Kaye wins Inspirato Colorado Senior Open

CU grad and former Tour pro wins going away

By Jim Bebbington

On the 16th green – just where it is supposed to happen – the 2024 Inspirato Colorado Senior Open tightened up.

Jonathan Kaye, the former CU Buff and PGA Tour pro from Boulder, had held a three-shot lead most of the final day at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. His playing partners Shane Bertsch, a current Champions Tour pro from Parker, and Steve Holmes, the head coach of the UCLA women’s golf team, were playing well and keeping the pressure on.

After a long round trading shots Holmes rolled in a long birdie putt on the 16th green and Kaye failed to counter. Kaye’s lead was down to two with two holes to play – the long and narrow par 3 No. 17 and the famed No. 18, a long par 5 lined on both sides with marsh grass.

Green Valley Ranch’s final three holes are designed to provide a challenging finish – for the average hackers who play it the club has a standing offer of a free beer to anyone who shoots three pars in a row on the final three holes.

On the 17th tee, however, Holmes hit first. His iron shot was the right club but drifted just enough right to catch a front-right bunker. Kaye’s shot landed short of the green.

Then Holmes blasted out, his ball running about 10 feet past the cup; Kaye chipped to about five feet. Kaye sunk his part putt. Holmes’ putt slipped by the cup on the edge, and the drama was all-but over. Kaye had a three-shot lead again.

With his wife Jennifer as his caddy reading putts for him throughout the day, Kaye won largely on the greens. He putted well with a new putter, and sunk a 20-foot putt on 18 for good measure to push his victory to four shots. He won $20,000 with the victory.

“I got off to a terrible start to the week – just a bad first shot and I left myself like the longest putt you could have on a very first hole and I made it,” Kays said after his victory. “Things kind of gelled right away with the putter. Making a 60 footer n the first green with the first time you’ve ever used it, and then on the very next hole I left myself a 90-footer, just to test my skills, and I two-putted that. Then I kind of just got rolling; putts were going in.”

Although Kaye lives now in Phoenix half the year, he played flying the Colorado flag. He was born in Denver and played at the University of Colorado and is considered the first Coloradan to win the Colorado Senior Open since Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale in 2013.

Kaye said the win is not going to change his approach. He said he is mostly retired, and has little interest in playing more in the Champions Tour because of how difficult the Tour makes it for Monday qualifiers to have a fair shot. He said he wishes he could play more on the Champions, but said the current method of qualifying leaves players ‘exhausted’ and unable to truly compete.

Kaye, 54, has played in more than 300 PGA Tour events and won twice, including the 2003 Buick Open. This year he played in one Champions Tour event, making the cut at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in May. He finished tied for 77th place.

“I tried to play a little bit this year and it was just too hard to get. out on the senior tour, so I just haven’t been chasing it around,” he said.

The top finishers were:

• First: Jonathan Kaye, Boulder Co., 10-under
• Second: Steve Holmes, Simi Valley Ca., 9-under
• Third: Shane Bertsch, Parker Co., 8-under
• T-Fourth: Bobby Collins, North Palm Beach Fla., Matt Schalk, Boulder, 6-under

Low Amateur: Richard Bradsby of Golden won the low-amateur competition, finishing the three-day tournament at 1-under par.

 

Ralph Moore Golf Journalism Award: Jerry Walters was named the recipient of the Ralph Moore Golf Journalism aware, granted to a person whose work covering the game in Colorado matches the excellence of former Denver Post writer Ralph Moore. Walters won in 2012 as well, and hosted his ‘In The Fairway’ radio show and podcast for 25 years until this spring.