Cheyenne native Josh Creel finally finds a groove at TPC Colorado; he trails leaders by 1 at Ascendant; new dad Kyle Westmoreland, the former Air Force Academy golfer, also in the hunt
By Gary Baines – 7/12/2024
BERTHOUD — Josh Creel grew up about an hour from where TPC Colorado now sits, but the Korn Ferry Tour event at the course hasn’t treated him well in the past.
In four previous times playing what is now known as The Ascendant presented by Blue, the Cheyenne native has missed the cut three times and his best showing is a 67th place in 2021.
“This is one of the golf courses on the tour that doesn’t fit me,” he said three years ago. “It’s meant for guys who fly it 330-340 (yards).”
But this week has been different, at least so far.
The 34-year-old, who had PGA Tour status in 2021-22, eagled the par-5 15th hole on Friday en route to his second straight 5-under-par 67. That leaves him at 10-under 134, one out of the lead held by Peter Kuest and Matt McCarty.
To put those 67s into perspective, Creel had previously broken 70 just once at TPC Colorado — a 69 in the first round in 2021.
“I’m hitting it a little bit further now, which is a good thing at this place,” Creel, a former NCAA Division II national champion from the University of Central Oklahoma, explained on Friday evening. “That’s been a big help. And I’ve kind of been coming into form; I’ve been playing some good golf anyway.”
Creel is coming off a 34th-place finish last week in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic. But he’s struggled this season overall on the Korn Ferry circuit as he’s missed five straight cuts and stands 148th on the season-long points list.
The one-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour certainly was on form on Friday, with an eagle and four birdies to go along with one bogey.
“Unfortunately it seems like this is the time of year things kind of start to click for me,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s because this was kind of peak golf season growing up in Wyoming for so long. It’s frustrating, but it’s kind of the way it is. I’ve just got to roll with it.
“Today I found a lot of fairways and the lot of greens, which out here if you can do that, you’re good.”
On hole 15, where Creel rolled in a 12-foot eagle putt after hitting a 5-wood from 253 yards, he walked up the hill to the green and seemed a little surprised to see where the ball ended up — in very good shape.
“There were no claps or anything” from the fans in the stands after his second shot, he noted. “If it covers the (front) bunker, as long as it didn’t fly the green, it should be pretty good. You can kind of tell whether it’s good or bad based on people’s reaction. There was no reaction, so to get up there and see, ‘oh, it was good’” was nice.
As for his approach to the weekend as he sits tied for third place, “We just keep going about our business. Keep trying to hit it in the fairway and give ourselves good looks all weekend.”
Just prior to the tournament, Creel and his caddie traveled up to Cheyenne to have dinner with Creel’s brother and his family. And Josh expects some fans from southern Wyoming will be on hand this weekend to support him at TPC Colorado.
“I would expect there to be more out this weekend,” he said.
As for the two players ahead of Creel, Kuest is a resident of American Fork, Utah and a former BYU golfer. He’s now made four cuts in a dozen Korn Ferry Tour events in 2024, with a best finish this year of 16th place. But he has two top 10s — a ninth and a 10th — on the PGA Tour this season. Kuest hold out for eagle from 53 feet on the par-4 sixth hole on Friday.
Meanwhile, McCarty, a Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, has a couple of top-4 finishes this year on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland trails the leaders by 3.
New Dad Kyle Westmoreland in Good Position: Kyle Westmoreland would love to regain the PGA Tour card that he held last season.
But as big a deal as that is, there are some things that take precedence. Like, say, the birth of your first child.
So while the former Air Force Academy golfer could have racked up some more points in May and June to help his quest to lock up a 2025 PGA Tour card, when son Wyatt was born to Westmoreland and his wife, Erin, about five weeks ago, Kyle made time to savor the moment.
“Admittedly, I took quite a bit of time off,” said the 32-year-old, who now lives in South Carolina. “We had our first little baby — baby Wyatt. That was awesome. I loved it. But I feel good (going into the final portion of the season). I’ve just got to go out and take care of business — play like I know I can. I know all the courses (down the home stretch of the schedule). I have no excuses.
“Colorado is obviously a great one for us. Hopefully we can get it going here on the weekend.”
“Colorado” would be The Ascendant at TPC Colorado, where Westmoreland shot a 5-under-par 67 to move into the top 15 going into the final two days. He stands at 8 under par, three strokes out of the lead.
