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WINTER 22 | VOLUME 21, NUMBER 7
coloradoavidgolfer.com
PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER
ALLEN J. WALTERS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR JON RIZZI
CHRIS PHILLIPS vp of sales & marketing LORI PERRY digital marketing manager BRANDON KUSEK business & operations manager
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MICHELLE M. GUTIERREZ art director , avidlifestyle BRENNA FARRELL editor at large TOM FERRELL automotive editor ISAAC BOUCHARD style editor SUZANNE S. BROWN contributors
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FOR THE LAST year and a half, I’ve served as both editorial director of this publication and executive di rector of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. The two po sitions obviously dovetail, especially since the last 18 months rate among the most eventful in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s 50-year history.
In addition to putting on a tournament and an in duction dinner, we at the state’s Olympus of golf have been raising funds, collecting memorabilia, selecting furnishings, researching photographs and cataloging artifacts to display at our new home at The Broad moor in Colorado Springs.
The installation will begin January 2, and we ex pect to open sometime in April. By then, the 2023 Colorado golf season will have begun, and we can only hope it’s as momentous as its predecessor.
In 2022, we saw future first-ballot Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jennifer Kupcho break through for her first LPGA victory—and in a major, no less—when she won the Chevron Classic in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The newlywed from Westminster followed with two more wins, both in Michigan.
We also watched former CU Buff Yannik Paul win a thriller on the DP World Tour (née European PGA Tour), sinking a birdie putt from off the 18th green to take the Mallorca Golf Open by a stroke.
And how great has Connor Jones been? The CSU Ram swept the CGA majors and was low amateur in the Inspirato Colorado Open, setting the event’s amateur scoring record. Jones also took one of the world’s elite amateurs to a playoff in July’s Trans-Mis sissippi Championship. Oh, and he also won three collegiate tournaments, including the Mountain West Conference Championship.
On the “senior” side, we marveled as 50-year-old Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill—28 years re moved from her victory in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championship—captured the U.S. Se nior Women’s Open, making her only the third woman ever to win three different USGA championships.
In the wind and the rain at New Mexico’s Twin War riors Golf Club in October, Matt Schalk of Erie outlast ed more than 250 players to win 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship.
At the same course two weeks later, 60-year-old Sherry Andonian of Valley Country Club competed on the winning U.S. team in the Women’s PGA Cup—a first for any Coloradan.
The Colorado Hall of Fame will honor them all as Golf Persons of the Year. You can read more about their accomplishments in this issue’s Gallery section, which begins on page 19 with another significant occurrence—the sale of Bear Dance, Colorado Na tional and Plum Creek golf clubs to Virginia-based Heritage Golf. This follows news of the sale of Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen to Concert Golf Part ners, the Florida-based company whose plans for the club appear on coloradoavidgolfer.com
2022 also marked the passing of 1973 Open champion Tom Weiskopf (p. 64) and two Colorado Golf Hall of Famers: 1986 U.S. Senior Open champion Dale Douglass (Aug./Sept. issue) and 1958 PGA Championship winner Dow Finsterwald (p. 44).
Finsterwald, who graces our cover (and with whom I’m pictured above), won 12 PGA TOUR events be fore becoming the PGA director of golf at The Broad moor for 28 years. Ironically, a man whose last name translates to “Dark Forest,” was, in my encounters with him, a delightfully entertaining and accessible gentleman.
So, what does 2023 hold? In addition to the re opening of the Hall of Fame and its 50th anniversary celebration, the U.S. Junior Girls Championship is coming to the Eisenhower Blue Course in July, and September will bring the U.S. Amateur to Cherry Hills Country Club, which by then will have announced the long-awaited completion of its expanded clubhouse.
Here’s to another great year ahead!
JON RIZZI Editorial Director
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Record-setters, repeat winners and first-timers earn the state’s highest amateur golf honors.
CGA LES FOWLER PLAYER OF THE YEAR Connor Jones, Westminster
• Won the CGA Match Play and CGA Amateur
• Set the amateur scoring record (19-under total) in the Inspirato Colorado Open, finishing third overall.
• Was runner-up in playoff at the elite Trans-Mississippi Amateur at Denver C ountry Club.
• Won Mountain West Conference championship, Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and TPC Colorado Collegiate while representing Colorado State University.
CGA WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Leigha Devine, Windsor
• W inner of the award for the second consecutive year
• Defended CGA Women’s Match Play title
and almost defended in Stroke Play, losing by one stroke
• Qualified for U.S. Women’s Amateur, advancing to match play
• Representing Rutgers University, won the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin
CGA GIRLS JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR Kaylee Chen, Parker
CGA BOYS JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR Hunter Swanson, Denver
CGA WOMEN’S SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR Marilyn Hardy, Gunnison
CGA MID-AMATEUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR Chris Thayer, Golden
CGA SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR Chris Carlson, Highlands Ranch
CGA SUPER-SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR David Nelson, Littleton
Visit coloradogolf.org to learn more about the Players of the Year and the benefits of membership in the Colorado Golf Association.
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Whether it’s Gene Taylor’s vision for Bear Dance, Arnold Palmer’s 1984 Champions Tour win at Plum Creek or the University of Colorado’s presence at Colorado National—each of these Front Range courses has its own golf heritage.
And as of November 15, Virginia-based Heritage Golf Group owns all three.
In what Heritage’s Chief Acquisitions Of ficer W. Scott McMartin calls a “handshake deal” with the Bruening, Bennett and Kerr families and Southwest Greens, LLC, Heri tage acquired The Golf Club at Bear Dance in Larkspur, Plum Creek Golf Club in Castle Rock and Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. The purchase—Heritage’s first west of Missouri —expanded its U.S. portfolio from 25 to 28 private country clubs, resort courses and high-end daily-fee facilities.
“I’ve been anxious to grow into Colorado,” McMartin, a Colorado native, CU grad and current Castle Pines resident says. “I want to continue our expansion west, while also being very aware of all the water challenges.”
“The opportunity to acquire these three
exceptional facilities bolsters our continued growth strategy as we expand geographically,” Heritage Golf Group President & CEO Mark Burnett said. “Our future capital investment will further enhance the member and player experience at each property. We are grateful Stuart Bruening and his partners selected Heritage Golf Group to continue the legacy of these clubs ... and look forward to working with him through a seamless transition.”
The courses were not on the market, but “tire-kickers” had inquired over the years. This gave Bruening, a longtime Colorado PGA member and principal owner of the three courses, a sense of what the properties could fetch. He and his partners knew and trusted McMartin and Burnett, having interacted with while at other companies over the years.
“I am confident in the vision Heritage Golf Group has for these three clubs, and its prov en experience in elevating the golf experience makes them the right steward to take over ownership and operations,” Bruening says.
“Stuart and his team couldn’t have been more forthcoming and accommodating
throughout the negotiations,” McMartin says.
Brock Bruening will continue to manage op erations at Bear Dance and Plum Creek, while Matt Schalk will continue to oversee Colorado National. The latter course will also remain the home of CU’s men’s and women’s golf teams, honoring a promise former Buffs golfer Steve Kerr made to his late coach Mark Simpson.
With Denver-based KSL Capital as its part ner, Heritage has gone from six to 28 proper ties in less than three years, and, moreover, it has also committed sizeable investment in capital improvements to those acquisitions. Golfers shouldn’t expect to see changes at either Bear Dance—“It’s already a trophy,” McMartin says—or Colorado National “for at least a year.” Plum Creek moves into a smaller clubhouse this winter, and its back nine will get new irrigation. Members at these semi-private clubs will receive privileges at other Heritage properties.
“Our criterion is always super-high quality,” McMartin says. “We also look to see where we can develop a membership component and amenitize it.” heritagegolf.com
HONORED: First Row: Ben Lanting, Doug Rohrbaugh, Andy Connell, Jim Hajek; Second Row: Meghan Hunter, Nick Clearwater, Zach Lambeck, Keith Soriano.Third Row: Jason Witczak, Leighton Smith, Ryan Flamm, Cy Twete.
Third Row: Bryan Heim, Nate Erickson, Joe Carlton
On the evening of Oct. 28, the 825-member Colorado PGA Section honored a select group of PGA Pro fessionals at a dinner ceremony at Colora do Golf Club in Parker. On the playing side, Assistant PGA Professional Ben Lanting of Bear Creek Golf Club, who had previously won two Associate Player of the Year awards, earned his first Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year Award; Doug Rohrbaugh of River Valley Ranch Golf Course took home his eighth Se nior Player of the Year Award; Andy Connell from The Ridge at Castle Pines North repeat ed as the Associate Player of the Year; and Sherry Andonian of Valley Country Club con tinued to be the only Women’s Player of the Year in the award’s five-year history.
General awards went to outgoing Sec tion President Jim Hajek of Fossil Trace Golf Club (Golf Professional of the Year); Meghan Hunter of Fort Collins Country Club (Assistant Golf Professional of the Year);
Nick Clearwater (Teacher of the Year) and Zach Lambeck (Professional Development), both of GOLFTEC; Keith Soriano, PGA Re gional Director, Mountain and Midwest Re gion (Bill Strausbaugh Award for mentoring fellow PGA professionals); Jason Witczak , The Club at Pradera & The Pinery Country Club (Player Development); Leighton Smith, Leighton Smith Golf & Tribe Golf (Youth Play er Development); Ryan Flamm, EagleVail Golf Club (Patriot Award).
