A couple of bears, a cat, a shark, Chrissie and much more; with U.S. Senior Open returning to Colorado, we take a look at the event’s rich history in the Centennial State
By Gary Baines – 2/11/2025
When it comes to the grandaddy of senior golf tournaments, Colorado has certainly become a go-to host state.
When the U.S. Senior Open — considered by many the most prestigious senior golf championship in the world — is contested June 26-29 at the East Course at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, it will mark the fourth time the event has been held in the Centennial State.
That’s saying something, considering the U.S. Senior Open was first held in 1980. In fact, once the 2025 event is completed, only one state will have hosted the USSO more than Colorado. Six Senior Opens have been contested in Ohio, while Pennsylvania joins Colorado with four. No state will have hosted the championship as many times since 2008 as Colorado (three).
And with this year being the third U.S. Senior Open for The Broadmoor — previously in 2008 and ’18 — it will match Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa., as the club to host the most Senior Opens.
I’ve been fortunate enough to cover the festivities all week at all three U.S. Senior Opens previously held in Colorado — 1993 at Cherry Hills Country Club and 2008 and ’18 at The Broadmoor — and I plan to be there for No. 4 this summer.
With Colorado already having considerable history regarding the U.S. Senior Open, it’s worth taking a look back at some of the many highlights and notable happenings associated with the past three Senior Opens the Centennial State has hosted:
Jack Nicklaus after prevailing in the 1993 U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills Country Club.
1993 AT CHERRY HILLS COUNTRY CLUB
— The 1993 U.S. Senior Open marked the last of Jack Nicklaus’ eight USGA victories as he prevailed by a stroke over fellow former Ohio State golfer Tom Weiskopf. It was Nicklaus’ third significant win in Colorado, following the U.S. Amateur at The Broadmoor (1959) and the Jerry Ford Invitational in Vail (1977).
The victory ended a two-year win drought for the Golden Bear, who finished at 6 under par for the week.
“On that tee shot on 18, I was half shaking,” Nicklaus said regarding the final hole. “And I said to myself, ‘Damn, this is fun.’”
— Part-time Colorado resident — and former University of Colorado golfer — Dale Douglass held a share of the lead during the final round and tied for fourth place after being paired with Nicklaus for the final round. Douglass remains the youngest winner of the U.S. Senior Open, prevailing at 50 years, 3 months and 24 days in 1986.
“I know people didn’t expect me to beat Jack Nicklaus, but I expected to,” Douglass said. “I’ve always played well when I’ve played with him. Jack is the greatest. It’s a privilege to play with him. I just wish I could have beaten him.”
— Other top-10 finishers include World Golf Hall of Famers Lee Trevino (ninth place), Ray Floyd (seventh) and Chi Chi Rodriguez (tied with Douglass for fourth). With Nicklaus and Weiskopf, that means five of the top nine finishers are now in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Arnold Palmer and Nicklaus at Cherry Hills during U.S. Senior Open week.
— Arnold Palmer, who won his only U.S. Open at Cherry Hills in 1960, finished 25 strokes behind Nicklaus, who was the runner-up to Arnie in 1960.
During a Monday practice round, Palmer tried to drive the green at the 346-yard first hole at Cherry Hills — as he had in the final round of the 1960 U.S. Open en route to victory. Just before giving it a go — and falling short — Arnie wasn’t above poking a little fun at himself.
“They moved the tee back, didn’t they?” he said with a smile.
During the week, Palmer also noted, “When I stand over the ball, I’ll have a certain nostalgic feeling. Wouldn’t I like to hit that sonofabitch on the green?”
— Nicklaus and Palmer played together during a Tuesday practice round. Afterward, it took Nicklaus about 20 minutes to move 30 yards from 18th green to the clubhouse while signing autographs. Meanwhile, Palmer hurried off after the practice round to take a helicopter to Bear Creek Golf Club, the course in west Denver he designed.
— Clayton Cole, then the PGA head professional at Cherry Hills, made the cut and finished a stroke behind Palmer.
— As was the case at the 1986 Masters, Nicklaus’ son Jackie caddied for him en route to victory.
