Colorado has been fortunate to host a wide variety of golf events featuring the world’s best players.
There have been U.S. Opens, PGA Championships and U.S. Women’s Opens (three of each), a couple of U.S. Senior Opens and 21 International PGA Tour events using a modified Stableford format.
But one thing golf fans haven’t had the opportunity to see in the Centennial State is either of the two premier team events in golf: the Ryder Cup or the Solheim Cup.
However, that will be rectified next summer when the Solheim Cup comes to the state and highlights the 2013 Colorado golf tournament schedule. The best women’s players from the U.S. and Europe squaring off at Colorado Golf Club in Parker Aug. 16-18 will be one of several notable additions/changes that will spice up next year’s schedule.
Also on tap is a switching of dates for the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open and the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open.
As for the Solheim Cup, which is only held every two years — and every four years in the U.S. — it will be another in a series of major national and international golf events Colorado has hosted — or will host — since 2008. Also on that list: the 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Murphy Creek in Aurora, the 2008 U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor, the 2009 Palmer Cup at Cherry Hills, the 2010 Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club, the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor, and the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills and CommonGround. And likewise upcoming is the 2014 BMW Championship, a PGA Tour playoff event at Cherry Hills.
The Solheim Cup, the women’s version of the Ryder Cup, has been held since 1990, but this will be its first stop in the western half of the U.S. The event has proven to be a fan favorite as more than 120,000 people attended the matches or practice rounds the last time they were held in the U.S., near Chicago in 2009. TV ratings likewise have been strong.
(European captain Liselotte Neumann, left, and U.S. captain Meg Mallon are pictured above at Colorado Golf Club.)
“It is one of the coolest atmospheres,” American player Angela Stanford said earlier this year in a visit to Colorado. “I was blown away in Chicago because my previous two (Solheim Cups) were both in Europe, and the European fans are amazing. They bring it, that’s for sure. That’s why it’s so tough (playing for the Cup) over there. And I wondered what was going to happen in Chicago, and they were outstanding. So (there are) high expectations here in Colorado.
“People love it. You can tee off on the second tee box and you can hear them singing on 1. So you really have to be aware when you’re taking the club back (that) they could start signing. It’s so cool.”
Meanwhile, in conjunction with the Solheim Cup coming to Colorado, the Ping Junior Solheim Cup is scheduled for Aug. 12-14 at Inverness Golf Club in Englewood. The event will feature a dozen top American female junior players (age 12-18) facing 12 European counterparts. Among the past participants in the event are Morgan Pressel and Lexi Thompson.
Colorado Women’s, Senior Open Switching Dates: In an effort to improve the fields of both tournaments, the dates for the Colorado Women’s Open and the Colorado Senior Open will be flipped in 2013.
The Women’s Open, a mainstay around Memorial Day, will be held Aug. 28-30 next year, while the Senior Open, normally contested around Labor Day, is set for May 29-31.
“The impetus was to keep the tournaments relevant and sustainable and improve the field in both championships,” said Kevin Laura, chief executive officer for the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “This will pave the way for both to be stronger.”
Laura said the 2013 Women’s Open won’t have dates that conflict with an event from the Symetra Tour, which often draws the best American players not competing on the LPGA Tour. When there’s been such a conflict in previous years, it’s taken a toll on the Colorado Women’s Open field.
On the Senior Open side, it’s hoped that the move to the late spring will lure Broncos executive John Elway, who has played in both the Colorado Open and the Colorado Senior Open in the past, but is now very busy with his Broncos duties around Labor Day, just before the team’s season starts.
Though Elway hasn’t formally committed to play the Senior Open in 2013, Laura feels good about the possibility.
“I would say it’s very likely” he’ll compete, Laura said. “And I think the new dates will also work out well for other (prominent potential competitors).”
Meanwhile, the third of the Colorado Open golf championships, the Colorado Open itself, will remain in its usual late-July slot, with it scheduled July 25-28 next year.
Elsewhere for 2013: As for the two top events on the CGA’s 2013 schedule, the Match Play is set for Bear Creek Golf Club July 8-12 and the Stroke Play will be held Aug. 8-11 at Pinehurst Country Club. … On the CWGA side, the Stroke Play is June 26-28 at the Ranch Country Club, while the Match Play is July 15-17 at the Club at Rolling Hills. … A sectional qualifying tournament for the U.S. Women’s Open will be conducted May 29 at the Broadmoor. … The National Pro Tour, a major player among mini-tours in recent years until canceling the final tournaments of its 2012 schedule, is planning to return next year and has a couple of Colorado stops on its tentative schedule. The NPT slate includes July 10-13 and July 17-20 as tournament dates at unspecified Denver courses. Officials say purses typically will be in the $200,000-$275,000 range.
Click on the following links to access 2013 schedules for the CGA, CWGA and CJGA. Note that some dates and sites are subject to change.
