This week proved to be a blast from the past for R.W. Eaks and Eric Hoos.
From the mid-1980s to the mid-90s, the two traveled together regularly as mini-tour players, then on the Ben Hogan and Nike Tours, the predecessors of the current-day Nationwide Tour. And both enjoyed some success on that circuit in the 1990s, with Eaks winning three times and Hoos once.
Lots of water has passed under the bridge since then, but on Friday, they competed in the same tournament, and both earned trophies.
Eaks, a Colorado Springs native, captured the overall title at the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, marking his first professional victory in Colorado. And Hoos, a reinstated amateur and the longtime men’s golf coach at the University of Denver, grabbed low-amateur honors and finished seventh overall at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.
“When I heard (Eaks) was playing, I came out Tuesday after work and played about seven holes (in a practice round) with him,” said Hoos (pictured above at left with Eaks). “It was kind of like old times. It was fun. It showed me how much I miss playing, seeing Bobby and playing in a tournament and that kind of stuff.”
Both golfers are at far different times in their lives nowadays, but they proved this week that they’ve still got some game.
Eaks, who won four Champions Tour events in 2007 and 2008, not only captured the Senior Open title, but he broke the tournament’s scoring record.
The former University of Northern Colorado basketball and golf standout shot his second consecutive 6-under-par 66 and finished at 15-under 201 on Friday. That was two strokes better than the previous record for the tournament, a 13-under 203 set by Dave Arbuckle in 2007. And Eaks’ six-stroke victory matched the largest margin in Senior Open history.
Jim Kane of Edmond, Okla., holed out a 192-yard shot for eagle on the par-4 11th hole Friday, but couldn’t get any closer to Eaks than three shots on the back nine. His final-round 70 left him a distant second at 207. Perry Holmes of Denver (70-209) and Bob Niger of El Dorado Hills, Calif. (67-209) tied for third place.
The 59-year-old Eaks (pictured at left), who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., earned $8,500 for the victory.
“This is my first professional win in Colorado, so it’s huge for me,” said Eaks, who lived in the state until 1990. “But I haven’t played in that much stuff here.”
When Eaks was playing full-time on the Nationwide or Champions Tour, he intentionally avoided competing in events such as the Colorado Open or Colorado Senior Open because he didn’t think it was fair to the regulars in such tournaments. But now that he is no longer playing regularly on the Champions circuit — and is trying to see if he can get his game ready for another possible run at Champions qualifying school — the Colorado Senior Open was a good spot to test himself.
And Eaks took that more seriously than you might imagine. He certainly was trying to win the Colorado Senior Open, but he wanted to be challenged in the process. And the fact that he was six strokes ahead with nine holes left wasn’t ideal in that regard, but what happened at the beginning of the back nine changed that a little.
Eaks bogeyed No. 10 after hitting his tee shot into a divot, then Kane drained his 192-yard approach on No. 11 with a 6-iron, quickly cutting the margin to three shots.
On Kane’s eagle, “You can’t see (the pin where it was situated) from the fairway,” the Oklahoman said. Playing partner Mark Balen “and I were right next to each other, and when I hit it, I said, ‘That’s as good as I’ve got.’ Unbeknownst, it went it. That was fun.”
And it was fun for Eaks in a different respect.
“I kind of fell asleep because I had a six-shot lead,” he said. “When (Kane) made that eagle it kind of woke me up a little bit because I was kind of coasting. It helped me more than you probably realize. I was kind of loafing. The whole idea of me playing is to get my game back in shape. I really needed the pressure back on me to see how well I could play coming in. So it worked out more for my benefit than it would if I would have (kept winning) by six or seven or something.”
After both Eaks and Kane birdied No. 12, Kane missed a 5-foot birdie putt on 13 and a 7-footer on 14, “and that was kind of it right there,” he said.
Eaks pulled away with birdies on Nos. 14, 17 and 18 — three of his eight birdies on the day.
“It was great playing with R.W.; he’s a fantastic player, a great guy,” Kane said. “He’s a well-deserving champion. He played awesome.”
The win was Eaks’ first since his last Champions Tour victory in 2008.
“I think there’s more pressure on me to win this thing than anyone else,” he said. “So that helps, knowing that I can do it again. It’s hard to come back and win. I still kind of feel funny coming back and playing, but I haven’t been doing anything, so what the heck.”
Meanwhile, five-time PGA Tour winner Danny Edwards (pictured at left) captured the super-senior title for players 60 and older as his final-day 70 left him at 211.
For his part, Hoos, competing in his first Colorado Senior Open, earned low-amateur honors at 212 after making five consecutive birdies en route to a 68 Friday. Considering it’s been a very long while since he played three straight days of tournament golf — mainly due to a bad back — it was a very satisfying result. Hoos finished 11 strokes ahead of second-place amateur Harry Johnson of Vail.
“It’s the first (multi-day) tournament I’ve played in a long time,” Hoos said. “So it means a lot. (Low amateur) was all I was thinking about. I couldn’t catch Eaks, so I had to look for something else to keep me going — and that was being low amateur. So I’m very proud of it.”
A year after Colorado players were completely shut out of the top 10 in the Senior Open, Holmes (third) and Hoos (seventh) made the grade this time.
“I’m real pleased with third; I’ll certainly take it,” said Holmes, winner of the 2008 Colorado PGA Professional Championship. Holmes made just one bogey in the last two rounds in posting his first Colorado Senior Open top 10.
For HealthOne Colorado Senior Open scores, CLICK HERE.
