Now that we’ve flipped the calendar to 2014, perhaps a good New Year’s wish for fans of Colorado tour players is that this year turns out to be as successful for local competitors as 2013 was.
Last year proved to be arguably the best collectively in at least the last handful of seasons for tour players with strong Colorado connections.
There were six victories on top-level tours in 2013 by current or former Coloradans, plus several more another level or two down.
Making it to the winner’s circle were former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird (PGA Tour Valero Texas Open), Aurora’s Mark Wiebe (Champions Tour Senior British Open and Pacific Links Hawaii Championship), former Castle Rock resident Esteban Toledo (Champions Tour Insperity Championship and Montreal Championship) and Evergreen’s Craig Stadler (Champions Tour Encompass Championship).
Also gaining big victories were onetime Golden resident Andrew Svoboda (two on the Web.com Tour), former Denverite Mark Hubbard (one on PGA Tour Canada), former University of Denver golfer Sue Kim (one on the Symetra Tour), and former University of Colorado player Emily Talley (Big Break NFL on the Golf Channel).
Add it all up and it was hardly a typical year for Colorado’s “local” tour players.
The 2014 tour golf schedule begins this weekend as the PGA Tour’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions runs Friday through Monday (Jan. 3-6) in Maui, Hawaii. The LPGA and Champions Tours get rolling later this month.
Here’s some of what’s new on the major tours in 2014 from the perspective of players with strong Colorado ties:
— This week marks just the third time Laird (pictured above) has competed in the Tournament of Champions. After all, the event is limited to winners of PGA Tour events the previous year, with this week’s field numbering just 30.
Laird, who qualified by winning the 2013 Valero Texas Open, has made the most of his two previous T of C appearances, finishing fourth in 2010 and second in 2012.
Unlike previous years, the Tournament of Champions isn’t the PGA Tour season opener this time. With the newly instituted wraparound schedule, this will be the seventh event of the 2013-14 season.
— When the Web.com season begins in 2014, it will have two new faces familiar to many Colorado golf fans. Hubbard, who grew up in Denver, and Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch, winner of two HealthOne Colorado Opens, will compete on the circuit on a regular basis for the first time this year.
Hubbard earned a card by finishing third on the PGA Tour Canada 2013 money list and improved his status by placing 15th in the Web.com qualifying finals. Tolan will have conditional status after ending up 105th in the final stage of Q-school. Both are former CGA champions.
Meanwhile, new Colorado resident Sam Saunders, grandson of Arnold Palmer, will return to the Web.com Tour after finishing 11th in qualifying last month.
— Mike Reid, who played part of his high school golf career at Cherry Creek, will be back on the Champions Tour full time in 2014 after ending up second in the tour’s national qualifying tournament.
Reid, winner of two Champions Tour majors, competed in just seven official Champions events in 2013.
— Two “local” players regained top tour status by virtue of their season-long showings in golf’s versions of the high minors.
Kim (pictured at left) is back for her second season on the LPGA Tour after finishing sixth on the Symetra money list as the top 10 automatically earned LPGA cards. And Svoboda returned to the PGA Tour after placing 25th on the Web.com Tour’s 2013 regular-season money list and fifth on the Web.com Tour finals priority rankings.
For a rundown on all players with strong Colorado ties who are competing on major golf tours in 2014, CLICK HERE. (Note: This rundown is updated on a weekly basis throughout the year.)
