Colorado Golf Roundup – Winners and more

The Olympics, CGA Men’s Amateur, Denver City Women’s Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Open

Here are the highlights from this weekend’s tournaments in Colorado and around the globe.

By Jim Bebbington

Olympics:

PGA Tour pro Wyndham Clark had a tough Olympics.

He was already under fire for being one of four American golfers sent to Paris. He earned that right based on the Olympic Golf Points list and his three tournament wins over the last 14 months. But golf commenters were not shy about the fact that in the last three months he had missed cuts at the major tournaments, and someone like Bryson DeChambeau was playing better.

Then on Thursday, the first round of the men’s golf competition in Paris, he shot a 75 at the home of Le Golf National, and was in second-to-last place.

Golf Twitter – (saying ‘Golf X’ just doesn’t sound right yet) – was unkind.

But then Clark rallied with three strong rounds including back-to-back rounds of 65 on Saturday and Sunday. He straightened his drives out, and finished tied for 14th place. A normal first-round would have put Clark in contention for a medal.

“Once I got to Tuesday, I shut everything down and was ready to go,” he said Sunday. “I played really good golf for 60 holes. I just had nine bad holes. I think it’s more pride for myself and my country. I wanted to make sure that I showed up for my country. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was doing this as just an exhibition or just coming here to have fun. I was serious about it. I was very pissed after round one because I wanted to medal. So I’m really bummed about it.

With the FedEx Cup playoffs coming – including the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club Aug. 21 to 25 – he said he knows he has problems with his game he needs to fix.

“I’ve actually been struggling a lot with my starts, and it’s been tough to overcome, especially the majors,” he said. “I started so poorly and then as I get to the back nine on Friday and I start playing really good golf, I barely missed the cut, and some of the cuts that I did make, then I back-doored into the top 10. So starting poorly, that’s something I’ve really got to work on; at least just get out of the gates somewhat solid; I feel like I can play good on the weekend.”

U.S. Senior Women’s Open

Four Colorado-connected players teed up in Pennsylvania this weekend in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

Kristine Franklin, one of the top amateurs in the state, started out this weekend’s tournament hot. She was in the top-10 after the first round and by far the low-amateur. The weekend did not go as well and Franklin finished Sunday at T-54.

Sherry Andonian, a teaching professional at Valley Country Club in Centennial, also started strong but fell down the leaderboard because of an 82 on Saturday. She finished t-50.

Denver-native Jill McGill, who won the event in 2022, and Hollis Stacy, who lives in Lakewood part of the year, both missed the cut.

This was the 6th year for the tournament and was played at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh.

Denver Women’s Amateur

Madeline Bante, a St. Mary’s Academy graduate who is starting at the University of Notre Dame this fall on the women’s golf team, won the championship flight of the 2024 Denver Women’s Amateur played Aug. 3 and 4.

Bante shot a 66 and 73 over the two-day tournament at City Park Golf Course. Winners of the other flights were:

• First Flight – Brittany Roberts
• Second Flight – Liz Gard
• Third Flight – Erin McDonough
• Fourth Flight – Paulette Dalpes
• Fifth Flight – LaVerne Brookie

CGA Amateur Championship

Colin Prater of The Broadmoor Golf Club won the Colorado Golf Association’s 2024 Amateur Championship over the weekend, shooting a four-day 19-under score at the Eisenhower Blue Course in Colorado Springs. Prater built a huge lead with an opening round 65 and Saturday round of 66. Matthew Wilkinson of Lone Tree Golf Club finished second at 13-under and Ty Holbrook of Colorado National Golf Club finished third at 9-under.

Prater is a science teacher and golf coach at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs. He is having a tremendous year and qualified earlier this summer for the U.S. Open.

Jim Bebbington is the Director of Content for Colorado AvidGolfer

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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