After a bit of bouncing around the Denver metro area its first two years of existence, the AJGA Transamerica / Hale Irwin Colorado Junior will set down some roots for the foreseeable future.
Following a year at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora and another at Highlands Ranch Golf Club, the AJGA tournament named for the three-time U.S. Open champion who grew up in Colorado will be held at least for the next three years at The Heritage at Westmoor course in Westminster.
The 2017 event, which is expected to draw the state’s top boys and girls players along with dozens of others from elsewhere in the U.S. and internationally, will be contested June 6-8, with a qualifying round planned for June 4 and the Junior-Am and practice rounds set for June 5.
The dates for 2018 and ’19 are tentatively set for the first full week of June.
Heritage at Westmoor is no stranger to hosting significant golf tournaments in the state. This year, for instance, qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Junior Amateur, and local qualifying for the U.S. Open, were all held at the City of Westminster course. Heritage at Westmoor also hosted the Colorado Senior Open three times early in the new millennium, along with the 2014 CGA Match Play.
“You have an excellent golf course that’s walkable, well-designed and championship-caliber,” said Ed Mate, executive director of the CGA, which partners with the AJGA in conducting the Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. “It’s always in great shape.”
Indeed, Mate considers Heritage at Westmoor more than just a host facility, but as a de facto presenting sponsor because the course is being offered for the tournament at a nominal fee.
CGA staff and CGA and CWGA volunteers play major roles at the Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, which features separate tournaments for boys and girls. The Irwin event was named the AJGA’s “Newcomer of the Year” for the inaugural tournament held at CommonGround in 2015, when the event was preceded by Irwin himself conducting a clinic and Q&A for competitors and others at the site. The 2015 tournament itself was highlighted by the course-record 61 that boys champion Reese Ramsey from Texas shot in the final round — which also tied an all-time AJGA record — and by three holes-in-one on day 1.
The year 2 tournament at Highlands Ranch Golf Club had its fair share of fireworks as well as girls champion Clare Amelia Legaspi pitched in for eagle on the final hole to win by one, and two Coloradans (AJ Ott and Trevor Olkowski) tied for second place in the boys competition.
And now tournament officials, players, spectators etc., can look forward to course continuity in the coming years with Heritage at Westmoor hosting the event in 2017, ’18 and ’19.
“It’s always a challenge to move tournaments around,” Mate said. “The team that runs this tournament will get really good at it; they’ll learn all the idiosyncracies of the golf course. We’ve seen that benefit at the Colorado Open (Championships — including the Colorado Open, Women’s Open and Senior Open — all held at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club since 2004). You just get a lot better when you have the benefit of going back to the same venue. It’s nice to know we have that sewn up for the next three years.”
Transamerica has signed on as the Hale Irwin Colorado Junior’s title sponsor.
