In same year he played in U.S. Open and added a second daughter to his family, Colin Prater looks to join elite company as a 3-time CGA Amateur winner; he’ll take 6-shot lead into final round
By Gary Baines – 8/3/2024
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Much has happened in Colin Prater’s life since his summer vacation — from teaching science at Cheyenne Mountain High School — began.
To say the least.
Most notably:
— Prater qualified for and competed in the U.S. Open, becoming one of less than a handful of Colorado amateurs to do so in the 21st century. (As you might imagine, that caused the two-time CGA Player of the Year to withdraw from the CGA Match Play, which was held the same week as the Open.)
At the U.S. Open in mid-June, Prater played practice rounds with Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark, Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala, Mark Hubbard and Sam Burns, among others.
“It was really cool to be inside the ropes with those guys,” Prater said on Saturday. “Chit-chatting with Rory (McIlroy) was really cool. … Hitting putts right next to Tiger Woods. I’m like, ‘Holy crap, that’s Tiger,’ someone you’ve idolized and grown up watching so much. It was just really cool to kind of be one of the guys for a couple of days.”
— And then just last week, on July 26, Prater’s wife, Madi, gave birth to their second child, a girl they named Logan. Six days later, Prater was teeing it up in the CGA Amateur at the Air Force Academy.
“I’ve got a tremendous wife,” Colin said. “She takes a little bit of the burden off of me. That’s good.
“It was kind of a joke. I played in the Pikes Peak (Amateur), which finished up Saturday the 20th. I told my wife, ‘There’s a 10-day stretch here — the 21st to the 31st: have the baby’ (he laughs). No pressure. Have the baby because the State Am starts the first (of August).
“We’re fortunate — I live 20 minutes down the road. I think if (the CGA Amateur) was pretty much anywhere else, I probably wouldn’t have played. But the fact that I can come here, play, get home to support her in a timely fashion is probably the reason I’m playing.”
Both competing in the U.S. Open and having a child — their second in the last two years — were life-changing in their own way for Prater. But if you think having a newborn at home would throw the 29-year-old from Cherokee Ridge Golf Course off his golf game, you’d be sadly mistaken.
Eight days after Logan Prater was born, dad built a six-stroke lead in the CGA Amateur, a tournament he could keep winning in four-year cycles should he prevail on Sunday as his previous victories came in 2016 and ’20.
Prater converts a birdie putt on No. 10 on Saturday.
Competing at Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course — a layout he says he’s played “hundreds” of times over the years — Prater made seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch on Saturday en route to a 6-under-par 66. That left him at 18 under par and with a six-stroke lead on 2024 CGA Match Play champion Matthew Wilkinson, a Colorado State University golfer who plays out of Lone Tree Golf Club.
The only other golfer closer than a dozen strokes from Prater through 54 holes is 2021 CGA Player of the Year Chris Thayer from CommonGround Golf Course, who trails Prater by nine after a 67 on Saturday that included an eagle. Gage Messingham of The Club at Rolling Hills, runner-up with Prater and TJ Shehee at last year’s CGA Amateur, is tied for fourth place with Reese Knox of Peyton, an incoming Boise State golfer.
Which brings us to what could be another highlight of the summer for Prater. Should he claim victory on Sunday, he’d become the first three-time CGA Amateur champion since Bob Byman in 1971, ’72 and ’73. Yes, that’s the same Bob Byman who won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1972, a PGA Tour event in 1979 and was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.
In addition, what’s thought to be the scoring record for the CGA Amateur — which dates back at least to 1933 — is possibly within reach on Sunday. Connor Jones finished 24 under par at the 2022 championship. Prater would need a 66 on Sunday to match that total, and a 65 or better to beat it.
Matthew Wilkinson pitches in for birdie from behind the 13th green on Saturday.
“He’s been playing really great this week,” Wilkinson said of Prater. “Eighteen under through three rounds is pretty impressive.”
Prater played Eisenhower’s Blue Course on a fairly regular basis when he competed for the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs — and plenty of other times as well — “a ton” in all, he said.
“The golf course is a really good test,” Prater said. “Obviously 18 under (so far) is pretty crazy.”
Prater admits that experience at Eisenhower gives him quite an advantage this week.
“The more you play it the more you know where you can and can’t hit it to almost every pin, (and) where’s a good place to chip from,” he said. “I don’t know if it makes golf any easier, but it frees your mind a little bit more because you know what to expect because you’ve seen it so many times.”
Prater (left) and Wilkinson share a laugh during the third round.
