Any retrospective about Colorado golf in 2013 wouldn’t be complete without including significant doses of both good and bad.
After all, while there were plenty of highlights during the year — most notably the Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club — the September flooding definitely put a damper on 2013, with its effects extending into 2014 and perhaps beyond.
With that in mind, we’ll count down the top 18 stories of the Colorado golf year, in reverse order. We’ll also include an honorable mention list at the end.
Here’s the rundown:
18. Before this year, Jennifer Kupcho had never competed in a USGA championship. In 2013, the 16-year-old played in four national championships: the U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the USGA Women’s State Team. Individually, she advanced to the round of 32 at the Girls’ Junior. And, along with Hannah Wood and Melissa Martin, she helped Colorado finish sixth in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship, tying the state’s best showing ever in the event.
Also, Kupcho joined with Calli Ringsby, Wood and Sydney Merchant in leading the CWGA team to a third-place finish in the Girls Junior America’s Cup, tying the state’s second-best performance ever in that event.
Kupcho won titles in the Colorado Junior PGA and the Big I Junior Classic state tournament, and she was runner-up in the 4A state high school meet and in the girls division of the CJGA Tournament of Champions.
17. After leading the University of Denver women’s golf team to two top-six finishes in the NCAA Championship finals, Sammie Chergo resigned in February after 15 years as the head coach.
Lindsay (Hulwick) Kuhle, who served as an assistant coach under Chergo for seven seasons before departing in 2012, returned to replace Chergo.
16. Senior teammates Spencer Painton and Jake Kelley led Regis Jesuit to its fourth consecutive 5A state high school title, but their link went far beyond that.
The two both qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur, and they finished 1-2 (with Painton winning) at both the 5A state high school meet and the CJGA Tournament of Champions.
In the first round of the 5A state meet, Painton made six consecutive birdies to end a round of 66 that included a 29 on the back nine.
15. Caine Fitzgerald of Parker, an assistant professional at Murphy Creek Golf Course, qualified for the PGA Championship by finishing 14th at the PGA Professional National Championship. READ MORE.
14. Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird out-battled Rory McIlroy with a 63 in the final round to win the Valero Texas Open in April, marking the third PGA Tour victory of his career. Any Tour victory is a big deal, but an added bonus was that it came the week before the Masters, which earned Laird a spot in the field at August National. READ MORE.
13. Esteban Toledo, who lived in Castle Pines for several years in the last decade, had a memorable rookie season on the Champions Tour, to the point that he was seriously in the running for the Rookie of the Year award.
After going through Q-school to qualify for the circuit, Toledo won twice in his first full Champions season, both times in playoffs. The first victory for the native of Mexico came, appropriately enough, on Cinco de Mayo.
12. In a year in which the CGA announced it was discontinuing the CGA Public Links Championship, Derek Fribbs (left) sent the tournament out with a bang.
Fribbs shot an 8-under-par 62 in the final round to win by six with a 17-under-par total for 54 holes. The next day, he shot 66-65 to qualify for U.S. Publinks. That gave Fribbs a 64.8 stroke average for five tournament rounds over four days.
Fribbs went on to claim the CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Award.
11. Former University of Colorado golfer Emily Talley competed in two of Golf Channel’s Big Break competitions, and she won the season-ender, Big Break NFL, along with Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and Isaac Sanchez.
The victory was worth $50,000 cash and a spot in the Shoprite LPGA Classic. READ MORE.
10. Evergreen resident Craig Stadler looked as if his days of winning Champions Tour events were over. But after an 8-year, 9-month victory drought, the former Masters champion claimed a title in the Encompass Championship in June.
Stadler, who had just turned 60, set a Champions Tour record for longest time between wins. READ MORE.
9. Vail resident Harry Johnson hadn’t won an individual CGA championship or qualified for a USGA championship before this year, but he certainly made up for lost time. At age 63, he swept the CGA’s Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play championships, becoming one of the oldest winners of both events. He also qualified for the USGA Senior Amateur.
8. It’s ironic that when Golf World magazine recently published a list of state champions in various events, it left off Keith Humerickhouse and his victory in the CGA Mid-Amateur. It was a bad one to exclude.
It was in that tournament that Humerickhouse became just the third player in history to win the same CGA championship for four consecutive years. And keep in mind that CGA championships have been contested since 1901. READ MORE.
Beyond that, the Eagle-based golfer made it to the round of 16 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, where he defeated two-time champion Tim Jackson in the process.
7. For the first time in history, all three Colorado Open championships were won by Coloradans. Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale prevailed in the Senior Open, Zahkai Brown of Arvada in the Open and Becca Huffer of Denver in the Women’s Open.
Huffer, a two-time state high school champion, won despite battling a severe case of tendinitis in her wrist. And Brown shot 64-64 on the weekend to claim the top spot.
6. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton retired from CWGA championships after sweeping the CWGA individual senior titles in 2013 and winning 21 times in her 41-year CWGA career.
Eaton, who won six state titles in 2013 (three in Arizona, two in Colorado and one in California), was named to Global Golf Post’s Women’s Senior Amateur first team for her performance this year. READ MORE.
