‘Tis the season of giving, even if you know that person you’re playing against couldn’t make a 2-foot putt if his life depended on it.
With that in mind, here are my Colorado golf gift wishes for the holiday season (in alphabetical order for easy sorting):
To: USGA Executive Committee member Christie Austin of Cherry Hills Village. Gift: A qualifying spot for you in one of those many national championships the Executive Committee oversees.
To: Parker’s Shane Bertsch. Gift: A PGA Tour season uninterrupted by broken bones, vertigo or any other ailment or injury.
To: Denver’s Jim Bunch. Gift: Some well-earned rest and relaxation after volunteering countless hours in your seven years on the USGA Executive Committee.
To: Wyndham Clark of Greenwood Village. Gift: Matching the feat of Derek Tolan and Tom Glissmeyer by qualifying for the U.S. Open as a 16-year-old.
To: Colorado Golf Club in Parker. Gift: A week of nice weather in May for the Senior PGA Championship on Memorial Day weekend.
To: Colorado golf course operators. Gift: A healthy economy so running a golf course doesn’t equate to living on the edge.
To: Former Denver Country Club head professional Tom Connell. Gift: After almost 28 years on the job at DCC — and many other years at other Colorado clubs — a relaxing retirement.
To: Mark Cramer, owner/manager of the Denver Golf Expo. Gift: Success with the new Southern Colorado Golf Expo, which will debut March 13-14 in Colorado Springs.
To: Castle Rock resident Dale Douglass. Gift: Making the cut in what is likely your Champions Tour finale at the Senior PGA at Colorado Golf Club.
To: David Duval of Cherry Hills Village. Gift: A win on the PGA Tour for the first time since 2001.
To: Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks, four-time winner on the Champions Tour. Gift: Some back-pain relief.
To: Greeley’s Kim Eaton, the CWGA’s Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year in 2009. Gift: A HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open title to reinforce that age is just a state of mind.
To: University of Colorado men’s coach Roy Edwards. Gift: A college tournament to remember as CU debuts the new Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie in September.
To: Hiwan Golf Club head professional Kyle Heyen. Gift: A Florida trip to remember when you pick up your PGA of America national award for extraordinary contributions in player development.
To: Former CU golfer Hale Irwin. Gift: Capping the best Champions Tour career of all time with a victory that would make you the oldest tournament winner in the history of the 50-and-over circuit.
To: Former U.S. Open champion Steve Jones, who grew up in Colorado. Gift: A healed elbow that will make playing the Champions Tour a reality.
To: Former CU golfer Jonathan Kaye and Kent Denver High School graduate Brandt Jobe. Gift: A return to full-time status on the PGA Tour.
To: Former University of Denver golfer Katie Kempter: Gift: Several top-10 finishes during your rookie season on the LPGA Tour.
To: DU golfer Kimberly Kim. Gift: For a player who knows something about success at an early age (14 when you won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2006), a tournament win as a college freshman.
To: Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird. Gift: A top-10 finish at the 2010 British Open being held at St. Andrews in your native country of Scotland.
To: Somin Lee of Denver. Gift: After winning the last three CWGA junior championships — and countless other titles — a bigger trophy room.
To: Colorado pros Bill Loeffler, Ron Vlosich and Mike Zaremba. Gift: Qualifying for the weekend in front of the home fans at the Senior PGA at Colorado Golf Club.
To: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill. Gift: A win on the LPGA Tour to go with those two USGA championships you earned as an amateur.
To: Robert Polk of Parker. Gift: A shot at a four-peat as CGA Senior Player of the Year.
To: DU golfer Stephanie Sherlock. Gift: An NCAA title to cap your stellar career in Denver.
To: Kent Denver High School graduate Kevin Stadler. Gift: A berth in the Masters, where father Craig won in 1982.
To: Derek Tolan, who set the scoring record in winning the HealthOne Colorado Open. Gift: Better luck next year in PGA Tour qualifying.
To: Air Force Academy senior Tom Whitney. Gift: A way to mesh a potentially promising professional golf career with your commitment to the Air Force.
To: Aurora resident Gunner Wiebe. Gift: Making the cut as an amateur in the PGA Tour’s San Diego Open in late January.
To: Aurora resident Mark Wiebe. Gift: Another year of being one of the top 20 players on the Champions Tour.
To: Steve Ziegler of Broomfield: Gift: This may be tough, but a year better than 2009, when you won the CGA’s top two championships, went to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur, won your first college tournament, and represented the U.S. in the Palmer Cup.