In the Public, Private and Resort Mer chandiser of the Year categories, the respec tive winners were: Cy Twete, Plum Creek Golf Club; Bryan Heim, Columbine Country Club; and Nate Erickson, Country Club of Colora do. The Charles “Vic” Kline Award, given to a Section director for outstanding service and leadership, belonged to Joe Carlton of Lega cy Ridge Golf Course, who raised more than $30,000 for victims of last winter’s Marshall Fire. coloradopga.com
At October’s Colorado PGA’s Awards dinner, Sherry Andonian accepted her fifth Colorado PGA Women’s Player of the Year award by video from New Mexico’s Twin Warriors Golf Club, where she was one of five players representing the U.S. in the Women’s PGA Cup against teams from Sweden, South Africa, Australia, Canada and Great Britain & Ireland.
The teams completed their third and final round the Satur day after the Oct. 28 PGA dinner, with the U.S. rallying from a five-shot deficit to clip Canada by two shots (a 1-under 656 to a 1-over 658). The Women’s PGA Cup follows a strokeplay format like that of a college event, so although none of Andonian’s scores ultimately counted towards the team’s fi nal tally, the 60-year-old distinguished herself against much younger competitors. She also became the first Coloradan— male or female—to play on a winning PGA Cup Team.
Instituted in 2019, this was the second Women’s PGA Cup Captained by then-PGA of America President Suzy Whaley, the U.S. also won the inaugural Cup. pgatournaments.com
The Colorado PGA Section also singled out Matt Schalk at its October awards gala.
The PGA General Manager of Colorado National Golf Club, Schalk defeated 263 other PGA professionals from around the country to win the Senior PGA Professional Championship at the Twin Warriors Golf Club at Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico.
Facing what he called “definitely the most difficult con ditions I’ve ever played in,” the 51-year-old Erie resident braved fierce winds and rain to card a three-over-par 75 to finish at 10-under-par 278. Schalk’s victory marks the first in the event by a Colorado player since Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler in 2007.
For his effort, Schalk received the Leo Fraser Trophy, earned $26,000 and will lead a contingent of 35 Senior PGA Club Professionals—including Coloradans Doug Rohrbaugh, two-time defending PGA Colorado Section Champion Micah Rudosky and 2007 Colorado Senior Open Champion Dave Arbuckle —into Frisco, Tex., for the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, May 25-28. pga.com
To mark its 50th Anniversary in 2023, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame has events planned throughout the year at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The opening of its relocated museum in the re sort’s Golf, Spa & Tennis Complex is slated for late spring; The Broadmoor East Course will host the Hall’s annual golf tournament July 6; and November 18 will bring the 50th Anniversary Gala to Broadmoor Hall.
One event it won’t stage is an induction ceremony. “The emphasis next year is on our organization, our new home, our 147 induct ees and the rich history of golf in Colorado,” explains Executive Committee member Gary Potter, a class of 2012 inductee. “We want the inductees to have ‘their’ night and not just be part of a bigger program.”
Not inducting new members, however, does not mean ignoring the many incredible feats of Colorado golfers in 2022. Since the Hall annually presents Golf Person of the Year and the Future Famer awards, the board of di rectors decided to honor these five Golf Per sons of the Year and two Future Famers next year at a time and place to be determined:
• C onnor Jones, a Colorado State senior from Westminster, swept the Colorado Golf As sociation men’s major championships—the
Match Play and the Amateur—and set the Inspirato Colorado Open amateur scoring record with a 19-under-par total. He was runner-up in a playoff at July’s Trans-Mis sissippi Amateur Championship at Denver Country Club, and he won three college events, including the Mountain West Con ference championship.
• Jennifer Kupcho won her first, second and third LPGA Tournaments. In April, she broke through at the Chevron Champion ship—a major—and later went on to win the Meijer LPGA Classic in a playoff and teamed up with Lizette Salas to nail down the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Heading into the season-ending CME Globe Champion ship, she ranked sixth.
• Jill McGill was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2009. In August, the winner of the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links captured the prestigious U.S. Senior Women’s Open at the NCR Country Club outside Dayton, Ohio. She became only the third woman and fifth overall player to win three different USGA championships.
• Yannik Paul, a German-born Colorado graduate who lives part-time in Boulder County, won his first tournament on the DP
World Tour (nee European Tour) in Octo ber’s Mallorca Golf Open. The win marked one of six top-10 finishes for the DP World Tour rookie. As of Nov. 15, he ranks No. 141 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
• Matt Schalk , who became only the second Coloradan to win PGA Senior Professional Championship (see page 20), also captured the Colorado PGA Senior Professional Championship in a playoff with defending champion Micah Rudosky.
• Future Famer Madeline Bante, currently a St. Mary’s Academy junior, won the 3A girls state high school individual title, leading the Wildcats to their second consecutive team championship. This fall, the devoted volunteer earned the USGA-AJGA Presi dents’ Leadership Award, a national honor founded in 2005 “to further develop junior golfers through volunteerism.”
• Future Famer Kyle Leydon, a Brighton High School senior, won a junior major—the Colorado PGA Junior Invitational—and fin ished first on the 2022 Colorado PGA’s boys junior golf points list. The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch member competed in the 2021 and 2022 First Tee National Champi onships, finishing as high as seventh place. coloradogolfhalloffame.org
MAKING HISTORY:
Top Row: Golf Persons of the Year Connor Jones; Jennifer Kupcho, Jill McGill. 2nd row: Golf Persons of the Year Yannik Paul and Matt Schalk; Future Famers Maddy Bante and Kyle Leydon (with Shane Bertsch)
Beyond being the largest marathon in the world, the TCS New York City Marathon is one of the world’s most successful fundraisers, thanks to the Marathon’s Official Charity Partner Program. Initiated in 2006, the program has helped raise more than $400 million for nonprof it organizations—and for the fifth consecutive year one of the 500 partic ipating charity partners was PGA REACH, the PGA of America’s 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, which strives to positively impact the lives of youth, veterans and diverse populations through golf.
Two of the 21 PGA Professionals who ran the 26.2 miles on November 6 represented the Colorado PGA Section. For Hiwan Golf Club PGA Director of Golf Kyle Heyen, who initiated the PGA of America’s involvement and co-chairs the committee, this year marked his sixth NYC Marathon, 16th overall and, he says, “my final one.”
It was only the third marathon for Jon Husby, the principal program and internship coordinator of the PGA Golf Management program at the Univer sity of Colorado-Colorado Springs. “I got a medal for finishing under seven hours,” he reports.
Between them, Heyen and Husby raised $8,200, and the 21 runners collectively brought in just shy of $90,000. In five years as an Official Char ity Partner, PGA REACH has raised more than $255,000 in support of its core pillars and flagship programming, including PGA Jr. League, PGA HOPE, PGA WORKS and PGA Places to Play. coloradopga.com
Like many golfers at Aurora’s CommonGround Golf Course, Erinn Lopez and Erin Houtsma had never met prior to their tee time. But most golfers aren’t supposed to partner in a competition that sends the winning duo to The Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Fla. for the US Doubles Golf Am Championship.
Doubles Golf is a relaxing nine-hole re-brand of the two-player scramble that Jack Nicklaus —who lives at The Bear’s Club—co-founded three years ago with the creators of PGA Jr. League. “The idea is to make new golfers feel like they can play in competitions,” Houtsma says. “I think the whole mission is really a great, unique way to engage golfers and keep people in the game longer.”
The PGA of America promotes Doubles Golf, which might explain why Lopez, the Colorado PGA’s 29-year-old director of business development and marketing, signed up despite not having played competitively since high school.
Houtsma, on the other hand, had competed for the University of Colorado. She was Erin Kerr then—as she was when she won the 2005 Colorado Women’s Open as a professional. Now married with two children, Houtsma had her ama teur status reinstated five years ago.
A mutual friend in the PGA put them together for the Doubles Golf qualifier.
“Erin’s a superstar,” Lopez remembers. “I always teed off and putted first to be the safe shot. That way she could go for it. She was always farther or closer, and we won the qualifier by seven strokes.”
The Erin-Erinn team was Jupiter-bound. Houtstma brought Lopez a white cap with “Egg” embroidered on the front—a complement to her own black cap stitched with “Ham.”
“Jack Nicklaus loved our hats,” Lopez recalls. “He was in very good spirits. You could tell he really liked being there.”
After a Sunday practice round came two rounds of nine on Monday. Heading into Tuesday’s final nine, the Coloradans had a three-shot lead, which grew to five by the tournament’s 27th and final hole. Lopez and Houtsma were the Women’s Doubles Champions
“I’m surprised Doubles Golf isn’t a bigger thing,” Lopez says. “This was so much fun!”
Or, as Houtsma—the ham to Lopez’s egg—emphasized on social media: “SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!” doublesgolf.com
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Ten years have passed since Master PGA Teaching Instructor Mike McGetrick moved from Colorado, but during the pe riod he had his academy at Meridian Golf Club, he won five Colorado PGA Section Teacher of the Year Awards, and in 1999, the PGA of America named him its Teacher of Year.
