Acknowledging that academics come first, the CGA formed two scholarships in 1961, that eventually became one in 1963. This scholarship is the famous Evans Caddie Scholarship program for eligible and deserving caddies in Colorado. Funds for the scholarship are now collected by the CGA and the Western Golf Association (WGA) and the scholarship winners reside in the Phi Gamma Delta at the University of Colorado.

The Colorado Golf Association has many tasks that it has mastered on top of the 18 tournaments held. These include but are not limited to: handicapping, annual membership publications, the Evans Caddie Scholarship, interpretation of the Rules of Golf, and golf statistics. Since becoming the most important golf organization in Colorado, the CGA created a division in 1984 called the Colorado Junior Golf Association in order to inform juniors on the rules and etiquette, and provide them with a chance of competition amongst others in their age group. Not only has it shown great success, it allows job opportunities and provides underprivileged juniors the chance to learn about the game.

So you may be asking what it takes to become a member or sign one of your children up, and what the benefits of doing so include. As a member of the CGA you receive: A USGA handicap index, a membership card, statistics tracker through GHIN, eligibility to play in CGA State Championships, eligibility to play in CGA Member Play Days, and Avid Golfer course directory, discounted rates at Common Ground (Home of the CGA), peer review through internet, discounted travel, and much more!

The next tournaments being held by the Colorado Golf Association:
July 19th- Pikes Peak Amateur at Patty Jewett Golf Course
July 22nd- HealthONE Colorado Open Championship at Green Valley Ranch
July 26th- Devil’s Thumb Pro-am- at Devil’s Thumb Golf Club
For a complete list of the CGA Tournaments visit here!

The Playoff Hole:
Fred Couples teed off with a shot to the left which actually ended up in a bush. Frost’s tee shot on the playoff hole (18th) was sprayed the other direction with Lehman’s tee shot splitting the fairway. Couples took a drop as an unplayable, therefore already hitting three. His third shot came up short of the green. Frost’s ball was taken by the wind and behind trees to the left of the green. Lehman stuck his ball 12 feet from the hole. Couples chipped up to the green and two putted for a double bogey, 6. Frost punched one over the green from behind the trees, then one past the hole and 2 putted for a double bogey six. At this point Tom Lehman was putting for birdie and basically had the 2010 Senior PGA Championship title. Lehman two putted for par as the gallery cheered endlessly.

I was able to sit in on the press conferences after Sunday’s round, one of the best experiences of my lifetime. First up, David Frost came in and talked about his round. Frost shot a 67 today and when asked what he took on the playoff hole he jokingly said, “It doesn’t matter.” Frost told the media he was not disappointed or discouraged to the least because he came out and played well. On the sixth and seventh hole in the fourth round, he chipped in. He said that he didn’t pay any attention to the scoreboard, only caught a glimpse as Couples was -3 after 14 holes. One of the most common things Frost talked about was the fan support throughout the tournament. Frost and Couples tied for runner up position.

Fred Couples failed to say anything to the media as he walked out immediately following the playoff hole in which he took the double bogey.

Tom Lehman came into the interview room smiles and all, in a great mood and rightfully so. He said, “It’s nice to win but ask me in a week or so because it probably hasn’t sunk in yet.” Going into the playoff hole after a fantastic up and down, Lehman said that he thought that he had an advantage right away because he had just finished. When you finish your round and have to wait it is much harder to come back out without being warmed up. “Frost got in first and I thought that he was in the driver’s seat [after regulation].” When he made his par putt on 18 in regulation he gave the fist pump as if to tell Couples and Frost, It’s on! One the playoff hole Lehman asked his caddy how many shots they had taken because he was confused. He didn’t even know if Couples had taken an unplayable or not, but he remained focused and did what needed to be done. Lehman was pleased with being all four rounds under par. He was asked if he had any trophies the size of the one next to him, and he replied no but that he knew the PGA of America would provide him with one, unlike other tournaments he has won. He said, “The check is nice but give me a trophy. My son is in little league football and he gets trophies, give me one!” His overall reaction of Colorado Golf Club is that he loved the course since the first time he set eyes on it. Congratulations Tom!

EARNINGS:
1. Tom Lehman- $360,000
2. Fred Couples- $176,000
3. David Frost- $176,000
4. Mark O’Meara- $96,000
5. Nick Price- $76,000

Keeping up with our local players from around Colorado:
1. Bill Loeffler bounced back from his 82 yesterday to shoot a 69 today, putting him at +4 and in a tie for 30th
2. Gary Hallberg shot 76 today to put him in a tie for 43rd. Hallberg is at +6.
3.  Ron Vlosich shot 77 to put him at +12 for the last round.

View highlights from Saturday’s round 3.

When I arrived, Tom Lehman, Nick Price and Colorado’s Doug Perry were teeing off, and I decided to follow them for their front nine. Some good shots, some bad shots, Tom Lehman sits in third place after Friday’s round. Nick Price, who shot a 71 today is tied for 6th. Unfortunately, Doug Perry struggled today and will not be playing his third round at Colorado Golf Club. For part of the day I followed Tom Watson, Michael Allen, and the designer of CGC, Ben Crenshaw. Tension between players was eased by jokes including Tom Watson’s quote, “He should be able to make those kinds of shots. He designed the damn course,” after a nice chip shot on the second hole for Crenshaw. Galleries were filling up as the day went by, mostly following Mark O’ Meara, Fred Couples, Tom Watson, and Tom Kite.

