Opportunity Knocks

Looking for his first big win since returning to amateur ranks, 2-time CGA Player of the Year Pat Grady will take 3-stroke lead into final round of Trans-Miss Mid-Master Championship at Lakewood CC

By Gary Baines – 9/15/2026

LAKEWOOD — A month ago at the CGA Amateur, Pat Grady noted when making the nine-hole turn one day, “I’m too old for this.”

By “this”, the former University of Colorado golfer meant competing against players — sometime half his age — in open-age, elite-level tournaments. Grady won the CGA Am 20 years ago — and the CGA Match Play in 2005 — but that was while he was still in college.

But for this week anyway, the Westminster resident can feel like a comparative “young’un” again as he turned 40 earlier this year and he’s competing in a championship in which everyone is 40 or older.

And on Tuesday, the “rookie” put himself in position to win his first significant state or regional championship since regaining his amateur status in 2022.

Pat Grady celebrates draining a 15-foot putt for birdie on No. 11 at Lakewood Country Club on Tuesday.

The two-time CGA Player of the Year — and former pro — played his final eight holes in 4 under par on Tuesday at Lakewood Country Club, grabbing the lead by three strokes in the Trans-Miss Mid-Master, an elite-level amateur championship run by the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association. Grady, now a member at The Ranch Country Club, shot a 4-under-par 67, giving him a two-day total of 6 under par.

“So this is my senior tour debut, is what I call it,” Grady said. “I’m in the 40-and-up division. I’m a fresh 40-year-old.”

This week’s championship in Lakewood also includes a Mid-Amateur tournament, for players 25 and older. Cory Chavez of La Mirada, Calif. (65-70 for a 7-under total) leads the Mid-Ams by one over Ryan Terry of Brentwood, Tenn., with 2025 CGA Mid-Amateur Match Play champion Zach Gomez of Broomfield (68-70) in third place, three behind Chavez.

Grady got up and down from the greenside bunker on 18 to close out a round of 67.

In the Mid-Master event, which features a 45-man field, Grady leads by three over Kevin Wolf of Lodi, Calif. Haymes Snedeker of Daphne, Ala., brother of 10-time PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker, and Zach Sams of Argyle, Texas, share third place, four behind Grady. A couple of Coloradans are next best, with 2021 Trans-Miss Mid-Master champion Jay Livsey of Lakewood Country Club in fifth place at 1 under par overall, and Ryan Axlund of Englewood in sixth at 1 over.

Grady is particularly happy to be leading the pack because he’s had a crazy busy work schedule recently as he’s a CPA and Sept. 15 is the final extended tax filing deadline for some. 

“I feel really good because I had an insane work deadline,” he said. “I’ve been working like crazy the last two weeks, I mean, just to even play golf, I’m really happy to be out here. Maybe that’s why I’m playing good, because I didn’t prepare, and couldn’t prepare. I’m just enjoying it. … I’m happy to be golfing and not working.”

Kevin Wolf of Lodi, Calif., sits in second place in the Mid-Masters.

Grady made a big error on the par-3 10th hole on Tuesday at Lakewood CC as he not only short-sided himself with a pulled tee shot, but the green was sloping dramatically away from him. His first flop shot went over the green, with the second getting within 2 feet of the hole, where he made bogey.

But from then on, he had a clean card, with four birdies and four pars. He drained a 15-foot birdie on 11 and a 4-footer on 12; two-putted for birdie from 20 feet on the 330-yard 14th, where he drove the green with a 3-wood; and made a 2-footer on 15. On 18, his approach went into a greenside bunker, but he blasted to about 6 inches for a par to close out his 67.

One of the few mistakes Grady made on the back nine Tuesday was short-siding himself on the tough par-3 10th, where he hit two flop shots and made bogey.

So Grady has left himself with a good opportunity to earn his first victory in a big-time tournament in many years. To the best of his recollection, his last win in a state/regional event might have been the 2016 Colorado Assistant PGA Professional Championship. Since then, he’s regained his amateur status. And last year at the CGA Amateur, he shared the 54-hole lead, but finished third.

“I didn’t realize how good the guys are (at the elite amateur level in the state),” he said. “I thought, having played mini tours at some level … But it’s just really hard to win, so hopefully someday. Maybe tomorrow.”

And if it happens, it would be a nice feather in Grady’s cap as Trans-Miss tournaments often draw strong fields from around the country.

“The Trans-Miss is one of the best golf associations there is,” Grady said. “And guys came from all over the country. It’s great for our state and great for amateur golf here in Colorado. I’m excited.”

Lakewood CC’s own Jay Livsey is looking for his second Trans-Miss Mid-Master title.

Despite being a lifelong Coloradan, Grady said he’s played Lakewood Country Club only about five times. In fact, the opportunity to tee it up at the club again was one of his big motivations in playing this week.

“I just really wanted to play Lakewood; it’s just a fantastic course — a beautiful, beautiful course. I love it,” he said. “You have to think on every shot; you cannot be out of position. Certain courses, you just bang in down there and try to hit the green. But Lakewood, you have to be so precise. I think that’s why I enjoy it more.”

Cory Chavez of La Mirada, Calif., leads the Mid-Am division by one.

As for the Mid-Amateur division, Chavez leads the 24-player field. A qualifier for the 2016 U.S. Amateur and the 2024 U.S. Mid-Am, Chavez was pulling away from the field as he stood 9 under par through 27 holes. But he played his back nine in 2 over to finish with just a stroke advantage.

Through 36 holes, Chavez has chalked up an eagle, eight birdies and three bogeys to stand at 7 under par.

“Today was a little bit more of a grind,” the 33-year-old said. “I made a lot of good par saves out there to keep the round going — keep myself in it, I guess.

“This course is just so much fun to play. I’m really just enjoying it out there.”

Chavez is competing in his first Trans-Miss event, and he traveled to the Denver area for the first time in his life. Being in the lead, he’s obviously been successful in adjusting to the further distances his ball flies at altitude. 

“I did some research coming into it,” he said. “I used AI to kind of help me to come up with a game plan a little bit. It’s actually helped out pretty nicely. It was pretty accurate, then you just adjust based on temperature and wind and things like that.”

Earlier this summer, Chavez advanced to the match play round of 16 at the California Amateur.

Especially with Chavez giving a couple strokes back to par on his final nine on Tuesday, Gomez believes he’s still very much in the running for the title, sitting three strokes out of the lead.

Zach Gomez of Broomfield sits in third place among the Mid-Ams.

Gomez made four birdies on Tuesday — including three in a row on his front nine — while carding three bogeys.

“I feel like I’ve played pretty well” for the two days, Gomez said. “I’ve hit a lot of fairways, lot of greens, made a lot of putts. I missed a couple of short ones yesterday, but I made a couple of long ones to make up for that. So I feel like I’m right in it.”

As for potentially rallying from a few strokes back on Wednesday, “they do it on tour all the time, so I’m ready to go give it a shot,” Gomez added.

For all the results from the Trans-Miss Mid-Master and Mid-Amateur, CLICK HERE.