Tickets for the 2010 Senior PGA Championship went on sale this week, which undoubtedly made the countdown clock at Colorado Golf Club seem to tick that much faster.
Given that the Parker course wasn’t announced as the site of the first senior major of 2010 until November of last year, there’s been a certain sense of urgency at Colorado Golf Club. Normally, hosts of major championships have more lead time between the original site announcement and the playing of the tournament. But beyond that, Colorado Golf Club faces a couple of unique challenges heading up to the Senior PGA, which will be contested May 27-30.
CGC only opened in 2007, and it does not yet have a permanent clubhouse completed. Officials of the club and the PGA of America say they’re confident that will be rectified no later than early next year. Meanwhile, another potential issue is totally out of local hands — the Colorado weather in late May at a site 6,100 feet in elevation.
As for the clubhouse, officials said last November that it was expected to be completed by this month. Now, depending on who is doing the projections, it’s expected to be fully done by the end of 2009 or early next year. Considering one of the ticket options the PGA announced this week is a clubhouse weekly pass, everyone involved is counting on full completion before the tournament.
“We knew it coming in,” 2010 Senior PGA championship director Jeromy Manser said of the clubhouse situation. “It’s on the club’s radar. They’ll have it ready.”
While construction continues on the permanent structure that’s near the ninth and 18th greens and the first and 10th tees, Colorado Golf Club has been operating out of a temporary facility near the practice range. Manser said design changes and some other issues have caused delays with the original construction schedule for the clubhouse.
Mike McGetrick, a founder and managing partner of Colorado Golf Club, as well as the general chairman of the 2010 Senior PGA, said almost all of the outside work is completed on the clubhouse building. Indoor work and landscaping are still significant items on the agenda.
Manser notes that the PGA faced a similar situation with a new clubhouse at the 2007 Senior PGA at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina.
While tournament and club officials have some control over making sure the clubhouse is ready for the 2010 Senior PGA, the weather is a variable that could present problems. Colorado has hosted several dozen events from the PGA, LPGA and Senior/Champions tours over the years, but none with as early dates as the 2010 Senior PGA, though the Senior Champions of Golf in Castle Rock came close from 1985-87.
The last week of May in the Denver area can be outstanding, with high temperatures in the 80s possible. But weather records also show low temperatures in the low 40s are equally possible. Snow in late May is not out of the question in the metro area, although it’s quite unlikely.
The weather “is probably the major concern out of anything,” Aurora-based Champions Tour player Mark Wiebe said this week while visiting Colorado Golf Club, where he’s a member. “I’ve had some buddies say, “˜What’s the weather going to be like?’ I said it could be 80 or it could be snowing. I certainly hope the weather is good, but if it’s bad it’s bad.”
Competitors in the U.S. Open Local Qualifying that was held at Colorado Golf Club on May 11 can certainly attest that May weather can be dicey for golf. Early in the day especially, the players encountered cold temperatures, combined with 25-30 mph winds. Some golfers wore a full rain suit.
Manser, for one, is hoping for the best.
“We’ve held (the Senior PGA) in the Northeast, where the climate is more unpredictable,” he said. “I think we’re pretty safe in Colorado at the end of May. But we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
McGetrick said as part of the process leading up to the announcement of CGC as host of next year’s Senior PGA, officials looked back at the weather the area encountered for the last decade. He said that, typically, the high temperature reached 65-75 degrees that time of year.
But McGetrick said he isn’t going to fret if the weather gets a little marginal.
“It’s usually a good week, but you never know with Mother Nature,” he said. “That time of the year isn’t perfect. The spring weather can be windy and a little chilly. Players are going to face the elements. This course has a Scottish look to it, so hopefully we’ll have some Scottish weather.”
As for the course at Colorado Golf Club, both Wiebe and fellow Champions Tour player Dale Douglass believe it’ll be well-received by the Senior PGA competitors. The Ben Crenshaw-Bill Coore design will play close to 7,500 yards for the tournament, with a first cut of rough measuring 2½ inches and a second 4 inches. Beyond that, the deep native grass can present considerable challenges. Meanwhile, the Stimpmeter will probably hit 11½ on the greens.
“I could talk all day about the golf course,” said Wiebe, winner of two Champions Tour events since 2007. “It’s awesome. You never stand on a tee and take anything for granted. “¦ It challenges you unlike other courses.”
In addition, the general look and surroundings are likely to impress the competitors, Wiebe said.
“A lot of players are going to have an awesome feeling when they see this course for the first time,” he said.
Joe Steranka, the PGA’s chief executive officer, called Colorado Golf Club “a modern major championship gem. “¦ It has every shot you can imagine hitting in the course of a 72-hole championship.”
