2008 in Colorado. First, Aurora’s 7,400-yard-plus prairie-links-style Murphy Creek Golf Course will host its first USGA event, the U.S. Publinks,  July 14-19.

     Then the highlight of the year comes July 31-Aug. 3, when the Broadmoor East course in Colorado Springs (pictured) lures the top 50-and-over golfers in the world for the U.S. Senior Open, the most prestigious events on the Champions Tour.

     Nicklaus’ victory at Cherry Hills marks the only previous time the U.S. Senior Open has been held in Colorado during the tournament’s run, which dates back to 1980. Three players with strong in-state ties have won the Senior Open: Hale Irwin (1998 and 2000), the Champions Tour record-holder for career victories;  fellow University of Colorado alum Dale Douglass (1986); and Orville Moody (1989), who was stationed at the Fitzsimons military base during his Army career.

      In addition to Irwin and Douglass, among those expected to compete at the Broadmoor this summer are Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Curtis Strange, Tom Kite, Mark O’Meara, Coloradan Craig Stadler and Fuzzy Zoeller.

     This will mark the  Broadmoor’s fifth  USGA tournament that crowns an individual champion, and the Colorado Springs venue has seen some of golf’s best emerge with national titles down the mountain from Will Rogers’ Shrine. Nicklaus won the first of his two U.S. Amateur titles at the Broadmoor in 1959, Juli Simpson Inkster won her third straight U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Broadmoor’s South course in 1982, and Annika Sorenstam claimed the first of her 69 LPGA victories at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at Broadmoor East. All three players are now in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

    As for the U.S. Amateur Publinks, this will be the fourth time it’s been held in Colorado, with Wellshire (1946 and ‘59) and Riverdale (1993) previously serving as hosts.

    Colorado-based qualifying tournaments will be held for both USGA events, with Murphy Creek hosting the lead-up to the Publinks June 23-24, and Colorado Golf Club in Parker doing the same for the Senior Open on June 30.

U.S. Senior Open Highlights

2-USGA-Event Year for Colorado

By Gary Baines

Colorado Golf Journal, Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Tickets for the U.S. Senior Open range from $20 per day for practice rounds to $40-$45 per day for championship rounds, and to $155 for all-week passes.

    Last year, when tournament founder Jack Vickers pulled the plug on the Castle Rock-based International after a 21-year run on the PGA Tour, Colorado was left without a true marquee event on its golf schedule for the first time since 1971.

    That was the last year, prior to 2007, that the state didn’t host at least one event from one of the three major U.S.- based golf tours — the PGA, Champions or LPGA.

    While no PGA Tour event highlights the 2008 Colorado golf calendar, the year figures to be considerably  more interesting from a competitive golf standpoint than was 2007. Golf fans can thank the U.S. Golf Association
for that.

     Of the 13 USGA national tournaments that will crown individual champions in 2008, two will be held in Colorado. That’s a first for the Centennial State since 1993, when Jack Nicklaus edged fellow former Ohio State golfer Tom Weiskopf to win the U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills, and David Berganio Jr. won his second U.S. Amateur Public Links title in three years, this time at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton.

    Coincidentally, the same two tournaments are on the docket for