This month’s cover story features the site of the 2026 CGA Amateur Championship, Sonnenalp Golf Club. When I think of Sonnenalp (or Singletree as it was originally known), my mind quickly travels back to the summer of 1985…
I was planning on going back to Denver Country Club to caddie and work in the bag room. Up until then, it was the only job I knew, and after finishing my freshman year at C.U. on an Evans Scholarship, it made sense to go back to the place that made my college education possible.
And then the phone rang.
Karen Tucker, the then office manager at the Colorado Golf Association, called the Evans Scholar house in Boulder to see if there might be someone interested in a summer internship. As luck would have it, my good friend, Solomon Medina, answered the phone, and he knew someone who might be interested.
When Solomon called me to ask if I was interested in working for the Colorado Golf Association as a summer intern, I had no idea that my life was about to change. Having played in many CGA junior tournaments, I was familiar with the organization, and it sounded like a fun opportunity. I immediately called the CGA office and spoke to Karen. No interview later, I was hired!
My first day on the job was in late May of 1985 at the CGA offices at 1805 S. Bellaire behind the once iconic mid-century Writers’ Manor hotel (sadly now a strip mall). Karen showed me my desk and gave me a quick tutorial of the Merlin telephone system and its cool “speaker phone” feature! She then tested my typing skills on the IBM Selectric II typewriter, and I was off and running.
I quickly fell in love with the job, and the people who worked at the CGA which included Dave Askins (Executive Director), Jim Topliff (Tournament Director), JP Messick (Handicap Director), Karen Tucker (Office Manager) and the amazing Jan Bailey who essentially ran the Colorado Women’s Golf Association, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and most of the CGA’s junior golf tournaments.
Later that summer, I got permission to take the day off to try to qualify for the CGA Stroke Play (now the CGA Amateur), which was to be played at Singletree Golf Course (now Sonnenalp Golf Club). The qualifying was at Columbine Country Club, and I didn’t play my best. My 80 was well outside the qualifying score, but we did maintain a very lengthy waiting list, so as the “manager” of the waiting list, there was a glimmer of hope.
As the tournament approached, my name crept closer to the on-deck circle, and when a last-minute cancellation came in, I came to my name. That was an easy phone call to make!
Opened in 1981 and designed by Jay Morrish and Bob Cupp, Singletree was one of the first mountain courses to host the CGA Stroke Play Championship. The mountain setting and lightning-fast greens suggested a similarity to Hiwan Club, the longtime host of the Colorado Open. It was a true championship test, and the best player in the state, Brandt Jobe, won with a 72-hole score of one-over par.
I missed the cut by a mile!
Today, Sonnenalp Golf Club, acquired by the Sonnenalp Hotel in 1987, is now a semi-private course with preferred tee times for Hotel guests and members. The course has preserved its classic design, outstanding turf conditions, and the signature fast greens protect par much as they did 40 years ago. While drives will fly much further at this year's CGA Amateur, the course will hold its own.
One over par may not win the tournament this year, but I suspect many players would gladly take that score right now and take their chances.
