Bragging Rights on the Line

Gary Baines

5 years ago

After skipping a year for first time, Colorado Cup Matches resume as Colorado PGA will defend title at The Broadmoor

By Gary Baines – 10/14/2019

The 48th edition of the Colorado Cup Matches has been a long time coming.

In fact, an unprecedented length of time.

After being held annually from 1971 through 2017, the Ryder Cup-style competition between many of the best CGA amateurs and Colorado PGA professionals took 2018 off, becoming a biennial event, conducted in odd-numbered years.

The series will resume on Wednesday at the West Course at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs. It will be the record 14th time The Broadmoor has hosted the matches — and the second time in a row.

For those who are following along, going to a biennial competition is but one of several significant changes made to the Colorado Cup prior to the 2017 competition:

— Because the matches were moved from summertime to October — in the midst of the fall portion of the college golf schedule — the NCAA informed event organizers two years ago that college players would not be allowed to compete in the event anymore. That removes college players — which make up most of the best amateurs in the state in the Open and Women’s Divisions — from playing for the CGA squad. In 2017, the first Colorado Cup conducted with that being the case, the Colorado PGA won with a healthy margin of victory, 26-14. Nowadays, it’s primarily up to mid-amateurs and seniors to carry the load for the amateur squad.

Over the years, some of the now-famous players who competed as college golfers for the CGA amateur squad in the Colorado Cup include Steve Jones, Kevin Stadler, Bob Byman and Brandt Jobe.

— After being three separate competitions — Open Division, Senior Division and Women’s Division — prior to 2017, now there’s one competition, albeit still with three divisions of players.

— Traditionally, the Colorado Cup had featured a dozen players each for the pros and the amateurs in the Open and Senior Divisions, and six in the Women’s Division. Now it’s eight, eight and four, respectively, for each squad.

— And now, instead of separate 18-hole singles and four-ball matches, there are three nine-hole matches: four-ball in the morning, foursomes starting at noon, and singles late in the afternoon.

For the record, when there were separate competitions, the Colorado PGA professionals led the all-time series in the Open Division, 30-14 with two draws. The CGA’s amateurs led the Senior Division series 16-15, with three draws. And the CWGA’s amateurs won all 11 Colorado Cup Matches in which they competed against the pros.

At the Colorado Cup, one point is awarded for each individual win and 0.5 for a tie.

Among those scheduled to compete on Wednesday are Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Ron Vlosich, who won the 2019 Colorado PGA Professional Championship (pro); 2013 CoBank Colorado Senior Open champion Doug Rohrbaugh (pro); 1995 Colorado Open winner Mike Zaremba (pro); 2019 U.S. Amateur qualifier Colin Prater (amateur); 2019 CGA Match Play champ Josh McLaughlin (amateur) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton (amateur).

The tentative pairings have been set for the four-ball and foursome sessions, but those for the singles will be completed on Wednesday afternoon. (P indicates pro; A indicates amateur):

9-HOLE FOUR-BALL

Geoff Keffer/Jason Witczak (P) vs. Richard Bradsby/Jon Lindstrom (A)

Eric Bradley/Ben Honaman (P) vs. Colin Prater/Dylan Wonnacott (A)

Peter Norwood/Michael Weingartner (P) vs. Josh McLaughlin/Chris Thayer (A)

Jeff Carter/Visanu Tongwarin (P) vs. Tyler Bishop/Ryan Burke (A)

Doug Rohrbaugh/Chris Johnson (P) vs. John Hornbeck/Steve Ivan (A)

Mike Northern/Barry Milstead (P) vs. Keith Atkins/Guy Mertz (A)

Ron Vlosich/Rick Cole (P) vs. Gary Driber/Victor Minovich (A)

Mike Zaremba/Scott Sommers (P) vs. Thomas Roos/Brian Woody (A)

Tara Morris/Kristyn Crippen (P) vs. Kristine Franklin/Erin Houtsma (A)

Holly Champion/Liz McCabe (P) vs. Kim Eaton/Tiffany Maurycy (A)

9-HOLE FOURSOMES