It may not rank up there with quarterback Joe Namath’s guarantee that his underdog New York Jets would win Super Bowl III, but David Delich of Colorado Springs did go out on a limb a little with a prediction he made Monday, albeit while wearing a smile.
Delich and Harry Johnson of Vail qualified for their first U.S. Senior Amateur a year ago, but they failed to be among the top 64 players who advanced to the match-play portion of the event.
So on Monday, after Delich and Johnson again qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur, Delich vowed this time will be different.
“Harry and I are going to play a lot better” at the national championship, Delich said. “California is our comfort zone. I will wash dishes for a month if Harry and I don’t get into match play this year. We’re going to do it.”
Johnson, a spry 64, and Delich, 57, made it two U.S. Senior Amateurs in a row by finishing in the top three Monday out of a qualifying field at Meridian Golf Club that originally numbered 60. The third national qualifier was John Hornbeck of Saratoga, Wyo., who on Sunday won the Wyoming Mid-Amateur title by 10 strokes.
The U.S. Senior Amateur, limited to players 55 and older, will be held Sept. 13-18 in Newport Beach, Calif.
Johnson (pictured above) earned medalist honors Monday at Meridian by shooting an even-par 72. Delich, a former Colorado College hockey standout, and Hornbeck matched 73s and then prevailed in a three-man playoff.
Delich birdied the second playoff hole after hitting his second shot on the par-4 to 6 inches from the cup. Hornbeck two-putted for par from 30 feet on same hole to advance. Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction, who posted his 73 after playing the last five holes in 3 over par, was the odd man out in the playoff, making a triple-bogey 7 on the second extra hole after hitting his tee shot into the native grass left of the fairway, then struggling around the green.
“When you get in these things (playoffs), you’ve got to go make a birdie as quick as you can because too many funny things happen,” said Delich (left), the 2012 CGA Senior Player of the Year. Of the 92 1/2-yard shot that he hit so closely with a 56-degree wedge on the second playoff hole, Delich noted, “It was a good yardage for me. I wanted to land it 86 or 87 and I hit it right on the number. It took one hop and stopped. I had about 6 inches left. I was in my comfort zone.”
Johnson, the CGA Senior Player of the Year in 2011 and ’13, is eager to get back to his second U.S. Senior Amateur — and second USGA championship of any sort — after finding himself on the wrong end of the tee-time draw last year in Cashiers, N.C.
While Johnson very much enjoyed the quality of a USGA event and how the players were treated, the weather definitely put a damper on his experience. With about two inches of rain falling on the first day of stroke play, on Johnson’s first tee shot of the championship, his back foot slipped so badly that he fell to a knee. There was so much water that officials eventually were squeegeeing the tee box between each player hitting.
“So it was the best of times and it was the worst of times,” Johnson, the 2013 CGA Senior Stroke Play and Senior Match Play champion, said on Monday.
Just about “nobody from my section (of the tee time draw) made it (to match play),” he said. “Unfortunately, it was just the luck of the draw. But I’d love another shot at it. I can’t get wait to get back to another (USGA) event.”
Though neither Johnson nor Delich has played the Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach where the Senior Amateur will be held this year, neither is a stranger to the area. Delich is a member of the Southern California Golf Association and this month he won his second senior amateur championship there, the Senior Match Play. He claimed the Senior Amateur stroke play title in 2012.
And Johnson grew up in Los Angeles, owned a restaurant in Newport Beach during the 1970s and spends considerable time in the Palm Springs area during the winter these days.
“I would have people come see me (play at next month’s Senior Amateur), as strange as that might seem for an amateur event,” he said. “I know part of my family would come and (so would) some good friends from that area.”
Strangely enough, the U.S. Senior Amateur will mark Johnson’s second USGA championship ever, and both have come in his 60s. He will turn 65 in October.
“Maybe when I’m away from the golf course and the competition, I might think about that,” he said. “But when I’m on the golf course, it doesn’t even cross my mind.”
Meanwhile, Delich will be going to his ninth USGA championship. In addition to what will be two U.S. Senior Ams, he’s played in one U.S. Senior Open, three U.S. Mid-Amateurs and three USGA State Teams.
“I had a goal of 10 when I started playing competitive golf in my early 40s and maybe we’ll get there one day,” he said. “I don’t know, but I’m getting closer.
