The college golf season begins next week for several Colorado-based NCAA Division I teams, and, as usual, the month of September will be packed with D-I tournaments being contested in the Centennial State.
In fact, there will be five such events held in Colorado next month. We’ll give a rundown on those later in this story, but first let’s note the two new or reinstated tournaments on the local schedule — both set for after the September rush.
First, as has been previously reported, the University of Denver women’s program will bring back the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate Oct. 10-12 at Highlands Ranch Golf Club. The tournament was last held in 2009. Moore, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, was a major supporter of DU athletics, and in 2011, the Moore family donated Highlands Ranch Golf Club to the university.
But the real eye-catching college tournament that will be conducted in Colorado during the 2014-15 season will be the Pac-12 Conference Women’s Championships, set for April 20-22 at Boulder Country Club.
The University of Colorado, of course, switched to the Pac-12 three years ago, but this is the golf program’s first chance to host the conference championships. And what a conference it is from a women’s golf perspective.
Barring the unforeseen, the field at Boulder Country Club in the spring will include the defending NCAA Division I champion (Doris Chen of Southern California) and three other top-seven finishers from the 2014 national finals (Lauren Kim of Stanford, Manon Gidali of Arizona and Louise Ridderstrom of UCLA). Also expected to be on hand at BCC are Alison Lee of UCLA, currently the No. 3-ranked women’s amateur golfer in the world, and Noemi Jimenez of Arizona State, presently No. 9 among the world’s top women’s amateurs.
The Pac-12 field in Boulder will feature four of the top seven team finishers from the 2014 NCAA finals — Southern California (second), UCLA (third), Arizona State (fifth) and Arizona (seventh) — along with seven of the top 22.
And besides CU hosting and competing in the event, adding local flavor will be the presence of former longtime University of Denver coach Sammie Chergo, who is just beginning her first season as head coach at Oregon State.
As for the men’s golfers from Colorado-based Division I programs, four of the five local teams (Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State and Northern Colorado) will begin their seasons at Air Force’s Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational Sept. 6-7 at Eisenhower Golf Club. Other Division I tournaments set for Colorado are CSU’s Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club Sept. 15-16, and the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie Sept. 29-30.
On the women’s side, September tournaments in Colorado include CSU’s Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic at Ptarmigan Country Club in Fort Collins Sept. 8-9, and the Golfweek Conference Challenge at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott Sept. 22-24.
Here’s a rundown of all this season’s NCAA Division I tournaments scheduled in Colorado, with the local participating teams:
MEN
Sept. 6-7 — Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC at Air Force Academy (Air Force, CU, CSU, UNC).
Sept. 15-16 — Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC (CSU, DU, Air Force, UNC).
Sept. 29-30 — Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC in Erie (CU, DU, Air Force, UNC).
WOMEN
Sept. 8-9 — Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic, Ptarmigan CC in Fort Collins (CU, CSU, UNC)
Sept. 22-24 — Golfweek Conference Challenge, Red Sky GC in Wolcott (CU, DU)
Oct. 10-12 — Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate, Highlands Ranch GC (DU, UNC)
April 20-22 — Pac-12 Conference Women’s Championships, Boulder CC (CU)
