Denver native and former CU golfer Jonathan Kaye looks to end the win drought for locals in Inspirato Colorado Senior Open; 2-time PGA Tour winner leads by 2 going into final round
By Gary Baines – 8/29/2024
DENVER — The last year a player with significant Colorado ties won the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open, Tiger Woods claimed five titles in a single season on the PGA Tour for the final time.
Yes, it was that long ago — 2013, to be exact.
That was when Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale earned the Colorado Senior Open title — and no golfer with major connections to the Centennial State have replicated that accomplishment.
But Jonathan Kaye — a Denver native, former University of Colorado golfer and until recently a part-time Boulder resident — aims to rectify that matter. And he’s in very good shape to do so. And if he doesn’t do it, Shane Bertsch of Parker or Matt Schalk of Erie might.
A two-time winner on the PGA Tour — and of the Colorado Open — Kaye retained his lead on Thursday and will take a two-stroke advantage into Friday’s final round of the CSO at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.
“I would love to (end that local drought),” Kaye said with a smile. “Sure. That’s why I’m here.”
The 54-year-old, who resides in Phoenix, sank a 70-foot eagle putt on the 12th hole on Thursday en route to a 3-under-par 69. A mud ball on the final hole led to a bogey, but he owns a 36-hole total of 10-under 134.
Kaye will try to become the third Colorado Open champion to also win the Colorado Senior Open, joining Mike Zaremba and Bill Loeffler. Zaremba prevailed in the Colorado Open in 1995 and the CSO in 2005, while Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Loeffler earned Colorado Open titles in 1991, ’93 and 2004 and one in the Senior Open in 2009.
“I hit it better today and didn’t putt as well” as Wednesday, Kaye said of his second round. “The last hole, I had a mud ball in the fairway; when I hit my second shot it backed up and had a giant chunk on top. I didn’t really know how to play it. I thought it would knock it out of the air and make it fall right, but it just went dead left. I guessed wrong, then I hit a bad bunker shot.”
Two putts later, Kaye had a 6 on the par-5 18th hole. Overall for the day, he made an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys.
The highlight was certainly No. 12, where Kaye was barely on the front of the green, 70 feet from the cup. But down the eagle putt went.
“It was money; it looked good the whole way,” he said. “It didn’t look like it was going to go racing by. It was just ‘boop’. That kind of got me going. I birdied 14 and 15 (each from 4 feet) and hit it close on 16 and didn’t make it.”
Kaye (left) and 2023 CSO runner-up Matt Schalk played the first two rounds together. Schalk shares fifth place with one round left.
Besides taking advantage of a new putter this week, Kaye just put new shafts in his clubs, which is also helping the cause.
“I found out that the shaft that I’ve used my whole life, there’s only one guy on the PGA Tour that uses it: Hideki (Matsuyama),” Kaye said. “And I’m like, ‘I don’t swing it like Hideki anymore, so I should probably switch.’ So maybe that’s why technology never helped me. I can pick up these really light graphite shafts and hit it so high, but then I don’t know how (far) it’s going here. So I opted for these lighter steel ones.
“I like them. I’ve just kind of got to get used to them. They’re significantly lighter than I’m used to. My tendency is to get a little quick. If I can keep it kind of slow (I’m better off).”
The last three Colorado Senior Opens have seen four-stroke margin of victories, and this is one somewhat spread out at the top. The champion on Friday will earn $20,000.
Steve Holmes, who sits in second place, eagled a par-4 on Thursday.
Steve Holmes of Simi Valley, Calif., who competed in the 2023 PGA Championship, stands in second place at 8 under par, two back of Kaye. The PGA instructor birdied his final two holes on Thursday evening to shoot a 3-under-par 69. Holmes, the reigning Southern California PGA Senior Professional Champion and Senior Match Play champ, eagled the par-4 fourth hole (his 13th of the day), hitting his tee shot on the green and draining a 12-foot putt there. Overall, he carded an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bertsch, a regular on PGA Tour Champions for four years who won a Champions event in 2020, holds third place, four behind Kaye.
“I just hope to stay in the last group (which he did),” Bertsch said after finishing his round in the early afternoon. “Jonathan and I have been friends since high school. It would be fun to play with him. I’m glad I’m at least contending because I feel I’ve got a low (round) in me. I just haven’t taken advantage of it.”
