A year’s worth of golf — and golf-related activities — produces many quotable utterances, even if you limit it to just Colorado and Coloradans.
2013 was certainly no exception. An eventful year yielded a plethora of memorable quotes.
Without any further ado, we present you with a selection of the most notable quotables of the year in Colorado golf:
— Dustin Jensen, recalling an episode when he and fellow former CGA staffer Pete Lis (pictured above in green) shared an apartment:
“(Lis) was a diehard about the Rules of Golf. He sat out on the patio at our apartment and was reading the original Rules of Golf — or a book like that — and happened to fall asleep. He was catching a suntan and had his shirt off. He fell asleep with the book laying on his stomach, and he ended up having the outline of the book burned into his stomach. We thought that was pretty funny. He loved the Rules of Golf to the point that he would burn them into his chest.”
— Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale, after winning the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open:
“I lost my sister in January. 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).”
— Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks (left), after, for the second consecutive year, withdrawing from the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open mid-round while being in the top five on the leaderboard:
“I’m just done.” Asked if he was hurt, he added, “No, I’m just mentally ill.”
— Country Club at Castle Pines head professional George Kahrhoff insisted that his two sons, Mitchell and Trey, watch the Golf Channel after he and Collindale Golf Course director of golf Dale Smigelsky earned PGA of America nationwide awards, both for merchandising:
“I said, ‘You guys need to pay attention.’ Of course, they were on the computer and all that. I said, ‘Are you watching?’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, yeah’. All of a sudden my name pops up on the TV, and they said, ‘Hey, that’s you.'”
— Denver’s Jim Bunch, the departing chairman of the Western Golf Association, on participating in interview sessions with Evans Caddie Scholarship candidates:
“It’s the best day of the year without any question — and not just for the Evans Scholars but for me. It’s very rewarding and makes you so glad you’re helping out. It’s a one-of-a-kind event; there’s not another organization that I know that does it like that. I look forward to it.”
— LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, leading up to the Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club:
“Colorado (fan support) has been a consistent home run for women’s golf.”
— Meg Mallon, captain for the U.S. team at the Solheim Cup in Colorado, on getting more girls involved in the game:
“My greatest memory in golf to this day is walking nine holes with my mom (while) carrying a bag on my back. I want every kid and every parent to have that experience. I’m biased. It’s the greatest game in the world. It teaches ethics, morals, the right thing to do, how to get along with people. What greater avenue (than) to teach children the game of golf? So we need to, as adults, make sure that that happens. … It’s a hard game. It’s a time-consuming game. You have to give the kids the love of the game so they want to be out there playing. … Make golf fun. It’s not supposed to be like going to the dentist.”
— George Solich (left, in red) on making a seven-figure lead gift to found the Colorado Golf Foundation:
“I love golf and what it can teach kids of all socio-economic backgrounds — good lessons about character and competition. For me, the game has affected my life in so many great ways. When we look back in five or 10 years, I hope we can say, ‘Look at what we started and how many kids we affected.'”
— Hannah Wood of Centennial, after winning the Kathy Whitworth Invitational, an event which featured several players ranked highly on a national basis:
“I knew I could play with them, but I’ve never had the opportunity. I went up against the best today and kept telling myself to play Hannah Wood golf.”
— CommonGround Golf Course director of golf Dave Troyer, characterizing Lauren Harmon, the course’s director of player development:
“She’s a non-stop energy bunny. Her relaxation and enjoyment is to spend more time at work.”
— Former Colorado State golfer Martin Laird, on winning the Valero Texas Open to earn a spot in the Masters the following week:
“I’ve probably been asked 30 times in the last couple of weeks, ‘Are you in Augusta, are you in Augusta?’ Everytime I’d say ‘no’ it hurt me.”
— Coloradan Kaye Kessler, on the attraction of the Masters, a tournament he covered for the 50th time in 2013:
“It’s the first breath of spring. It’s a coming-out party, a rite of spring. And it’s the only one of the majors that’s anchored. The Masters tries to look better every year — and they seem to do it. It’s just kind of an awakening. And I think it’s still the toughest ticket around.”
— Former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones, on attending the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame banquet instead of competing in a Champions Tour event:
“In the very beginning, yeah (it was a tough choice), but when you really think about it, my parents raised me pretty well to think correctly. And thanks to that upbringing, I made the right decision to come here. There’s no way you can miss something like this. It’s the biggest golf honor in my life that I’ve been given.”
