It seems appropriate that the golfer depicted on the trophies of the Colorado Open and Colorado Senior Open was modeled after Bill Loeffler. After all, he now owns four replicas of those trophies, and no one has won more.
The 53-year-old from Castle Rock collected No. 4 on Friday by winning the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open for the first time. That trophy can go next to the three he claimed for his victories in the Colorado Open in 1991, “˜93 and 2004.
“It’s great to have won both,” said Loeffler, a longtime member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. “As you get older you never know when the time will come when you don’t win anymore, so this is big.”
The only other player who has won some combination of four Colorado Opens and Colorado Senior Opens is Dave Hill, the PGA Tour player who notched four Colorado Open victories from 1971 to “˜81. Brian Guetz also has four Open trophies, but two were for being low amateur in the tournament.
Loeffler became just the third full-time Coloradan to claim the Colorado Senior Open title, joining Mike Zaremba (2005) and Dave Arbuckle (2007). Zaremba and Loeffler are the only players who have won both the Colorado Open and the Colorado Senior Open.
“Billy’s a winner,” said Rick DeWitt, a six-time CGA Player of the Year. “When he wants to win, he wins.”
Loeffler, who received $8,500 for his victory, needed a final-round rally on Friday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club to come out on top. After trailing by two heading into the day, he shot the low round of the tournament, a bogey-free 6-under-par 66, to win going away. Loeffler’s 10-under 206 total was five shots better than his nearest competition, making the victory margin the second-largest in tournament history.
Minnesotan Joe Stansberry, who won the Senior Open last year and led after the first two rounds this week, bogeyed his last three holes Friday, shot 73 and finished in a four-way tie for second place at 211. Also at that figure was five-time PGA Tour winner Danny Edwards (68 Friday), U.S. Senior Open qualifier Russ Clark of Aurora (71) and Thomas Herzan of Findlay, Ohio (68).
“This was one day where we knew we had to go low to have a chance, and Bill did,” Clark said. “It was fun to watch.”
Stansberry and Clark were the only players to stay within striking distance of Loeffler on the back nine Friday. Stansberry made it to 8 under par and Clark to 7, but the defending champ bogeyed the last three holes and Clark went bogey-double bogey on 15 and 16.
“It leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” Stansberry said of his finish. “I didn’t come here to finish second; I came here to win.”
Loeffler said he purposely didn’t want to know how he stood on the leaderboard during the final round for fear of tightening up. The strategy seemed to work as he hit 17 greens in regulation and didn’t make a bogey. Had he not missed birdie putts of 7 feet on No. 17 and 5 feet on No. 18, he could have gone even lower.
“I hit it solid and felt good about almost every shot,” he said.
In July, Loeffler skipped the Colorado Open for the first time in what is believed to be decades. Neck problems caused the absence, but they abated in late July. And on Sunday, the only pain in the neck at GVR was felt by Loeffler’s opponents.
Friday’s win was but the latest for Loeffler, a former PGA Tour player who co-owns and operates Highlands Ranch Golf Club. Besides his accomplishments at the Colorado Open championships, he’s won three national titles — the 1986 U.S. Mid-Amateur, the 1992 PGA Assistant Professional Championship, and the 2007 Senior PGA Professional National Championship. He also played on the U.S. Walker Cup team in 1987.
On the state level, Loeffler’s victories run the gamut. In addition to what he’s done in the Colorado Open and Colorado Senior Open, he’s won three Colorado PGA Section Championships, a CGA Stroke Play, a CGA Mid-Amateur, a CGA Junior Match Play, and a Colorado high school title (while at Cherry Creek).
NOTABLE: Frank Fager of Centennial won the Colorado Senior Open low-amateur title, defeating Robert Polk of Parker in a one-hole playoff. Fager shot a 1-over-par 73 Friday while Polk closed with a 76. Both players finished at 1-under 215, good for 17th place overall. Fager parred the first playoff hole, while Polk recorded a bogey. “¦ Wayne Wright of Fort Worth, Texas claimed the super senior (60-plus) title at 2-under-par 214 after firing a final-round 74. “¦ Before his victory on Friday, Loeffler had finished second, third and third in previous Colorado Senior Opens.
