As soon as the CoBank Colorado Open drastically raised its purse a year ago, a similar hike was virtually inevitable for the Colorado Women’s Open.
You could take it to the (Co)Bank.
Almost exactly a year after the purse for the men’s Open jumped to $250,000 — with an amazing $100,000 going to the winner — Colorado Open Golf Foundation officials announced a comparable increase, percentage-wise, for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open. Not coincidentally, CoBank has been the title sponsor for the Colorado Open championships since the beginning of 2016.
For the 2017 women’s tournament, set for Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, first prize will more than quadruple — to $50,000 from $11,000 — and the overall purse will double — to $150,000. In both cases, those are records for a women’s state/regional open and the $50,000 is considerably more than the winner receives for any 2017 event on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s development circuit.
“We’re very excited that we’re a big girls’ game now,” Colorado Open Golf Foundation CEO Kevin Laura said during Thursday’s announcement at Topgolf in Centennial.
Roughly $135,000 of the purse total will be devoted to the championship competition, with $15,000 (the same as in 2016) going for the pro-am.
“This is the best state open and it’s getting even better,” said Denver’s Becca Huffer, a two-time Colorado state high school champion who went on to win the 2013 Colorado Women’s Open.
“This is a huge day for women’s golf in Colorado,” said 2005 CWO champ Erin Houtsma, the tournament’s all-time money leader. “As someone who’s played in this tournament since I was about 16 years old, I love this event so much and this is long overdue. I thank everyone for their hard work and dedication to this process.”
Ironically, Houtsma is in the midst of getting her amateur status back, so even if she wins the 2017 CWO, there will be no $50,000 first prize for her. Instead, the highest-finishing professional would get that payday.
With the substantial increase in money, tournament organizers now feel there will be enough demand for a qualifying event — a first for the CWO — and have scheduled one for Aug. 28 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora. Five to 10 spots will be available through qualifying. Meanwhile, exemptions will be held for select players from the LPGA and Symetra Tours.
Laura indicated the increased prize money for the Women’s Open is being funded by $75,000 in new sponsorships, with another $10,000 coming from a $100 increase in entry fees from the 100 or so championship players. It will now cost those players $400 to enter the championship alone, and $500 for the championship and the pro-am.
(Entries for the Colorado Women’s Open, the CoBank Colorado Open and the CoBank Colorado Senior Open all will open on Monday, March 6. For more information, CLICK HERE.)
The money hike for the Women’s Open — which will continue to feature a format in which the championship and a pro-am are conducted simultaneously — has been on the radar since organizers first started putting a similar plan in place for the men’s Open.
“We knew when we first did the men’s purse increase that shortly thereafter we needed to figure out how to handle the women,” said Pat Hamill, the founder of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation and the owner of GVR. “Alex (Ringsby, who serves on the foundation’s board of trustees) had called me and said, ‘We thought women should come first. Isn’t that the right thing to do?'”
All three of the Colorado Open championships have always been very highly regarded among state and regional opens, but the huge purse increases for the Colorado Open and the Colorado Women’s Open since CoBank became title sponsor certainly take those tournaments’ reputation up a notch.
The Colorado Open “clearly was a premier state tournament, but … we wanted to take it to the next level,” said Bob Engel, former CEO of CoBank. “And we saw the engagement of anyone that has anything at all to do with the (tournament or course). Everyone pulled together on this. And the excitement just kind of continued to grow.
“For me what was really (eye-catching) was when we had these individual clinics with The First Tee kids last year (conducted by Hale Irwin, Ryan Palmer and Paula Creamer). And when I saw the attendance by the young ladies for that (Creamer) event, it was absolutely tremendous. And Pat (Hamill) had whispered to me at the end of the men’s tournament, ‘We’re going to get this going for the women also.’ It really is tremendous. … So (with these increases) we think it brings a whole lot more and that the community will continue to rally around it.”
Many players like the ones who attended Thursday’s announcement — Houtsma, Huffer and three-time state high school champion and veteran CWO competitor Ashley Tait — have seldom played in a tournament with a $50,000 first prize (though Huffer competed in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open). (Pictured above, from left, sharing a laugh Thursday are Engel, Hamill, Houtsma, Huffer and Tait.)
“I’ve always looked forward to that day that I have a chance to win (the Women’s Open) — and I’ll look forward to that day even more (now),” Tait said with a laugh. “($50,000) could change your life, open up some doors, especially for us having to pay for your own expenses and travel on tour.
“Especially coming down that stretch at Green Valley and those last four holes, which can be brutal, they’ll be even more stressful now with that on the line.”
The hope from the perspective of tournament organizers is a step up in the caliber of field for the Women’s Open like that that happened for the men’s Open, which in 2016 sold out all four of its qualfiers for the first time.
“We know this is going to do for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open what the purse increase did for the men,” said Chris Nordling, a former CGA state amateur champion who now chairs the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “We’re excited about the better field, the lower scores and the more money for the women.”
Just how much of a draw the money increase will be should be apparent this year as both the Symetra Tour and the LPGA Tour have events directly opposite of the CWO. With the top 10 players on the final 2017 Symetra Tour money list earning spots on the 2018 LPGA Tour — and with that being the stretch run for the Symetra schedule — some players will be conflicted about whether to come to Colorado. That’s what happened with Huffer last year when she was high enough on the Symetra money list that she decided to skip the Colorado Women’s Open to further help her cause on the Symetra money list.
“I hated missing this event last year,” Huffer said. “(With the money increase) I can’t imagine people not having it on their radar. It would be a really hard decision not to come here. … I think it will bring anyone who has ever been on the fence about playing in it.
“I can see it being a star on the calendar for everyone.”
The field for the 23rd CWO will feature 104-106 championship players, including probably 18-25 amateurs. With 38-40 net amateurs competing, the total field will number 144.
Big Names Expected for 2 Clinics at GVR: A year after holding three clinics featuring two winners of major championships (Irwin and Creamer, in addition to Palmer), the folks from the Colorado Open Golf Foundation are planning to host a couple of other major winners for clinics at GVR this summer.
Laura said arrangements aren’t yet finalized, but a major champion on the men’s side and another on the women’s are expected to lead the clinics for the kids from the area’s First Tee programs, including the one at GVR.
The clinic with the men’s major champ will likely be held in mid- to late-June, with the women’s LPGA Tour player probably coming two months later.
