In baseball parlance, Kent Moore essentially has hit for the cycle when it comes to CGA individual championships — in two different respects.
On Friday, the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer won a CGA championship for the fifth consecutive decade.
The golfer from Cherry Hills Country Club covered the “Teens” by claiming victory on Friday in the 43rd CGA Senior Stroke Play Championship at The Ranch Country Club.
Beyond Moore hitting all the bases as far as success over many decades, he’s won almost every individual CGA championship for which he’s been eligible.
He won the Junior Match Play in 1973, the Stroke Play in ’86, the Match Play in ’89, the Mid-Amateur in ’95, the Senior Match Play in ’06 and now the Senior Stroke Play in ’14.
Suffice it to say that puts him in very rarefied air.
Regarding being victorious in major CGA championships every decade since the 1970s, Moore (above and left) said with a smile, “It shows that I won’t give up, I guess. Not a lot of talent, but a lot of persistence.”
Or perhaps plenty of both.
As for winning nearly every individual championship for which he’s eligible on the CGA schedule, he compared it to the record of another Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, Kim Eaton.
“I think she’s won one at every level” of CWGA championships. “It’s very, very, very satisfying. I wanted to win this (Senior Stroke Play) really badly. I worked really hard, so it’s feels great. It’s something I really, really wanted because of that, to round out” that career record.
And this one, at age 58, was convincing. Moore’s six-shot victory at The Ranch matched the largest margin since Robert Polk won the event by nine in 2007. Jerry Kidney also prevailed by a half-dozen, in 2011.
Moore, runner-up in the Senior Stroke Play last year, fired a 1-under-par 70 Friday in temperatures that ranged from the mid-30s to the low-40s. That left him with a 2-over-par 215 total. Moore, who earned low-amateur honors in the 2014 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, defied the conditions with a two-birdie, one-bogey round that closed the door on all his competitors.
At age 62, Steve Bell (left) of Denver Country Club claimed second place three months after also being the runner-up in the CGA Senior Match Play. Bell carded a 74 Friday for a 221 total. Grant Porter of CommonGround Golf Course took third place at 223 after closing with a 72, while Robert West of Cherry Creek Country Club finished fourth at 224 following a 71 on Friday.
Larry Netherton of Highlands Ranch Golf Club added a highlight during the final round, making a hole-in-one with an 8-iron at the 141-yard 17th hole en route to a 74. It was the eighth ace of Netherton’s life, and his second in tournament golf.
As for Moore (below), his final-day performance was impressive, given that players were bundled up to combat the cold weather. The temperature didn’t creep past the 40-degree mark until the leaders were well onto the back nine.
“Kent played great golf,” Bell said. “I told him — and I believe this — if there is an adverse condition player, Kent is it. He is the best that I have ever seen (in that regard). We’re out here with a lot of clothes on, cold temperature and so on, and I knew it was going to be a really hard day to overtake Kent. I’m happy with where I am.
“Obviously, everybody likes to win, but being a bridesmaid isn’t half bad.”
Moore’s only bogey of the day came at the par-4 10th hole, where he hit an errant drive, left his approach in the front bunker and missed a 6-foot par putt. But starting on No. 13, he one-putted three times, never giving a glimmer of hope to his fellow players.
Moore is no stranger to the cold, having played college golf at Purdue, and now being the men’s golf coach at Wheaton College near Chicago.
“We play in horrible weather in Illinois at times, and I’m always telling the boys, ‘You’ve got to still keep your game and put your best swing on it every time,'” he said. “When you feel cold, or whatever, just your best swing. That’s what I tried to do. I try to picture the shots and go all in on them.”
David Delich (left) of the Broadmoor Golf Club, the 2012 champion, entered the day one behind Moore but struggled on Friday. The former Colorado College hockey player was 1 under par for the day through four holes, but triple bogeyed both No. 5 and 9. He finished with a 79 and tied for fifth place at 225.
Delich wasn’t making excuses, but his plate is certainly full this week. Right after completing play Friday in the Senior Stroke Play, he left to catch a plane to the West Coast, where he’ll play in the first round of the U.S. Senior Amateur Saturday in Newport Beach, Calif.
“I don’t know if I was half here today or half gone,” he said. “I should have been a little more focused on today’s game. It just seemed like I was never in there today and focused. I made a couple of sloppy big numbers, which is not normal for me in a stroke-play event. I know what to do to prevent that.”
Delich said one reason he competed in the Senior Stroke Play right before the U.S. Senior Amateur is because he had played little tournament golf since Memorial Day. He won the Southern California Senior Amateur this summer and qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur, but that had been about the extent of his competitive golf in recent months.
“I didn’t expect to play today (in the final round of the Senior Stroke Play), but I was in the hunt and that’s why I played,” he said. “I didn’t have many tournament rounds under my belt, and it showed today. But I know the golf course (in Newport Beach); I’ve played it and I’m comfortable on it. I’ve flown out there many times the night before an event (in California) and played courses I haven’t seen and fared well.”
