Inspirato Colorado Senior Open Day 2 – Course is drying out and picking up speed

Leaderboard is crowded at the top

By Jim Bebbington

Brian Cooper, a Pittsburgh-area teaching professional, is planning to move to Colorado next April to take a teaching role with a Colorado club.

It’s only natural then that he is leading the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open after two days; Colorado is a very welcoming state, afterall.

Cooper opened up his second round on the back nine at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver and quickly knocked out five birdies. He finished the day at 11-under par for the tournament, just ahead of a tight field of experienced playing professionals vying for the $15,000 first place check.

Cooper, 58, has been a regular visitor to the Colorado Opens; he finished tied for 2^nd in the Senior Open in 2018.

“(The key) is just make sure you give yourself opportunities,” he said after his Thursday round. “You don’t have to press the issue. It’s not a big deal if you make par here. Just put yourself in a position; give yourself some chances.”

His round Thursday cooled off after he made the turn. He double-bogeyed the short par 4 No. 4 hole, but finished with a birdie on No. 9. He reached the green of the par 5 in two.

“I feel really good right now putting,” he said.

The greens Thursday were a little quicker than Wednesday’s open round.

Former PGA Tour pro Omar Uresti of Austin, Texas, cooled off a little on Thursday. He was the round one leader, but on Thursday finished at 1-under with a late birdie. He was in the top five at the end of the day.

“Hopefully we can get the speed of the greens a little better tomorrow and continue to get it good,” he said.

Uresti said he’s been playing a lot of Monday qualifiers for Champions Tour events until he took a break from that grind earlier this summer. “I haven’t played much in the past couple of months and I’ve heard good things about this tournament so I thought I’d give it a shot this year,” he said.

He’s played in one PGA Tour Champions event this summer, missing the cut in the PGA Senior Championship in May.

Micah Rudosky, the head teaching pro at Conquistador Golf Course, is the highest Coloradan on the leaderboard at 10-under. Rudosky shot a bogey-free round Thursday.

The top 50 players and ties moved to Friday’s final round.

This is the final tournament played with Inspirato as the title sponsor of the tournament series. The Colorado Open Golf Foundation, which runs the tournaments, is working to secure a new title sponsor for the 2026 season.

For the full leaderboard click here.

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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