Steve Ivan goes bogey-free twice in 3 rounds to win his third CGA Senior Amateur; he becomes just the fifth player to sweep CGA senior majors in a single season more than once
By Gary Baines – 9/12/2024
WINDSOR — With periodic on-course commentary during the final round, the player who finished second to Steve Ivan in the CGA Senior Amateur concisely summed up how well the golfer from Patty Jewett in Colorado Springs performed on Thursday.
“The guy is a machine,” Mark Hirsch of Lone Tree Golf Club said after Ivan hit his tee shot on the par-3 11th hole at Highland Meadows Golf Course to 5 feet from the cup.
“He’s too good,” Hirsch said after Ivan drained a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17.
“You’re so fricking steady, it’s sickening,” Hirsch noted — in a very respectful manner — after Ivan routinely made a two-putt par on the final hole, clinching a two-stroke victory.
And so it was on Thursday as the 62-year-old Ivan shot his second bogey-free 5-under-par 66 of the tournament and won the CGA Amateur for the third time.
Ivan will have his name etched on the CGA Senior Amateur trophy for the third time.
“I know it’s a compliment when they say, ‘He doesn’t make any mistakes,’” Ivan said later. “That’s got to be my game; it has to be (because he doesn’t overpower a course). I told myself, ‘Play boring golf. Fairways and greens today and the putts will fall,’ and they did. I hit some great shots.”
Ivan, who won the CGA Senior Match Play in late June, became just the fifth player in history to sweep the CGA senior majors — the Senior Match Play and Senior Amateur — in a single season more than once. He did it for the first time in 2020. In that elite club, he joins Larry Eaton (sweeps in 1981 and ’85), John Golden (1993 and ’95), John Olive (3 sweeps: 1997, 2001 and ’02) and Robert Polk (2009 and ’21).
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ivan said. “When I did it (in 2020), I didn’t play all that well the last day (of the Senior Amateur). I kept getting progressively worse. This tournament was the total opposite. I just kept putting down the pedal; I never let up. I’m super proud of that accomplishment.”
The former University of Colorado golfer now has six CGA championships to his credit: three CGA Senior Ams, two Senior Match Plays and the Junior Match Play in 1979.
Ivan gave his opponents very few openings on Thursday.
At Highland Meadows, Ivan went 66-70-66 to finish at 11 under par. Hirsch, who with his former wife won two titles in the now-defunct CGA Mixed Championship many years ago, challenged for his first CGA individual victory but ended up two strokes back of Ivan. After sharing the lead with Ivan going into Thursday, Hirsch closed with a 68 to finish at 9 under. Victor Minovich of Foothills Golf Course, the 2022 CGA Senior Amateur champ, claimed third place at 4 under after a final-round 69.
Phil Wood of Colorado Golf Club (-3) was fourth, while 2015 champion Bill Fowler of The Club at Rolling Hills and Martin Prazak of CommonGround Golf Course (each -1) tied for fifth.
Though Ivan takes pride in being able to perform well on a variety of courses, this marked his second CGA senior major victory at Highland Meadows, having also captured the 2020 Senior Match Play title at the course.
“I just love the golf course,” he said. “It’s a challenge. It’s always in good shape. You hit good shots; if you don’t, you pay the price. I feel like my game travels to different venues; not just here, but everywhere else. I don’t mind playing wherever, but I like this place. They treat us so well.”
Runner-up Mark Hirsch challenged Ivan all through the final round.
During the entire 54-hole event, Ivan made just two bogeys — both on Wednesday — while converting 13 birdies.
Asked about his propensity for bogey-free rounds, Ivan said, “It’s not uncommon for me to hit 17 or 18 greens in a round. When I grew up at City Park (in Pueblo) — which is Elmwood now — there was a little short 9 course, and it’s hard. It’s the hardest 9 in Pueblo, we say. It has just tiny little greens. I was hitting 3-irons to these little tiny greens when I was growing up. I think that’s why my irons got so dialed in.”
On Thursday, that minimizing of mistakes on the nth degree left very few openings for his challengers.
Asked if that was frustrating, Hirsch said, “No, because he’s such a good dude. There’s certain times you play with certain people and they just get lucky. There was no luck involved (today). Everything was crisp and clean. He’s a really solid player and he deserves it because now he’s won (Senior) Match Play and (Senior) stroke play (this year). I’m happy for him.”
2022 champion Victor Minovich placed third this time around.
After being tied going into Friday, a two-shot swing on the first hole led to Ivan gaining a lead he would never again relinquish. On No. 1, he sank a 5-foot birdie, while Hirsch hit his third shot a bit heavy, leaving it in the bunker and making a bogey.
Both players matched birdies on Nos. 2 and 7, then Ivan bounced back and forth between one- and two-stroke leads on the back nine.
Hirsch made a 5-foot birdie on 10 (down one) and Ivan answered with a 5-foot birdie on 11 (up two). Hirsch drained a breaking 40-foot birdie try on 12 (down one), but then missed a 5-foot par attempt on 13 (down two). Hirsch birdied the par-5 15th from 7 feet (down one).
On 17, Hirsch missed the green short but chipped up and dropped a nervy 10-foot par downhill putt, screaming out “Woo!” in response. But Ivan then made a similar-length try for birdie, leading Hirsch to make the aforementioned “He’s too good” comment.
Ivan got a good break on 18 when his tee shot scampered through a fairway bunker and the ball ended up in light rough. Both he and Hirsch had birdie tries on the par-4 in the 25-foot range, with both two-putting to leave the final victory margin at two.
Past champ Bill Fowler notched a top-5 finish on Thursday.
“Overall the day went really really good,” said the 63-year-old Hirsch, who played junior golf against Ivan in southern Colorado in the 1970s. “That (approach shot on No. 1) was really the only bad shot I hit all day. It got me two behind him, and I could never catch up after that. But I’ve been lipping out putts all year, but this is the first tournament I’ve actually made some putts.”
Meanwhile, Ivan took satisfaction in going close to mistake-free amid the pressure on Thursday — and doing so while a problematic back remained an issue.
“Just the work I’ve put in to get here” makes his accomplishments this year stand out, he said. “For me to just really gut it out today — start out strong and not let up at all … Mark played great and made some great putts. But everything I’m putting together in my practice sessions is paying off. Eleven under par (for this week’s tournament) is pretty good out here.
“I’m on the selection committee for Team Colorado (part of a new USGA National Development Program junior initiative). For me to maybe show these young players that maybe these old guys can still play, maybe that will help motivate them. Maybe they’ll come ask us for more help.”
Ivan certainly made a point with his performance in CGA senior majors in 2024.
In addition to the title on Thursday, Ivan earns an exemption into the final stage of the two-stage qualifying process for the 2025 U.S. Senior Open, which will be hosted by The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
The CGA Senior Amateur is limited to players 55 and older.
For all the scores from Highland Meadows, 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