Gary Albrecht, the reigning CGA Super-Senior Stroke Play champion and a member of the CGA’s volunteer board of directors, was the first player to submit an entry for the U.S. Senior Open earlier this month.
In Albrecht’s case, he’s hoping for a strong showing in qualifying to land a berth in the national championship, which this year is being held in his home state, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs June 28-July 1. Also falling into that same category, as we reported late last month, is Broncos general manager John Elway, the honorary chairman of the championship.
Online registration for the U.S. Senior Open began on March 7 and will wrap up on May 16. After that, the USGA will release a list of all the exempt players who have entered the tournament.
But we’ve already gotten an indication of some of the big-name players who are definitely coming — and how they feel about The Broadmoor, the historic venue that will host its eighth USGA championship and second U.S. Senior Open.
Tom Watson, arguably one of the top 10 golfers of all time after a career that’s included 39 PGA Tour victories and eight titles in major championships, recently indicated he plans to return to The Broadmoor, where he finished 23rd in the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. Watson owns 14 career wins on PGA Tour Champions.
“I’m looking forward to playing in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor — love that place — and of course the British Senior Open at St. Andrews, the Old Course there, that will be neat,” the 68-year-old Watson said on PGATour.com. “Looking forward to those tournaments.”
Another World Golf Hall of Famer who plans on competing at The Broadmoor is Davis Love III, who will be making his U.S. Senior Open debut. In fact, if Love doesn’t play in the Regions Tradition or the Senior PGA Championship in May, it’ll be his first senior major. To date, he’s played in nine PGA Tour Champions events, with a best finish of third place. Love has won 21 titles on the PGA Tour, including a PGA Championship.
“I’m really happy that my first U.S. Senior Open will be at The Broadmoor, one of America’s historic resorts,” said Love, who turns 54 on April 13. “Colorado has been a special place for my family. I won two PGA Tour tournaments at Castle Pines (1990 and 2003 at The International) and my father captured two (Colorado Junior Match Play) tournaments on the state level here in the 1950s (1953 and ’54).
“Having competed in more than 20 U.S. Opens, I know that I’ll have the same type of challenges at the Senior Open because of the course and the world-class field. I’ll have to use all my skills to pass this ultimate test, but I am ready for it.”
Then there’s two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, another winner of The International at Castle Pines (1995), who entered the U.S. Senior Open earlier this month.
“@USGA my entry is in for the US Senior Open at the Broadmoor,” Janzen tweeted. “Excited to play there for the first time. Heard lots of great things about the venue.”
Among the other prominent players exempt for the U.S. Senior Open — and still competing at least on a semi-regular basis — are World Golf Hall of Famers Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie and Fred Couples.
Like the championship itself, the Colorado-based qualifying tournament — for players who aren’t exempt — will be contested at The Broadmoor’s East Course, on May 28.