Through three rounds, Prater has gone 65-67-66, making three eagles, 15 birdies and three bogeys. On Saturday, he bogeyed the par-3 third hole, then birdied seven of his next eight holes, with his longest birdie conversion being a 10-footer on No. 8. He parred his final seven holes, capping things off with an up-and-down on No. 18, where he drained another 10-footer.
“The best putt I made all day was the one I had on the last,” he said.
After 11 holes on Saturday, Prater unofficially held an eight-stroke lead. But Wilkinson cut that advantage in half by making five birdies in six holes (11 through 16). That included holing a 40-foot flop shot from behind the green on No. 13 and almost holing out for eagle on the par-4 15th, where he made a 2 from 145 yards on Thursday en route to a 64.
“It looked pretty good from the fairway,” Wilkinson said of his second shot to No. 15 on Saturday. “It landed short and hopped up and was kind of rolling toward it. I thought, ‘Maybe that’ll go in.’ It was a good (birdie, from 4 feet) nonetheless.”
Former CGA Player of the Year Chris Thayer pitches to the ninth green on Saturday.
But after his back-nine run, the Match Play champ finished Saturday’s round bogey-bogey, missing the green on the par-3 17th and hitting a short punch-shot into the front bunker from the fairway on No. 18.
That gives Prater a little additional breathing room going into the final round.
“Shooting 68 is just kind of frustrating after finishing bogey-bogey,” Wilkinson said. “Oh well. It happens. You’re going to make a bogey here and there.
“Obviously I need a little help from Colin” to have a chance at the title on Sunday. “All I can do is play my best and see what happens. If I somehow shoot 60 and it’s good enough, that’ll be great. But I’ll play my best golf tomorrow and see what happens.”
Gage Messingham, a runner-up in the CGA Amateur last year, is on the leaderboard again in 2024.
For the second straight year, an additional perk comes with winning the CGA Amateur: a berth into the U.S. Amateur, this summer set for Aug. 12-18. But by virtue of qualifying for the U.S. Open, Prater already is in the field for the U.S. Am at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn. So that perk will only kick in if someone other than Prater wins on Sunday.
If Wilkinson can overcome the six-stroke deficit and prevail on Sunday, he’ll be the first player to sweep the CGA’s top two open-age “majors” in a single season since Jones did so two years ago. Prater himself swept the Match Play and the Amateur in 2020.
“It was definitely a goal to get both of them” going into the week, the 20-year-old Wilkinson said. “A possible 2-for-1 — win it and get into the U.S. Am — that was kind of a goal for the week. It would be sweet if I were able to get it done tomorrow.”
As for Prater, he’ll be looking to add to his CGA championship resumé that already includes two Amateurs, one Match Play and two Mid-Amateurs.
“Wilkinson is a really good player,” Prater noted. “I know it’s cliche, but my mindset (on Sunday) has got to be, ‘Hey, we’re square. We’re just going and playing golf again.’
“I’m really trying to stay in my lane, focus on what I’m doing. I know he’s a really good player and he’s going to come full force at me tomorrow. He’s going to make a ton of birdies.”
Reese Knox is in the top five going into the final round.
Winning on Sunday and accomplishing all that would mean would no doubt be special for Prater, should it come to pass. But let’s face it: It wouldn’t compare to playing in the 2024 U.S. Open.
“Just the magnitude of the U.S. Open, the grandstands on every hole, four, five six people deep (in the galleries), thousands of people screaming your name,” Prater noted of that unique experience. “The aura and atmosphere of it was so tremendous and so cool. Hopefully maybe I’ll experience that again, but it’s nothing I’ve ever dealt with before. At times I think I got kind of lost in the spectacle of the U.S. Open. I was almost trying to play too perfect because it’s the U.S. Open; I didn’t just go play golf. But that’s easier said than done.
“Meeting all the tour pros; they just treated me like I was one of the guys, which was really cool. I got to shake so many guys’ hands. I said hello to (Justin Thomas) every single day. I shook Scottie (Scheffler)’s hand. There are so many memories. Having two of my best friends down there with me. It was insane and remarkable and the fastest 10 days of my entire life (between qualifying for the U.S. Open and beginning the championship).”
But following up on the U.S. Open and the birth of a second daughter, there’s always room for Prater to add to the memories of 2024. And should another player overcome his big deficit to win on Sunday, that would be very memorable as well.
Stay tuned.
For all the scores from the CGA Amateur, CLICK HERE.
Saturday proved to be a family affair for the Thayers.
Wildlife on the golf course isn’t unusual at Eisenhower GC.
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