Denver’s Jon Lindstrom becomes first Coloradan to claim Trans-Miss senior title; fellow Coloradan Dave Runberg runner-up in Legends division
By Gary Baines – 5/18/2023
The number of Colorado residents who have won Trans-Miss Golf Association national titles isn’t a big one.
But as of Thursday, it’s one higher.
Jon Lindstrom of Denver joined the list by leading wire to wire en route to victory in the senior division of the TMGA Senior & Mid-Master Championship at Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra Heights, Calif.
The three-time CGA Mid-Amateur champion and four-time low amateur at the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open prevailed by two strokes Thursday in the 72-player senior field. He backed up a seven-birdie 65 on Tuesday with rounds of 72 and 72 to check in at 4-under-par 209, a couple better than John Adams of San Clemente, Calif. Over three days, Lindstrom recorded 12 birdies and eight bogeys.
The 55-year-old is believed to be the first Coloradan to win the TMGA senior championship, which debuted in the year 2000 for players 55 and older. The previous best showing by a local in the event was Robert Polk of Parker, who was runner-up in 2011.
Lindstrom joins other Coloradans to win TMGA championships, including future Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jim English (open division title in 1950), John Elway and Tom Hart (Four-Ball at Cherry Hills Country Club in 2009) and Jay Livsey (Mid-Masters in 2021).
Lindstrom, like Livsey, is a member at Lakewood Country Club.
It should be noted that Connor Jones, a Colorado State University golfer from Westminster, finished second in a playoff at the open-age Trans-Miss at Denver Country Club last summer.
Lindstrom adds this senior title to the one he won last August in the International Mid-Amateur & Senior Team and Individual Championship in South Carolina.
The senior division was one of four competitions this week at Hacienda Golf Club. In the 70-and-older Legends division, Dave Runberg of Centennial placed second, six strokes behind champion Patrick Rohan of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Runberg, runner-up in the 2021 CGA Super-Senior Match Play, went 77-79-76 for a 19-over-par total.
For all the scores from the Trans Miss Senior & Mid-Master 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. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com