GARY BAINES: Taking Notes
This U.S. Open Lacks
Much Colorado Flavor
Jobe the only player with strong local ties competing at Torrey Pines
Golf’s major championships have turned out to be a major shortcoming for Colorado’s favorite sons so far this year.
At the Masters, the only competitor with strong local ties in the field was 1982 champion Craig Stadler, who missed the cut.
Next up is this week’s U.S. Open, where the only player with major Colorado roots will be Brandt Jobe, who advanced through a sectional qualifying tournament in Cordova, Tenn. Jobe lives in a Dallas suburb these days, but he grew up in Colorado and has a spot in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.
It’s been a long time since just one Colorado “local” has been in the field at the U.S. Open. With Boulder High School and University of Colorado alum Hale Irwin competing in 34 Opens, and guys such as Steve Jones (12), Jobe (10 before this year), David Duval (14), Craig Stadler (18) and Mark Wiebe (9) filling in the gaps, Colorado has been at least adequately represented at golf’s second major for many years.
And, of course, both Irwin (three times) and Jones (once) have won the U.S. Open.
With just Jobe carrying the torch for Colorado this year, it will mark the first time since at least the mid-1980s that fewer than two players with significant ties to Colorado will play in the U.S. Open.
Monday, June 9, 2008
• SPOTS FOR NICKLAUS DINNER AVAILABLE: The June 19 Nicholson Award dinner at Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel, where Jack Nicklaus will be honored for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf, has some spots available for people interested in attending. A reception is planned for 7 p.m., with dinner set for 7:40 p.m. The cost is $175 per person. Those interested should contact Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board member Gary Potter before June 13 at 303-885-4538.
The Nicholson Award is named for its first recipient, Will Nicholson Jr., the former U.S. Golf Association president who resides in Denver. Last year, the Nicholson Award went to Arnold Palmer.
• LOCAL TOUR PLAYERS MAKE INROADS: Three touring professionals who have strong ties to Colorado cleared some hurdles in tournaments that ended pn Sunday.
-- Former British Open champion David Duval, a Denver-area resident, made the cut in a PGA Tour event for the first time since September. After going 0-for his first 10 cuts of the year, Duval finished 60th at the St. Jude Championship.
-- Denver native and Cherry Creek High School graduate Jill McGill came in 18th at the LPGA Championship, a women’s Grand Slam event. It was McGill’s best performance in a major since 2002.
McGill followed that up Monday by qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open. She finished third at a sectional qualifying event in Rockville, Md., behind Kelli Kuehne and Michelle Wie. McGill, winner of two USGA championships as an amateur (the 1993 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 1994 U.S. Women's Publinks), finished at 138 for 36 holes. The Women's Open will be played June 26-29 in Edina, Minn.
-- Castle Rock resident Esteban Toledo cracked the top 10 for the first time this year, finishing second at the Nationwide Tour’s Rex Hospital Open. That runner-up showing pushed him from 76th to 37th on the 2008 money list.
• 1960 U.S. OPEN IN SPOTLIGHT: HBO will televise its first golf documentary, focusing on the 1960 U.S. Open held at Cherry Hills Country Club south of Denver, on Wednesday, June 11, at 8 p.m.
Entitled “Back Nine at Cherry Hills: The Legends of the 1960 U.S. Open,” the one-hour program takes viewers back to a tournament in which three generations of golf greats battled it out on the last day: Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, with Palmer shooting a final-round 65 to prevail.
“This is an incredible story in a sport that we’ve never previously explored at HBO,” said Ross Greenburg, HBO Sports president. “The 1960 U.S. Open was much more than just a historic golf tournament. The golf that was played and the athletes who performed at Cherry Hills nearly 50 years ago represented the very essence of the emerging sport. You had three generations of stars in Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus. Each had a unique relationship with his father and each grew up in a different era. Yet there they were, fighting it out on the back nine at the U.S. Open.”
Noted respected sports writer Dan Jenkins: “On that afternoon, in the span of just 18 holes, we witnessed the arrival of Nicklaus, the coronation of Palmer and the end of Hogan.”
• CHIP SHOTS: The amateurs won two divisions and the pros one at last week’s Colorado Cup matches at The Club at Bear Dance in Larkspur. The amateurs captured the open division 12-6 and the ladies division 7-2. The pros won the senior division 3½-2½. Complete results can be found by hitting the tourney results button on coloradogolfjournal.com’s home page. … Belated congratulations go to two former Colorado high school standouts whose teams fared very well in the recent NCAA Division I men’s finals. Legacy grad Steve Ziegler was part of a Stanford team that finished second in the team competition, while Cheyenne Mountain alum Tom Glissmeyer helped Southern California to a third-place showing. Glissmeyer finished 43rd individually and Ziegler 52nd. … The first major junior state titles of the summer season will be on the line next week with the CGA Boys Stroke Play and the CWGA Girls Stroke Play set for June 16-18. The boys tournament will be played at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, and the girls will be at West Woods Golf Course in Arvada.
GOLF NOTES