Tom Weiskopf came up just short against Nicklaus, his fellow former Ohio State golfer.
— As it was at the 1972 and ’75 Masters, Weiskopf was runner-up to his fellow former Buckeye, Nicklaus.
“Sure I’m disappointed but it’s happened before,” noted Weiskopf, who shot a front-nine 30 en route to a 67 in the final round.
“You look forward to playing against the greatest of all time. There will never be another like him. No one is ever going to have that kind of record or determination to be the greatest.
“You know if you can somehow beat this guy, you’ve done something special. But again, for me it didn’t happen. I can’t play any better, but the guy (Nicklaus) always is one shot better than me, it seems.”
— After his disappointment at Cherry Hills, Weiskopf won the U.S. Senior Open in 1995. The runner-up? Nicklaus.
— Quotable: From defending champion Larry Laoretti: “Yesterday I was at the Denver Zoo and some guy came up to me and said, ‘Aren’t you Larry Laoretti?’ And the same thing happened at another zoo recently. My wife said there must be something about zoos. I said, ‘Yeah, it’s that a lot of monkeys hang out there.’”
— Quotable II: From Chi Chi Rodgriguez: “If (Ray) Floyd or (Jack) Nicklaus wins this tournament, golf wins. If I win, my wife wins.”
— Quotable III: From Lee Trevino: “This is only Friday. The fat lady hasn’t even come to the auditorium yet.”
Eduardo Romero, aka El Gato, was dominant in 2008 at The Broadmoor.
2008 AT THE BROADMOOR’S EAST COURSE
— Less than 14 months after one resident of Villa Allende, Argentina — a village with a population of about 27,000 — won the 2007 U.S. Open (Angel Cabrera), another (Eduardo Romero) captured the U.S. Senior Open title in a rout, by four strokes.
“When I won (a PGA Tour Champions event in Endicott, N.Y.) last month, the school in the village is closed when I arrive at the airport, and all of the kids go to follow me and my car in the airport,” Romero said. “It was fantastic. Now I won the U.S. Senior Open. Maybe the president will come to visit me. Maybe, (but) I don’t think so.”
The four-stroke victory by the man known as “El Gato” (The Cat) at the time matched the largest at the U.S. Senior Open since Gary Player won by six in 1987.
— One of the major side stories of the week involved Greg Norman, who had married former tennis star Chris Evert about a month earlier. Evert, owner of 18 Grand Slam titles, was on site at The Broadmoor and was part of Norman’s gallery. She even wore a Shark logo hat to match his. Norman finished third in the British Open in the weeks leading up to the Senior Open. All in all, it was a recipe for big crowds, who did indeed turn out.
“I’m not the lone wolf here, but we all know if you’re happy in life, everything else in the world seems pretty darn good,’’ Norman said. ‘‘My golf is where it is now because I love being where I am now.’’
Norman ended up finishing fourth for the week at The Broadmoor.
Less than a year and a half later, Norman and Evert finalized their divorce. (And they said it wouldn’t last. …) Also in 2009, the Shark also placed fourth in the championship, marking his final U.S. Senior Open appearance. In all, Norman competed in just 13 PGA Tour Champions event in his career.
— Bernhard Langer, like Norman a World Golf Hall of Famer, tied for sixth place at The Broadmoor in his first U.S. Senior Open. Langer now is the winningest player in the history of PGA Tour Champions, with 47 victories.
A black bear runs across the fairway at The Broadmoor in front of Bernhard Langer (yellow shirt) during the 2008 U.S. Senior Open.
— One of the more memorable happenings at the 2008 Senior Open came on Friday when a big black bear ran across a fairway University of Colorado alum Hale Irwin was playing.
Irwin, who won The Broadmoor Invitation in 1967, and playing partners Tom Watson and Langer were on the 13th hole when the black bear ran across the fairway in front of them around noon. ESPN on-course reporter Dottie Pepper was in the fairway with the group, and ESPN cameras captured the action.
“Dottie about wet her britches,” said Irwin, who noted that he saw the same bear in a back yard on Thursday.
After a few minutes — his moment in the sun — the bear crawled through a a couple of drainage pipes and back into the wild. No harm done, but plenty of stories left in his wake.
