Open Season at GVR

By now, chances are Denver has ended its stay-at-home orders and, at least as far as tournament golf is concerned, some semblance of normalcy has returned.

But that wasn’t expected to be the case for one of the first major competitions in Colorado since the coronavirus struck.

The 2020 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open is slated to go off for June 3-5 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club—to pull it off, a number of precautions and rules were established in the interest of safety.

Kevin Laura admits that the event will be a “different” kind of championship, but in his mind, different is infinitely better than not at all.

“Our mission is to run three championships,” says the Colorado Open Golf Foundation’s chief executive officer. “And it’s my mission to give the pros playing in them the ability to make a living.”

One of the biggest is that spectators will not be allowed to attend the tournament; even the number of people following the players will be limited: Going off in threesomes, each participant will be allowed two “guests,” one of whom can be a caddie. Before their rounds, the players can’t arrive at the course more than 30 minutes before their tee time, to ensure that they’re spaced out under social distancing guidelines on the driving range and around the facility. At the conclusion of their rounds, when their scores are official, players have to leave the premises.

Unlike the way most golf is being played these days, with raised cups or sponges in holes to make sure people aren’t touching flagsticks, the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open will feature traditional holes—the difference is each one will be manned by a dedicated attendant, who will be responsible for tending the flagstick as well as sanitizing it after each group plays through. While each player will also carry their own rake, the attendants will also be responsible for raking the green side bunkers at their hole.

Another major change in rules is that each player will go out in carts, which can be shared with the caddie if the two are sheltering in the same place. The biggest reason for that is in the event of a weather delay; should that happen, instead of massing together in a shuttle van to return to the clubhouse, each player will drive themselves in. Once they arrive, they’ll have to wait in their cars instead of the clubhouse.

And when the delay ends, the players will have to immediately return to the course and resume play without a warm-up.

“It’s all going to be very well policed,” Laura says. “I hate to use that word, but that’s pretty much how golf is being run now anyway.”

The CoBank Colorado Open is scheduled for July 23-26, with the CoBank Colorado Senior Open slated for August 26-28. Both events are well after May 8, the date that Denver was expected to end its stay-at-home order. Laura added that he hoped some of the rules created for the women’s event would be relaxed for the subsequent tournaments. firstteegreenvalleyranch.org

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This article was also featured in the June 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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