It’s an area that will be bustling with activity in roughly 100 days, when the U.S. Senior Open pays a visit to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs during the resort’s centennial year.
But last month, there was no sign of any such activity at The Broadmoor’s golf shop and surrounding area. Indeed, much of that area was off limits to visitors.
And it wasn’t just because it was mid-winter. Instead, much of the area was obviously in the midst of a construction project.
But what will emerge — probably sometime in April if things go according to plan — will be an homage to the long and storied golf history of The Broadmoor. Plus, there will be a newly redone and improved golf shop and golf club dining area and grille.
The historical portion of the project will result in an area dubbed the Heritage Hallway.
“We’re doing panels to celebrate all the championships we’ve had here; the seven golf professionals that were here; architects Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones; the Trans Mississippi; the Broadmoor Invitation …,” Russ Miller, The Broadmoor’s director of golf since 1998, said during the recent G4 Summit held at the resort. “It’s kind of a history hallway. It goes from the minute you walk in the clubhouse all the way down to the grille room — both walls.”
As was noted in a trade magazine — Colorado Construction & Design — in January, about 25,000 square feet of public spaces will be involved overall.
The idea is similar to the Hall of Champions in the Cherry Hills Country Club clubhouse that has displayed — since 2012 — some of the memorabilia from that club’s rich history.
In the case of The Broadmoor’s Heritage Hallway, featured will be display cases (left) devoted to the 1959 and 1967 U.S. Amateurs, won by Jack Nicklaus (bottom, in a USGA photo) and Robert Dickson, respectively; the five NCAA men’s Division I Championships held at the club; the 1962 Curtis Cup matches between the best amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland (the U.S. team included locals Judy Bell, Barbara McIntire and Tish Preuss, plus JoAnne Gunderson Carner); the Broadmoor Men’s Invitation tournaments that were held from 1921-94, with Hale Irwin winning in 1967 (the event was resurrected in 2014 as a four-ball championship); the Broadmoor Women’s Invitation, won three times each by Coloradans Babe Zaharias and Bell; the 1982 U.S. Women’s Amateur won by Juli (Simpson) Inkster; the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open won by Annika Sorenstam (pictured at top); the 2008 U.S. Senior Open claimed by Eduardo Romero; the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open won by So Yeon Ryu; and the upcoming 2018 U.S. Senior Open.
Nicklaus, Sorenstam, Zaharias, Irwin, Carner, Inkster and Bell are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. In addition, former head professionals/directors of golf at The Broadmoor Ed Dudley and Dow Finsterwald each won more than 10 times on the PGA Tour, with Finsty capturing the 1958 PGA Championship title.
The 2018 U.S. Senior Open will mark the eighth USGA championship hosted by The Broadmoor. It’s also been the site of the Trans-Miss six times (including the 1949 event won by Charlie Coe); and the World Seniors on many occasions.
“We just didn’t feel like we’ve been doing a good job of promoting our history here,” Miller said. “We’ve had eight USGA championships. If you look at the members here — Judy Bell, Tish Preuss, Nancy Syms, Barbara McIntire (all Colorado Golf Hall of Famers) … We just haven’t done a good job promoting our history. We’ve been talking about it for three or four years now. We just decided to go ahead and do it. It’s going to be awesome.”
Also getting done, from a golf perspective, is a new golf shop. “We’re gutting it and redoing it A to Z — lighting, fixtures, counters, the whole thing,” Miller said.
