Perhaps Bob Cloud was inspired by the jets from nearby Buckley Air Force Base that were flying overhead Tuesday during the second annual CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play Championship.
Those fighters get up to speed very fast and possess a certain “wow” factor.
That’s also a pretty good description of how Cloud performed Tuesday at Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora — at least for half of his round.
Cloud, who plays out of Bear Creek Golf Club, birdied his first two holes and shot a spectacular 6-under-par 30 on the front nine to vault past his nearest competition. And despite giving back three shots to par on the back nine — while shooting a personal tournament-best 3-under-par 69 — Cloud won the 60-and-older event by five strokes.
How good was Cloud’s front-nine 30? To the best of his knowledge, the lowest nine-hole score he shot before Tuesday was 34.
“It was a crazy nine holes,” said the 61-year-old Denver resident (pictured at left). “In any sport, sometimes the planets align for you. It was just nutty. On the front nine, I had seven 3s and five in a row. That’s crazy.”
Thanks largely to his eagle and four birdies on the front side, Cloud posted nine 3s on his scorecard overall Tuesday as he finished at 1-under-par 143 for 36 holes. The former USGA Senior Amateur qualifier won a CGA championship for the first time.
“I’ve played in a lot of CGA events, and to win one is kind of a dream come true,” Cloud said. “It’s just a great thrill. I’ve won (club) events before, but it’s just different when you can say you won a state championship.”
Tom Warren of Fossil Trace Golf Club placed second at 148 following a 72 Tuesday, while Mark Runyan of Canongate Colorado was third at 149 after closing with a 71.
In the 70-and-older competition, Joe Morrill of Eagle Ranch Golf Course went birdie-eagle on his 15th and 16th holes Tuesday to earn the title. The 73-year-old shot an even-par 72, leaving him at 8-over 150. That was three strokes better than defending champion Jim Collins of the Country Club at Castle Pines, who closed with a 75.
(The two champions are pictured at top, with Morrill at left in the photo.)
Cloud started out the second round one out of the lead, but he made tap-in birdies on holes 1 and 2 and sank a 40-foot par on No. 3. Then on the par-5 sixth, he hit an 8-iron second shot from 158 yards to 10 feet, then drained the putt for eagle.
Cloud followed that up with a 10-foot birdie on 7 and a 15-footer on 9.
Add it up, and it’s a smooth 30.
“And I lipped out two birdies,” he noted. “I should have shot a 28 or a 29. … And I thought I had a chance to shoot 59 the way I was hitting and putting the ball.”
But he put those ideas out of his mind when he remembered shooting a 71 in the first round of the 2011 CGA Senior Stroke Play — then following it up with an 81.
Cloud (pictured at left) didn’t make any birdies on the back nine, but by then he had opened up a nice lead. He made three bogeys on the back side, and needed to hole 20- and 10-foot putts to avoid double bogeys on Nos. 10 and 15, respectively.
All told on Tuesday, Cloud needed just 29 putts in his round.
Warren, like many of his fellow competitors, was very impressed by Cloud’s front-nine performance. But he sees how a player could get on a roll at Murphy Creek.
“The thing about this course is you have to think on every shot, but every hole can be a birdie hole,” Warren said. “I had 17 birdie putts and made two of them, and one of them was a two-putt. I can’t fault anyone else for winning the tournament when I left myself high and dry.”
Cloud was the only player to break 70 during the Super-Senior Stroke Play.
As for the 70-and-over tournament, Morrill trailed Collins by two after 14 holes Tuesday. But Collins lost a ball and made bogey on his 15th hole, while Morrill birdied his 15th and eagled his 16th, the par-4 seventh hole at Murphy Creek.
For the eagle, Morrill chipped in from about 20 yards. (He’s pictured at left picking the ball out of the hole.)
“It was one of those lucky things,” said the Eagle resident, a regular playing partner of Harry Johnson, winner of the CGA Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play this year. “And that was the turning point of the match.”
Morrill, winner of the super-senior division of a past CGA Senior Stroke Play, finished fourth — behind Collins, among others — in the 70-and-older division last year, but he’s gained considerable confidence since.
“I was a very mediocre to sub-mediocre putter — until this year,” Morrill said. “Don’t ask me why but I don’t yip anymore. I have the same putter, the same grip. … So there’s hope for everybody. That’s really why I’ve been able to compete this year. This is the best year I’ve had in the last five.”
CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play
At Par-72 Murphy Creek GC in Aurora
60 & OVER DIVISION
Bob Cloud, Bear Creek GC 74-69–143
Tom Warren, Fossil Trace GC 76-72–148
Mark Runyan, Canongate Colorado 78-71–149
Sean Forey, Bear Creek GC 78-72–150
Frank Wilkinson, Lincoln Park GC 79-75–154
Jim LeMar, Meadows GC 78-76–154
Bruce Hayes, Heritage at Westmoor 84-71–155
Daniel Dymerski, Columbine CC 73-82–155
Frank Hernandez, Pelican Lakes G & CC 77-79–156
Richard Griggs, Desert Hawk GC 80-76–156
Jim Pierce, Saddle Rock GC 80-77–157
John Sostmann, Raccoon Creek GC 74-83–157
Steve Ivy, Pelican Lakes G & CC 80-77–157
John Leamon, Littleton GC 79-79–158
Robert Espinoza, Riverdale GC 82-76–158
Roger Gunderson, Aurora Hills GC 81-77–158
Richard Barg, Meadow Hills GC 81-78–159
Bill Knobbe, Raccoon Creek GC 82-78–160
Bill Weinman, Canongate Colorado 83-77–160
Bob Rognmoe, Raccoon Creek GC 83-77–160
Dan Birnley, Conquistador GC 81-79–160
Fredrick Steffers, Patty Jewett GC 81-79–160
Alton Marsh, Fossil Trace GC 81-80–161
Steven Hill, Aurora Hills GC 84-78–162
Bob Sims, Canongate Colorado 82-81–163
Dan Grigsby, Legacy Ridge GC 87-76–163
Dave Bell, Hiwan GC 84-79–163
Art Pitman, Denver Amateur Golf Tour 84-80–164
Chuck Fisher, Riverdale GC 89-75–164
Doug Jones, Tiara Rado GC 84-80–164
Jeffrey English, Colorado AvidGolfer Passport Club 85-79–164
Terry Pettit, Mariana Butte GC 85-81–166
David Farabaugh, Broadlands GC 81-86–167
Jeffrey Wagner, Fox Hollow GC 85-82–167
Steven Humphrey, Legacy Ridge GC 88-79–167
John Vanderbloemen, Haymaker GC 83-85–168
Louis Gerig, CommonGround GC 83-86–169
Michael Clark, Heritage at Westmoor 82-87–169
Terry Hymans, Canongate Colorado 85-84–169
Ed Hollister, Omni Interlocken GC 86-85–171
Dennis Hartman, Wellshire GC 88-84–172
Bill Hancock, The Club at Flying Horse 87-86–173
Rick Newberg, Hiwan GC 92-82–174
John Livingston, Colorado AvidGolfer Passport Club 92-85–177
Gary Custer, Patty Jewett GC 91-87–178
Danny Wyrick, Spring Valley GC 90-89–179
Daniel Kinney, SouthRidge GC 97-83–180
Ron Crowder, Broadmoor GC 96-86–182
Charlie Ogren, Collindale GC 95-89–184
Phil Talbott, Buffalo Run GC 96-97–193
Jerry Kidney, Overland Park GC 84-WD
Ken Tai, Perry Park CC 89-WD
Kronin Kelley, Heritage at Westmoor 83-NC
Larry Pate, Fox Hollow GC 95-WD
Rod Walters, Heritage at Westmoor 84-WD
70 & OVER DIVISION
Joe Morrill, Eagle Ranch GC 78-72–150
Jim Collins, CC at Castle Pines 78-75–153
Bruce Kaldenberg, Broken Tee GC 80-77–157
Ken Schweitzer, Eisenhower GC 79-80–159
Richard Sage, Indian Tree GC 81-80–161
Loren Warburg, Fox Hollow GC 84-81–165
Tom Latourrette, Bear Creek GC 83-82–165
Bill Holmes, Boulder CC 87-80–167
Paul Scheidig, Applewood GC 88-80–168
Dave Lawson, Hyland Hills GC 90-80–170
Dick Schmaltz, Elmwood GC 84-86–170
Fred Blanchfield, Spring Valley GC 91-80–171
Bill Bogdanoff, CommonGround GC 90-84–174
Matt Quinn, Estes Park GC 86-89–175
Michael Straud, Aurora Hills GC 89-87–176
Armando Torres, CommonGround GC 89-88–177
Bill Myers, Meadows GC 87-91–178
Alan Cooper, Wellshire GC 85-94–179
Bob Brown, Desert Hawk GC 111-92–203
Jon Burnett, River Valley Ranch GC 94-WD
Richard Langston, Broken Tee GC 91-WD
Wayne Klassen, Littleton GC 98-WD
