In the case of Colorado Golf Club competing at the CWGA Club Team Championship, apparently the third time is a charm.
After top-10 finishes in the event each of the past two years, CGC hoisted the trophy on Monday at The Ranch Country Club in Westminster.
With three players out of the foursome shooting 90 or better despite temperatures hovering around 50 degrees, Colorado Golf Club edged out West Woods and Woodmoor by a single shot to claim the title in the 32-team event.
“It’s bragging rights and I think it’s really good for our club,” said Robin Thorsen, the club’s A player for the championship. “I’m really excited. I can’t wait to tell our head pro, Graham Cliff, and bring that big trophy home to the club. I think they’ll be really proud of us. We’re really proud to represent our club. I’m sure they’ll display our trophy in the entry hall.”
In a tournament that features an ABCD stroke play format in which the scores of four players of significantly varying abilities are added up for a gross aggregate team total, the Parker-based club finished with 82-over-par 366 for the day.
Individually, C player Leigh Ann Post led the way with an 83, while B player Gwyn Wheeler had an 89, Thorsen a 90 and D player Ann Motokane a 104. (The champions are pictured above, from left: Thorsen, Wheeler, Post and Motokane.)
“I think Leigh Ann was amazing all day,” Motokane said of Post, whose round included two birdies. Wheeler nearly aced the 122-yard eighth hole, recording CGC’s other birdie.
Post attributed much of her strong play to a new putter her husband just purchased for her. That would be Charlie Post, winner of the CGA Senior Amateur in 2000 and a competitor in the 2017 U.S. Senior Open.
“That putter really worked for me today,” Leigh Ann Post said. “For my whole life, I’m going to keep that putter.”
West Woods (left) — led by Sue Hartwell, who recently advanced to the round of 32 at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur — checked in at 367 along with Woodmoor, narrowly missing forcing a playoff. Hartwell’s round included an eagle on the 414-yard 16th hole, but also two 8s.
Rounding out of the top five team finishers were Broken Tee (377) and Fox Hollow (379).
The CWGA Club Team is unique in that every player feels some pressure given that each person’s stroke-play score on every hole counts toward the team total.
“It’s nerve-wracking because it’s (gross) stroke play; you don’t get to use your handicap at all,” Motokane said. “As a D player, you could really blow up and have some huge scores. That’s really stressful.”
That goes for the A, B and C players also. But the Colorado Golf Club team has bonded given that three of them — Thorsen, Post and Motokane — have competed together in the Club Team Championship three times, with Wheeler participating twice. And they’ve all been members at CGC since the club opened more than a decade ago.
“We all have our moments — both (good and bad),” Thorsen noted. “We’re serious — we played as well as we could — but it’s a lot of fun. We enjoy playing with each other.
“We just had good karma.”
The Club Team marks the final CWGA championship of 2017.
CWGA Club Team Championship
At Par-71 The Ranch CC in Westminster
1. Colorado GC 366
Leigh Ann Post 83; Gwyn Wheeler 89; Robin Thorsen 90; Ann Motokane 104.
T2. West Woods 367
T2. Woodmoor 367
4. Broken Tee 377
5. Fox Hollow 379
6. Hyland Hills 380
7. Rolling Hills 383
T8. Omni Interlocken 384
T8. Glenmoor 384
10. Ranch 385
T11. Foothills 387
T11. Blackstone/Black Bear 387
13. Valley 389
T14. South Suburban 391
T14. City Park 391
T14. Pinehurst 391
T17. Highlands Ranch 393
T17. Heritage Eagle Bend 393
T17. Indian Tree 393
20. Riverdale 395
21. Patty Jewett 397
T22. Wellshire 402
T22. Meridian 402
24. Saddle Rock 403
25. Willis Case 405
26. Lake Valley 409
27. Meadows 410
28. Overland Park 415
29. Littleton 416
30. Spring Valley 422
31. Olde Course at Loveland 432
32. Heather Ridge DQ
For all the scores from the Club Team — both team and individual, CLICK HERE.
