Colin Prater sweeps CGA Les Fowler Player of Year and Mid-Am POY awards for third time; other CGA men’s player honorees are Steve Ivan (Senior), David Nelson (Super-Senior) and Miles Kuhl (Junior)
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This week, ColoradoGolf.org will publish stories on the CGA’s Players of the Year. Today’s edition will be focused on the men’s POYs, with an article on the female Players of the Year coming later in the week.)
By Gary Baines – 11/5/2024
Raise your hand if you’ve heard this one before:
Colin Prater of Cherokee Ridge Golf Course in Colorado Springs not only earns the CGA’s men’s overall player of the year honors, but he lands the mid-amateur POY award as well.
The former University of Colorado-Colorado Springs golfer swept the Les Fowler Player of the Year and Mid-Amateur POY honors in 2020 and ’23. And — you guessed it — Prater did it again this year.
While sweeping those two honors in the same year has become commonplace recently, it was rare prior to 2020, with only Michael Harrington (2014) having won both awards in a single year in that time frame. But in the 2020s, it seems to have become the exception rather than the rule as Prater (2020, ’23 and ’24) being joined by Chris Thayer (2021) in accomplishing the feat. Connor Jones, who swept the CGA’s men ’s major championship titles in 2022, wasn’t a mid-amateur, so he had to settle for “just” the Les Fowler POY award that year.
“I’ve won each award three times, and I just like to win them in the same year,” Prater said with a chuckle during a recent interview.
For the record, the CGA Les Fowler POY honor, established in 1978, has had just one other golfer win it as many times — or more — as Prater. That would be Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Rick DeWitt, who claimed the honor six times between 1991 and 2006.
On the Mid-Am side, Thayer has won the POY honor the most times (six), with Prater and Keith Humerickhouse (three each) next best.
What Prater has accomplished in 2024 is truly exceptional in several ways:
— The 29-year-old science teacher at Cheyenne Mountain High School certainly set himself apart by successfully negotiating the two qualifying stages and earning a spot in the U.S. Open. He thus became one of less than a handful of Colorado amateurs to do that in the 21st century, joining the likes of Derek Tolan (2002), Tom Glissmeyer (2003) and Steve Irwin (2011).
At the U.S. Open in mid-June at Pinehurst Resort, Prater played practice rounds with Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark, Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala, Mark Hubbard and Sam Burns, among others.
“It was really cool to be inside the ropes with (PGA Tour) guys,” Prater said this summer. “Chit-chatting with Rory (McIlroy) was really cool. … Hitting putts right next to Tiger Woods. I’m like, ‘Holy crap, that’s Tiger,’ someone you’ve idolized and grown up watching so much. It was just really cool to kind of be one of the guys for a couple of days.”
— It isn’t often that Colorado golfers compete in four (or more) USGA championships in a single year, but Prater did just that in 2024 by teeing it up at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (with partner Jimmy Makloski), the U.S. Open, the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Mid-Amateur. And, he advanced to match play in two of the three USGA tournaments which feature stroke-play qualifying immediately followed by five or six rounds of match play. He made it to the round of 32 at the U.S. Four-Ball and at the U.S. Mid-Am (where he lost 1 down to 2022 finalist Hugh Foley after being 3 up in the early going) — in both cases in his first time competing in those events. All told, Prater has now played in seven USGA championships.
“This is the biggest year for me (as far as) the tournaments I played in,” Prater said. “To qualify and play in every USGA championship in which I was age (and otherwise)-eligible to compete in, that’s pretty remarkable. I don’t know there’s many guys that can really say that. That’s pretty insane. And obviously it’s going to be really hard to top playing in the U.S. Open.”
Prater celebrated his CGA Amateur win with his oldest daughter, Blake.
— Then in Colorado — at an Eisenhower Golf Club site that was only about 20 minutes from his home — Prater won the CGA Amateur for the third time, having previously prevailed in 2016 and ’20. He became the oldest winner of the event in 25 years — since DeWitt won at age 42 in 1999 — and the first three-time winner of the CGA Amateur in over 50 years, since Bob Byman — the U.S. Junior Amateur champion in 1972 — prevailed in three straight CGA Ams, in ’71, ’72 and ’73. For the record, another player who went on to win on the PGA Tour, three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, also was a three-time CGA Amateur champ (1963, ’64 and ’65).
This time around, Prater won by six strokes over Matthew Wilkinson, the Colorado State University golfer who won the 2024 CGA Match Play. Making it extra special was that this victory came nine days after Prater’s wife, Madi, gave birth to their second daughter, Logan. As for his older daughter, Blake, Prater celebrated with her on the 18th green just after putting the final touches on his victory.
