It was a day of odd happenings at the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open on Friday:
— Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale won the tournament at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club by six strokes, matching the event’s largest margin of victory.
— For the second consecutive year, Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks withdrew from the tournament mid-round while being in the top five on the leaderboard. Last year, the four-time Champions Tour winner attributed it to a pulled groin. On Friday, he was just fed up with how things were going for him.
“I’m just done,” he told a tournament official while exiting after nine holes. Asked if he was hurt, he said half-jokingly, “No, I’m just mentally ill.”
— With Eaks’ WD, five-time PGA Tour winner Danny Edwards went from 10 strokes out of the lead in the super-senior division (60 and older) to being a few strokes ahead — all in an instant.
— Two players made holes-in-one in Friday’s final round. Edwards aced the 140-yard 13th hole into the wind, using an 8-iron. It was the 22nd hole-in-one of his life. And Denver’s Paul Lobato aced the 184-yard fifth hole, also using an 8-iron. Lobato has made a half-dozen holes-in-one, all in competition.
— And, despite having no cartilage and a torn labrum in his surgically repaired left shoulder, University of Denver men’s golf coach Eric Hoos claimed low-amateur honors for the second time in three years at the Senior Open.
But on a day when so many things were noticeably out of the ordinary, it was something that most people probably didn’t see that was the most meaningful, at least for Rohrbaugh (pictured above being congratulated by rules official Rich Langston).
After parring the last hole on Friday to clinch his biggest victory ever, the head professional at Ironbridge Golf Club clenched his fists and glanced toward the sky. It was a tribute to his younger sister, Janet Marie, who died early this year after living her whole life with a heart defect.
“I lost my sister in January,” Rohrbaugh said as he teared up while explaining the situation a little while later. “Scott Freelove (a Titleist representative and a friend of Rohrbaugh) had some golf balls made up for me. They had her initials on one side and the number 49 for how old she was. That’s the golf ball I was using. So it was kind of a little kiss on the golf ball and looking up at her (after winning).”
Though Rohrbaugh became a little choked up after the tournament was over, the final round was a relatively uneventful one for the 51-year-old. He led by more than five strokes most of the day — and by nine at times — in becoming the first wire-to-wire winner of the Senior Open since 2007.
He’s the fourth Colorado PGA member to claim the Senior Open title — and the first since 2009 — joining Mike Zaremba, Dave Arbuckle and Bill Loeffler.
Despite playing his final 11 holes in 6 over par in more very windy conditions at Green Valley Ranch, Rohrbaugh was never challenged on Friday. He shot a 5-over-par 77 in the final round to finish at even-par 216, good for the $8,500 first prize.
Barry Conser of Scottsdale, Ariz. (72 for a 222 total) placed second alone, while Ron Vlosich of Lakewood (77 Friday), Timothy Matthews of Scotts, Mich. (75), Javier Sanchez of Fayetteville, Ga. (74) and Ron Schroeder of Montgomery, Texas (71) tied for third at 223.
Eaks (pictured at left) was Rohrbaugh’s closest pursuer early in the final round, but he hit into a hazard and made a triple bogey on the par-3 eighth hole, then after missing his par putt on No. 9, he swatted the ball off the green without holing it, though he would have been in third place at the time.
Eaks, the 2011 champion, attested the scorecard he was keeping, then drove his cart to the parking lot, leaving Rohrbaugh and Gary Rusnak to finish the round as a twosome.
With no challenge coming from Eaks or anyone else, Rohrbaugh could afford five bogeys on the back nine and still win with ease.
“It was sure nice to have that lead in these (windy) conditions,” he said.
Rohrbaugh has been playing competitive golf a long time, but Friday was his crowning achievement to date.
“It’s by far the biggest event I’ve ever won,” said the 2012 U.S. Senior Open qualifier. “I’ve been at it for a while. But I’ve always believed I had it. I’ve been close, but never in a big one like this.”
Said fellow Colorado PGA member Vlosich: “Doug is a good guy, a good player. I’m happy for him to win the tournament. That’s cool.”
Hoos (pictured at left), meanwhile, claimed his second Senior Open low-amateur trophy, this time needing a playoff to prevail. Sean Forey of Morrison, the low amateur in 2008 and ’10, looked to be in good shape to add a third trophy, but he double bogeyed the 18th hole in regulation and tied Hoos at 18-over-par 234.
On the first playoff hole, Hoos made a routine par by two-putting from 25 feet, while Forey missed the green and couldn’t get up and down.
“This one is really special considering that last year my body was in such bad shape I couldn’t even play (well),” said Hoos, a onetime winner on what is now the Web.com Tour. “So this feels great.
“I still have no cartilage in the (left) shoulder and my labrum is still torn, so I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to play at a pretty good level. So that makes it really special.”
As Hoos has been low amateur in 2011 and 2013, Edwards has claimed super-senior honors those same years. That was worth an extra $1,000, but his hole-in-one is what set Friday apart.
“They’re probably not as special as they once were, but it’s always nice to make one,” he said of another ace.
For Colorado Senior Open scores, CLICK HERE.