And as of Nov. 14, he can now call himself a Hall of Famer. At a ceremony hosted by GOLF Magazine at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, McGetrick joined Randy Smith and the late Ben Doyle as the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame’s newest inductees. Since its 1999 inception, more than 25 instructors have been inducted.
Currently the PGA director of instruction at Virginia’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Club—he describes his center at the site of four Presidents Cups and the 2024 Solheim Cup as “a golf teach er’s dream”—McGetrick was “very excited, humbled and over whelmed by a sense of accomplishment and gratitude” by the honor. “When your peers vote on you—and you know the dozens of names they had to pick from—that’s the coolest feeling.”
Now 63 and happily remarried, the one-time itinerant teacher to pros like Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb, Gary Hallberg and Brandt Jobe focuses on members, their guests and the occasional tour player who flies in. “I don’t do corporate events, seminars or travel to see clients,” he says. Like the golf swing, life is about balance. golf.com
By Kim D. McHugh
TO THE HOUSE: Having contracted with Virtual Tee to install the Uneekor system in his basement, Ed Knudson is now playing "the best golf of my life."
November is about the time when Colorado’s black bears start hiber nating. And it seems they aren’t alone. Many golfers start behaving similarly, putting away their clubs for the sea son and hoping their swing doesn’t wait until spring to awaken again. Ed Knudson was one of them. But that changed when he got his first golf simulator.
“Going back about three years, I was talking with the Full Swing rep who encour aged me to meet him at the PGA Show in Orlando to hit on their system and all the other systems, so I took him up on it,” says Knudson, who owns Barquentine Brewing Company in Edgewater. “It was really good to be able to hit balls and get a feel for the ball flight, and I did hit in other systems as well. I found that Full Swing provided the most real istic experience, so I went with that system first.”
Since that time, Knudson has seen the technology advance in terms of golf course graphics and ball flight accuracy. So much so that he chose a Uneekor system when he and his wife were having their new home built.
“It provides stats like ball speed, club head speed, ball flight, spin, launch angles and smash factor,” Knudson adds. “The nice thing about the simulator is I can see what’s working and what isn’t, and instead of hav ing to go to the range, I just go down to in the basement and practice a drill. I play in an online league and can also join other leagues across the country to play against other guys. I’m playing the best golf of my life and believe this simulator is a big part of that.”
Steve Jaccaud, a mortgage loan origina tor in Cherry Creek, was focused heavily on the launch monitor itself because it needed to align with the game-improvement aspects he sought. It was essential as well to have a highly durable screen material and dual-pur pose system that also functioned as a home theater that his wife and two small children could also enjoy.
“I did lots of research, first talking to friends with home set-ups,” Jaccaud ex plains. “One turned me on to social media feeds specific to home simulators, which proved invaluable. I felt the best for me was on Instagram where I found a picture of a guy
playing golf and another of a family watching a movie, so I knew you could have multiple uses.”
Selecting a ceiling-mounted unit was key, too. “I knew it had to be as safe as it could be with our kids around,” Jaccaud adds. “The walls are going to be cushioned and we’ll have a gate, so if I’m practicing, the kids can’t step down into my backswing. Winter will get special attention for sure. I hope my kids want to use it, as their interest in golf is very important to me. Of course, the fact that the space is dual use for TV and movies means it will get a lot of use. We’re talking about an eighteen-foot-wide screen!”
Kevin Hollern’s passion for golf extends be yond playing the game. Soon after becoming owner of Englewood’s MetaGolf Learning C enter in 2010, he began researching golf simulators for the academy and his home.
“I’ve been fascinated by simulators and the evolving technology for years,” he com ments. “I’ve probably hit balls in almost ev ery simulator on the market, and have com piled pages and pages of information on the industry, which I reference when I consult
Is it time to take a swing at having your own golf simulator?PHOTOS COURTESY VIRTUAL TEE
with people.“
Hollern, who now works as a golf-simulator consultant, has a custom-designed space in his Sedalia basement for his aboutGolf simulator. He also complements that system with a portable Full Swing launch monitor he brings to his club’s outdoor range.
“I have the ability to go downstairs and hit balls even if it’s just for fifteen minutes a day,” Hollern adds. “Whether I’m hitting drives, approach shots or chipping, it’s helped my game because I have the ability to swing the club all year round. I look at my distance, my carry, my rollout, and it’ll show whether I’m drawing or fading the ball or hitting a push hook, and I can and watch playback on video to review and adjust my swing. And at Christ mastime, when the whole family is in town, we play putt-putt with my grandkids and en joy all the entertainment features as well.”
Attracted by stunningly realistic course graphics, compact high-tech projectors and instantaneous, precise swing and ball-flight stats, golfers of all skill levels are driving sim sales in unprecedented numbers.
According to Straights Research, the mar ket for golf simulators is white hot. Its 2021 e stimated value of $1.3 billion is projected to reach more than $3.3 billion globally by 2030. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, multi-use simulators had already become a
popular attraction at Colorado bars, indoor instruction centers such as Optimum Golf, private clubs like Columbine, public cours es like West Woods and multiple standalone indoor golf-entertainment facilities (South Broadway Country Club, GC Lounge).
The isolation of the pandemic turbo charged the rate of private-home installa tions. Attracted by the social aspect of com peting with family and friends from the safety of their own residences, golfers brought their games indoors. “Golf simulators have be come very popular, especially since 2020.
“ We are experiencing triple-digit, year-overyear growth,” explains Founder and CEO Tyson Rabani of Centennial-based Quality Audio Video (QAV). “We have a half dozen installations going at a time.”
Locally, QAV and Virtual Tee are the two main companies meeting the increased demand for custom in-home systems
Founded in 2020 by avid golfers Mike Boire and Adam Porter, Virtual Tee brings more than two decades of design, construction and installation know-how to each project.
“I’d thought about building out a space for a golf simulator in the back of my floor ing company,” says Boire. “That gained mo mentum when we went to The Masters a few years ago. We were rained out one morning, so we found a place in Augusta with a golf
simulator. That sparked the idea to design and install high-end golf simulators.”
Virtual Tee has designed and installed more than 30 simulators. While most are in private homes, the company portfolio in cludes installations at Red Rocks Country Club, Blackstone Country Club and multibay installations in area bars.
In business since 2006, Quality Audio Video originally focused on creating residen tial entertainment and automation systems. The company teed up its custom golf simula tor business in 2018, designing and installing one of its first systems for a Denver-based tour player who was having a custom home built.
Rabani takes an analytical approach to each project, employing AutoCAD and Google Sketchup, rendering the location for the simulator in 3D, ironing out every detail in advance of beginning construction.
Mirroring that approach, Boire and Porter start their design process using Google Sketchup and AutoCAD respectively, and are skilled at working with clients that have a space in an existing home or are building a new one. Without question, the advantages with enlisting the expertise of local compa nies are plentiful. They know the contractors and subcontractors (electricians, plumbers, drywallers), and troubleshoot any glitches personally.
Given the number of installations QAV and Virtual Tee have done, the companies are well versed both in the different hardware and software systems, and whether or not a space is suited to accommodate a simulator.
“An ideal room size would be fifteen to eighteen feet wide, twenty feet deep and have a ten-foot ceiling,” says Rabani. “We ask for additional depth for a sitting or bar area and when we’re presented with a small er room size, we do our best to make the space work.”
The list of hardware manufacturers is daunting with aboutGolf, Clarity.Golf, Full Swing, Fore sight Sports, Golfzon, SkyTrak, TrackMan, TruGolf and Uneekor among them. Though the list of software options is shorter (GSPro, The Golf Club 2019, E6 Connect), it is no less perplexing. But advice on how to decide which system to choose is extensive thanks to online forums and the expertise of QAV and Virtual Tee.
Retailers like PGA TOUR Superstore have Sim-in-a-Box systems from around $17,000 to $26,000 that you set up yourself. If you enlist the consultation, design and construc tion services of a professional company to in stall one of the more sophisticated golf sims, anticipate spending $40,000 to $65,000 for a basic finish on a space. A more customized project—with a lounge and bar, and a topof-the-line sim system like Golfzon, whose moving swing plate is able to adjust to uphill, downhill and sidehill lies—can run north of $100,000.
Installation timing depends on if you’re adding a system to your current home or having a new home built. But however long it takes, once complete, it means there’s never an off-season for your game.
Kim D. McHugh is a longtime CAG contributor. For more information on simulators, visit virtualtee.golf and qualityaudiovideo.com
BETTER THAN A MAT AND A NET: Simulator owners often match the sophistica tion of the technology with that of the décor surrounding it.
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Stitch Golf’s latest entry in the travel realm is the Multi-Use Traveler, a bag that functions as an everyday roller duffle—until you need it to expand into a golf travel bag. With the pull of a single zipper and addition of a torsion bar for extra club protection, it’s a TSA-Approved golf travel tote, $498. stitchgolf.com
A good rangefinder offers distance and slope accuracy to help improve your club selection –and confidence —on any course. Bushnell’s Tour V 5 Shift also features sharp color, clarity and magnification as it locks onto targets; the ability to toggle between measuring slope and distance; and is magnetized so it attaches to the cart, $400. bushnellgolf.com
Whether he wears it to play a round at his favorite course or just to sit in front of the fire, Linksoul’s cashmere hoodie in heather gray will become his go-to layering piece, $395. A little more affordable is the brand’s cotton-cashmere design with but tons and a kangaroo pocket; in three colors, $130. linksoul.com
04.
