The CGA will gear up for next month’s U.S. Amateur — just the fourth ever held in Colorado — by hosting a U.S. Amateur Alumni Day that will feature a Skills Challenge put on by outstanding Colorado golfers who have competed in the championship.
The festivities will be held Tuesday, July 17 at CommonGround Golf Course, which will serve as the second stroke-play course for the U.S. Amateur. The CGA and CWGA own and operate CommonGround, which is located at Havana and 1st Ave., in Aurora.
Cherry Hills Country Club will be the host for the U.S. Amateur, with competitors playing one stroke-play round each at Cherry Hills and CommonGround Aug. 13-14 before all of the match-play portion of the event is held at Cherry Hills Aug. 15-19.
The July 17 U.S. Amateur Alumni Day at CommonGround, which runs from noon to 2 p.m., is open to the public, free of charge. Youngsters age 17 and under are especially encouraged to attend. In fact, any adult who brings kids will receive a ticket to the U.S. Amateur.
Free lunches, courtesy of King Soopers, will be given to the kids at noon, and Imperial Headwear will provide them a U.S. Amateur hat and pen for autographs. In addition, the youngsters will be eligible for prize drawings.
The Skills Challenge will begin at 1 p.m., with 10 Coloradans who have competed in the U.S. Amateur demonstrating their golf abilities to those in attendance. Among the players expected to participate are Steve Ziegler, who made it to the quarterfinals of the 2009 U.S. Amateur, and past HealthOne Colorado Open champions Ben Portie and Scott Petersen.
Also planning to be on hand are Tom Glissmeyer, who qualified for the 2003 U.S. Open as a 16-year-old; two-time U.S. Open qualifier Jason Allen; Gunner Wiebe; brothers Zen and Zahkai Brown; former Air Force Academy golf standout Tom Whitney; and one other player to be determined.
Combined, the confirmed participants have won two Colorado Opens, a Web.com Tour event, eight CGA Stroke or Match Play Championships and five state high school titles, and they’ve competed in four U.S. Opens.
All of the attending U.S. Amateur “alumni” from Colorado will be presented Alumni Day commemorative medals, and they’ll be available to sign autographs after the Skills Challenge.