“(Jack) Nicklaus isn’t here, so I guess that’s a substitute,” Fred Funk said of the bear.
Not surprisingly, the bear footage was a prominent fixture on ESPN’s SportsCenter for the remainder of the day.
— Earlier in the day, an odd situation led to Irwin hitting a 20-yard drive off the first tee. Chimes from the nearby Will Rogers Shrine went off in his downswing, leading to one of the worst shots of Irwin’s tour career. He had tried to stop his swing, but inadvertently still made contact with his ball. It settled under a Rolex clock just off to the left side of the tee. Remarkably, he still made a par on the first hole. After he received free relief from the clock near the tee, he hit his second shot, then his approach to 22 feet from the cup, and sank the putt.
“It was the shortest tee shot I think I’ve ever hit,” the three-time U.S. Open winner said. “… It was like, ‘What else can go wrong?’ I told them on press day they (the chimes, which go off every 15 minutes) were going to be a problem. It’s bothersome. People (here) may be used to it, but they’re not playing a golf championship. After that, I told my caddie to keep his watch handy every 15 minutes.”
The next day, the chimes were inaudible on the course most of the day after the tournament committee and local officials apparently agreed to decrease the volume to the lowest possible level.
“I wish they had turned them off earlier in the week,” Irwin said.
— Fellow former CU golfer Dale Douglass was the oldest player in the field, at 72, and he missed the 36-hole cut after rounds of 82-79. His father, Hal, used to be a club pro at The Broadmoor. Douglass, an 11-time winner on PGA Tour Champions and a three-time champ on the PGA Tour, would go on to play the U.S. Senior Open through 2011, but he never again competed in an official Champions event after that. With 26 starts in the U.S. Senior Open, no one has played in as many or more than Douglass.
— While almost all of the players who finished in the top 10 at The Broadmoor were fairly well known names in tour golf, one player who tied for ninth place was an exception — Jeff Klein of Scottsbluff, Neb. On Saturday of tournament week, Klein matched the U.S. Senior Open nine-hole scoring record with a 30 en route to a 64 that day.
Klein used a caddie — supplied by The Broadmoor — who attended the University of Colorado. Not surprisingly, the subject of CU vs. Nebraska football came up a few times. When Klein first saw James Nagl, the caddie had a Buffs cap on. “I fired him three or four times in the last seven days and told him he would have to leave, and said he would have to wear a Nebraska hat (today),” Klein said. “We’ve had some fun.” Said Nagl: “We both know who the better team is.”
— The pin placements on day 2 of the championship drew the ire of numerous contestants.
Some of the Friday pin placements “almost defy the imagination,” Tom Kite said.
Added Norman: “The USGA should know better.”
More generally, Funk said, “This is the hardest set of greens I’ve ever played. And that’s throwing Augusta in — and Oakmont and Winged Foot and Pinehurst [No. 2]. I’ve just never seen greens with this much movement in them, meaning they don’t have any flat spots on them, like an Augusta (green) has. You have all that, and then you have to factor in that mountain. That’s what’s crazy. It just gives you that illusion that you have a putt that looks like it’s uphill, and it’s really downhill, or the other way around. It just keeps you guessing.”
— Gary Hallberg of Castle Rock finished 14th for the week. Colorado Springs native R.W. Eaks, who used to work at the Broadmoor, placed 18th, while Irwin was 40th.
In 2018 at The Broadmoor, David Toms ended a tour win drought that had lasted more than seven years. (Photo: USGA)
2018 AT THE BROADMOOR’S EAST COURSE
— David Toms, who won the PGA Tour’s International at Castle Pines Golf Club in 1999, made it two victories in Colorado by claiming the U.S. Senior Open title, prevailing by one stroke over a trio of golfers — Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly and Tim Petrovic.
Toms, champion at 13 PGA Tour events, hadn’t won on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions in more than seven years. Toms’ biggest victory came at the 2001 PGA Championship.
Toms’ 3-under-par winning total matched the highest, relative to par, at the USSO since 2001.
