It’s been a unique week at the CoBank Colorado Open.
Through three days at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club …
— Twice the course record of 62 has been matched, including Saturday by Alex Kim (left) of Fullerton, Calif., who used a hole-in-one to vault into the 54-hole lead. It was the second ace of tournament week.
— Also on Saturday, the very rare “albatross” made an appearance at GVR, with James Back of La Palma, Calif., recording a double eagle on the 531-yard par-5 12th hole, flying a 229-yard approach into the cup with a 5-iron.
— With little wind and pure greens, the scores are so low this year that the 36-hole cut of 3 under par was a tournament record by three strokes. And Kim’s 18-under-par total is a 54-hole tourney record, also by three.
— And this year’s tournament also featured a female competitor, Sherry Andonian-Smith of Denver, for the first time ever.
Now, though, things will really take on a different look. In the first 51 Colorado Opens, the highest first-prize payout has been $38,800, in 1997. But on Sunday, $100,000 will go to the winner, more than quadrupling last year’s $23,000 winner’s check.
Suffice it to say that many of those in the running for the title this year have never truly been in contention going into the final round of a tournament in which the winner would receive a six-figure check.
Indeed, aside from for the two players on the leaderboard who have won PGA Tour events — Jonathan Kaye of Boulder and Parker McLachlin of Honolulu — Sunday will be novel experience for just about everyone who’s in contention.
And making it even more unique is the huge money difference between first and second place, $100,000 and $20,000.
“The purse is huge, especially for guys playing the mini tours,” said Kim, a former UCLA golfer who played in the 2015 U.S. Open. “We don’t play for this kind of purse ($250,000).”
As noted, Kaye (left) is an exception. The former University of Colorado golfer earned $900,000 for winning the 2003 Buick Open and $936,000 for his victory at the 2004 FBR Open on the PGA Tour.
“I always looked at it that they were giving away money and I was there to get it,” Kaye said Saturday. “I was like, ‘I’m going to go as low as I can.’ I wasn’t really thinking about the consequences at that point. I was trying to go as low as I could to make money.’
“My rookie year (on the PGA Tour), that was how I kept my card. I had the No. 1 scoring average on tour on Saturday, but I only made eight cuts. I played good when I had to.
“But the young kids now, they aren’t scared. They look at it as a (cash) giveaway, I think. They think they can win right away. I think these guys (in contention at the Colorado Open) are all pretty good. (But) hopefully they all get nervous and crumble and I can slide in there. I’ll still take the money. A hundred grand is a hundred grand.”
With Saturday’s 62 and an 18-under-par 198 total, Kim will take a one-stroke lead into Sunday. The previous 54-hole tournament record, in relation to par, was Derek Tolan’s 15 under mark in 2009. That year, the former CU golfer went on to finish a record 22 under par.
Wil Collins (left) of Albuquerque, N.M., the 2005 Open champion, played his final five holes in 3 under par on Saturday and his bogey-free 67 left him a stroke behind Kim heading into the final round.
Colorado native Nick Hodge of Littleton and Neil Johnson of Phoenix share third place at 201, with Hodge carding a 66 that featured a 30 on the front nine, and Johnson posting a 68.
“This is the biggest event we play during the year as mini-tour players,” said Hodge (below). “There’s a little extra on there. I’ve been playing really well all week. It’s definitely a big event. It would be important to me to win (having grown) up here and everything.”
The group four out of the lead — at 14-under-par 202 — features two former champions (Kaye and Zahkai Brown of Arvada) and, as noted, two players who have won on the PGA Tour (Kaye and McLachlin), along with Martin Trainer of Palo Alto, Calif.
Brown is in the hunt for his fourth top-2 Colorado Open finish in the last five years, while Kaye is playing his first tournament in two years. Both shot 70 after sharing the 36-hole lead with Collins.