Club covers not only protect your favorite golf clubs but can add personality to your bag. They are also easy to lose, which is why Mitch Adler invented Drop Not , a lanyard with a strong retractable cord that attaches a head cover to your bag. They’re sold in sets of two, $20. dropnotgolf.co m
O5.
Zero Friction now features a revolutionary golf bag. The Wheel Pro 3 -in-1 combines the convenience of a push or pull cart, the sturdiness of a carry stand bag and the ease of a cart bag. Its removable 11-inch wheels attach in seconds and save trunk room. The 10-pound bag comes with 14 full-length club divid ers; seven zipper pockets; holders for a glove, towel, scorecard and pen; and a rain hood and popup umbrella stand. $349. zerofriction.com
O6.
GoDaddy founder and golf enthusiast Bob Parsons launched Parsons Extreme Golf in 2013 with the mission of making the best equipment p ossible. PXG has parlayed its success into a full-on lifestyle brand. In addition to premium clubs, apparel and accessories, one of the many fashionable items for gift-giving is PXG’s handkerchief pattern dress, $195. pxg.com
O7.
Roomy enough for a change of clothes, accessories and off-course essentials, New England Loom’s duffel bag makes a stylish addition to her travel gear. Crafted from vintage kilim rugs, the bags are one of a kind, feature a detachable shoulder strap and an interior fabric lining with a zipper pocket for valuables, $389. newenglandloom.com
08.
When three Boulder-based friends couldn’t find clothing that was sustainable, innovative, fashionforward and functional, they created their own. WYLD1 includes such items as the Divine Graphene quarter-zip in a Nano Temp tech fabric that helps keep the wearer warm when it’s cool—and cool when it’s warm, $100. *Receive 20 percent off WYLD1 products with code, COAVID30; wyld1.com
09.
Listening to music or calls is easier with earbuds, but it’s annoying if they fall out when you bend to pick up a golf ball. Skullcandy’s Push Active True Wireless earbuds solve that with a design featuring comfortable ear hangers. Controlled by your voice via an app, the device has a 44-hour battery life, $80. skullcandy.com
10.
Sunglasses with lenses that absorb up to 90 percent of visible light will help you play your best. Serengeti’s Haywood brushed bronze aviators have amber-colored Drivers Gold mirrored lenses that amplify contrast and definition in a variety of lighting
metro’s trattorias continue Denver’s long legacy of warm hospitality and al dente linguine.
Sunday dinner is not a gangster mov ie cliché, nor is it just another meal for Denver’s Italian families. Dinner with la famiglia remains an essential gathering that’s less about the pasta and red wine and more about the bonding.
Sunday dinner is the warm experience good Italian restaurants have always strived to replicate. More than a century after Den ver’s first pasta was plated, Italian pizzerias, delis and trattorias are as popular as ever, despite competition from a world of cuisines.
“Italian dining is still so popular because it’s about family and culture and memories all tied together,” Mark Valente says. “The food is very comforting, and Italian culture is naturally welcoming.”
The Valente name has been synonymous with Italian food in Denver for 75 years. Now a Denver real estate broker focusing on restaurants, Mark Valente was a partner in the classic Valente’s Italian Restaurant, which operated for 44 years in northwest Denver. A cousin still runs the old-school Valente’s Deli, Bakery and Italian Market in Westminster.
North Denver was ground zero for Italian bak eries, grocers, sausage makers, bread bak ers and affordable red sauce and spaghetti joints, all family-run. Italian “truck farms” supplied fresh produce to the city.
Over time, Denver was labeled a meat-
and-spuds “cow town.” Looking back, it was really a “spaghetti and meatball town.” For longtime local diners, certain legendary Ital ian dining spots trigger a flood of taste mem ories. The Denver litany includes Carbone’s Italian Sausage Deli, Little Pepina’s Restau rant, Pagliacci’s and Patsy’s Inn. Some clas sic spots like Denver’s Gaetano’s, Carmine Lonardo’s in Lakewood and Romano’s Italian Restaurant in Littleton are still serving.
While nostalgia for those old days is fine, Valente says he’d rather go out for linguine carbonara in the Denver metro area today.
“The food is much better now, for sure. We have much better access to ingredients, and the menus are much more sophisticat ed. There’s a lot of really fine artisan Italian
restaurants run by chefs,” he says.
Colorado Italian-American cooking has expanded beyond spaghetti and meatballs at fine-dining trattorias with menus inspired by individual regions of Italy and complex dishes such as osso buco and risotto Milanese.
From Zane’s Italian Bistro in Denver to the charming Scileppi’s set in the Old Stone Church in Castle Rock, Italian eateries of all flavors are dining magnets throughout Denver’s southern suburbs. Besides the many pizzerias, choices include the old-school Gallo Italian Supper Club and Bakery in Englewood as well as the upscale Venice Ristorante Italiano.
George Eder has been serving authentic Neapolitan pizza for 13 years at Pizza Republica in Greenwood Village, but he has eaten Italian food his whole life.
“I grew up Italian in Detroit, and we still use Mom’s and Grandma’s recipes in the restau rants,” Eder says. A second Pizza Republica location opened in Denver.
“I think the effect Italian restaurants have had on dining in Denver has been to demon strate a warm and embracing sense of hospital ity,” Eder says. “Our regulars can go anywhere for pizza, but they keep coming back. We know them by name. I know where they want to sit and what they’re going to order.”
Despite Pizza Republica’s modern look and extensive wine list, Eder says his restaurant is just a neighborhood eatery. “We’re not a cor ner pizza delivery place. We’re not the big, fancy place, either,” he says. “We’re really just another ma-and-pop restaurant.”
Mussels arrabbiata, rigatoni Bolognese, the burrata cheese appetizer and Rustica pizza have a “cult” following, according to Eder. The
pizzas made from Italian flour bake for about 90 seconds in a 1,000-degree wood-fired oven. The crusts are topped with house-made mozzarella and sausage from Polidori, a Den ver legacy business operating since 1945.
If you’ve ever dined at Cranelli’s Italian Restau rant, Lasinda Crane has befriended you. The engaging hostess is co-owner of the almost 10-year-old eatery in Lone Tree with her hus band, Jimmy Crane, who grew up in an Italian family in Denver and creates the cuisine.
“When you walk into Cranelli’s, you’re walk ing into my home,” Lasinda Crane says. “The most important thing to me is to speak to my guests and get to know them.”
“There’s something about walking into a restaurant where you immediately feel em braced, where you are greeted and cared for,” L asinda says, explaining why the eatery has so many diehard devotees. Those regulars from a
From antipasti to zuppa inglese, finding tasty Italian fare doesn’t require a flight to Rome—or even a drive to North Denver. Here’s a list of ristoranti e trattorie on the south side of town and suggestions on dishes to try.
CHIANTI RISTORANTE ITALIANO 5121 S. Yosemite Street, Denver veniceristorante.com
Dish to taste: Gnocchi Primavera Potato dumplings and vegetables in citrus chardonnay sauce
CRANELLI’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT 10047 Park Meadows Drive, Lone Tree cranellis.com
Dish to taste: Baked giant pasta shells stuffed with ricotta and garlic baked with mozzarella and marinara
G ALLO ITALIAN SUPPER CLUB AND BAKERY 3470 South Broadway, Englewood gallosupperclub.com
Dish to taste: Lobster tail—a vanilla cream-filled puff pastry dusted with powdered sugar
PIZZA REPUBLICA 5375 Landmark Place, Greenwood Village pizzarepublica.com
Dish to taste: Rustica Pizza with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Genoa salami, prosciutto and red pepper flakes
ROMANO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT 5666 S. Windermere Street, Littleton romanospizzeria.com
Dish to taste: Romano’s Triple Treat with eggplant parmigiana, cheese ravioli and pasta with Italian sausage, marinara and Parmesan cheese
20-mile radius make the pilgrimage for best sellers crowned by baked lasagna, spaghetti aglio e olio (regular and gluten-free), a crispy eggplant sandwich and a hidden gem: saucy chicken cacciatore.
While the food needs to be great, Lasinda says it’s all about service: “The people who work at Cranelli’s are part of our family. I want people that give a damn. Not robots. Not ordertakers. We kept them all working during the pandemic.”
There are many foods we love so much that we think of them as “American,” but Italian eat eries introduced them. So, if you love espresso, pizza, meatball grinders, spaghetti, chicken Parmesan, gelato, mozzarella and tiramisu, kiss an Italian-American today. Now, that’s amore!
