An albatross, a couple of 62s, his first pro win last weekend … Coloradan Davis Bryant has seen it all in the last week or so in state/regional opens; Nick Dunlap, the 2023 U.S. Am champ at Cherry Hills, posts 2nd PGA Tour victory
By Gary Baines – 7/21/2024
It’s been quite a last week or so on the golf course for Aurora resident Davis Bryant.
The former Colorado State University golfer won for the first time as a professional at the Wyoming State Open on July 14, posted a albatross (sometimes known as a double eagle) on Friday at the Waterloo Open in Iowa, made two eagles in a single round on Saturday en route to his second score of 62 in a week, then posted a second consecutive top-5 finish in a state/regional open.
The former CGA Player of the Year capped off the eventful stretch by placing fifth on Sunday in Waterloo, where he posted scores of 67-62-67 for a 20-under-par total over three rounds. That left him three strokes b behind champion Trevor Ullestad of Phoenix, who earned $50,000 for his victory in a playoff. Bryant’s score included a 2 on the par-5 12th hole on Friday.
Bryant, who turned pro after last year’s U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, earned $5,300 for his showing in Iowa.
The former Ram is scheduled to be in the field for this month’s Inspirato Colorado Open, which begins Thursday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, his home course.
For scores from the Waterloo Open, CLICK HERE.
Notable: Nick Dunlap, who won the U.S. Amateur 11 months ago at Cherry Hills Country Club, picked up his second PGA Tour victory of 2024 on Sunday, capturing the title at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif. Dunlap scored 49 points in the modified Stableford scoring system, where a birdie (2 points) and a bogey (-1) are worth more than two pars (0). It’s the same scoring system that was used by The International at Castle Pines Golf Club from 1986 through 2006. Dunlap, who shot a 9-under-par 62 on Sunday, became the first player in history to win on the PGA Tour both as an amateur and a pro in the same season. And, mind you, he’s still 20 years old. The last player to win twice or more as a rookie on the PGA Tour was Xander Schauffele in 2017, Meanwhile, coming off his first missed cut on the PGA Tour this year — at the Genesis Scottish Open — Denver native Mark Hubbard finished 17th on Sunday in the Barracuda Championship. Hubbard shot a bogey-free 8-under 63 in the final round to score 16 points in the Stableford format, giving him 37 for the week. He jumped 35 spots up the scoreboard on Sunday. SCORES. … Part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler made a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time in 2024, finishing 58th at the Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Mo. A one-time winner on the PGA Tour, Stadler posted rounds of 65-71-69-73 for a 10-under-par total. Prior to this week, the Kent Denver graduate had missed nine cuts and was disqualified once in 10 KFT starts in 2024. SCORES
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