— Tom Glissmeyer, on continuing to try to qualify for the U.S. Open after making it as a 16-year-old in 2003:
“It’s hard to believe that I’ve tried 10 times now. I don’t think I had an appreciation for how tough it is. I just showed up my first time (and qualified). It was like, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal.’ Little did I know 10 years later I’d still be waiting for that return trip.”
— Kala Keltz of Montrose after winning the 4A state high school title:
“I don’t even know what to say right now. I’m kind of in shock, I guess. This means the world. I don’t know what to do I’m so excited. This is something people dream about. It was one of my goals this year to even come close, so I’m stoked.”
— Dean Clapp, after winning his first CGA individual title (the Mid-Amateur Match Play Invitational) following 21 years of competing in Colorado, ironically on the eve of moving to California:
“I’ve always been the bridesmaid but never the bride, so to speak. Last night I was telling my wife, ‘I have a chance to go out with a bang tomorrow. I could end my Colorado golf career with a bang if I can finish it off.’ Lo and behold, I pulled it off. I’m elated. I finally got the monkey off my back.”
— Christie Austin, 56, on her and Janet Moore, 48, coming up short in the CWGA Mashie Championship against Samantha Stancato, 20, and Kathleen Kershisnik, 19:
“We’re like they’re mothers (age-wise). I think they would have been disappointed to lose to the old ladies, to be honest. I think they’re pretty happy that they beat us.”
— Steven Kupcho, whose 63 the previous day was bettered by Derek Fribbs’ 62 in the CGA Public Links Championship:
“He was 9 under through 17; that’s just unbelievable. I can’t even fathom shooting that number after what I did yesterday because I felt like I played about as good as I could.”
— Annika Sorenstam (left, in purple cap), assistant captain for the European squad at the Solheim Cup held in Parker, on potentially bringing her husband, Mike McGee, to the competition:
“My husband is a U.S. citizen. I said, ‘(You can come, but) only if you cheer for Europe.”
— CU’s David Oraee, who beat CSU’s Parker Edens, a fellow Greeley product, in the final of the CGA Match Play:
“Obviously we’ve always gone to rival schools in high school and college. It was fun. It’s fun to play against someone you’ve known for a while. And it’s awesome that we’re both from Greeley. We bring the city name some ‘rep’.”
— Wyndham Clark, who has qualified for three of the last four U.S. Amateurs, on the one he missed, which just happened to be held at his home course, Cherry Hills Country Club, in 2012:
“It sucked. I would have for sure given up one of the other Ams to play in that one. But I told myself last year, ‘I don’t ever want to miss it again.’ I just hated that feeling.”
— Zahkai Brown, on his final-round approach at the HealthOne Colorado Open, where he’s led through three rounds each of the last two years:
“I stayed real aggressive. On No. 18, I was like 305 (yards out on the par-5). I’m like, ‘I’m still going for it. Play aggressive.’ My whole mindset was to stay aggressive.”
— Gunner Wiebe, on finishing fifth following the final round of the HealthOne Colorado Open while his dad, Mark, was in contention at the Senior British Open:
“My mind was really elsewhere today, but I will not apologize for that. I love playing golf myself and I love competing, but it’s hard for me not to” be distracted by what was going on with Mark.
— Fellow competitor Deb Hughes on Kim Eaton, the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer who’s retiring from CWGA championships after 41 years of competing:
“She’s not only a good player, but she’s a good person and I love being paired with her and against her. I learn a lot by playing with her.”
— Beth Clippinger, on trying to qualify for the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur at age 61:
“You always think the young ‘munchkins’ are going to come beat you out. So it is more special (to qualify as a 61-year-old).”
— Pueblo West’s Glenn Workman, on arguably his two biggest golf victories coming in Colorado Springs:
“I like the air up here, the water.”
— Hale Irwin, stopping by the CGA Stroke Play 50 years after posting the first of three straight wins in the tournament, that one by 15 shots:
“That was a lot of years ago, but I remember that first one; that made an impression on me. I was an upstart young guy and then there was the old guard — guys like Les Fowler and Jim English. I was relatively new to Colorado and I happened to have a very good tournament. I do remember playing awfully well.”
— World Golf Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth after captaining a U.S. team that won the Junior Solheim Cup at Inverness Golf Club:
“I never played on a team, even in high school or later on. So (the Solheim Cup) was a new experience for me. And I was flattered that John Solheim asked me to do this again. I don’t have any experience doing things like this. I was never part of a team. I would have liked to have been, but it wasn’t in the books for me. But I can imagine being part of a team that’s playing for your country.”
— Liselotte Neumann, European team captain, proving somewhat prophetic going into the Solheim Cup in Colorado:
“I said, ‘We need to go to America, we need to make history. No (European) team has ever won here before; let’s do this.’ So that’s our goal and that’s why I took on the job, and here we are.”
