’Tis the season to not only celebrate the holidays, but to reflect on the year that’s been.
That goes for Colorado golf too. And, as has been our custom for well over a decade, this takes the form of noting the stories of the year before we toss or recycle that calendar that’s been a presence for the last 12 months.
So, without further ado, here’s the rundown.
25. This pick is kind of an odd one as it mainly involves German Bernhard Langer, who has no major connections to Colorado. But when he won the U.S. Senior Open in July, it marked his 46th victory on PGA Tour Champions, moving him out of a tie for the career record with Hale Irwin, who grew up in Boulder and played golf and football for the University of Colorado. With 45 senior wins, Irwin had held or shared the Champions career victory record for more than 22 years. He surpassed Lee Trevino’s then-record 29 senior victories in early 2001.While Irwin won his 45th Champions event at age 61, Langer chalked up No. 46 less than two months shy of turning 66.
24. The Colorado PGA has been presenting a Player of the Year honor since 1964, but never has a golfer earned that honor as many times as Geoff Keffer, who received the award for the eighth time in October. That pulled Keffer out of a tie at seven with Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bob Hold. And, it should be noted, Keffer has also been CPGA Associate Player of the Year on three occasions. READ MORE
23. Before this year, no one since 1947 had been elected to a second term as national president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. But that drought ended in February as Colorado State University alum — and former Keystone/Estes Park/Pagosa Springs resident — Kevin Breen pulled off the feat. READ MORE
22. It took a while — well into his 30s — for Colorado native Gunner Wiebe to earn a card on one of the world’s top tours, but he did so in 2022 through successfully negotiating three stages of Q-school for the DP World Tour, previously known as the European Tour. But the 2022-23 season wasn’t a one-and-done for the Kent Denver graduate and 2010 CGA Player of the year. Thanks largely to a runner-up finish at the British Masters early in the summer, Wiebe retained his DP World Tour card for 2023-24 season. Also in 2023, Wiebe qualified for — and competed in — his first British Open. READ MORE
21. Jacob Eagan (pictured) of Castle Rock narrowly missed becoming the first Coloradan to win an overall title at the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National. In April, Eagan lost the boys 7-9 competition to Knox Mason of Portland, Tenn., in a playoff. Eagan became the second-ever DCP national overall runner-up from Colorado, and Brady Shaw of Pueblo later joined him as a second-place overall finisher — in his case in the boys 10-11 division. In 2019, Chunya Boonta of Centennial was the first DCP national runner-up from Colorado as she placed second in the girls 12-13 division. READ MORE
20. Leigha Devine of Windsor won the CGA Women’s Stroke Play for the second time, giving her four victories in CGA women’s majors in just over two years. By winning four CGA women’s majors in three seasons, Devine joined the likes of Jennifer Kupcho (four wins from 2015-17), Wendy Werley (four in 1988-89), Carol Flenniken (four from 1970-72 and seven in five years: 1968-72), Marcia Bailey (four from 1965-67), Joan Birkland (four from 1964-66) and Sally Hardwick (five from 1957-59). READ MORE
19. At age 34, former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney (pictured below) earned a PGA Tour card for the first time. By finishing in the top 30 (21st, to be precise) in the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour point standings, Whitney became just the second former AFA Falcon to land PGA Tour status, joining Kyle Westmoreland (2022). READ MORE
18. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and former CGA president John Gardner II, who passed away at age 97 in February, managed something remarkable, longevity-wise. At the time of his death, he had been a member at Lakewood Country Club for more than 80 years — since 1941. READ MORE
17. With the University of Colorado and Colorado State advancing, Colorado put two teams into the men’s NCAA Division I national golf championships for first time in the 21st century. READ MORE CU went on to post the program’s second-best NCAA nationals finish in the last 40 years, while CSU notched its second-best showing ever at the event. READ MORE
16. Though Colorado native Jennifer Kupcho didn’t win on the LPGA Tour in 2023 after posting three victories in 2022, she came very close to the top spot. In fact, had she prevailed in a playoff at the Mizuho Americas Open in early June, she would have prevented Rose Zhang from became the first player since 1951 to win on the LPGA Tour in her pro debut. As it was, Kupcho’s playoff runner-up was her best showing of the year. She followed it up with a sixth place at the Meijer LPGA Classic, marking her only top-10s of the season. READ MORE Still, the Jefferson Academy graduate represented the U.S. on the Solheim Cup team for the second straight year. Early in the year, Kupcho was named the Colorado Sportswoman of the Year for 2022. And in the fall, at age 26, Kupcho was voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.