Westmoreland played full-time on the PGA Tour last season, but failed to keep his card as he posted just two top-30 finishes — a 27th place in Houston and a 29th at Pebble Beach. The good news is that if he finishes in the top 30 on the final 2024 Korn Ferry Tour points list, he’ll return to the big show next year. And he went into this week in 25th place in the point standings after a couple of top-5 showings to start the 2024 KFT season.
So with Westmoreland putting himself in good position at TPC Colorado, a strong weekend will help a great deal as there are only nine more KFT tournaments left in 2024.
“This is a great opportunity,” he said. “I think I could have gotten a few more (under) today and a few more yesterday, but that’s how golf works. I’ll stay in the present and play as well as I can, but it’s a good opportunity.
“It won’t be too far (behind) that I can’t run (the leaders) down on the weekend.”
On Friday, Westmoreland opened and closed his round with a bogey, and in between recorded seven birdies. He exhibited his raw power with a 404-yard drive on No. 1 (his 10th hole), as well as by driving the green and two-putting for birdie on the par-4 third hole, where he connected on a 345-yard tee shot.
“It was a good day. I had a lot of looks (at birdies),” he said. “That’s what you want out here. The more opportunities, the better.”
Westmoreland is among the relatively small subset of the field that has considerable experience competing at a mile-high altitude, in his case having done so at the Air Force Academy and some other events in the state. And he sees that experience as potentially giving him a leg up, all else being equal.
“It helps a lot,” he said. “Playing at altitude and kind of understanding how it works. There’s nuances here. Like with driver; it’s all launch. If you want to hit it farther, you just hit it higher. It doesn’t curve quite as much here. Out the rough, it doesn’t jump as much as it would as it does at sea level. There’s nuances like that are super beneficial having played here quite a bit. I think Jeremy (Paul, a former University of Colorado player) would say the same thing. We’re both very comfortable playing at this altitude. But it’s just about execution.”
Jeremy Paul (left) and playing partner Matt Atkins celebrate both making birdies on hole No. 2 on Friday.
Paul likewise is still in the hunt for the title this weekend, though an even-par 72 on Friday dropped him back a bit after his Thursday 66. A one-time winner this year, Paul stands 13th on the KFT points list.
“I played very similar to yesterday,” said the German, who finished third in this event two years ago. “Yesterday kind of went my way and today nothing really went my way. I didn’t make any putts. I had a lot of chances at the beginning and didn’t make anything. I made a dumb double (bogey on No. 13, his fourth hole) and couldn’t really get anything going. I didn’t get any good breaks, didn’t make any putts. It was kind of a slow day, but overall I’m satisfied with the way I hit the ball. I had a lot of opportunities, but just couldn’t convert them today.”
Paul made his double bogey on the par-5 despite being just 82 feet short of the flag in the intermediate rough in 3. A couple of poor pitches led to the 7. But after a 2-over 38 on the back nine (his front), he birdied the first two holes on his final nine en route to a 34.
“I would have loved to score a little better today,” he said. (With Friday’s wind), I don’t think anyone will run away with it. With a good weekend, I feel like I’m still in it.”
Paul goes into Saturday trailing the leaders by five.
Fort Collins resident AJ Ott made his Korn Ferry Tour debut this week.
End of the Line: Fort Collins resident AJ Ott had something different in mind regarding his first Korn Ferry Tour start, but the former Colorado State University golfer was lacking his “A” game, which made it a battle.
Ott, who qualified for the event through a sponsor exemption tournament last Saturday at TPC Colorado, missed the cut on Friday after posting rounds of 72-73 on a course he estimates he’s played 50-70 times over the years, including once shooting 60 there.
With five birdies and six bogeys over the two days, Ott missed advancing to the weekend byfour strokes.
“I really wasn’t that nervous overall,” the 26-year-old said. “I played … overall it was pretty poor. I hit it really bad yesterday and hit it better today but didn’t make anything (on the greens). I feel like I’m definitely good enough to be playing out here. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it this week — not even close.”
Asked what he might have learned from his first KFT experience, Ott said, “You’ve got to keep the pedal down at all times. You try to come in with no expectations, but you’re trying to do as well as you can. You’ve got to bring it. The past couple days, I just didn’t have anything near to my best. I was kind of just fighting. I just didn’t give myself enough looks (at birdies). These guys are good, but it doesn’t help when you’re not playing very well.”
