It started on May 3 when two Eastern Plains clubs squared off, with Quail Dunes Golf Course defeating Coyote Creek Golf Course 24-12. It will end on Sunday — 176 days later — when a stalwart of southern Colorado, the Broadmoor Golf Club, faces Western Slope-based Rifle Creek Golf Course at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.
Suffice it to say that the fifth annual CGA Team Interclub Championship has had all parts of the state covered.
And, after almost six months of competition, the 2014 champion will be crowned on Sunday at CommonGround, where the Broadmoor and Rifle Creek will meet in the finals of a competition which originally featured 61 teams, the second-most in the history of the event.
The CGA Team Interclub is a season-long net match play competition that involves golf clubs from throughout the state. This year’s championship included teams from as far west as Adobe Creek National Golf Course in Fruita, as far east as Bunker Hill Country Club in Brush, as far south as Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo, and as far north as Fort Collins Country Club.
The “regular season” lasted from May through early August, with geographically-linked groups of four teams playing round-robins against one another. The team from each group with the highest point total advanced to the playoffs, which run August through October. This year, the finals will mark the 83rd match of the year, not counting walkovers.
Both in the regular season and the playoffs, teams of a dozen men each — of widely varying abilities — square off, with singles and four-ball matches held concurrently. Each individual match is worth two points — two for a win and one for a tie.
Rifle Creek, a public course located just north of I-70 in Rifle, about 185 miles west of Denver, becomes just the second club to qualify for two CGA Team Interclub finals. Rifle Creek also made it in 2012, when it lost 28-8 to two-time champion Lone Tree Golf Club. (Pictured above are two players from that 2012 Rifle Creek team, Jeb Savage and Cole Manuppella. Savage is one of seven Rifle Creek competitors returning from that 2012 finals team.)
In this year’s Team Interclub, Rifle Creek has gone 5-0, not counting one walkover match. It has outscored its opponents by a combined 115-65, with its closest match being a 19-17 victory over Glenwood Springs Golf Club.
The other finalist, the Broadmoor, has been even more dominant. The resort club, seeded No. 1 in the playoffs, has gone 6-0, collectively outscoring opponents 165-51. Every one of the Broadmoor’s six victories has come by a double-digit margin, with the closest a 23-13 win over Hiwan Golf Club.
Both teams came up with strong semifinal performances to make it to the final two, with the Broadmoor routing Sunset Golf Course 30-6 and Rifle Creek defeating Lincoln Park/Tiara Rado 26-10.
Overall in the playoffs, the Broadmoor has beaten the Pinery 25-11, Hiwan 23-13 and Sunset 30-6. Rifle Creek defeated Riverdale 21-15, 2013 runner-up Todd Creek 23-13, and Lincoln Park/Tiara Rado 26-10.
The Team Interclub concludes the 2014 CGA championship season.
CGA Team Interclub Finals Pairings
Oct. 26, 2014 at CommonGround GC
Singles
Mike Allred, B, vs. Jeb Savage, RC
Ron Crowder, B, vs. Michael Smith, RC
Phillip Temple, B, vs. Jack Parkinson, RC
Greg Flaks, B, vs. Tod Smith, RC
Doug Wasson, B, vs. Jim Grabe, RC
Jerry Tilton, B, vs. Jeff Hauer, RC
James Hafemeister, B, vs. Mark Sours, RC
Roger Perry, B, vs. Steve Stanek, RC
Scott Meagher, B, vs. Clint Hostettler, RC
Josh Waymire, B, vs. Michael Higginbotham, RC
Duke Mitchell, B, vs. Pay Hayes, RC
Jerry Petersen, B, vs. Mike Whitt, RC
Four-Ball
Allred/Crowder, B, vs. Savage/Smith, RC
Temple/Flaks, B, vs. Parkinson/Smith, RC
Wasson/Tilton, B, vs. Grabe/Hauer, RC
Hafemeister/Perry, B, vs. Sours/Stanek, RC
Meagher/Waymire, B, vs. Hostettler/Higginbotham, RC
Mitchell/Petersen, B, vs. Hayes/Whitt, RC
