Jeff Gallagher may owe Denver resident Tom Krystyn a dinner for inadvertently jogging Gallagher’s memory about a month ago.
Gallagher, a former PGA Tour player who’s now a golf instructor in Henderson, Nev., had meant to enter the CoBank Colorado Senior Open, but put it off because he wasn’t sure how the tournament would fit in with his schedule.
But it was a phone call with Krystyn that reminded Gallagher to sign up on May 3, just a couple hours before the entry deadline.
“I’m good friends with Tom Krystyn, who lives here, and we were on the phone,” Gallagher explained on Friday afternoon. “I’m like, ‘Dang, that reminds me, I’ve got to register for the tournament.’ I think I did it about two hours before the deadline, and I’m sure glad I did. I nearly air-balled it.”
Gallagher, a two-time winner on the Web.com Tour, parlayed that entry into a victory Friday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver. The younger brother of five-time PGA Tour champion Jim Gallagher Jr., Jeff fended off Steve Jurgensen of The Woodlands, Texas, to earn the Senior Open title, the $8,500 that goes with it, and a berth into next month’s $250,000 CoBank Colorado Open.
The 52-year-old took a two-stroke lead into the final hole, then had to sweat out a nail-biting finish. After Jurgensen was on the front fringe in two on the par-5 18th, Gallagher put his third shot about 35 feet behind the flagstick. After Jurgensen putted up to about 6 feet from the hole, Gallagher could clinch the win with a two-putt par. But his birdie putt ran past the hole and over a ridge, leaving him about 20 feet for par. He left that one short, meaning he had three-putted for bogey. Jurgensen, who plays right-handed but putts left, had a 6-foot birdie attempt to force a playoff, but pushed it a bit, assuring Gallagher (above and left) of the victory.
“I played for a little bit of break,” noted Jurgensen (pictured below in green), himself a former PGA Tour player who has won on the Web.com Tour. “I thought there was some slope off there, but there was nothing there.”
That let Gallagher off the hook for a final-hole three-putt.
“It was the weirdist thing. (My first putt) was uphill and a little downhill, and I’d been leaving everything short,” Gallagher said. “I probably got a little too aggressive. So I was thinking, ‘Playoff. Let’s go do it.’ I didn’t think he’d miss the putt. It all worked out. I played really well and Steve played really well as well. I hate to see him miss that putt, but I hate to see myself three-putt the last hole, too, to give him a chance. But I hit a lot of good shots over the course of the round and it was fun to do it.”
Gallagher closed with a 1-under-par 71 on Friday, leaving him with a winning total of 11-under 205. Jurgensen, who held a one-stroke lead after the 13th hole, came in at 206 after a final-round 73. Robin Byrd of Satellite Beach, Fla., was another stroke back, in third place, after a 72.
Four Coloradans posted top-10 finishes, but they were all in the six-to-10 range. Rick Cole of Eaton posted his best showing ever in a Colorado Senior Open — or a Colorado Open — by placing sixth at 212 (72-69-71), earning a grand total of $2,700 in the process. Dale Smigelsky of Fort Collins (213) tied for seventh, and Doug Wherry of Lakewood and former champion Mike Zaremba of Pueblo West (214) were among the seven players who shared ninth place.
At 63, Cole not only finished sixth overall but was the low super-senior (60-plus) player.
“My goal at this time in my life is just trying to make the cut,” said Cole, who played his final 10 holes in 3 under par. “So I was very happy with the way I played. It feels really good.”
But it was Gallagher, playing in the Colorado Senior Open for the first time, and Jurgensen who would battle it out of the title on the back nine on Friday.
Gallagher was two ahead after 10 holes, but his bogey on No. 11 combined with Jurgensen’s 12-foot birdie made them all square. And Jurgensen two-putted the par-5 12th for a second straight birdie, taking the lead outright.
Gallagher evened it up again by sinking a 3 1/2-foot birdie on the 14th after driving it over the green on the short par-4.
But it was the 15th hole that proved pivotal. There, from ideal position in the middle of the fairway, Jurgensen left his approach in the front bunker, where the ball buried. His next shot stayed in the bunker and he then missed a 6-foot putt to take a double bogey, leaving him two behind with three holes left.
“I was in between clubs,” Jurgensen said. “I was trying to hit the longer club softer to the left of the bunker. I knew you couldn’t aim at that flag. I should have hit the shorter club hard. For us sea-level guys (playing at altitude), when you don’t hit the ball up in the air, it’ll fall out of the sky a little bit quicker than what we’re used to. It was a bad mistake. In hindsight I would have played way left and get my two-putt and get out of there and still be even.”
Said Gallagher, who’s known Jurgensen for more than 20 years: “In this game anything can happen. He was playing great, then all of a sudden, ‘Boom’. It could have happened to me just as easy. I’m glad it didn’t. But it was definitely a big turning point.”
From there, Gallagher and Jurgensen parred 16 and 17, then the Nevadan prevailed despite his 18th-hole three-putt bogey.
Gallagher said the win is his biggest since his second Web.com Tour victory, in the 2000 South Carolina Classic.
“It’s been a long time,” said Gallagher, who competed in 134 PGA Tour events, mostly between 1996 and 2003. “It’s nice to be able to hit the shots under the pressure. I’m nervous. Everybody’s nervous. Obviously it’s not a PGA Tour event, but it’s competition. And it doesn’t matter if you’re playing for $1,000, $500 or $100,000,000. The competition gets me doing. I don’t enjoy playing golf unless I’m playing in competition. Competition just does something to me. It’s satisfying if you can perform under the heat.”
Gallagher, who has played very little Tour golf since 2010, attributed his success this week to a different mindset than he had during his Tour days.
“I don’t take it as serious as I used to,” he said. “I just have fun. I could have shot 80-80-80 and been just as happy as shooting 11 under this week. There’s a lot of worse things in this world than bad golf or losing a tournament. I’ve kind of changed my outlook on life as far as golf goes. I think that’s why I play so well now. When I played, I made it a job. It shouldn’t be a job. I wish I had that attitude for 20 years playing because I’d probably still be playing.”
Former Military Champion Takes Low-Am Honors: Albert Johnson Jr., of Lawton, Okla., has won several notable titles in golf, including three All-Army Championships and the Armed Forces Golf Championship in 2007 shortly before retiring from the military.
On Friday, he added low-amateur honors in the Colorado Senior Open to his list of golf accomplishments.
But it wasn’t easy, despite going into the final round seven strokes ahead of the next-lowest amateur. Johnson (left) struggled to a 7-over-par 79 in the final round to post a 4-over 220 total (70-71-79), prevailing by one over Ray Makloski of Pueblo, the 2012 CGA Senior Match Play champion.
“It’s always good to win, wherever you can win, by whatever means you can win. I’m excited about that,” said the 59-year-old Johnson, who was competing in the Senior Open for the first time.
“My goal today wasn’t to be low amateur; my goal was to play well. Unfortunately, I didn’t, but there’s some consolation in a gift certificate and a trophy, so I’m happy for that.”
Aces High: The last two rounds of the Colorado Senior Open each featured a hole-in one. A day after Duane Lorio of Luling, La., aced the fifth hole, Mike Grob of Billings, Mont., did the honors on Friday. Grob used a hole-in-one on the 13th hole — 8-iron from 172 yards — to shoot a 3-under-par 69 and finish fifth despite closing with a double bogey.
For scores from the Colorado Senior Open, CLICK HERE.