CLASSIC COMFORT: Cranelli’s linguine carbonara
SCILEPPI’S AT THE OLD STONE CHURCH 210 3rd Street, Castle Rock scileppis.com
Dish to taste: Linguine carbonara with prosciutto, Parmesan cheese, cream and egg
VENICE RISTORANTE ITALIANO 5946 Holly Street, Greenwood Village veniceristorante.com
Dish to taste: Scaloppine Marsala with veal and mushrooms in Marsala sauce with vegetables
ZANE’S ITALIAN BISTRO 3535 S. Yosemite Street, Denver zanesbistro.com
Dish to taste: Zane’s Favorite Pizza with red sauce, jalapeños , cream cheese, pepperoni and mozzarella
RARELY HAS ANY CAR, truck or SUV elicited the volume of overwhelmingly positive comments as the Bronco Raptor. Seemingly everyone digs its beefcake vibe, with foot-wide fender flares covering massive 37-inch tires and a skid plate that looks like it could stop a Javelin missile.
Inside are the same big 12-inch screen and cheap plastics as any other Bronco; it’s what’s underneath that makes a “Braptor” special. This includes Fox Racing internal-bypass dampers with external reservoirs to better control oil aeration under repeated, big suspension hits; beefier Ford Racing control arms; a track that’s 8.6 inches wider thanks to more massive Dana axles and half-shafts; three locking differentials and a disconnect-able front antiroll bar. Ground clearance is 13.1 inches, and every imaginable electronic off-road aid is there, including a personal fav, Trail Turn Assist, which allows the Bronco to lock a rear wheel and pivot around ob stacles.
On-road progress is very pleasing, with those amazing dampers and chunky tires pro viding a supple ride, and more direct, accurate steering than a comparable Jeep Wrangler. While not a rocket like the 470hp Wran gler 392, the Ford has more than acceptable shove, and being a turbo, it doesn’t tail off at higher alti tude, where many of the best trails are located. The Bronco Raptor’s 418hp and 440lb-ft flow through a 10-speed auto and hustle it to 60 in 5.6 seconds. Off-pavement, the Braptor really comes into its own. It can crawl up and down Colorado’s toughest trails—if it’ll fit down them—and makes tackling the most formidable obstacles so effortless one might get overconfident. Like today’s high-perfor mance road cars, which flatter and assist the driver to the max, the Bronco Raptor joins the short list of the most incredible off-road gasoline machines ever built.
By Isaac Bouchard
THE JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE was almost all new when released last year; only its V6 and V8 ICEs were carried over. Now available with a powerful, frugal plugin hybrid, its transformation is complete. The combination of 375hp and 470lb-ft of torque mean the 4xe is the fastest model one can drive in Colorado, since neither its turbocharged 4-cylin der nor powerful electric motors loose potency in our thin air. It can go up to 25 miles on electrons; at the touch of a but ton, one can choose to save them for the city or a trail—or deploy them for maximum acceleration. The 4xe’s fuel economy rating is better than the base V6’s—and much better than the V8 Hemi’s. The transition between gas and electric propulsion isn’t always seamless; there can be delays when one asks for full throttle, and the four cylinder is loud when it fires up.
Otherwise, the Grand Cherokee’s overall refine ment and luxury match the new Lexus RX, yet the 4xe has the off-road chops a Jeep is expected to and the ability to tow up to 6,000 pounds. As a transition to an electrified future, as well as an upscale SUV, this plugin has it covered.
THE ORIGINAL LUXURY SUV has under gone its first major re-engineering and add ed new variants to the lineup. Gone is the compromised L model (to be replaced by a true three-row crossover). New is a perfor mance hybrid, the RX500h, and a forthcoming plugin hybrid. Available at launch are the core RX350—now powered by a 2.4-liter tur bo with more torque and less horsepower than its V6 predecessor—and the RX350h hybrid. The engine is the same basic 4-cylin der non-turbo as the Toyota R AV4, Highlander and Sienna.
Tech-wise, the RX has gained new screens and software—most of it a wel come improvement, especially the optional 14-inch infotainment screen and its fast processor. Lacking is a true “home” button though, and the overzealous driver-attention monitor chastises one for even looking away from the road—a frequent occurrence when you’re trying to dig up something buried in a submenu. Thankfully, it can be turned off.
The RX350h drives pleasantly, with ex cellent ride and predictable handling. It’s slightly roomier, and the interior’s design and ambiance feature subtle backlighting of the “floating” dash, cloth door and sub tle color contrasts. Outside, the once-outré Lexus spindle grill has been replaced by a bold snout that blends into a long, flat hood.
This RX350h’s 246 horses and weak 233lb-ft of torque (at sea level) lose at least 15 percent at altitude. It strains a bit, which undermines the otherwise high refinement level that Lexus prides itself in providing. However, the overall driving experience is lovely and the fuel economy solid. Plus, the Lexus RX series has a reputation for owner satisfaction, superb reliability and resale value.
By Jon Rizzi
On November 11, attendees from around the state and country filled The Broadmoor’s Cheyenne Mountain Lodge for the Celebration of Life for Dow Finsterwald. A week earlier, The Broadmoor’s PGA director of golf from 1963 to 1991 had passed away at the age of 93.
“The words I use to describe Dow are dapper, classy, eloquent, caring and compassionate,” his eventual suc cessor, PGA Director of Golf Russ Miller, shared.
“He and I could wear the exact same outfit, and he’d be an A-plus and I’d be a C-plus at best,” Miller joked. “One time, he was wearing a pink shirt with a yellow sweater tied around his shoulders, like Arnold Palmer used to, and my wife, Linda, told me, ‘He can pull that off; don’t you even think about it.’”
Like Finsterwald, Miller was married to a woman named Linda who predeceased him, and the consola tion each man offered the other in the painful after math revealed a relationship deeper than golf. “I should add empathetic to that list of words,” Miller says.
Finsterwald was a professional golfer in addition to becoming a golf professional. Five years before arriving at The Broadmoor, the Athens, Ohio, native triumphed in the 1958 PGA Championship—the lone major among his 12 PGA TOUR victories (or 11, depending on wheth er you count the 1955 British Columbia Open) and was named the 1958 PGA TOUR Player of the Year.
In 1957, the year he won the Vardon Trophy for low est scoring average on the PGA TOUR, he lost the finals
of the last PGA Championship contested as match play, 3 and 1, to TOUR rookie Lionel Hebert. Two other excruciating losses came against Arnold Palmer in the ’60 and ’62 Masters—the latter in an 18-hole Monday playoff, the former after the two strokes he was penalized in the first round for violating a local rule proved the ultimate margin of defeat.
He’d brought the “infraction” to the attention of the committee. He later became a Rules official at the Masters, beginning in 1977 and served on the USGA Rules of Golf committee from 1979-’81. At the Colorado Open he was “the glue of the rules,” according to Colorado Golf Famer Gary Potter.
Finsterwald compiled a 9-3-1 record as a player in four Ryder Cups, and he captained the 1977 U.S. squad to a resounding victory over the last team drawn solely from Great Britain and Ireland. That trophy shines from inside a glass case in The Broadmoor’s Heritage Hallway between the golf shop and The Grille.
Finsterwald’s involvement in golf did not end when he left The Broad moor. Having helped Cherry Hills land the 1978 US Open and 1985 PGA Championship, he worked at bringing the 1993 U.S. Senior Open there and the 1995 US Women’s Open to The Broadmoor.
Starting in 1981, Dow and Linda Finsterwald would winter at a house in Bay Hill, the club owned by his best friend, Arnold Palmer, in Orlando, Florida. Born four days apart, Finster wald and Palmer became friends in 1948 during a college tournament at Raleigh Country Club in North Carolina. Finsterwald played for Ohio University and Palmer for Wake Forest.
“My father had a term for people who weren’t good: Revolving SOBs,” Finsterwald once said. “It didn’t matter what angle you looked at them, they were still SOBs. Well, Arnold was a revolving good guy. He didn’t just excel on the golf course, he excelled in life.”
They both won their first PGA TOUR events in 1955. The following year, Palmer would win the first of his four Masters. Finsterwald’s only major, that PGA, was the one Palmer didn’t win,
and in Palmer’s epic victory the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, “Finster” fin ished tied for third, three shots behind.
In September of 1963, Finsterwald competed in the Denver Open Invita tional at Denver Country Club, but he hadn’t gone to Colorado Springs.
However, having played in multiple Masters tournaments, Finsterwald had made a big impression on Augusta National Golf Club’s Head PGA Profes sional “Big Ed” Dudley, the 6-foot-4 Georgian who during the summer held the same job at The Broadmoor.
Dudley reportedly told Broadmoor President Thayer Tutt that if anything should happen to him, Tutt should con tact Finsterwald for the job. In October, Tutt, who’d briefly met Finsterwald in Atlanta during the 1963 Ryder Cup, called him days after the U.S. victory because Dudley, age 62, had died of a heart attack.
Then 34 and still competitive on the PGA TOUR, Finsterwald had seen how Sam Snead had successfully balanced his playing schedule with his profes sional duties at West Virginia’s fabled Greenbrier.
“I knew it could be done, but there had to be some flexibility,” Finsterwald said. “I was to employ a full-time golf professional, but the ones I hired didn’t work out.”
Finsterwald continued to compete, but never won another PGA TOUR or PGA Senior Tour event. His children— Dow Jr., Ref, John and Jane—all grew
up at The Broadmoor and worked in various capacities at the resort.
During the first year of his ten ure, The Broadmoor’s Robert Trent Jones-designed West Course opened, doubling the size of the golf operation.