— U.S. Solheim Cup captain Meg Mallon, after a day in which Europe’s Anna Nordqvist made a hole-in-one to win a match at Colorado Golf Club:
“I’m standing there on 17 tee and looking at Anna Nordqvist’s shot in the air, and I’m thinking, ‘That’s going to go in the hole.’ And it did. Things like that just don’t happen. But today for the Europeans, it was a magical day.
— Veteran Suzann Pettersen, on being on the first European Solheim Cup team to win in the U.S.:
“It’s massive for women’s golf, it’s massive for the Solheim Cup, for us to be historic and win on American soil, in Colorado, in front of a pretty much all-American crowd We took it to them and they couldn’t answer.”
— U.S. Solheim Cup captain Meg Mallon after the Americans’ historic loss to the Europeans:
“We really got our butts kicked this week.”
— Haymes Snedeker, an older brother of six-time PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker, on holing out for eagle from 90 yards on the final hole at CommonGround to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur:
“Sometimes it’s supposed to be. Sometimes it’s meant to be and sometimes it certainly isn’t. I’ve been on both sides of it.”
— Vail’s Harry Johnson on becoming, at age 63, the fifth player to sweep CGA match play and stroke play senior championships in a calendar year:
“These guys (his fellow competitors) make me play better than I can play. It’s really an interesting phenomenon. It’s one reason I play in these events. I don’t have that type of game when I play Saturday with my friends, but in a tournament the focus is there and I can make it happen.”
— George Solich, who with brother Geoff are the namesakes for the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, which produced more than 1,000 caddie loops in 2013 at CommonGround Golf Course:
“I feel like we’re really hitting it on all cylinders right now, and I think people get what this is about.”
— Doug Rohrbaugh (left) after a season in which he won the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship, and the Colorado PGA Professional Championship:
“The only thing I keep saying is, ‘Why did it take me 50 years to figure this out?’ There’s definitely something to be said for older and wiser, but who knows?”
— George Solich figures there are two ways to approach his job as general chairman for the 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club:
“You can be a figurehead and let everyone else do all the work, or you can dive in — and I’ve dived in and it’s been really fun. There are a lot of balls in the air, but it’s been fun.”
— Ernie Els, noting his attachment to Colorado in receiving the Will Nicholson Award:
“I made so many great friends here. I was this close to buying a house at Castle Pines about 10 years ago. I used to stay with a heart specialist here in town — he’s an ex-South African — and he had a house on the 11th tee. (My) whole family came every year; we’d come on a Sunday and stay until Tuesday (of the following week). “I saw his kids grow up and he’s seen my kids grow up. He lives near Cherry Hills here now. I said to Liezl (Els’ wife), ‘You know, next year we’re going to come to Cherry Hills (for the BMW Championship) and maybe I’ll still buy that house.'”
— DU men’s golf coach Eric Hoos, on the Pioneers winning CSU’s home tournament by a stroke over the Rams as a one-stroke penalty incurred on the final hole by CSU freshman Jimmy Makloski loomed large:
“You hate to see that. Honestly, I would much rather have had a tie and go into a playoff. But that speaks volumes about the character of Jimmy and to their program that he called (the penalty) on himself. That’s what this game is about. I don’t think that always happens out there. Class kid, class program. I’m sorry for him.”
— Keith Humerickhouse, on winning a record-matching four straight CGA Mid-Amateur titles:
“I feel like it’s my niche. I really like it. I feel comfortable out here. I feel like I can actually compete. The Publinks and the Stroke Play, it’s not that I don’t feel I can compete, but basically I’m playing a college golf tournament. These (college-age) kids are playing every day. You feel like you’re going to have to shoot 10 to 15 under to even sniff the lead. That’s how good they are.”
— Spencer Painton, on claiming the 5A state high school individual title and helping his Regis Jesuit squad land its fourth consecutive team championship:
“I’m happy to contribute to hopefully (Regis eventually winning) six in a row. I wish I could come back again next year, but I went out with a bang. That’s all I can do.”
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, on retiring from CWGA championship competition:
“It’s tough because the CWGA is a great organization and I love the way they run all their tournaments and I love all the people. Everybody that’s been involved in the CWGA in the 41 years I’ve played has somewhat been involved in raising me or making me a better person or making me the person I am today. And that’s hard. But sometimes you just have to move on. … You know what they say: It’s better to go out on top because you all know when I’m not on top I’m not going to be a very happy person. It’s been a great run.”