“This whole summer was really really special,” Prater said. “To be able to win the state am kind of in my backyard, to be able to travel around the country playing some really good golf courses and perform so-so. I learned a lot and hopefully I’ll use this year as almost a steppingstone and continue to get better. This year has probably got to be the tops, for sure (as far as what he considers his best season of golf ever). You always really cherish and like the most recent.”
With the victory in the CGA Amateur, Prater now has six CGA championships to his credit: three Ams, one Match Play and two Mid-Amateurs. This year, among his other top finishes in CGA events were a runner-up in the CGA Mid-Am and a fourth place (with Adam Jardon) in the CGA Four-Ball. And, for good measure, Prarter was an assistant coach for the Cheyenne Mountain boys golf team that swept team and individual (Brayden Destefano) state titles in Class 4A last month.
“There have been so many incredible moments. I’ve just been super lucky and fortunate,” Prater said.
Other male CGA players of the year for 2024:
Steve Ivan swept the CGA Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play this year.
— Steve Ivan of Patty Jewett Golf Course, Senior Player of the Year: In 2024 Ivan became just the fifth player to sweep the CGA men’s senior majors in a single season more than once, having previously done so in 2020.
It’s his third time earning CGA Senior Player of the Year honors (previously in 2018 and ’20). It’s an impressive list of others who have been Senior POY three times or more: John Olive (7 times), Larry Eaton (6), Les Fowler (4), Robert Polk (4) and Bert Welz (3). Olive, Eaton and Fowler are in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and Polk will be inducted next year.
In the CGA Senior Match Play — which Ivan won for the second time — he defeated defending champion Jon Lindstrom in the title match 2 up. He also defeated Colorado Golf Hall of Famer — and four-time CGA Match Play champion — Mark Crabtree, a fellow former University of Colorado golfer (in the round of 16) and 2022 CGA Senior Amateur champ Victor Minovich (in the semifinals). Ivan has advanced to the Senior Match Play finals five times since 2018.
At the CGA Senior Amateur, Ivan went bogey-free twice in three rounds to win the championship for the third time. He prevailed by two strokes over runner-up Mark Hirsch, who during the final round called Ivan “a machine” and commented “he’s too good.”
Also in 2024, despite battling back issues, Ivan finished fourth among the amateurs at the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open, fifth in the Golfweek Senior Player of the Year Classic and 30th in the British Senior Amateur.
David Nelson claimed the CGA Super-Senior Match Play title.
— David Nelson of Columbine Country Club, Super-Senior Player of the Year: Nelson earns the CGA Super-Senior POY honor for the third time in the eight years the award has been presented (previously in 2020 and ’22).
Nelson won the CGA Super-Senior Match Play, beating two-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Dave Delich 3 and 2 in the final. He also defeated Colorado Golf Hall of Famer — and four-time Super-Senior Match Play champ — Kent Moore in the semifinals.
Nelson claimed another CGA title by prevailing in the super-senior division of the the Senior Four-Ball, teaming with CGA president Gary Albrecht. The two finished runner-up overall in the Senior Four-Ball.
Nelson performed impressively at the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open, placing fifth among the amateurs competing. He was also fifth in the CGA Super-Senior Amateur, an event he’s won twice (2020 and ’22).
Nelson, who has lived in Colorado the last several years, captured seven state titles in his former home state of Nevada — four state amateurs, two mid-amateurs and one senior amateur. And in events limited to the Northern Nevada Golf Association, he won 11 additional amateur championships. His many other accomplishments include qualifying for the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Miles Kuhl had plenty to smile about in 2024, including qualifying for the U.S. Amateur.
— Miles Kuhl of Boulder Country Club, Boys Player of the Year: Kuhl, a junior at Fairview High School, continued to build on his impressive golf resumé in 2024, highlighted by his victory in the prestigious AJGA Colorado Junior at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve. With that win, he became the first Colorado male since 2021 to claim an AJGA title in the Centennial State.
A month later, the 16-year-old successfully navigated two stages of qualifying to land a berth in the U.S. Amateur, which features a 312-player field of all ages.
Kuhl, winner of two Colorado junior majors in 2023, finished 13th individually in the 2024 Junior America’s Cup — the best showing by a Coloradan in this year’s event. He placed third in the boys 5A state high school tournament, the Colorado Junior PGA Championship and in the Colorado PGA Junior Match Play. He placed fourth in the AJGA Junior at Copper Valley in April.
Kuhl was named one of two male recipients of “Future Famer” awards this year by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Nationally/internationally, he’s 101st in the Rolex AJGA rankings and 172nd in those published by Junior Golf Scoreboard.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com