The USGA has certainly taken a shine to Colorado in recent years.
USGA championships have regularly visited the Centennial State since 2005. In the last 6 1/2 years, Colorado has hosted five such national tournaments.
And in 2012, we’ll make it six USGA championships in eight calendar years as Cherry Hills Country Club will be the site for the U.S. Amateur Aug. 13-19. CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA, will serve as the second course for the stroke-play portion of the event Aug. 13 and 14.
The Amateur will follow on the heels of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills, the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Walking Stick, the 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Murphy Creek, and the 2008 U.S. Senior Open and the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open, both at the Broadmoor.
The 2012 tournament will mark just the fourth time the U.S. Amateur has been contested in Colorado — and the first since 1990. The Amateur is one of several out-of-the-ordinary events on this year’s state golf schedule. Here’s a rundown:
— U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills and CommonGround, Aug. 13-19: Colorado venues have a history of producing some U.S. Amateur champions who go on to do monumental things in golf. After all, Jack Nicklaus (1959 at the Broadmoor) put together arguably the best record in golf history, and Phil Mickelson (1990 at Cherry Hills) will be going into the World Golf Hall of Fame this year.
Perhaps in 2012, if he remains an amateur, Patrick Cantlay will fit that bill at Cherry Hills. Cantlay was a co-medalist in 2010 U.S. Amateur qualifying at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora, and he went on to advance to the semifinals of the national tournament, losing in that round to eventual champion Peter Uihlein.
And last year, Cantlay shot the lowest round in a 2011 PGA Tour event (60) and made it to the finals of the U.S. Amateur.
This year’s U.S. Amateur will be held a week earlier in August than normal, and so the two Colorado-based qualifying tournaments will be moved up as well. The Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs (July 16) and Inverness Golf Club in Englewood (July 23) will host the two sectional qualifying tournaments in the state.
— NCAA Women’s West Regional at Colorado National Golf Club, May 10-12: Colorado National in Erie — and the University of Colorado — hosted an NCAA men’s regional last spring, and this year it’s the women’s turn.
The West Regional is one of three women’s regional tournaments at which teams will qualify for the NCAA Championship Finals, set for Franklin, Tenn., later in May.
The host Colorado Buffaloes, ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation after the fall portion of the schedule, are a good bet to qualify for the regional they’re hosting, and they may be in line to qualify for the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time in program history. Last year marked just the second time the CU women have made a trip to NCAA regionals.
— CGA Mid-Amateur Match Play at a site to be determined, May 18-20: This is an addition to the CGA’s championship schedule for 2012 as mid-amateur players (25 and older) now will have both stroke play and match play tournaments on the agenda.
Twenty-four players, based off the 2011 mid-amateur player of the year points list, will compete in the event, with eight receiving first-round byes.
The CGA Mid-Amateur, a stroke-play competition, dates back to 1987. Keith Humerickhouse has won that title the last two years.
— CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play at CommonGround Golf Course, Sept. 24-25: This two-round tournament, another newcomer to the CGA championship lineup, will feature separate divisions for players 60 and older and 70 and older.
The CGA Senior Stroke Play, which traditionally has had a super-senior division, will discontinue that portion of the tournament.
— U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying at the Broadmoor’s West Course, June 3: This qualifying tournament has been on the Colorado schedule the last couple of years with the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open being played at the Broadmoor. Now, even though that tournament has passed, a qualifying event remains in Colorado, albeit now at the Broadmoor’s West Course instead of the East.
— Other National Tournaments in Colorado: A couple of national golf organizations — in addition to the USGA — have tournaments in Colorado on their 2012 schedules.
The American Junior Golf Association, which normally holds at least one tournament a year in Colorado, this year lists an event at the Fox Hill Club in Longmont. The AJGA Junior at Fox Hill is scheduled for Aug. 6-9, according to ajga.org.
A year after the National Pro Tour held one of its top events at Buffalo Run, the developmental Golfweek National Pro Tour has two of its $100,000 “Silver Tour” events scheduled for Colorado. According to nationalprotour.com, its final two Silver Tour tournaments are Sept. 5-7 at the Fox Hill Club and Sept. 11-13 at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster.
Meanwhile, as for the top CGA and CWGA 2012 championships, courses and dates are set. The CGA will hold its Match Play July 9-13 at Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden and its Stroke Play Aug. 9-12 at Fort Collins Country Club. The CWGA Match Play is scheduled for July 16-18 at the Fox Hill Club, while the Stroke Play will be played Aug. 6-8 at Columbine Country Club.
The HealthOne Colorado Open Championships also have settled on 2012 dates at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. The Colorado Women’s Open is set for May 30-June 1, while the Colorado Open will be held July 26-29 and the Colorado Senior Open Aug. 29-31.
