Bill Loeffler has experienced a little of everything in the dozen or so times he’s played Colorado Golf Club, site of this week’s Senior PGA Championship.
Two years ago at the U.S. Senior Open qualifying, he was paired at the Parker course with a guy whose game seemed better suited for the second flight of a club championship than a high-level USGA qualifier. Loeffler and his score suffered that day as he shot an 85.
On the other end of the spectrum was Thursday. Loeffler, playing not far from his house in Castle Rock, had his best round at Colorado Golf Club, a 3-under-par 69, and found himself on the leaderboard after the first round of the Senior PGA Championship.
Robin Freeman shot a course-record 6-under-par 66 — a total later matched by two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer — to grab the opening-round lead in the first major championship of the year for the seniors.
Former British Open champion Tom Lehman posted the best score of the afternoon wave — a 68 — despite a final-hole bogey. Lehman had gone birdie-eagle-birdie on the three holes preceding.
Brad Bryant, playing in the morning half, matched Lehman’s 68 to share third place. Loeffler, Bill Glasson and 1992 major championship winners Fred Couples and Tom Kite managed 69s to stand in a tie for fifth. Couples and Loeffler played a practice rounds together on Wednesday.
Also breaking par Thursday was Castle Rock’s Gary Hallberg, who rebounded from two early double bogeys to shoot a 71 in the tougher afternoon conditions.
As for Loeffler, co-owner of Highlands Ranch Golf Club, Thursday marked the first time he’s shot under 71 at Colorado Golf Club.
“I played above my expectations today, obviously,” he said. “I’m grateful that it happened that way.”
On a day that the wind still plagued players — it gusted to 35 mph by late in the afternoon — Loeffler teed off first Thursday and ended up one of just eight players to break 70.
“I would like to say, “˜Boy, I’m going to go out and shoot 12 under and win this darn thing,’ but come on,” he said. “You know, I’m 53 — reality, nerves and all that.
“So my expectations were, if I played well, I could get around par a couple of times, make the cut, maybe be the low club (professional), and that’s great. “¦ But now that I’m 3 under, am I going to raise expectations? Hell yeah. No, I’m just kidding.”
In reality, while no one expected Loeffler to be on the leaderboard, he does have a strong golf resume. He’s won three national championships — the 1986 U.S. Mid-Amateur, the 1992 PGA Assistant Professional Championship and the 2007 Senior PGA Professional National Championship — and he played on the PGA Tour for a few years in the early 1980s. He’s also long been one of the top players in Colorado, winning three Colorado Opens and the 2009 Colorado Senior Open.
But for now, Loeffler is not only the leading club professional in the Senior PGA — by two shots — but one of the leaders overall.
Knowing it’s highly unlikely that a club professional like himself could win an event of this magnitude, Loeffler has some realistic expectations going forward.
“If I could be the low club pro and beat all those guys, then I think there’s a lot of pride in that for me,” he said.
Langer, a two-time winner this year, hasn’t seen Colorado Golf Club as much as Loeffler, but obviously has been a quick learner. On Thursday, he holed out a 103-yard sand wedge for an eagle on the par-4 14th hole, and added six birdies, offset by two bogeys.
“It’s definitely not easy out there,” he said. “The wind was blowing pretty good again.”
The German bolted out of the gate Thursday and stood 5 under par through six holes.
“It’s nice to get in the red numbers early and take it from there,” Langer said.
Freeman, who isn’t even exempt on the Champions Tour, racked up seven birdies on the day using a new fat grip on his putter.
“It was probably the best putting round I’ve had in — maybe ever,” he said. “It was great.”
Meanwhile, Hallberg managed to break par in the windier afternoon conditions, though it wasn’t easy. He double-bogeyed the first and fourth holes and stood 4 over par at that point. But he rallied in a big way, playing his final dozen holes in 5 under par.
“When I was 4 over after four, I was like, “˜You’ve got the whole course ahead of you and the winds are picking up,” Hallberg said. “I’m thinking, “˜Oh, gosh.’ But I kept telling myself I’m playing real solid right now. At the end of the day I can get it back to even. And we got it to 1 under, which was even better.”
Hallberg, being a Coloradan, has quite a bit of experience at Colorado Golf Club, having played it 20-30 times by his estimates. And he knows that an under-par round in windy afternoon conditions is pretty strong.
The afternoon “is probably five shots harder than in the morning,” he said. “So if you shoot 1 over, even (or better), you’re going to be in good shape.”
“¢FOR PERRY, RUSH TO GET A RUSH: Doug Perry’s plans for Thursday took a radical turn shortly before 11 a.m. As the head professional at City Park Nine Golf Course in Fort Collins was wrapping up a group lesson, he received a phone call.
It was a PGA of America official on the other end of the line, informing Perry that, if he could make it to Parker in time, there was a spot for him in the 2:15 p.m. tee time at the Senior PGA Championship. Oh, and by the way, he’d be paired with major championship winners Nick Price and Tom Lehman. The spot was open because Hal Sutton had withdrawn from the field earlier in the day due to a sore hip.
Perry did indeed arrive at Colorado Golf Club in time — albeit after needing a detour to pick up wedges with grooves that conform to new Tour standards. He managed to hit seven balls on the practice range, stroked a couple of putts, then proceeded to the first tee, saying, “I’m just trying to decompress.”
After being welcomed to the group by Lehman and Price and acknowledging the applause of fans, Perry hit his opening tee shot to the right-center of the fairway.
He proceeded to par the first two holes before taking a triple bogey on No. 3. Perry failed to make a birdie Thursday and finished with an 83.
Ho-hum. All in a day’s work.
“¢WIEBE TOUGHS IT OUT: Mark Wiebe of Aurora admits that had this event been held anywhere but in his home state this year, he wouldn’t be competing this week. Wiebe was already nursing a bad back — he’s gotten two injections for the pain recently — and a sore right calf. Then on Thursday morning as he was hitting balls a rib popped out of place. Fortunately, the folks in the fitness trailer helped alleviate the pain enough so Wiebe could play in the first round, shooting a 77.
“I’ve gone through enough of an emotional roller-coaster,” said Wiebe, who has played Colorado Golf Club perhaps more than anyone else in the field. “I wouldn’t have gone through all this just to go somewhere else. I’m only doing this because it’s home.”
“¢QUOTABLE: Three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, analyzing the situation after an opening-round 76: “I need a brain transplant.”
“¢CHIP SHOTS: Thursday’s first-round scoring average was 75.7. “¦ Three big-name players withdrew from the Senior PGA early Thursday. Paul Azinger pulled out with the flu, Hal Sutton with a hip problem and Peter Jacobsen with illness. Jacobsen’s withdrawal allowed Colorado Springs club professional David Arbuckle to join the field, while Fort Collins’ Doug Perry replaced Sutton. “¦ Ben Crenshaw, co-designer of Colorado Golf Club, needed just 23 putts during an opening-round 72. “¦ Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks went birdie, eagle, par, double bogey on his final four holes Thursday to shoot 74. “¦ Gusts late Thursday afternoon reached 35 mph, but that was nothing compared to the 65 mph winds Colorado Golf Club experienced on Monday.