15. Drew Stoltz, who grew up in Fort Collins and won the 2004 CGA Amateur, and Drew Kittleson set a record by qualifying for their second championship match at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, but they fell just short of title again as Cal teammates Aaron Du and Sampson Zheng prevailed. Stoltz and Kittleson lost in the final 2 up this year and in 19 holes last year. READ MORE
14. Lauren Lehigh (pictured, USGA) of Loveland has proven quite a competitor in arguably the world’s most prestigious women’s amateur golf championship, the U.S. Women’s Amateur. In 2023, the University of New Mexico golfer fell victim to a big comeback in the round of 16. In 2022, she advanced to the quarterfinals. READ MORE Later, Lehigh and younger sister Katelyn, each winner of two state high school individual titles, earned qualifying medalist honors for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. In the spring, Lauren finished 21st individually at NCAA Div. I nationals.
13. A record-tying total of six people, including two tour players, were voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and will be inducted as the class of 2024. The group includes Wyndham Clark, Jennifer Kupcho, George Solich, Pat Hamill, Joe Assell and Gene Torres. READ MORE
12. Denver resident Jon Lindstrom was named one of the top senior amateurs in the world by Global Golf Post. In 2023, Lindstrom swept the CGA’s major senior titles and became the first Coloradan to win the Trans-Miss senior championship. As of the week of Dec. 19, Lindstrom was ranked fifth in the world among male amateurs age 55 and older. READ MORE
11. After a long PGA Tour drought for Colorado, plans for the 2024 BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club are taking shape nicely. There will be a strong focus on entertainment as well as golf next August. By measure of sheer yardage, Castle Pines will likely be the longest course ever contested for a PGA Tour event, though as a practical matter, the altitude will make it play much shorter. READ MORE
10. For the second time in three years, The Ascendant presented by Blue at TPC Colorado earned the Korn Ferry Tour Tournament of the Year honor (pictured). In its five years as a KFT event, The Ascendant has become one of the favorite stops on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule. READ MORE
9. After serving as the University of Colorado women’s golf head coach for 27 years — she’s the longest-tenured female head coach in CU sports history — Anne Kelly will step down at the end of the 2023-24 season. She’s led the Buffs to two top-20 finishes in NCAA national championships. READ MORE In the wake of the announcement, Kelly earned a national honor for her lifetime of contributions to the profession.READ MORE Current CU associate head coach Madeleine Sheils will take over the Buffs’ squad after Kelly retires.
