Playoff birdie earns Coloradan Scott Petersen his first U.S. Senior Open berth; also qualifying at Cheyenne Shadows was Utahn Steve Schneiter
By Gary Baines – 5/15/2023
Last year, Parker resident Scott Petersen made his PGA Tour Champions debut at the Shaw Charity Classic. Two months ago, he recorded his first Champions start of 2023 — again through Monday qualifying — this time at the Hoag Classic.
Then on Monday, he landed a spot in what many people consider the grandaddy of them all in senior golf as the former University of Colorado golfer qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open.
The 52-year-old birdied the first sudden-death hole to prevail in a four-man playoff to secure one of two USSO berths at stake Monday at Cheyenne Shadows Golf Club at Fort Carson. This year’s U.S. Senior Open will be contested June 29-July 2 at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.
Joining Petersen in advancing on Monday was Steve Schneiter of Sandy, Utah, who qualified for his fourth U.S. Senior Open — and for the third time while going through the process in Colorado. Schneiter is a past winner of both the national PGA Professional Championship and the national Senior PGA Professional Championship. He’s made the cut in one of his previous three U.S. Senior Opens, placing 62nd in 2015.
Petersen and Schneiter tied for low score on Monday — with 4-under-par 68s — with Denver native and two-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Kaye, and amateur Martin Prazak of Denver. Petersen and Kaye were CU teammates for two seasons in the early 1990s.
After Schneitner birdied the third playoff hole — No. 1 at Cheyenne Shadows — to earn the second spot in the Senior Open, Kaye finished as the first alternate and Prazak as the second.
Petersen, winner of the Colorado Open in 2000, made six birdies and two bogeys in regulation on Monday before his playoff birdie on hole No. 1. Petersen won two CGA Amateurs in the early 1990s and a Korn Ferry Tour event as a pro in 2000.
Steve Schneiter.
Schneiter carded seven birdies and three bogeys in regulation to go with his playoff birdie. He could have avoided the playoff, but he bogeyed the 18th hole in regulation.
Kaye, a two-time Colorado Open champ, recorded six birdies and two bogeys on Monday in his bid for a second straight U.S. Senior Open berth. Prazak also made six birdies and two bogeys.
For all the scores from Cheyenne Shadows, 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