Kaye, Holmes and Bertsch will tee it up for Friday’s final round at 9:30 a.m.
Shane Bertsch of Parker, a regular on PGA Tour Champions, continued to rebound from a slow start at the CSO.
Bertsch backed up a first-round 70 with a 4-under-par 68 on Thursday, putting him at 6 under.
Bertsch, who has notched three top-10s on the Champions circuit this year (including a seventh place two weeks ago), got off to a less-than-ideal start at GVR, where he was 2 over par through his first eight holes on Wednesday. But he rebounded with a 4-under 32 on the back nine then continued his solid play with his 68 on Thursday. He had a 7-foot eagle look at his final hole — the par-5 ninth, where he drove it over the water that bisects the fairway — but missed the putt and settled for par.
So what turned his tournament around?
“Finally just making birdie with a sand wedge” on Wednesday, he said. “I had all these chances, and not only was I not making birdies but I was making bogeys — and I made a double on the third hole with a wedge in. I made so many stupid mistakes. Finally on 11 I hit a pretty good sand wedge in there — to about 12 feet — and made the putt. And I played 12 real aggressive and made about an 8-footer for eagle there. That flipped me — and at least got me under par. Then I made one birdie coming in, on 18.”
Bertsch resides in the state, but still finds it difficult to compete at a mile-high elevation.
“Even though I grew up here, I’ve played so much golf away from elevation lately that I’m mesmerized by how far I’ve got to hit it,” Bertsch said. “I’m afraid to hit it over (the green) every time.
“It’s fun (to play in his home state), but it’s definitely hard. If I come back and play Glenmoor or Bear Creek where I play all the time, those clubs just fall into my hands because I remember hitting them. But I haven’t played here enough to know. I’ve made a lot of goofy mistakes because it was in my head and because I didn’t hit the right club.”
Bertsch is playing in his first Colorado Senior Open this week, though he won the open-age Colorado Open in 1998.
“I was just glad to have the opportunity to play this year because the last four years when I’ve been fortunate enough to be out on the Champions Tour, I couldn’t take a week off and play (in the CSO). But this year, we had a week off,” he said. “This year, I wanted to play so bad here but it makes it seven weeks in a row (with tournaments). I’m just trying to play, relax, play. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, though.”
Schalk is in line for another top finish at the Colorado Senior Open.
Bobby Collins of North Palm Beach, Fla., holds down fourth place at 5 under par. Schalk, runner-up in the CSO last year, shares fifth place at 4 under par after shooting back-to-back rounds of 70 while in the same pairing as Kaye. Likewise among those at 4 under is 2022 champion Guy Boros, a one-time winner on the PGA Tour (68-72).
The top 50 players after 36 holes — those who stand at 3 over par or better — made the cut and will advance to Friday’s final round.
Notable: Victor Minovich of Thornton, the 2022 CGA Senior Amateur champion, fired a 3-under-par 69 on Thursday to open up a four-stroke lead in the low-amateur competition. Minovich carded six birdies and three bogeys in round 2 and stands at 2 under overall. Richard Bradsby of Golden (71-75) and Sean Crowley of Littleton (75-71) sit in second place at 2 over. … Minovich, Kevin Dillen of Paris, Texas (71-71) and Stephen Mondshine of Sutherland, Texas (71-71) share the top spot in the super-senior (over-60) division. … Former CGA Player of the Year Steve Irwin, son of three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin, posted round of 76-74 and missed cut cut in his senior tournament debut. … Harry Rudolph, one of just two two-time winners of the Colorado Senior Open (along with Greg Bruckner), went 79-71 and failed to advance to the final round. … Also missing the cut were two-time PGA Tour winner Donnie Hammond (74-78), former Broncos quarterback Tommy Maddox (78-76) and former U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs (84-74). Udall, however, shot his age on Thursday. … Defending champion Jason Schultz of Dallas (73-71) shares 24th place. … Friday’s winner of the CSO will be exempt through the first of two stages for next year’s U.S. Senior Open, which will be held at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
For all the scores from the CSO, CLICK HERE.
For Friday’s final round tee times, 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