8. At age 53, Micah Rudosky of Cortez three-peated as the Colorado PGA Professional Championship winner. In all, he’s captured the title in the event a record-tying four times, joining Fred Wampler, Jack Sommers and Ron Vlosich as four-timers. READ MORE
7. After barely missing out on earning an LPGA Tour card in October, former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi made an emphatic statement with her victory in the LPGA Q-Series qualifier. Coloradan Becca Huffer also regained her LPGA status — in her case by the narrowest of margins. Both will join former CU golfer Jenny Coleman in returning to the LPGA Tour in 2024. READ MORE Meanwhile, Coloradan Shane Bertsch became fully exempt on 2024 PGA Tour Champions with a third-place finish at Q-school. READ MORE
6. Mid-amateurs — golfers 25 and older — put on quite a show in Colorado golf in 2023. At age 28, Colin Prater was named the CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year for the second time and earned the CGA Mid-Am POY honor as well. READ MORE Meanwhile, at 39, Nick Nosewicz (pictured above) became the oldest winner of the CGA Match Play since 1987, earning his second Match Play victory in the last decade. READ MORE Both Prater and Nosewicz qualified for the U.S. Amateur that was held at Cherry Hills Country Club, with Prater advancing to match play. Also, 33-year-old Parker Edens tied the amateur scoring record and finished second in the Inspirato Colorado Open — the best showing by an amateur at the event since 2010. READ MORE Then Edens advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur, where he lost to eventual champion Stewart Hagestad, who’s now won the event three times. READ MORE
5. The new $1.6 million Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Museum at The Broadmoor drew rave reviews during its Grand Opening in April. READ MORE Seven months later, 475 people, including 37 Hall of Famers, attended the Hall of Fame’s 50th Anniversary Gala at The Broadmoor. Among those on hand were Hale Irwin, Judy Bell, Steve Jones, Craig Stadler, Hollis Stacy and Brandt Jobe.
4. Monica Lieving of Lakewood became at least the second Coloradan to win the women’s World Long Drive Championship, following in footsteps of Nancy Abiecunas, who prevailed in 2003. READ MORE
3. In the first U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship held in Colorado since 1982, 17-year-old Kiara Romero of San Jose Calif., sank a 7-foot par putt on the 36th hole of the final to beat Rianne Malixi of the Philippines 1 up for the title at Eisenhower Golf Club. Chuck Delich, a college hockey standout who’s in the Air Force Academy Athletics Hall of Fame, caddied all week for Romero. He predicted before the start of the championship that “this girl can win this whole thing” — and he was proven correct. The event at the Air Force Academy drew rave reviews. READ MORE
2. In the most prestigious golf tournament held in Colorado in 2023, a 12-birdie performance in the scheduled 36-hole U.S. Amateur final at Cherry Hills Country Club gave Nick Dunlap of Tuscaloosa, Ala., a second USGA title at age 19. Only the University of Alabama golfer and Tiger Woods have won both the U.S. Am and the U.S. Junior Am. READ MORE On his 22nd birthday, Connor Jones became the first golfer since 2016 to advance to the round of 32 at the U.S. Am. READ MORE Jones will finish the year ranked among the top 100 amateurs in the world. During championship week, Cherry Hills Country Club donated $500,000 each to the Evans Scholars Foundation, the Colorado chapters of First Tee, and the Palmer Scholarship Foundation. READ MORE
1. 2023 proved the most impressive year of golf in the 21st century by a male player who grew up in Colorado. Wyndham Clark, who was born in Denver and went to high school at Valor Christian, came into the year without a victory on the PGA Tour, but rectified that matter in May with a win at the Wells Fargo Championship. It was the first PGA Tour triumph by a Colorado native in almost 20 years — since Jonathan Kaye prevailed at the 2004 FBR Open for his second win on Tour. READ MORE Just over a month later came an even-bigger breakthrough as the winner of two state high school individual titles and the 2010 CGA Amateur claimed the U.S. Open title. He joined elite company — Hale Irwin and Steve Jones — as golfers who grew up in Colorado and have won the U.S. Open. Coincidentally, Clark’s hard-fought first victory in a major came at same age as Irwin’s (29, when Hale won the first of his three U.S. Opens). READ MORE With Clark’s U.S. Open win, players from Colorado claimed two major championships, three LPGA Tour and two PGA Tour titles in the course of 15 months. (Jennifer Kupcho did the honors on the women’s side in 2022.) And Clark didn’t stop there as he became the first Colorado high school graduate since 1991 to represent the U.S. in the Ryder Cup matches. READ MORE Then he capped off his stellar season by placing third in his first Tour Championship and earned a whopping $5 million. READ MORE With all that, Clark added a big honor in the fall by being elected to the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. READ MORE After such a spectacular run in the final year of his 20s, Clark turned 30 on Dec. 9.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com