One of the attractive things about this time of year is the idea of starting over with a clean slate.
The new year doesn’t bring with it a fresh beginning in all respects, but the thought is there. So, as we start to chronicle 2011, here are 10 noteworthy storylines to look forward to in Colorado golf in the coming 12 months:
— Atop the list has to be the U.S. Women’s Open, considered by many to be the No. 1 women’s golf tournament in the world. When the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs hosts the event July 7-10, it will mark just the third time Colorado has been home to the U.S. Women’s Open, with the previous years being 1995 (the Broadmoor) and 2005 (Cherry Hills).
Among the top players expected to compete at the Broadmoor are Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie, defending champion Paula Creamer (pictured), Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis.
— Two Coloradans will receive prestigious national golf honors early this year. Ann Finke, director of instruction at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs, will be named the PGA of America’s national Junior Golf Leader on Jan. 27 in Orlando, Fla., during the PGA Merchandise Show. Finke will be the first female member of the Colorado PGA to receive a major PGA national award.
And Dennis Lyon, the recently retired manager of golf for the city of Aurora, will accept the USGA’s national Green Section Award on Feb. 11 during the USGA Green Section Education Conference, also in Orlando. The Green Section honor goes to a person who has contributed significantly to golf through work with turfgrass.
— There’s the usual off-season reshuffling of players on the world’s top tours, and several golfers with Colorado ties are involved. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe regained his PGA Tour card after nearly two years. Former University of Denver golfers Stephanie Sherlock and Kimberly Kim will be playing on the LPGA Tour, and fellow rookie pro Alison Whitaker of Denver will be partially exempt on the LPGA circuit. Katie Kempter, a former DU teammate of Sherlock, lost her LPGA card after one season. And Colorado resident and former University of Colorado golfer Matt Zions earned an exemption on the European Tour.
— The Colorado PGA — with the support of the other allied golf associations, including the CGA and CWGA — will expand its “Golf in Schools” initiative with the hope of building the game by exposing more youngsters to golf and the life skills that it espouses.
The plan is to make golf a regular part of physical education classes, ideally with golf professionals helping P.E. teachers lead the program, which also includes providing golf equipment to the students.
— Colorado has never before hosted a men’s NCAA regional tournament, but that will change May 19-21 when the NCAA Central Regional comes to Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. CU will serve as the host school for the NCAA Championships qualifier, as it will when an NCAA women’s regional is held at the same course in 2012.
— Several prominent Colorado amateurs — all roughly of the same age — will wrap up their college careers and consider turning pro. The group includes seniors Gunner Wiebe of Aurora (University of San Diego), Steve Ziegler of Broomfield (Stanford), Mark Hubbard of Denver (San Jose State) and Jamie Marshall of Castle Rock (Arkansas).
All four have won at least one Division I college tournament, and Wiebe, Ziegler and Hubbard have claimed CGA individual titles.
— Kim Eaton of Greeley and Melissa Martin of Grand Junction will look to extend streaks that attest to their playing prowess. Eaton will try to become CWGA Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year for the third straight season, while Martin attempts to win her third straight CWGA Stroke Play Championship, a feat last accomplished when Janet Moore claimed four consecutive titles from 1994-97.
— As has been the case in many job fields, the lousy economy the last two or three years has taken a toll on the golf business, even driving a Colorado course or two out of business.
Now the question is, if things start to turn around in a significant way in 2011, will the Colorado golf business follow suit, or will the over-abundance of courses in the state make recovery a drawn-out process?
— Seldom in recent years has a local Division I college golf team signed so many Colorado recruits in one fell swoop, but the University of Colorado men landed four at once in the fall, and they’ll begin their college careers in the late summer of this year.
The group includes two 2010 state high school champions — John Ahern of D’Evelyn (Class 4A) and David Oraee of Greeley West (5A) — along with Tyler Engel of Regis Jesuit and Drew Trujillo of Montrose.
— Wyndham Clark of Cherry Hills Village, who qualified for the U.S. Amateur and won the CGA Stroke Play Championship as a 16-year-old, cracked the top 10 in the national rankings of junior golfers in 2010. Given his progression in recent years, it will be interesting to see how high Clark can climb in the rankings after turning 17 last month.
