Janet Moore distinctly remembers the last time Denver Country Club hosted the CWGA Stroke Play Championship.
It was 1991 — the 75th anniversary year for the CWGA. And, personally for Moore, it was when she won the first of her five CWGA Stroke Play titles during the 1990s. That was a decade-long feat matched only by CWGA Golfer of the Century Carol Flenniken during the 1970s. And that ’91 victory also brings back a cherished family memory for Moore, who is married to fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore.
“Kent’s mom brought (Janet and Kent’s son) Steven out because my parents were watching and she was babysitting,” Janet recalled recently. “I have pictures holding Steven when he was probably four months old. And now Steven is here at my house with my granddaughter. That shows you how time passes. Here I am playing 25 years later and there’s another baby in the mix, and it’s a grandchild. That’s a huge blessing and a lot of fun.”
Indeed, next week, Denver Country Club again will host the CWGA Stroke Play — and a 100th-anniversary luncheon celebration that will immediately follow the final round of the championship on Aug. 4. And, just as when DCC hosted during the CWGA’s 75th year, Moore will be competing in the Stroke Play in the summer when the association turns 100.
In fact, Denver Country Club has been a fixture on the schedule for the biggest CWGA championships each time the association has celebrated a major anniversary.
When the CWGA turned 25 in 1941, the Match Play was held at Denver Country Club, with Mrs. Murray Gose claiming the title. In 1966 when the CWGA celebrated its 50th “birthday”, the CWGA Stroke Play (then known as the Denver Women’s Invitational) was contested at DCC, and, appropriately, club member Joan Birkland won the event for the third straight time. Then, as noted, Moore prevailed at the CWGA Stroke Play in ’91 when the association hit 75 years old.
And now, with the CWGA hitting 100, the Stroke Play is back at the historic Denver club, with the 54-hole tournament scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday (Aug. 2-4).
“It’s a wonderful tradition that’s continuing at Denver Country Club,” said Laura Robinson, the new executive director of the CWGA.
“The club has been very supportive,” said Maggie Giesenhagen, the CWGA’s executive director in 1991 when the 75th-anniversary event was at the club, and who’s now a member at DCC. “And the club has been appreciative of the fact that the CWGA has requested the championship there on special occasions and has been willing to host at those times.”
As a member — and as someone who still assists the CWGA on occasion — Giesenhagen helped plant the seed for the Stroke Play and 100th-anniversary luncheon celebration to be held at Denver Country Club. And she’s lending a hand in organizating practice rounds and in course set-up. And Giesenhagen and Birkland, another DCC member, will present the prizes at the luncheon on Aug. 4.
That luncheon, which will immediately follow the conclusion of the final round of the Stroke Play after a two-tee start that morning, will double as the wrapup for the 69th Stroke Play and one of the major celebrations of the CWGA’s 100th anniversary.
During the Aug. 4 event, USGA regional affairs director Mark Passey is scheduled to present the CWGA with a plaque acknowledging its milestone. Scrapbooks with historical clips and photos, and the 75th-anniversary program from 1991, will be on site. Memorabilia from the 100th anniversary will be available. And, of course, the Stroke Play winner will be crowned.
With Birkland having won the CWGA Stroke Play (nee Denver Women’s Invitational) 50 years ago for the third consecutive summer, she still remembers a detail or two from her performance at Denver Country Club, where she’s been a member for basically her entire life.
The history of the Stroke Play is a bit confusing because, as noted earlier, the tournament was originally known as the Denver Women’s Invitational. And sometimes the format for that event was stroke play, and sometimes it was match play, including 1966 when Birkland prevailed. But in 1980, the CWGA adopted the Denver Women’s Invitational and renamed it the CWGA Stroke Play Championship.
During the 1966 event, “I remember a shot I hit from behind a tree that went 150 yards and into the hole for an eagle,” said Birkland, both a golf and tennis standout who has been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. “It was the sixth hole and I was down to someone I had never heard of, and I thought, ‘This is crazy. I should be beating her and I’m behind.’ I hit the ball behind a tree on the sixth hole. I thought, ‘I have a little room to hit this.’ And it went into the hole. (Birkland’s opponent) never recovered. I don’t blame here. It was a career shot, one where you just say, ‘Oh, come on.'”
Besides presenting the trophy this year, Birkland said she’ll likely be a spectator during the final round.
“I’m so glad Denver Country Club could host it,” she said. “I think it’s fabulous to have it there. It’s a great course for women. It’ll be interesting mostly to see the difference in length that the kids hit that ball now. It’s a whole different game from the ’60s. They just nail it. It’ll be interesting to see how they play the Denver Country Club because it isn’t that long a golf course.”
Indeed, for the top players DCC will play about 6,221 yards next week.
Of course, Denver Country Club is no stranger to hosting big-time golf events, including various women’s national and international championships. Among them have been the 1982 Curtis Cup Matches between the best women’s amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland (participants included Juli Inkster and Carol Semple), and the Women’s Trans National in 1929, ’36 and ’46 (when Babe Zaharias won).
“For the 100th anniversary, and with the rich history that Denver Country Club has — having held great championships there not only at the state level, but the national level — it’s a great course, and they’re so gracious to let us come out and play there,” Moore said. “It makes it very special, and it’s a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversary.”
When Moore won at DCC in 1991 — beating the likes of Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Tish Preuss, a three-time low amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open — she completed a rare family-related feat. Five years earlier, Kent Moore, who she would marry in ’89, won the CGA Stroke Play — at Denver Country Club.
“I was treading new ground there (in 1991) because it was my first one (winning),” Janet Moore said. “Kent was caddying for me. He had played there and won there, so he was a great caddie. On the third day I was so nervous. He said, ‘Janet, get a good song going in your mind to calm yourself down.’ Steven was probably four months old at the time. The only song that came to me was ‘Jesus Loves Me’ because that’s the lullaby I sang to him to get him to sleep. That was literally the song that was going through my mind (during that final day of the tournament). I was singing a lullaby to myself so I wouldn’t be nervous.”
As for this year’s Stroke Play, it’s worth noting that the last two winners of the event (Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch and Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster) competed in the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month.
And, based on last year’s performance, the field will have its work cut out keeping with Kupcho as she defends her title next week. Last year at Pinehurst Country Club, Kupcho won by a remarkable 21 shots, finishing 16 under par en route to her second CWGA Player of the Year award. Earlier this year, Kupcho won the CWGA Match Play for the second time.
Others in the field at Denver Country Club include Moore, fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Kim Eaton and Christie Austin, former 5A state high school champions Mackenzie Cohen, Gillian Vance and Calli Ringsby, 2016 CWGA Match Play runner-up Jaylee Tait, and 2012 Match Play winner Allie Johnston. Ringsby is a Denver CC member.
Like Moore, Eaton won her first CWGA Stroke Play title at Denver Country Club. In Eaton’s case, the first of her four came in 1978 at DCC.
Twelve players, plus ties, will end up competing in the championship flight — based on their scores from the first two days. And there will be seven other flights for the Stroke Play. All told, 96 players will compete.
Being that many people rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to play Denver Country Club, it probably comes as no surprise that the CWGA has a significant waiting list for the Stroke Play. As of this week, the number of golfers on that list was 62.
Next week will mark the 22nd time Denver Country Club has hosted either the CWGA Match Play (16 times, the last being in 1971) or the Stroke Play (five times previously).
