Chad Hansen overcomes Doug Rohrbaugh in playoff for title in Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship; Buffalo Run’s Behrod Keshtavar captures victory in Assistant tourney
By Gary Baines – 8/6/2024
Golf professionals from the Western Slope are having quite a moment at the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Chad Hansen from Glenwood Springs and Ironbridge Golf Club won the 2024 tournament on Tuesday, giving competitors from western Colorado three of the five titles in the 2020s. Jeff Hanson from Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott earned the victory in 2020 and Micah Rudosky from Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez did the honors in 2021 before Front Ranger Matt Schalk from Colorado National Golf Club in Erie prevailed the last two years.
And, for what it’s worth, Rudosky has won the last three open-age Colorado PGA Professional Championships.
On Tuesday at Red Rocks Country Club in Morrison, Hansen defeated a fellow Western Slope golfer, Doug Rohrbaugh from River Valley Ranch Golf Course, in a playoff that lasted one hole to claim victory in the Senior Championship. Hansen made a par on the extra hole after the two had to wait out a weather delay.
The win comes a year after Hansen finished 23rd in his debut in the Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship.
On Tuesday, the 51-year-old rebounded from a first-round 75 with the best score of the entire championship — a 4-under-par 67 — for an even-par total for two rounds. Rohrbaugh, a two-time winner of this event, had forced the playoff by playing his final two holes of regulation in 2 under par en route to a 73.
Schalk shared third place at 2 over with Barry Milstead of Valley Country Club and Bill Hancock of Meadow Hills Golf Course.
The top nine finishers in the Senior event qualify for the national Senior PGA Professional Championship, set for Sept. 26-29 in Sunriver, Ore. Joining Hansen, Rohrbaugh, Schalk, Milstead and Hancock in advancing were Rudosky, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Ron Vlosich, Grant Jackson and Caine Fitzgerald.
For all the scores from the Senior Championship, CLICK HERE.
In the Colorado Assistant PGA Professional Championship, also held at Red Rocks CC Monday and Tuesday, Behrod Keshtavar of Buffalo Run Golf Course scored a one-stroke victory after playing his final three holes in 2 under par.
Keshtavar posted rounds of 70-70 for a 2-under-par total, overcoming Justin Carlock of the host course (72-69). Geoff Keffer of Lakewood Country Club, a six-time winner of the Assistant title, and Ben Lanting of Bear Creek Golf Club, a three-time champ, shared third place at 1 over par for 36 holes.
Carlock, Keffer and Lanting qualified for the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, scheduled for Nov. 14-17 in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
For all the scores from the Assistant Championship, 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