“I always try to draw on those positive experiences,” the then-51-year-old from Louisiana said. “I thought a lot about The International this week. … In fact, what I thought about over the last putt that I had on 18 (today) was that year that I won The International. I had a two-putt to win and I had a downhill, right-to-left breaking putt just like I had (today). And I actually made it in ’99.
“I thought about both (The International and the PGA) the last two holes. So you can tell that I was always trying to draw on something positive from the past.”
— Other open-age major winners who finished in the top 10 were Davis Love and Lee Janzen — also both former International champions — who tied for 10th place.
Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe shared the lead during the final round in 2018 before finishing fifth.
— Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99, was tied for the lead with three holes left at The Broadmoor. Alas, a bogey on the 15th hole — his only one in the final dozen holes — foiled his chances. The then-52-year-old tied for fifth place at 1-under 279, two strokes behind Toms.
“It would have been cool” to win in his old home state, Jobe said. “That was my goal. That would have been so cool. Two unbelievable chances (this and the 2005 International, where he was runner-up). It was out there for me. As well as I was putting — which was crazy because I putted so bad the first two days — but I putted so good the last two days. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t my day.”
In a Tuesday practice round with Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale, Jobe carded a cool 7-under-par 29 on the front nine.
Rohrbaugh had the honor of hitting the first tee shot of the opening round.
“That was cool, no question,” he said.
— The dates for the tournament marked the 100th anniversary of the grand opening of The Broadmoor resort.
— The fans came out in force that week at The Broadmoor. The USGA announced the attendance for the 39th U.S. Senior Open was 134,500. That’s 5,786 more than the weeklong number for the 2008 Senior Open at The Broadmoor.
The 134,500 at the time was the most for the Senior Open since the 157,126 in Omaha, Neb., in 2013.
“It’s amazing how well Colorado supports these things,” said Russ Miller, The Broadmoor’s longtime PGA director of golf. “It’s been proven over and over and over. That’s exciting.”
Former CU golfer Hale Irwin, winner of five USGA championships, competed in his final USGA championship in 2018 at The Broadmoor.
— Three U.S. Open winners were paired for the first two days, with Hale Irwin joining Tom Kite and Corey Gavin. The same for three winners of the PGA Championship: Vijay Singh, Davis Love III and Toms.
— Irwin, a two-time USSO champion, struggled mightily this time around, posting rounds of 79-85 — calling the latter “the worst round I’ve ever had as a professional” — and missing the cut. It turned out to be the last of 23 Senior Opens in which the World Golf Hall of Famer would compete.
“If it was (my last) — and we’re not saying that — being here around family and friends and the old stomping grounds, sure there’s a great deal of nostalgia here,” Irwin said earlier in the week.
One of Irwin’s grandsons, Dylan Meyer, caddied for Hale.
— John Daly, one of the fan favorites, withdrew before the tournament started due to right knee problems. Daly said via Twitter that the USGA had denied his request to use a cart at The Broadmoor: Previously withdrawing from the USSO were Tom Watson (personal reasons), 1996 U.S. Open champion and former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones (knee surgery) and Steve Stricker (overloaded schedule).
John Smoltz during the lead-up to the 2018 U.S. Senior Open.
— Among those who qualified for this USSO was Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz.
“I don’t know if there’s a cloud higher than Cloud Nine, but that’s where I feel like I’ve been” after qualifying for the Senior Open, he said. “It’s probably the No. 1 thing that I’ve ever accomplished.
— Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway, who spent his entire NFL career as a Bronco, served as the tournament’s honorary chairman.
— Organizers had to scramble a bit considering a hailstorm that hit the area two weeks before the championship. Large hailstones damaged the greens quite severely. But by the time the Senior Open began on Thursday, it was barely noticeable.
It should be noted that the three previous U.S. Senior Opens aren’t the only PGA Tour Champions events ever held in Colorado. Indeed, there have been seven others. The Denver Post Champions of Golf was held at Pinehurst Country Club (1982), Green Gables Country Club (1983) and TPC Plum Creek (1984 through ’87), while the Senior PGA Championship was hosted by Colorado Golf Club in 2010.
As for the 2025 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, these are the players currently exempt for the championship: CLICK HERE.
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