CGA Senior Stroke Play Championship
At Par-71 Ranch CC in Westminster
Kent Moore, Cherry Hills CC, 71-74-70–215
Steve Bell, Denver CC, 76-71-74–221
Grant Porter, CommonGround GC, 76-75-72–223
Robert F West, Cherry Creek CC, 80-73-71–224
David Delich, Broadmoor GC, 71-75-79–225
Bob Chandler, Heritage at Westmoor, 78-75-72–225
Owen Ellis, Flatirons GC, 76-80-70–226
Eric Hoos, Highlands Ranch GC, 74-76-76–226
Scott Sullivan, Bookcliff CC, 78-77-71–226
Keith Atkins, Harmony Club, 76-76-74–226
Pat Bowe, CommonGround GC, 78-74-75–227
Bill Fowler, The Club at Rolling Hills, 78-76-73–227
Bob Beiersdorf, Ridge at Castle Pines North, 76-78-73–227
Tim Glasgow, Ranch CC, 74-78-75–227
Thomas Roos, Spring Valley GC, 76-79-73–228
John Ingram, Colorado GC, 73-80-76–229
Robin Bradbury, Heritage at Westmoor, 76-78-75–229
Mike Larson, Boulder CC, 76-76-77–229
Brian Woody, Ridge at Castle Pines North, 81-74-74–229
Guy Mertz, Fox Hill CC, 79-75-76–230
Dave Brown, RMGCSA Golf League, 71-79-80–230
Larry Netherton, Highlands Ranch GC, 75-81-74–230
Kirk Blaszyk, Glenwood Springs GC, 72-77-81–230
Bill Bolgar, Ridge at Castle Pines North, 75-76-79–230
Dennis Fields, Heritage at Westmoor, 77-78-76–231
Bob Maggard, CommonGround GC, 75-79-77–231
Larry Mackenzie, Ranch CC, 78-76-77–231
Steve Ivan, Patty Jewett GC, 76-78-77–231
Mark Armistead, CommonGround GC, 79-77-76–232
Paul K Edwards, Meridian GC, 72-78-82–232
Mark Inboden, Raccoon Creek GC, 74-81-77–232
Kelly Crone, Highlands Ranch GC, 75-81-77–233
Gary Fox, CC at Castle Pines, 78-78-78–234
Ted Warner, Greeley CC, 72-80-82–234
Ronald Swartzwelder, CommonGround GC, 75-78-81–234
Sloan Harrison, Highlands Ranch GC, 77-78-80–235
Dan Heideman, Coyote Creek GC, 73-82-80–235
Steve Sullivan, Bear Dance GC, 76-78-82–236
LeRoy Mekelburg, Riverdale GC, 73-79-84–236
Steve Kass, Meadow Hills GC, 74-78-86–238
Jerry Beren, Lone Tree GC, 78-78-83–239
Gary Borgese, Boulder CC, 78-77-84–239
Failed to Qualify for Round 3
Thomas McGeary, Highlands Ranch GC, 78-79–157
Sean Forey, Bear Creek GC, 79-78–157
Todd Vaughn, Overland Park GC, 75-82–157
Chuck Delich, Eisenhower GC, 79-78–157
Pete Balzer, Keystone GC, 78-79–157
Jim LeMar, Meadows GC, 79-79–158
John Sostman, Meadows GC, 75-83–158
Robert Bulthaup, Valley CC, 75-83–158
Roger Gunderson, Aurora Hills GC, 80-78–158
Ken Cosper, Ptarmigan CC, 78-80–158
Mark Franz, Saddle Rock GC, 77-82–159
Lonnie Miller, Meridian GC, 78-81–159
Rick Tarasiewicz, Patty Jewett GC, 80-79–159
Bo Powell, West Woods GC, 75-84–159
Bradley Becker, Plum Creek G & CC, 77-83–160
Craig Stephenson, Saddle Rock GC, 82-79–161
Bob Cloud, Bear Creek GC, 83-78–161
Mark Lundquist, Fox Hollow GC, 84-77–161
Tony Goodman, Silver Spruce GC, 78-83–161
Rick George, Castle Pines GC, 77-84–161
Pat Bucci, West Woods GC, 78-83–161
Tom Trueax, Murphy Creek GC, 78-83–161
David Draper, Green Valley Ranch GC, 81-81–162
Doug Jones, Tiara Rado GC, 80-82–162
John Applegate, Meadow Hills GC, 78-84–162
Jim Jagels, Hiwan GC, 78-84–162
Dan Birnley, Conquistador GC, 80-82–162
Frank Wilkinson, Lincoln Park GC, 81-82–163
Mark Barkley, Canongate Colorado, 79-84–163
Randall Dolan, CommonGround GC, 86-78–164
Steven Linnemeyer, Hillcrest GC, 79-86–165
Joe Morrill, Eagle Ranch GC, 84-81–165
Lance Balthaser, Broken Tee GC, 81-85–166
Rich Vigil, West Woods GC, 81-85–166
Jeff Jones, Patty Jewett GC, 80-87–167
Bob Brown, Fox Hill CC, 80-87–167
John Leamon, Littleton GC, 85-83–168
Mark Runyan, Canongate Colorado, 83-85–168
John Litvay, Collegiate Peaks GC, 91-85–176
John Olive, Broadmoor GC, 81-NS
Danny Wyrick, West Woods GC, 82-NS
Tom Musselman, Telluride GC, 75-NC