“I’d much rather be closer, but I am where I am so I guess I’ll have to try to make it up,” said Kaye, who needed a 30-foot chip-in for bogey on No. 16 after hitting a tree and watching his second shot go into a hazard. “It was kind of ugly today. I didn’t play very well all in all. It wasn’t as clean as the other two days. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and we’ll try to make a run at it.”
Kim, meanwhile, put himself atop the leaderboard Saturday thanks to matching the course record of 62 set by Nick Mason in 2013 and matched by Collins on Thursday.
While Kim made nine birdies on the day — including a 7-footer on 18 — it was the ace on the 177-yard eighth hole that especially grabbed the attention. His 9-iron hit about 6 feet short of the flag, took a bounce and rolled in. It was his fourth hole-in-one, but his first in competition.
“I was plugging along at 2 under, and made that hole-in-one and it was just off to the races,” said Kim, who qualified for the Colorado Open on July 12 in Eagle. “I birdied the next hole and turned at 5 under. It easily could have been a 2-under front nine, but it helps when you make a ‘1’.
“One of my playing partners said while (his tee shot on 8) was in the air, ‘Go in’, and sure enough, it one-hopped and just disappeared. I threw my club in the air. That was pretty cool.”
As for the day overall, while Kim has shot 61 before, Saturday’s 62 was his best ever in competition.
“I’m pretty pleased with that,” said the South Korea-born 26-year-old, who’s playing his first Colorado Open.
Mark Me Down for a Deuce: As noted, James Back — whose hometown of La Palma, Calif., is about 10 miles from Kim’s hometown of Fullerton — had his own fireworks on Saturday.
After a good drive on the 531-yard 12th hole — his third hole of the day — he hit a baby draw with his 5-iron from 229 yards and the ball flew straight into the cup for a double eagle, the first of his life.
Only it took Back several minutes to realize his accomplishment.
“I hit it pretty good and I was looking at it,” he said. “I didn’t see any bounce. I went up to the green and I thought it had gone over. The guys were checking all over (for the ball). Finally, the guys checked the hole and it was in the hole. It hit the back of the cup and went in the hole. It was pretty crazy.
“I didn’t expect it to go in, but if it’s in, good for me.”
Back finished with a 7-under-par 65 on Saturday and shares 14th place at 11-under 205.
Ram Tough: The chase for low-amateur honors may come down to what amounts to an intrasquad competition for Colorado State University golfers from last season.
Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village will take a two-stroke lead in the amateur competiton into Sunday’s final round. Staiano, who advanced to match play at last year’s U.S. Amateur, has gone 68-68-69 for an 11-under-par 205 total. He played his last four holes in 3 under par on Saturday.
Two back of Staiano is former Ram Dominic Kieffer of Byron, Minn., who posted a 67 on Saturday. And Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo is another two back after carding a third-round 68.
University of Colorado golfer John Souza trails Staiano by five following a 74 on Saturday.
Sitting Out This Senior British: It might seem a bit unusual to see Mark Wiebe caddying for son Gunner in this week’s Colorado Open, considering the Senior British Open is being contested this week in Scotland. After all, Wiebe won the Senior British just three years ago.
But concerns over physical ailments — most notably neck problems — made the elder Wiebe think better of a trip overseas.
“Something is going on, so it’s been a real drag,” said Wiebe, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and five-time Champions winner who noted that he’s had to withdraw from all the senior majors so far in 2016. “And to go all the way over there, all I’m thinking is, ‘Am I going to get there and be able to play?’
“I’ve tried to play injured for over a year and I suck (at that). I’m no good injured. I need to be 100 percent.”
Gunner Wiebe, playing his first tournament in two months, shares 10th place at 12-under 204 after a 68 on Saturday. (Gunner and Mark are pictured together above.)
Notable: The lead threesome of Alex Kim, Wil Collins and Nick Hodge will tee off for Sunday’s final round at 9:25 a.m. … Part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler, winner of the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, shot a 4-under-par 68 on Saturday to move up to 29th place at 8-under 208 in his first tournament in over a year.
For scores from the Colorado Open CLICK HERE.
For Sunday tee times, CLICK HERE.
