Every Father’s Day weekend, women from Colorado and neighboring states make their way to the little town of Rifle for a tournament that dates back 56 years, the Cowgirl Shootout.
“All you have to do is tell your husband, ‘It’s Father’s Day weekend, take your kids and do whatever you want,’” says Candy Hammerich, one of the shootout’s organizers. “Or if he has no kids: ‘It’s your weekend, do whatever you want.’”
Hey, it’s 2024, and that means some of the women bring their wives for the wildly popular 36-hole eclectic (ringer) format, which kicks off with a five-person team low-am on Friday and offers one of the biggest pro-shop purses in the state when the results are in on Sunday.
If any Colorado fathers or sons are looking for some golf that weekend, there’s an even older tournament in Durango, the Navajo Trails Open, which dates to 1960 and now draws players from all over (Scotland!) for 54 holes plus a Thursday pro-am at Hillcrest Golf Club.
“One thing to note about this tournament is that spectators are not only welcome but encouraged,” says Hillcrest Lead Associate Golf Professional Jeff Jones. “Last year, the professional champion, Wil Collins, finished all 54 holes at 15 under par. Amateur champion Traejan Andrews finished all 54 holes at 6 under par.”
But then plenty of participants in both the Navajo Trails Open and the Cowgirl Shootout finish plenty of shots above par and still love every minute. Qualifying for tournaments like these is one of the great benefits of CGA membership: The Navajo Trails Open requires an established handicap of 25, while the Cowgirl Shootout opens registration up to 40 handicappers.
CGA membership, remember, comes with a handicap. And that handicap gives members the potential to enter the short list below of popular perennial tournaments in and around Colorado.
One word of warning: Registration for some of these events requires setting up your calendar notification and alarm. Think Taylor Swift tickets!
Cowgirl Shootout (women), and more (men, women, couples): Two-day individual eclectic format (flighted), June 15-16, with an optional “low-am” on June 14, Rifle Creek Golf Course. Rifle Creek schedules about a dozen competitive events annually that have substantial pro shop prize money pools and are open to players with active USGA indexes. “Our town is not super huge so to fill the fields we have to reach out to surrounding areas,” says General Manager Cody Capwell. Other multi-day open events to consider include the May 4-5 Gap Opener, a two-man team tournament, and the July 27-28 Couples Championship, a mix of three fun formats. Call the course to sign up or look for registration links on the website later this month. 970.625.1093, riflecreekgc.com
Navajo Trail Open (men and women): This 54-hole individual competition at Hillcrest Golf Club in Durango June 13-16 has a pro flight, a championship amateur flight and four additional flights. It welcomes women and offers tee options for both women and seniors. There’s nothing else like this one – four days benefiting junior golf, with a pro-am on the front end, three days of stroke play and dinners Thursday and Friday night, the whole shebang costing amateurs not even $400 plus cart fees. No wonder it annually draws a double-shotgun full field of 180 golfers. Registration opened at noon March 1, golfhillcrest.com under the “Play Golf” tab.
Collindale Invitational (men): This popular 36-hole individual tournament, June 1-2 at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins, just goes to show that “invitational” doesn’t mean players need special dispensation to enter. Registration is open until May 28 or whenever the 150-player field is full. Here’s the entry form.
BCB Charity Classic (women): Only in its third year, this three-day, three-course event in Montrose benefitting CASA opened registration January 15 and quickly had a waitlist. The two-lady formats, May 31-June 2, are Chapman at the Bridges, Best Ball at Cobble Creek and Scramble at Black Canyon, and the $600 team entry fee includes all the golf, two lunches and a welcome dinner. Join the waitlist or get a head start on 2025 at bcbcharityclassic.com.
Sky Ranch Open (men): 36-hole individual stroke play, June 3-4, Sky Ranch Golf Course in Sterling. This event, at one of the newer courses in the state, has regular and senior flights and includes a Saturday night dinner in its $200 guest entry fee. skyranchgc.com/sky-ranch-open/
Fort Collins Women’s Open: 36-hole individual stroke play at Southridge and Collindale golf courses, August 24 and 25 shotgun starts, with a luncheon at the conclusion of play on Sunday. Here’s a link to the registration form.
Western Slope Triple Play (women): 54-hole individual stroke play, July 26-28, with the first round at Redlands Mesa and the next two at Tiara Rado in Grand Junction. This fundraiser for a domestic violence nonprofit has become so popular, players had to have their fingers on the registration button at 9 a.m. on January 27 to grab one of the 132 entries. There’s a waitlist if you want to roll the dice. 2024westernslopetripleplay.golfgenius.com
CGA Men’s and Women’s Match Play Championships: The CGA has scheduled their 100-plus-year-old championships at the same time, June 9-14, and same places, CommonGround for pod play and then Lakewood Country Club for bracket play; however, there are qualifiers for the men to get that far. These prestigious events are all about the trophy, not pro shop money and giggles, and are not to be missed by amateurs with a competitive mentality who love the classic golf format of match play. coloradogolf.org
Watch the web or call the courses for details for these popular annual events: Pinto Bean Classic (Conquistador Golf Course), Redlands Mesa Women’s Open (April 27-28), Glenwood Open and 2-Man Best Ball (Glenwood Springs Golf Club), Cottonwood Classic (Yampa Valley Golf Course), Battlement Mesa Open, Pikes Peak Amateur (Patty Jewett Golf Course), Dos Rios Open (Aug. 2-4).
And don’t miss the CGA’s full slate of 2024 events. There’s something on the calendar, somewhere in the state, for everyone from the most competitive golfer to the one that’s just happy to be out on the course.
Veteran journalist Susan Fornoff has written about golf for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, ColoradoBiz magazine and her own GottaGoGolf.com. She became a CGA member when she moved from Oakland, CA, to Littleton in 2016, and ghost-writes as “Molly McMulligan,” the CGA’s on-course consultant on golf for fun. Email her at mollymcmulligan@gmail.com.