5. Doug Rohrbaugh’s 2013 season was one for the ages, at least by the standards of a Coloradan who’s 51 years old. The head professional at Ironbridge Golf Club won the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship for the second straight year, and the Colorado PGA Professional Championship. In the case of the last of the three, he may be the oldest winner of the tournament ever.
Beyond that, he qualified for the U.S. Senior Open for the second straight year and finished third in the HealthOne Colorado Open. He also made it to the final stage of Champions Tour qualifying.
If all that weren’t enough, Rohrbaugh’s son, Tristan, won the 3A state high school title and signed a letter of intent to play college golf at Boise State.
4. Mark Wiebe of Aurora hadn’t won a Champions Tour event since 2011, but ended that drought in grand fashion. When he beat Bernhard Langer in a playoff that lasted five holes, Wiebe claimed the first major championship of his career, the Senior British Open. READ MORE.
And that wasn’t all Wiebe accomplished in 2013. With his victory in the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship, he won twice in the course of eight weeks, and for the fifth time in his Champions Tour career.
3. In a move that should pay dividends for years to come, the Colorado Golf Foundation was launched early in 2013, thanks to a seven-figure lead gift from philanthropist George Solich.
The foundation — chaired by former USGA president Will Nicholson Jr., managed on a day-to-day basis by the CGA, and guided by a board of directors and additional advisors — will provide assistance “for innovative programs that use the game of golf to instill hard work and self-reliance in young people.”
Look for the foundation to make a major difference through worthwhile youth-oriented golf programs for a long time to come. READ MORE.
2. The torrential rain that produced flooding in many areas of Colorado in September had a big impact on golf, as it did on many other aspects of life in the state.
Many Colorado golf courses were affected over the short term (a week or less), but a handful or so suffered more significant damage. That included Coal Creek in Louisville, CommonGround in Aurora, Mariana Butte in Loveland, Twin Peaks in Longmont and Pelican Lakes in Windsor.
In some instances, getting back to normal will take well into 2014. In the case of Coal Creek and the estimated $3.5 million in damage it suffered, the course is closed and may not reopen until 2015.
Meanwhile, a couple of other Colorado courses closed for good in 2013 for reasons unrelated to the flood. Falling into that category were Gleneagle Golf Club’s course in Colorado Springs and Centre Hills par-3 in Aurora.
1. The Solheim Cup matches between the best American and European women’s players are held in the U.S. just once every four years, and Colorado Golf Club in Parker was the first host site in the western U.S. (Nancy Lopez is pictured at top leading the cheers for the Americans behind the first tee on the final day.)
The six-day event — three practice days and three competition days — drew about 110,000 fans.
The outcome, however, wasn’t what most of the gallery wanted to see: The Europeans, with six Solheim Cup rookies, won the Cup on U.S. soil for the first time. The 18-10 margin was the biggest in the history of the event.
Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall became the first player to go 5-0 in a single Solheim Cup, while 17-year-old Brit Charley Hull, the youngest player in Solheim history, went 2-1 and beat Paula Creamer in singles. Hull subsequently was named the Best International Newcomer at the 2013 SJA British Sports Awards. READ MORE.
The U.S. fared far better in the Junior Solheim Cup held at Inverness Golf Club. The Americans, led by captain Kathy Whitworth, defeated the Europeans 14.5-9.5.
Honorable Mention Selections — Former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones, the 1996 U.S. Open champion, was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. … Two golfers from Valor Christian High School, Ross Macdonald and Jake Staiano, swept the CGA junior championship titles. … Melissa Martin became the seventh player to win three or more CWGA Stroke Play titles. … Former Grand Junction resident Monte Montgomery won his third Rocky Mountain Open. … 2011 HealthOne Colorado Open champion Ben Portie was named coach for the new Metro State women’s golf team. … The University of Denver women’s golf team won its 10th consecutive conference title, this one in the Western Athletic Conference. … Derek Tolan and Tom Glissmeyer, who each qualified for the U.S. Open as 16-year-olds, advanced from the same Local qualifier to the Sectionals, but fell short of returning to the Open. … The CWGA won a national handicap-service award for Best GHIN Service for a Medium Association.
Two Coloradans won junior tournaments with strong national fields — Castle Rock’s Josh Seiple (Jones Cup Junior Invitational) and Centennial’s Hannah Wood (Kathy Whitworth Invitational). … Former University of Denver golfer Sue Kim earned her 2014 LPGA Tour card by finishing in the top 10 on the Symetra Tour’s season-long money list. … Part-time Gunnison-area resident Marilyn Hardy advanced to match play in both the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, but in each case she lost to players who would go on to win the national championship. … Wyndham Clark of Greenwood Village qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the third time in four years and made it to the round of 64 in match play. … Former Denver resident Mark Hubbard and Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch earned Web.com Tour cards for the first time. … Former U.S. Women’s Public Links champion Annie Young was named women’s golf coach at Colorado State. … Coloradan Paige Crawford won the Big Sky Conference women’s title.