Among the upcoming tournaments for Ott is the Inspirato Colorado Open July 25-28.
Meanwhile, part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler, winner of the 2014 Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, was on track — after Thursday — to make his first cut of the year on the Korn Ferry Tour. But things went south on his first nine Friday, leaving him with his ninth missed cut — to go along with one disqualification — in 10 KFT appearances this season.
After a 69 on Thursday, the Kent Denver grad played his first 10 holes of Friday’s round in 6 over. He went 1 under the rest of the way to shoot a 5-over 77, which left him 2 over for the tournament.
Also missing the cut on Friday was Fort Collins and Steamboat Springs resident Sam Saunders, who finished a stroke short of advancing to the weekend despite playing his final seven holes in 4 under par en route to a 69.
Going the Distance: For those golf fans wondering how long some of the world’s better golfers hit it at a mile-high altitude, there’s the case of Aldrich Potgieter. On Friday on the slightly downhill par-5 first hole, the South African hit a 480-yard drive into the right rough. Yes, that’s no typo: 480 yards. By the way, he used that blast to help make eagle — from 6 feet. Alas, Potgieter (69-73) missed the cut by one.
New pro Christo Lamprecht shot a smooth 64 on Friday.
Breakthrough for Former Amateur Standout: A of June 1, Christo Lamprecht, a 6-foot-8 South African who played his college golf at Georgia Tech, was the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world. Since then, he’s turned pro and earned Korn Ferry Tour status by virtue of his No. 2 showing in the PGA Tour University standings. But he missed the cut in his first three KFT starts.
This week, however, the long-hitter made his first pro cut with plenty of room to spare. The 2023 British Amateur champion backed up his first-round 70 with an 8-under-par 64 on Friday that featured two eagles in his first five holes, after which he was 5 under for the day. He made as many eagles/birdies on day 2 (8 combined) than he did pars (8).
“I pretty much told everyone this is probably the first golf course that I really like and kind of suits me” since turning pro, said Lamprecht, who has experience playing at altitude in South Africa. “It’s long, the altitude and you’ve got to hit some big drives, so it helps me a lot.
“Obviously the last three weeks didn’t suit my game very much, but I just played really poor golf, so that didn’t help either. I’m just hitting my driver really well, makes it easy to score out here.”
Folds of Honor Tribute: At the end of Saturday’s third round, The Ascendant will hold a ceremony recognizing U.S. military service members, first responders and their families during a ceremony as part of a partnership between the tournament and the Folds of Honor organization.
During Saturday’s action, local Folds of Honor scholarship recipients will tend the flag on the 18th hole. Then after play has concluded, the National Anthem will be sung, with a presentation of colors. Those in attendance are encouraged to wear red, whit and blue on Saturday.
Fans can support Folds of honor with a flat donation or per-birdie pledge at TPC Colorado’s long par-5 13th hole by visiting www.foh.org/KFT. The Folds of Honor partnership is part of a Tour-wise initiative. Thirteen people will receive Folds of Honor academic scholarships on behalf of The Ascendant.
U.S. active duty service members and U.S. military retirees with a valid military ID shown at the ticket sales window — along with kids 15 and under accompanied by a ticket adult — receive free admission to The Ascendant.
Notable: The 74 players who stand at 3 under par or better made the 36-hole cut. Among those who just advanced was 2019 Ascendant champion Nelson Ledesma. … Tee times for Saturday’s third round will run 6:30 a.m.-1:20 p.m. in twosomes off the first tee. … Richy Werenski, a one-time PGA Tour winner who led after round 1, shared the lead through 14 holes on Friday and had a 3-foot chance at birdie on 15. But he three-putted from 3 feet there for bogey to drop a stroke. He played his final five holes in 3 over par to check in three back of the leaders.
Local Scores: Here are The Ascendant scores for players who have significant Colorado and area ties:
3. Cheyenne native Josh Creel, who started his college golf career at CU before completing it at Central Oklahoma 67-67–134
14.Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland 69-67—136
29. Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul 66-72—138
Missed 36-Hole Cut
Fort Collins and Steamboat Springs resident Sam Saunders 73-69—142
Fort Collins resident AJ Ott, a former CSU golfer 72-73–145
Part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler 69-77–146
For all the scores from The Ascendant, 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