Here is a breakdown of how our local Coloradoans are playing, or have played:
1. Dale Douglass- 81, 91= 172 Did not make cut
2. Gary Hallberg- 71, 75= 146 Made the cut
3. Bill Loeffler- 69, 82= 151 Made the cut
4. Ron Vlosich- 75, 76= 151 Made the cut
5. Mark Weibe- 77, 77= 154 Did not make cut
6. Mike Zaremba- 75, 81= 156 Did not make cut

Current leaders are:
Fred Couples -7
Tom Kite -6
Tom Lehman -5
Jay Don Blake -4
LuChien Soon -4

I tried to make my way around the entire course to see as many groups as possible. I think I did that pretty well and saw most of the morning and early afternoon tee-times. I took a little break to sit in on Berhard Langer’s post round press conference. Mr. Langer shot a 6 under 66 for a share of the lead after the first round. The highlight of his round was an Eagle 2 on the par 4, 14th hole. He hit a 3-iron off the tee leaving him about 103 yards to the pin. He hit a full sand wedge and backed the ball up…right into the cup! He made 6 other birdies, and only had 26 putts  on the day for an impressive round, especially with the howling wind.

The largest crowd was following Fred Couples, Fred Funk and Bernhard Langer. The second largest following was the group of Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Michael Allen. Ben Crenshaw is credited as the course co-designer and Michael Allen is the defending Senior PGA Champ.

It was a lot of fun watching so many groups today. I look forward to the rest of the tournament.

As I entered the gates, the first view you see is the driving range, the putting green and the chipping green. It’s pretty cool that players are practicing so close to the patrons. All of the players that were practicing were very friendly, signing autographs and chatting with the fans. The big topic of the day, as it has been for the previous two days, has been the wind. It was very, very windy out there this afternoon.

My next stop was the PGA Media Center where I had to pick up my media credentials.

I got there just in time for the Senior PGA Championship news conference, where the CEO of the PGA of America (Joe Steranka) announced that KitchenAid will be the title sponsor for the Senior PGA Championship for 2011-2014. This announcement drew quite a few questions from the press that was in the room. For the most part, it didn’t make sense why KitchenAid would sponsor the Senior PGA Championship. The respose from the PGA as well as KitchenAid is that both organizations have the same value system and it seemed to be a natural fit. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but KitchenAid is putting up a whole lot of money and the PGA probably isn’t in a place to turn it down. They annoucned that the 2012 and 2014 Senior PGA Championships will be held at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. This is a brand new course designed by Jack Nicklaus and is having their grand opening on August 10, 2010.

For the grand opening of the course, there will be a skins game featuring Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller. Tom Watson, who was in attendance, was asked about the skins game and he told a funny story about Arnold Palmer. He and Arnold were having dinner during The Masters and Tom asked Arnold how his game is, which Arnold replied “Tommy, I play worth a sh*t anymore.” Mr. Watson as said that it should be interesting because “Johnny Miller always has something to say.”

Immediately following that announcement, Tom Watson held his pre-championship press conference where he stated that he really like the Colorado Golf Club as a course because it offers a lot of variety. There’s uphill shots, downhill shots, large greens as well as very small greens. He enjoys playing courses that offer a little bit of everything because it makes you think. When asked about the adjustments he needs to make due to the wind, Mr. Watson answered that knowing yardages doesn’t help much and you need to play with feel more that anything. With the elevation in Colorado and throw the wind into the equation, he said that it gets quite complicated when trying to determine what club to hit. He also mentioned that he has always struggled playing in the mountains and to be successful he needs to keep it simple.

One of the best moments in this short press conference is when Tom Watson was asked how much longer he thinks he can play since he is 60 years old. His answer was awesome. He said “I’ve always loved competition. I loved when I was 7 years old trying to beat my older brother. As long as I can compete, I will play.”

The last question he was asked is how is game is compared to how he was playing at last years British Open. He said his game isn’t quite as good as it was at the Open. He has two wins and several other top ten finishes this year on the Champions Tour. I’d say he is playing pretty well! Tom Watson seems like a good guy and very sincere. When the conference was over, he shook everyone’s hand and thanked them for coming to listen to him. As I walked out of the room, two PGA staffers were talking about him and they both said, “He’s a special human being.”

The rest of the press conferences were canceled for the day but I hung around to take it all in and I hear a common theme. Most people, players and press, were talking up Fred Couples. He seems to be the odds on favorite to win it.

The most amazing thing that I noticed is that, as previously reported, there is no club house. Everything is a temporary tent-like structure. This seems kinda odd for a private club hosting a major golf tournament.

I am excited for golf this week. I look forward to walking the course and blogging about major golf in Colorado. We needed something like this after they took away the International. Stay tuned for tomorrows update.

As for the driving range, if this is your choice of practicing, “you should have a goal in mind that directs your practice session,” whether that be increasing distance, determining your distance, or curing the slice or hook that you picked up from your golfing buddy. One advantage of the driving range is the ability to continuously hit at the same target and master that shot. The cost of the driving range, say 60 shots is far less than the round to play, which serves as another great advantage. However, it can become dull and boring. To avoid this, play games with either your buddy or yourself to entertain you, but keep in mind you are there to fix your game. Overall, it is still your call. As you continue to practice, you find out which is more beneficial for your game.

Tell us what you think about this new idea!