Three years later, the West hosted the U.S. Amateur. “Golf was not a long season but an intense season,” Finsterwald said.
In 1966 University of Colorado football coach Eddie Crowder called The Broadmoor pro about a star defen sive back who’d asked to be excused from spring practice to play on the golf team.
“So, he told him, ‘If Dow Finsterwald says you’re that good, I’ll release you.’”
After the two played holes 16, 17 and 3 on the East, Finsterwald told the coach, “I don’t know what’s in his chest or between his ears, but he’s got the skills to become a professional.”
The following spring, that All-Big 8 defensive back, Hale Irwin, would win the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship and the Broadmoor Invitation before launching his World Golf Hall of Fame career.
Another of Finsterwald’s memories of The Broadmoor involved Palmer, who after a heartbreaking 18-hole Monday playoff loss to Billy Casper in the 1966 U.S. Open at San Francisco’s Olympic Club, visited his pal at The Broadmoor.
“He was signing autographs for dishwashers, waiters and guests in the Penrose Room,” Finsterwald remembered. “He never once refused a
ELDER STATESMAN: Finsterwald, opposite, by the 17th green at Cherry Hills Country Club in 2005; and with 2019 Broadmoor Invitation winners Steve Irwin (left, son of Hale) and Richard Bradsby.
“I WOULD HAVE BET MY PANTS HE WAS ALREADY IN THE WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME.”
request. All he did was smile. You might have thought he’d won the Open.”
That visit, according to Finster wald, resulted in Palmer designing The Broadmoor’s South Course—and Finsterwald helped the process along. Designed by Palmer and Ed Seay, the spectacular layout on the side of Chey enne Mountain opened in 1976 and hosted the 1982 U.S. Women’s Amateur, won for the third consecutive year by Juli Inkster.
Finsterwald hired Hal Douglass—the father of Broadmoor member and PGA TOUR player Dale Douglass—to be the PGA head professional on the South Course. He’d hold the job for 18 years. Finsterwald also had strong relation ships with The Broadmoor’s female am ateur stars: Judy Bell, Barbara McIntire, Tish Preuss and Nancy Roth Syms.
“Dow was truly a great club profes sional,” remembers Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Maggie Giesenhagen, who was a Broadmoor Golf Club member in the 1970s and 1980s. “He acquired tickets to The Masters for my husband Bill and me several times back in the 1980s. He was so supportive of the Broad moor Ladies Invitation; he was always out on the course watching play and helping with Rulings. He loved to have fun!”
Ever self-deprecating, he often told the story of visiting Jerry Pittman, the PGA professional at Semi nole in the winter of 1991.
“He asked, ‘Dow, are you still at The Broadmoor?’
“I said, ‘No they retired me a few months ago.’
“‘How long were you there?’ he asked.
“‘Just under 30 years.’
“He said, ‘Goddamn, you had them fooled for a long time.’”
Until about 2020, he would come to The Broadmoor to practice or play. I once spotted him near the plaque hon oring him near the practice green and asked about his legendary short game. He responded with a laugh: “Every part of my game is short now.”
He strongly promoted Colorado’s First Tee chapters, regularly attended fundraising events, and as recently as
two months ago, he was having lunch every day at the Golf Grille, making his way with a walker down the Heritage Hallway—past cases displaying trophies, his Ryder Cup bag and other mementoes of his brilliant career.
Between 1955 and 1958, Finsterwald made an astounding 72 consecutive cuts during a period when the “cut” meant being among the top 25 or so players who finished “in the money,” not just getting to play the weekend. At the time, that streak ranked second only to Byron Nelson’s; it currently ranks fifth behind those of Tiger Woods, Nel son, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin.
You’ll find all four of those golfers— as well as no. 6, Tom Kite—in the World Golf Hall of Fame, but not Finsterwald. He’s been inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame and the Ohio Golf Association Hall of Fame. How ever, the World Golf Hall of Fame—which in 2023 will move from St. Augustine to Pinehurst Resort—has overlooked him.
This came as a surprise to some board members of Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, which itself is relocating to The Broadmoor next year. During early discussions about creating a special display for inductees also enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame, Finsterwald’s name came up as routinely as those of Hale Irwin, Judy Bell, Paul Runyan and Babe Zaharias. When corrected, one of the directors rhetorically asked, “How can Dow not be in the World Golf Hall of Fame?”
At least two eulogists at Cheyenne Mountain Lodge evidently wondered the same thing. After describing how Finsterwald—whom they had brought in for customer golf outings—made a call to U.S. Steel Chairman David Rod erick that saved their steel business in the 1970s, Greer Industries’ John Raese and Bob Gwynne praised the humility of a man whose best friend was Arnold Palmer and who’d played golf with
presidents, movie stars and industrial ists—but never boasted about it.
Raese and Gwynne retained Finsterwald as a consultant as they designed and built Pikewood National Golf Club in Morgantown. The club opened in 2009, won Golf Digest’s best new private club and ranks 33 on the publication’s 100 Greatest Courses list. Finsterwald became pro emeritus.
They closed their remarks by saying, “We’re trying to get him in the World Golf Hall of Fame.”
“I would have bet my pants he was already in,” Miller remembers thinking. Whether or not Dow Finsterwald gets into a sixth Hall of Fame ultimately matters not.
“He did all he could for the game,” said his son, Dow Finsterwald, Jr., who recently retired as the head PGA professional at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. “He enjoyed his friends and they always remembered. He loved the rules, and he cared about the game. He had a wonderful life and he felt like for sure it was complete.”
FINSTER’S HEYDAY: Between 1955 and 1963, Finsterwald won 12 PGA TOUR events, finished second 26 times, finished in the top 10 in 45 percent of his starts and, in a threeyear stretch, made 72 straight cuts.
Jon Rizzi is the editorial director of Colorado AvidGolferPHOTO COURTESY OF USGA
“Dow was truly a great club professional... He loved to have fun!”
Alabama’s snowwhite beaches lead to some sweet greens and fairways.
By Jon Rizzi
o most practitioners of the sport, golf in Alabama means the Robert Trent Jones Trail—a collection of 468 golf holes spread over 11 courses. One of golf’s greatest marketing success stories, it has spawned copycat “trails” throughout the country.
There’s another path to follow in Alabama, one along a stretch of shore line with sand the color of sugar, saw grass as sharp as a stiletto and seafood fresher than morning dew. Known in some circles as the “Redneck Riviera,” the 32-mile expanse from the FloridaAlabama state line west to historic Fort Morgan comprises 99 holes of cham pionship golf in “Gulf Shores” —the name of the area’s larg est town and a more respectable appellation for the area.
After a 45-minute drive from Pensacola, you’re greeted at the Alabama border by the FloraBama, a honky-tonk so iconic it inspired a Kenny Chesney song. Established nearly 60 years ago, the FloraBama now includes beachfront bars, three restaurants, live music venues, a marina, liquor store, lounge and retail shop. The Flora-Bama empire not only straddles two states; it also occupies both sides of Perdido Beach Blvd.
Stop in or return later for the creamy signature bushwacker cocktail, oyster sampler plate (fried, charred, cheesy, Bienville) and some tunes (on five different stages).
You’ll arrive in the town of Orange Beach before Gulf Shores. Both teem with lodging, dining, drinking and watersports options. Here you’ll find arcades, bars and restaurants adjacent to package stores stocking everything from beach chairs to skimboards, live bait to fishing tackle.
For lodging, Beachball Properties is a good call. With a portfolio of more than 200 condos, duplexes and homes along the peninsula, this vacation rental and property man agement company affordably accom modates foursomes, families or any group configuration.
You might opt to grill your own fish or shrimp. But restau rant choices abound, ranging from casual seafood shacks and barbecue joints to the chef-driven cuisine of Bill Briand at Fisher’s Upstairs and John “Chappy” Chapman at Pier House. Both eateries are in Orange Beach, as is the The Gulf restaurant and its festive alfresco atmosphere.
In Gulf Shores, any fish dish at DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen is superb —especially when sided with a sweet potato casserole. And if beer’s your thing, don’t miss Big Beach Brewing’s Area 251 Hazy IPA or one of the other pours from its 12 taps.
Golf in Gulf Shores is as much about the scenery as the scoring. At Gulf Shores Golf Club, I saw my first Mus covy duck—a living turducken that my playing partner, evidently a Merle
There’s another “golf trail” to follow in Alabama, one along a shoreline with sand the color of sugar.
Haggard fan, identified as a “Muskogee duck.” Egrets, ospreys, turtles and alligators lounge along the banks of lakes and ponds on every course, while funny-faced Sherman’s fox squirrels scamper over the knobby knees of cypress trees.
None of Gulf Shores’ courses hug the shoreline, but just because a course isn’t on the water doesn’t mean there isn’t water on the course. Nor does it prevent wind from being a factor.
So it was at Gulf Shores Golf Club, which debuted with an Earl Stone design in the mid-60s and under went a 2005 renovation by Jay and Carter Morrish that added 300 yards, numerous bunkers and bulkheaded
water features. The par-71 course now stretches to 6,812 yards, weaving through mature stands of pine and magnolia trees with doglegs aplenty. On more than one occasion, the wind held up a well-struck iron shot—“stagecoached it,” my partner said—and sent it to a watery grave. A municipal layout with a planta tion-style clubhouse, strong shot values and excellent conditioning, the course serves as a delightful on-ramp to Gulf Shores golf.
