Tom Kalinowski doesn’t live in Colorado anymore, but he still considers it home.
That being the case, he couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Friday. He was back in Colorado, enjoying expansive views of the Front Range, playing great golf and rallying down the stretch to win a $125,000 tournament.
That’s what you call a Rocky Mountain high.
Kalinowski, who grew up in Durango and went to college in Colorado before moving to Scottsdale, Ariz., in the mid-1990s, played his last seven holes in 5 under par Friday to win the National Pro Golf Tour’s Mile High Invitational at Buffalo Run Golf Course. The victory was worth $21,000, but it was also a big boost for the 41-year-old Kalinowski (pictured above), who has played little tournament golf since PGA Tour qualifying in the fall.
“For coming back and being at the start of something, I would say this ranks right up there at the top (of his golf accomplishments) because it gives me that confidence to know that you need to still be doing this,” he said of playing tournament golf professionally. “Everybody goes through tough periods — like, for me, missing by a shot at Q-school for years is demoralizing. So coming back and playing well and shooting numbers like I shot for four rounds and doing it under pressure, it gives me some confidence. It makes me feel like it’s a pretty important win as far as where I’m at in my life.”
In a tournament in which 16 players shot at least 10 under par for four rounds as lift, clean and place rules were in effect, Kalinowski finished at 20-under 268 after going 66-65 on the final two days. Scott Harrington, a friend of Kalinowski’s from Scottsdale, was five shots ahead of him with seven holes left, but bogeyed the last two to finish a stroke behind following a 67.
“T.K. is a good friend of mine; we play the same course back in Arizona,” said Harrington (pictured at left). “Christmas came early for him (because of Harrington’s poor finish). No, obviously he made a really good run there on the back nine and played real well. (But) I’m sure he’ll give me some heat about that finish when we get back home.”
Derek Sipe of Yorba Linda, Calif. (68-270) placed third, while former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz shared fourth place at 272 after posting rounds of 65-66 on Thursday and Friday. Stoltz earned $6,500 for his top-five finish.
Friday’s final round featured some stellar stretches of golf from both Kalinowski and Harrington. Both shot 31 for nine holes (Kalinowski on the back, Harrington on the front). Both pros eagled a par-4 (Harrington holed out from 160 yards on No. 8, while Kalinowski chipped in from 45 feet on No. 14). And both players got red-hot over the course of several holes (Harrington went 5 under in 4 holes at the end of the front nine, while Kalinowski was 4 under in four holes on the back).
But Harrington leaked some oil at the end, and Kalinowski took advantage.
Harrington’s playing partner found Harrington’s ball just in time to avoid a lost-ball penalty after an errant tee shot at No. 16, and Harrington managed a par there. But he pulled his tee shot into the water on No. 17 and needed an 8-foot putt to save bogey. And on the par-5 18th, standing tied for the lead after Kalinowski 2-putted for birdie on the hole, Harrington hit his 7-iron second shot over the green and into the deep native grass. He was able to get his third shot within about 10 feet of the green, but after his chip, he missed a 6-foot par putt that would have forced a playoff.
“That’s not what you’re looking for when you have 200 yards into the green for a second shot,” said Harrington, a regular on the European Challenge Tour. “I knew birdie would win and par would tie so I just was trying to give myself something to 2-putt from the center of the green to win. Unfortunately, I hit an awful shot that ended up way worse than I thought it would.
“I was definitely not very solid coming down the stretch. It’s an unfortunate finish, but you learn from it.”
Despite being tied for the lead when he signed his card, