Golden Native Olson Qualifies for PGA Tour
Player who once quit golf birdies final two holes to earn card
By Gary Baines
Colorado Golf Journal, Monday,December 8, 2008
Leif Olson
GOLF NOTES
HOUTSMA FALLS SHORT IN LPGA QUALIFYING: Denver’s Erin Houtsma, the only Coloradan in the final stage of LPGA Tour qualifying, missed the cut in the five-round event that concluded Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. The former University of Colorado golfer came up four shots short of the standard necessary to advance to the final round, finishing at 6-over-par 294 for four rounds. A third-round 79 proved her undoing.
Houtsma, winner of the 2005 Colorado Women’s Open, was attempting to earn a 2009 LPGA Tour card by finishing among the top 40 players in the 140-golfer field. At her sectional qualifier in September, she tied for the last spot that advanced to the final stage.
AMERICA’S BEST NEW COURSES INCLUDE 4 FROM COLORADO: Four Colorado golf courses were ranked among the top new courses in the nation by evaluators for Golf Digest magazine. In its January edition, Golf Digest placed Cougar Canyon Golf Links in Trinidad No. 3 on its “best new public” list, followed immediately by Four Mile Ranch Golf Course in Canon City. Cougar Canyon was designed by Chris Cochran of Nicklaus Design, while Four Mile Ranch is the handiwork of Jim Engh.
Meanwhile, in the “best new private” category, Adam’s Mountain Country Club in Eagle came in No. 8, while the Golf Club at Ravenna in Littleton placed 10th. Tom Weiskopf designed Adam’s Mountain, and Jay Morrish and Rick Buckton did Ravenna.
IRWINS FOURTH AT FATHER/SON EVENT: The University of Colorado alumni team of Hale and Steve Irwin tied for fourth Sunday in the Del Webb Father/Son Challenge near Orlando, Fla. The 2003 champions were tied for the lead going into the 18th hole, and Hale almost holed out for a double eagle there. But Hale and Steve 3-putted for par in a scramble format to settle for a final-round 62 and a 17-under-par total for two days.
Larry and Drew Nelson won the $210,000 first prize with a 21-under-par total, while David and Dru Love were second at 19 under, and Tom and David Kite were third at 18 under.
Though the Father/Son Challenge is a decidedly unofficial event, the fourth-place finish was the best of the year for Hale Irwin, whose top showing on the Champions Tour in 2008 was a 12th-place performance. The Irwins earned $65,000 for their showing.
As for other father-son teams with Colorado ties, Greg and Gregory Norman finished 10th and Craig and Chris Stadler were 16th. Greg Norman owns a 14,000-acre ranch in northwest Colorado and Craig Stadler lives in Evergreen.
Things haven’t always come easy on the golf course for Leif Olson. In fact, the native of Golden quit the game altogether not so long ago.
So maybe it was appropriate that Olson did it the hard way Monday to qualify for the PGA Tour. He sank a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and a 15-foot birdie at No. 18 in La Quinta, Calif., to earn his 2009 Tour card on the number.
Had Olson missed either putt, he wouldn’t have qualified, instead having to settle for Nationwide Tour status next year.
“This is huge,” Olson said in an interview with the Golf Channel on Monday. “(Tour qualifying) has been everything to me all year. It’s been exciting. I can’t even explain it.”
Olson, 27, finished the 108-hole final stage of Tour qualifying with a 19-under-par total. He closed with a 67 Monday to end up tied for 18th place in the 161-man field. The top 25 players and ties (28 overall) earned their 2009 Tour cards, with the remaining competitors receiving Nationwide status.
Olson now lives in Florida, but he grew up in Colorado. He won the Colorado Golf Association’s Junior Stroke Play in 1995 at age 13, and captured the Junior Match Play the next year. He attended Mullen High School and went on to play collegiately at Duke.
Olson turned pro in 2004 and qualified for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills that year. But he quit the game for a time, returned to it a couple of years ago, and has rebounded in a big way.
“It’s a little surreal,” he admitted. “It’s been a crazy ride the last four years, to play golf, quit and come back. Everything is coming together.”
Things certainly did on Monday. In the final round, Olson made 10 birdies and rallied after going bogey-double bogey on Nos. 12-13. The 2008 Gateway Tour regular drained four birdie putts on his last five holes.
Another player who earned his PGA Tour card on the number Monday was Wil Collins, winner of the 2005 Colorado Open. Collins lipped in a 20-foot par putt on his final hole to shoot a 67 and finish at 19 under par.
“I’m excited,” Collins told the Golf Channel. “I finally have a home to play, and it‘s on the greatest tour in the world.“
David Berganio Jr., winner of the 1993 U.S. Amateur Public Links title in Brighton, likewise qualified for the PGA Tour, finishing seventh on Monday.
Meanwhile, 2006 Colorado Open champion Dustin White of Pueblo West came up just short in his bid for the PGA Tour. His 17-under-par total for the week was two shy of what was needed for a Tour card. His 32nd-place finish is good for Nationwide Tour status next year.
“Over the course of 108 holes I felt I did OK,” White said. “It’s nice to have a little better place to play next year.”
A third Colorado Open champion, Kevin Stadler, struggled mightily Monday, shooting an 82 to finish in 148th place, at even par. But Stadler is partially exempt on the PGA Tour in 2009 by virtue of ending up 145th on the 2008 Tour money list.