The challenge increases at The Golf Courses at Craft Farms. Its pair of layouts—Cotton Creek, which opened
in 1987, and Cypress Bend, its younger complement by six years—are the only Arnold Palmer designs in the state.
Of the two, the 7,127yard Cotton Creek rates as more difficult, with a higher course and slope rating.
The layout flows from a high sandy plateau down into wet marsh country featuring black gum and bay trees.
Water comes into play on 14 holes, first appearing by the second green and becoming invasively vexing as you make your way to the risk/reward sequence of the par-4 sixth and par-5 seventh. The short par-5 17th will tempt you to dodge the drink to reach
Lakes and ponds represent one form of hazard on Peninsula Golf & Racquet’s Marsh nine; sunning alligators are another.
in two, while the water bordering the entire left side of the closing hole.
With wider fairways and landing areas, Cypress Bend clocks in about 300 yards shorter than its older sibling, but it mimics its coastal feel as it traverses a network of lakes that fac tor into on nearly every hole. A stream crossing diagonally in front of the fourth green makes the par-4 fourth the no. 1 handicap hole. If you can keep your ball dry on the wonderfully challenging 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th,
you’re a star.
Paired with the sound of nearby surf, the presence of exposed sand, dune junipers and wee, wind-bent pines gives Kiva Dunes the feel of a links course that the architect, 1976 U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate, found rather than sculpted. Of a piece with a conservation area near Fort Morgan, the 7,092-yard layout sits atop many lists of Alabama courses.
Kiva weaves around various bodies of water that don’t come into play very often, but when they do—on holes 2, 3, 9 12 and 17—watch out. Keeping the ball below the wind while trying to carry waste areas and occasional water will test your shot-making, just as hearing an attrac tive young associate in the golf shop address you as “hon,” “sweetie” and “darlin’” will test your resolve not to drop $100 on yet another golf polo.
Located directly next to the Bon Secour Wildlife Preserve, the 27-hole Earl Stone-designed Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club winds through more than 800 acres of beautiful live oaks, cypress trees and natural vegetation.
Each of Peninsula’s three nines— Lakes, Marsh and Cypress—has ample greens, impeccable conditioning and a character all its own. Of the three, the Lakes probably rates as the most difficult, with Marsh a close second.
Play the striking Cypress nine as well, but time it so you’re off the second green around sunset. En route to the third tee is a detour into the woods, where an elevated wooden walkway snakes through the trees to Mobile Bay and the resort’s signature boardwalk and pier. The view across the water as light drains from the sky might just be worth skipping that long par-3 third.
The natural beauty you’ll find on Gulf Shores’ golf courses only hints at the area’s stupendous bounty.
Gulf State Park, situated between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, occupies 6,500 acres spanning the Alabama Gulf Coast. Nine unique ecosystems—from evergreen forests to coastal swales and dunes—call it home. The park supports sustainable tourism on its three lakes, 28 miles of trails, three restaurants and various lodging accommodations.
Further west on the Fort Morgan Peninsula are four of the five units of the 7,157-acre Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses some of Alabama’s last remaining undisturbed coastal barrier habitat. Bon Secour (French for “Safe Harbor”) provides a natural oasis where multiple species can exist without harm. Only one Bon Secour unit allows human visitors, and they need to stick to the designated trails. It’s the conservationist equivalent of a cart-path-only par 3—and never having to putt.
BUSINESS: Clockwise from above, the par-3 16th on the Omni La Costa Resort’s renovated Champions course; the right dogleg par-5 9th on La Costa’s Legends; The Crossings at Carlsbad’s par-5 15th.
all it the sweet spot, and no, we are not talking about five irons, not just yet. The subject is Carlsbad, California: ninety minutes south of the freeway frenzy of Los Angeles and a mere half-hour from sun-drenched San Diego. Good old Carlsbad is a kicked-back, ocean-kissed community of 115,000 fortunate souls and three million flip-flopping tourists in search of surfable beaches, chic shopping and, indeed, plenty of places to put the aforementioned five-iron to good use.
Back in the day—and we’re talking 1883—a seafaring swabbie, Captain John Frazier, tapped a mineral water spring on his homestead here, and said liquid turned out to be quite like the famous Bohemian spa water in the Czech Republic—thus the name of the town (à la Karlsbad, Bohemia).
Hopes for a bright, sanatoriumbased future were dashed in short order, but better days awaited a mere 75 years later—golf resorts, spas and foodie-wor thy comestibles. The latitude and longi tude also proved a healthy environment for golf manufacturers like Callaway and TaylorMade, Titleist, Cobra, Full Swing Simulators and the latest arrival—an American outpost of Japan’s Honma. Must be something in the salt air—or the wondrous weather.
Most itinerant golfers are already well-acquainted with the legendary Omni Resort La Costa, home to 36 glori ous holes just two miles inland from the Pacific. Established in 1965, the storied enclave initially had quite the clientele—
Teamster brass from Detroit and Chicago and mobbed-up goodfellas including Meyer Lansky himself! Reportedly, nearly $100 million of Teamster pension fund dough went into underwriting the lush property.
Nowadays, you’re more likely to bunk down the hall from badge-andlanyard wearing conventioneers or bubbly families heading for one of the eight swimming pools, 17 tennis courts, numerous jogging trails or renowned spa—all spread out over 4,000 acres with endless views of the surrounding hills and seascape.
Of course, golf has been the mainstay attraction at La Costa perennially, with the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champi ons holding forth here from 1968-1998. Nowadays, the original Dick Wilson Champions Course design is about to undergo a major facelift at the hands of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, with the intention of hosting the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I National Champion ships from 2024-26.
Talk about sweet spots—La Costa is committed to remain at the intersection of resort playability and ingenious design for decades to come. Somebody’s think ing ahead here—probably PGA Director of Golf Dustin Irwin, a true gent’s gent and a devoted steward of tradition at the club.
For those travelers who prefer prox imity to the water and a less punitive daily tariff, there are loads of other lodging options that will leave money
for balls and gloves. The Hilton Cape Rey Carlsbad Beach has ocean views from most rooms, is a short walk to the beach and within shooting distance of the area’s best golf, La Costa included. It offers a reasonable Golf Getaway for Two pack age in conjunction with The Crossings at Carlsbad, a vertiginous layout with five bridges (thus the course name) installed to meet environmental and topographic requirements. It is a curious, labyrinthine design sometimes riven by afternoon winds, and also quite easy on the wallet. Good place to tune up, to be sure.
And yes, if you’re traveling with the extended clan, those shouts and
The Crossings means Legoland is just a couple of titanic drives from the first tee. I’m not a young parent anymore, but if you’re going to blow a wad on a family daytrip, The San Diego Zoo plays host to 12,000 animals of more than 650 different species, not to mention around 10,000 Instagramming bipeds and their bleating progeny. Orangutans dream of the savannah whilst the humans make perfect beasts of themselves, but it is the best zoo in America by far and well worth the drive south.
Then again, you might suspect I’m a little obsessed with Legoland, as we also
checked in for a few nights at the Cassara Carlsbad, a family-friendly, freeway-adja cent Hilton property. Don’t expect luxury, but it is ultra-comfortable, and the lobby/ bar area belies the hustle-bustle daycare vibe in favor of poolside sophistication and a respectable mojito. A Karl Strauss Brewing Company with passable pub food and a riotous atmosphere shares the property.
As for my own Himalayan-high end taste for luxury, not an Egyptian thread went undercounted at the incomparable Park Hyatt Aviara Resort (Golf Club & Spa), recent beneficiary of a $50 million upgrade and set like an emerald on 200
acres overlooking the serene Batiquitos Lagoon and its splendid hiking trail. Located in a quiet well-heeled neigh borhood, the property makes it hard to leave once you’ve checked in, especially if you order the Al Pastor Lamb Loin at the Baja-inspired Ponto Lago. Piquantly flavored, beyond-tender meat and quite filling—you’d be well-advised to order an early wake-up call for golf and hit the treadmill first. Just saying.
The impeccable Troon-managed Aviara Golf Club is home to the only Arnold Palmer Signature design in the area and annually hosts the LPGA’s JTBC Classic. Spread over 200 acres and stretching to over 7,000 yards from the tips, the course’s abundance of colorful flowers might prove an aesthetic dis traction while you negotiate the uphill and downhill approaches and try to avoid the ravines and man-made water
features. The par 3s stand out for retinal appeal and shot-making challenge. And if your game needs work, Kip Puterbaugh’s Aviara Golf Academy is on property, as is a TaylorMade Performance Center.
As good as the food is within any resort walls, those in search of a more local experience (and at half the price) would do well to venture forth. We returned twice for lunch in three days to Ichitaru Ramen for the aptly-named Garlic Bomb Ramen and the amply por tioned and savory Pork Buns, which at $6 a pair are a far better way to go than the In-N-Out Burger down the road (not that we didn’t stop there as well!)
