mark O’Meara’s win at the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale provided the author with a memorable photo op.

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