Don’t Miss the Trans-Miss

Denver Country Club, a longtime member of the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association, is due to host the 2022 Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship for the sixth time.

In 1901, the brand-spanking new Denver Country Club and 14 other clubs from five states formed the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association. Their goal: Promote friendly competition and camaraderie on both sides of the Mississippi River.

Today, 119 years later, the organization comprises 92 member clubs from 19 states, and the prestigious Trans-Miss Amateur tournament counts among its past champions PGA TOUR winners Jack Nicklaus, Deane Beaman, George Archer, Frank Stranahan, Allen Miller, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Koch, Bob Tway, John Fought, Mark Brooks, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Cameron Champ.

Additionally, legendary amateurs Charlie Coe and Johnny Goodman combined to win the Trans-Miss seven times, and in 1910 Minnesota’s Harry Legg scored the second of his record five Trans-Miss championships.

Legg’s victory also marked the first of the five times Denver Country Club has hosted the Trans-Miss. The sixth will take place two years from now, on July 12-15, 2022. If it’s anything like the last one DCC hosted—in 2010—put it on your calendar now.

In that Trans-Miss—the first ever to be contested as stroke play rather than match play—future PGA TOUR winner Max Homa surrendered a two-shot lead with a double-bogey on the 15th, ultimately losing by a shot to prospective pros Kevin Tway and Scott Pinckney.

Those last two went to a playoff tied at 6-under-par, with Pinckney prevailing on the second extra hole, the 212-yard 17th, nearly acing it.

That hole and five others will play much differently than they did in 2010, thanks to upcoming green relocations by architect Gil Hanse, who has already revamped the bunkers and made other alterations as part of ongoing renovations that will make the course about 250 yards longer than 2010’s stated yardage of 6,800.

“Will Nicholson (the late Colorado Golf Hall of Famer who did course setup for the Masters), and I had set the course playing at around 7,000 yards every day, with unusual angles into the greens,” remembers longtime Trans-Miss director and Denver Country Club member Gary Potter, who co-chaired the event.

Potter also chaired the 1980 Trans-Miss at DCC. To get an idea of the level of player this event attracts, that edition featured the young Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Mark O’Meara, Bob Tway and Tom Pernice, Jr.

trans-miss.org

Editor’s note: At press time, the 2020 Trans-Mississippi Amateur remained scheduled for July 6-10 at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Minnesota. Cancellation could potentially affect the sites of the 2021 and 2022 tournaments.

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This article was also featured in the May 2020 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

Colorado AvidGolfer 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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