“Every one of them is special and unique. This one, because I started playing competitive golf so late … Now that the senior deal is 55 (and older) and I’m kind of a rookie in that age category, I feel like I have a chance to go compete. I can hit the ball far enough to play the golf course and be effective. I’m excited about this one.”
While Delich and Johnson will each be going to his second U.S. Senior Amateur, Hornbeck (left) is headed to his first. And, speaking of firsts, he hadn’t ever played Meridian before teeing it up on Monday.
“They had the pins kind of tucked today, and I wasn’t going to go over the greens since I didn’t know the course,” the 56-year-old Hornbeck said. “I had a lot of 20- and 30-foot putts for birdie where I normally hit it a little closer.”
Despite playing the course blind, Hornbeck was confident, having dominated the Wyoming Mid-Amateur over the weekend in winning the event for the third time.
“I was feeling pretty good about my game,” he said.
U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying
At Par-72 Meridian GC in Englewood
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Harry Johnson, Vail, Colo., 38-34–72
David Delich, Colorado Springs, Colo., 37-36–73
John Hornbeck, Saratoga, Wyo., 37-36–73
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction, Colo., 34-39–73
Kent Moore, Cherry Hills Village, Colo., 39-35–74
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Hal Marshall, Denver, Colo., 37-37–74
Craig Gardiner, Greenwood Village, Colo., 37-37–74
Robert F West, Denver, Colo., 37-38–75
Robert Cloud, Denver, Colo., 36-39–75
Robert Polk, Parker, Colo., 39-36–75
David Brown, Lafayette, Colo., 38-38–76
Roger Gunderson, Aurora, Colo., 39-38–77
Kary Kaltenbacher, Englewood, Colo., 38-39–77
Rick George, Greenwood Village, Colo., 40-38–78
Thomas Roos, Centennial, Colo., 40-38–78
Dennis Fields, Golden, Colo., 38-40–78
Brian Harris, Denver, Colo., 44-35–79
John Olive, Colorado Springs, Colo., 37-42–79
Guy Mertz, Longmont, Colo., 40-39–79
Grant Porter, Castle Pines, Colo., 39-40–79
John Leamon, Denver, Colo., 41-39–80
Steve Bell, Denver, Colo., 42-39–81
Jim LeMar, Littleton, Colo., 44-37–81
Pat Bowe, Denver, Colo., 42-39–81
Lonnie Miller, Grand Junction, Colo., 41-40–81
Dave Balling, Cody, Wyo., 43-38–81
Van Lefferdink, Juno Beach, Fla., 40-41–81
Michael Kern, Plano, Texas, 42-39–81
Sean Forey, Morrison, Colo., 41-40–81
Scott Crone, Denver, Colo., 41-41–82
Mark Barkley, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 40-42–82
Robin Bradbury, Superior, Colo., 39-43–82
Thomas McGeary, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 43-40–83
Jim English, Boulder, Colo., 42-41–83
Bruce Hogg, Colorado Springs, Colo., 40-43–83
Greg Mokler, La Quinta, Calif., 39-44–83
John Sostman, Littleton, Colo., 41-43–84
Ted Warner, Greeley, Colo., 45-39–84
Reed Myer, Denver, Colo., 42-42–84
David Merritt, Castle Pines, Colo., 40-44–84
Gary Borgese, Niwot, Colo., 43-42–85
Paul Edwards, Parker, Colo., 46-39–85
Michael Clark, Lafayette, Colo., 47-39–86
Jim Pierce, Oro Valley, Ariz., 46-40–86
Chuck Fisher, Westminster, Colo., 43-43–86
Bob Chandler, Black Hawk, Colo., 44-42–86
Robert Bulthaup, Centennial, Colo., 47-39–86
Geoffrey Solomon, Denver, Colo., 48-39–87
Charlie Post, Castle Rock, Colo., 45-42–87
Mark Runyan, Centennial, Colo., 43-44–87
Kelly Crone, Littleton, Colo., 46-42–88
Frank Wilkinson, Grand Junction, Colo., 47-41–88
Fredrick Steffers, Colorado Springs, Colo., 48-41–89
Danny Wyrick, Arvada, Colo., 46-46–92
Keith Fretwell, Colorado Springs, Colo., 49-47–96
Gary Albrecht, Denver, Colo., WD
David Brown, Highlands Ranch, Colo., WD
John Mitchell, Broomfield, Colo., NS
Tom Lawrence, Denver, Colo., WD
