Inspirato Colorado Open looks for another great story for 2026

The last two tournaments ended with dramatic playoff victories for local pros

By Jim Bebbington

It’s going to be hard for the Inspirato Colorado Open to come up with a better story than it had the last two years.

Two years ago the tournament was won by Davis Bryant, who practically grew up on Green Valley Ranch Golf Course, where the Inspirato Colorado Open is played. His father Matt is the general manager and his mother Julie is the tournament director. Bryant was a newly-minted professional golfer after graduating from Colorado State University, and has since played two seasons on the DP World Tour.

Then last year Jim Knous, who grew up in Basalt and is the only Colorado School of Mines graduate to make it to the PGA Tour, won. He had lost the year before to Davis in a playoff. In 2025, in another playoff, Knous won with an eagle 3 on the par 5 No. 18 by hitting in from around 90 yards.

Knous retired from touring professional golf in 2023, moved his family to Phoenix to take a job with Ping, and was surrounded by family when he made the final shot a year ago.

The former DP World Tour and PGA Tour veteran retired from the tours in 2023, but has been active in tournament golf like the state opens. He recently became a member of the New York Blue Birds, a team that competes in the Grass League, a team par-3 competition series.

“The plan is to defend the title at the Colorado Open,” he told reporters after playing one of the rounds of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Blue Championship at TPC Colorado Golf Club. “My game feels close. Obviously a couple of hiccup’s today, but it feels like it’s in a pretty good spot.”

He got into the Blue Championship on a sponsor’s exemption and did not make the cut.

The four-day Inspirato Colorado Open kicks off Thursday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Course. The winner will receive $50,000 – the largest first-place prize of any state open – and routinely brings in players from around the country.

Former winners signed up to play this week include Wil Collins (2005, 2022), Dru Love (2018), Zakhai Brown (2013), Jimmy Gunn of Dornoch, Scotland, (2015), CU grad and associate coach Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch (2012, 2009) and Kevin Stadler of Denver (2002).

For this year’s tournament to have a similar storyline come Sunday, the winner would have to be a young pro from the area, or else a long-suffering grinder.

Among the grinders in the field are AJ Ott, Fort Collins born and raised, who will be playing his ninth Colorado Open and who finished tied for 3^rd place in 2025. He is another of a long line of Colorado State University golfing alums who have been crowding the top of the leaderboards in recent years. He has been grinding on golf’s mini-tours in recent years, winning once on the Asher Tour in 2025.

Parker Edens, a former touring pro who regained his amateur status when he began coaching the South Dakota State men’s golf team, is also back. He nearly won as an amateur in 2023, finishing tied for 2nd.

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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