It’s been almost a half-century since Colorado hosted the NCAA golf national championship finals — at any level — but the drought will soon end.
Both the men’s and women’s NCAA Division II tournaments will be coming to the Centennial State next May as part of the 2016 DII Spring Championships Festival that brings national finals in several sports to a single venue over a six-day period.
In the case of May 2016, the NCAA has announced that Metropolitan State University of Denver will host DII nationals for men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and softball.
As for the golf, the women’s DII nationals are set for May 18-21 at CommonGround Golf Course (above) in northwest Aurora, while the men’s DII finals will be May 17-21 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.
The only NCAA golf national finals held in Colorado have been hosted by the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, which held the men’s Division I championships five times between 1953 and ’69. So next year will mark the first Colorado visit for an NCAA women’s golf national finals or a men’s or women’s NCAA DII golf nationals.
It should be noted that Colorado has hosted NCAA men’s and women’s regional tournaments, most recently at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie in 2012 (women) and 2011 (men).
“This is another feather in the cap for the state that we can host this kind of championship golf, like we have with amateurs, juniors and pros,” said Kevin Laura, the president of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club (left).
Indeed, the announcement of the DII national golf venues comes as both courses get ready to host significant championships. The AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, presented by MusclePharm, will be played at CommonGround Tuesday through Thursday, while the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open is set for Green Valley Ranch Wednesday through Friday. CommonGround is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA, and served as the second stroke-play course for the 2012 U.S. Amateur, along with host Cherry Hills. GVR, meanwhile, is home to all three HealthOne Colorado Open championships — the Colorado Open, Colorado Women’s Open and Colorado Senior Open.
“We are extremely excited for the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships to be hosted in Denver at Green Valley Ranch and CommonGround as part of the 2016 NCAA Division II Spring Championships Festival,” said John Baldwin, assistant director of championships and alliances for the NCAA. “We are confident that our student-athletes will enjoy competing on courses with great championship pedigree, and we look forward to crowning a couple of national champions in May 2016.”
Ben Portie, winner of the 2011 Colorado Open, was responsible for getting the ball rolling on setting the golf venues for the DII Spring Festival. Portie has been the women’s golf coach at Metro State for the past two seasons — the Roadrunners don’t have a men’s golf program — and he led his team to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title this year.
CommonGround and GVR both serve as home courses for the Metro State women’s team, and both courses have been proven as solid championship venues. The NCAA agreed after paying a visit to the two sites.
“They fit the right mold,” Portie said. “GVR hosts the biggest events in state, and that’s what the NCAA looks for — courses that have hosted big events. And the same for CommonGround. It’s hosted CGA championships and helped with the U.S. Amateur.”
Portie likes the thought of golf national championships coming to Colorado, especially with the state not having had a chance to host any NCAA finals in many decades.
“The national championships are in May, and a lot of times they go to warmer weather sites,” he noted. “But (the University of Colorado) has hosted men’s and women’s regionals. I think it’s pretty neat we are able to hold both national championships in our city. The two facilities will be great for them. GVR will probably be set up similar to a Colorado Open, and CommonGround held up nicely for a U.S. Amateur.”
Both Ed Mate and Ann Guiberson, respective executive directors for the CGA and CWGA, are looking forward to the associations’ home course hosting the best women’s players in Division II.
“It’s great to have a national women’s event at CommonGround,” said Guiberson, who played college golf at the University of Nebraska. “It’ll be interesting to see how they score and how they set it up. It’ll be fun. And I think Division II has gotten stronger players (over time).”
Mate believes having a high-level women’s national tournament at CommonGround presents many possibilities for course set-up.
“I’m really excited that we’re going to host the women here because I think it’s a great golf course for women,” he said. “The beautiful thing about setting up the course for women is you’re not looking behind you all day, thinking we’ve got to build another set of tees. You can look at the tees that are there and start mixing and matching. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the course plays for a higher caliber of women player. It’s exciting and it’s just further testament of what this golf course was built for — programming, but also great championship golf. That’s just further validation of everything we aspire to be.”
NCAA Division II has held its own national championship in men’s golf since 1963 and in women’s golf since 2000. From 1996 through ’99, Division II and III women competed in a combined championship.
One of the top DII women’s golfers in the country goes to school in Colorado. Leina Kim, who will be a senior at Colorado State-Pueblo, finished 12th this spring in the DII nationals.
While the women’s tournament will be 72 holes of stroke play, the men’s event features a mixed format, with three days of stroke play and two days of team medal match play, with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals on tap. The men’s competition will include 108 golfers, while the women’s championship will feature 72.