Bigger spenders might want to try the brisket at the Michelin-honored Campfire downtown—followed by a tchotchke tour of Carlsbad Village’s quaint shopping district. Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream has been killing it for over
75 years and has a menu longer than La Costa Champions Course’s 594-yard finishing hole.
After food, golf and lodging, I am pretty well-sated when it comes to cultural diversion, but I was mesmerized by the artisanal glass-blowers at Barrio Glassworks, where a 2,000-degree oven (you could make a nice Napoletana pizza in there in a nanosecond) burns daily while genial hosts Mary Devlin and the father-and-son team of Gary and Drew Raskin answer dumb questions from the likes of yours truly. An adjacent gift shop features their work and that of other local artists.
From sanatorium watering-hole to first-rank vacation destination, Carlsbad is as good as it gets, especially for those of us who prefer making birdies to watching them.
My only interview with Pete Dye took place a decade ago and started off with a simple question. Or so I thought.
“Mr. Dye, of all the courses you have designed…” He stopped me right there.
“I’ve never designed a golf course,” he growled through the phone. “I have built a few, though.”
Fair enough. Of the dozens built by the legendary course architect, who died in 2020, perhaps none were closer to his heart than the Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo Resort & Villas in the Dominican Republic. That’s where he and his wife Alice had a home overlooking the eighth tee and the sea. After her death in 2019, he spent the last few months of his life there, and his ashes are said to have been spread on the course.
Why such devotion to one place for a man who worked on courses in 29 states and 13 countries? Go see for yourself, because it’s more than worth the two flights it takes to get there from Colorado.
Named for the appearance of rocks that filled a portion of the site, Teeth of the Dog opened in 1971. It lacks the sharp contours of TPC Sawgrass, forgoes the tight fairways that define Harbour Town and falls far short of the bunker count at Whistling Straits—three of Dye’s best-known builds. What does it have? Unforgettable seaside holes, a rhythmic and subtle routing, and a sense of fairness (except perhaps when the wind is up) that usually equals a memorable round. The fact that it’s within a sprawling resort with very comfortable villa accommodations and endless activities just 50 minutes by car from Punta Cana International Airport is icing on the cake.
Ranked 75th on GOLF magazine’s 2021-2022 Top 100 Courses in the World, the Teeth’s big reveal comes after departing the third tee when the
sea appears to your right through tall palm trees that provide a Hawaiian vibe. You wait until leaving the 15th green for those sea views on the back side, when you emerge from a tunnel formed by a canopy of trees to stand on the 16th tee right alongside the water. In between are a trio of par 3s where the tee is so close to the water that a rogue wave would soak you instantly. The all-carry over water fifth, sev enth, and 16th are the ones you’ll post pictures about, but the inland 13th and its elevated island green surrounded by sand may the toughest of them all. September’s Hurricane Fiona knocked down a tall tree guarding the green’s left side, defanging the hole slightly, but it’s still a beefy tee shot.
“You can play Teeth 365 days a year and you will never get bored. Every day is different there,” PGA Head Golf Professional Manuel Relancio says. “It’s forgiving with the tee shots, and then it gets tricky with second shots and around the greens.”
Perhaps the best compliment is that Dye’s work is enjoyable for high handicappers yet still challenging for better players, like those who have competed in the Latin America Amateur, played here three times in the past six years. The only event in the world run jointly by officials from The Masters, the USGA
“You can play Teeth 365 days a year and you will never get bored. Every day is different there.”PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN BREWERS HOMEFIELD PRODUCTIONS
and the R&A, the 72-hole stroke play format brings together the region’s top amateurs
For something completely different, head over to the Marina, Chavon and Lago nines at Dye Fore, located on the north side of the resort’s 6,000acre property. I’m not sure if Mr. Dye ever visited the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii, but the Marina and Chavon share some of the same architectural DNA. Massive fairways, plenty of elevations changes and infinity-edge green complexes make it the complete opposite of the Teeth. The wind can take its toll here, though, so play it in the morning. The Marina routing offers some stunning panoramic views of the sea, especially on the fourth and fifth holes, while Chavon provides an elevated eyeful of the surrounding countryside. That course combo celebrates a 20th anniversary in 2023.
The Lago nine debuted in 2011 and while lacking Instagram-worthy scenery, some say rank ahead of its older siblings. “It’s the secret here,” Casa de Campo PGA Head Golf Professional Todd Gilley claims. “I think it’s the best nine, layout-wise, of all the courses. I like the way the bunkering is set up in the fairways, and it’s more playable than the others. The par 3s are probably the toughest (the fifth is short but has a volcano-shaped green). People overlook Lago because it doesn’t have the ‘wow-factor’ views.”
The more traditional Links course is no links at all, at least not in the traditional sense. But it does serve as a perfect first round at the resort (locals recommend a Links-Teeth-Dye Fore-Teeth rotation for a three- or four-day trip), giving you the chance to hone your short game and particularly your putting for the remaining courses. If you are still shaking off some travel rust after that, visit the resort’s golf learning center, led by instructor Eric Lillibridge, where plenty of bells and whistles, including TrackMan technol-
ogy, will help dial in your numbers.
Inclusive villa packages cover accommodations, three daily meals at resort restaurants, and other activities. Golf is separate; a fourround package for hotel guests with two rounds on Teeth plus cart starts at $799. Guests staying at private homes within resort will pay a bit more.
The property sprawls so vastly that every villa comes with its own golf cart. A visit to the Altos de Chavón area, a 10-minute cart or shuttle ride from the main hotel, is a must, and
not just because that’s where the Dye Fore course is located. It’s also home to a charming Mediterranean-style village; excellent food at La Piazzetta and Chilango restaurants; art galleries where you can see local artisans in progress; and a huge amphitheater that hosts outdoor concerts (everyone from Sinatra to Bocelli has performed there).
The resort continues to evolve. Scheduled to open in December is the Premier Club at Casa de Campo, an elevated private experience for those willing to pay elevated prices. It comes with 58 luxury suites, including a three-bedroom Presidential Suite, plus
private concierge service and even a customized pillow and aromatherapy menu. A swanky new Spa facility is also slated to open in early 2023.
You’ll need a place to unwind if you try to experience everything the resort has to offer. Charter a boat from the Marina for a fishing trip; ride horses at the polo and equestrian center, with a petting zoo for the kids; play tennis; fire at flying targets at the shooting club; or visit the Playa Minitas beach club, where you can swim in the sea or just enjoy a drink while lounging around, or in, an infinity-edge pool.
I’ll give Mr. Dye the last words here,
or at least some of the ones from him that appear on a plaque right behind the eighth green on Teeth of the Dog.
“While there are critics who believe my courses are too difficult, the ardent golfer would play Mt. Everest if somebody put a flagstick on top. My inspira tion comes from the golfers themselves, who, in spite of kicking and cursing, find that a trip around a Pete Dye golf course is always memorable.”
Never is that more true than at Casa de Campo.
Fiery player, outspoken commentator, inspired course architect—the late Tom Weiskopf lived a colorful life. It’s only fitting that his final layout, radiates that vibrancy.
Situated in southern Utah’s Greater Zion region, just northwest of St. George and Santa Clara in Ivins, Black Desert Golf Club unfurls over 7,200 yards. Its em erald fairways, auburn outcroppings, white-sand bun kers and ink-black lava beds form a multihued mosaic against the cobalt sky and vermilion cliffs.
“It’s a combination of Sedona and Kona—the best of both worlds,” Weiskopf’s co-designer Phil Smith says, referring to settings where the pair has left its mark.
“We agreed this was one of the best raw sites we’d ever had—a unique opportunity that required the best of our skills to pull off,” Smith says. “We were able to work together during the planning, routing and strategy phases. My goal was to design the course in his vision.”
The construction began as Weiskopf entered his two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. “He was only able to visit the project a couple of times,” Smith re members. “I was there weekly and kept him up-to-date on all the progress.”
Black Desert boasts very wide fairways, deceptive
elevation changes and well-protected greens. Weis kopf’s trademark short par 4s appear on holes 5 and 14, which both tip at 316 yards, but some 500-yard two-shotters wait on 4 and 11.
You can’t play any of these holes until next spring, however. But you can take advantage of “preview rounds” consisting of holes 1-3, 8-10 and 16-18. The $75 experience is limited to 10 tee times per day.
The Troon-managed course will be one of many ame nities at the 602-acre, 2,500-home resort community anchored by a 150-room hotel, 300 rental residences, five restaurants and a retail-lined Desert Boardwalk. Black Desert visitors can follow trails through chappa ral, lava tubes, Snow Canyon and Zion National Park.
Until the hotel opens, you can stay and play at the Red Mountain Inn across the parkway from the course. Black Desert’s developers recently purchased the inn and plan to have a tunnel connecting the properties. For fun, the “play” side of the tunnel also boasts a 68,000-square-foot, 36-hole, LED-illuminated putting course and a par-3 19th hole tucked into the lava.
“We all wanted to do the best possible job to con tinue to secure Tom’s legacy of golf course design,” he says. blackdesertresort.com — JON RIZZI
“I know Tom’s proud of the work we did here,” Phil Smith says of Black Desert Golf Club in Ivins, Utah.COURTESY OF PHIL SMITH
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