By Jim Bebbington
The first day of the Korn Ferry’s Blue Championship in Berthoud saw the customary assault on par by the top finishers under near-perfect early conditions.
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Temperatures and winds stayed mild for the morning rounds and the first wave of players took advantage. An afternoon rain delay and later wind gusts – which is a rite of passage for this tournament – slowed down the scoring only a little.
Tommy Morrison, a 21-year-old former player for the University of Texas, shot a round of 9-under to take the early lead. This is only the third Korn Ferry Tour start for Morrison, who turned pro this June after the conclusion of his college career. He already has two top-10 finishes in his first two Korn Ferry events.
TPC Colorado Golf Club in Berthoud is hosting the tournament for the eighth year. The long course typically puts up a good fight against the best players in golf’s top developmental tour, but winning scores in the past three years have neared 20-under par.
Former Air Force Academy player Kyle Westmoreland finished at 2-under, putting him in good position for the cut but needing to make up ground. He bogeyed the final two holes, however, and said he has some work to do on his putting and green reads.
“I didn’t finish how I wanted but it’s great out there,” he said.
With the length of the course – more than 8,000 yards for the competition – players were launching drives and attempting to use the thing-air to their advantage.
“You can hit it higher and it doesn’t curve as much,” Westmoreland said. “The rough is tricky out here and the greens are pretty good.”
The course was lengthened again for this year, with the No. 1 tee being moved back so the opening hole now plays at 655 yards.
No. 13 still runs out more than 770 yards, and only the quirky No. 16 is less than 150 yards.
Westmoreland, 34, is in the midst of his fourth season of professional touring golf and said he’s still working to improve.
“I would say there’s been some good, some bad,” he said. “I’d love to put it all together but we’ve had a good time chasing golf balls for a job.”
He’s played in 15 Korn Ferry tournaments this summer, made the cut eight times and finished with two top-fives so far.
Jim Knous, the defending Colorado Open champion and a Colorado native, received notice on Monday that a spot had cleared in the field for him to play. He finished Thursday at 2-over par after getting to as low as 2-under earlier in the day.
“I had a little hiccup in the middle of the back nine; there’s just some really tough holes here at TPC Colorado,” Knous said.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Blue Federal Credit Union and the Blue Championship here, in Children’s Hospital Colorado, to give me this opportunity. I’ve always loved teeing it up in my home state.”
Knous retired from the PGA full-time in 2023 and lives near Scottsdale, Arizona, and works for Ping Golf now. He said he will be returning in two weeks to defend his Colorado Open title.
The tournament continues through Sunday. For more information go to TheBlueChampionship.Com.
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.
Day 1 brings assault on course record By Jim Bebbington The first day of the Korn Ferry’s Blue Championship in Berthoud saw the customary assault on par by the top finishers under near-perfect early conditions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Colorado AvidGolfer (@coloradoavidgolfer) Temperatures and winds stayed
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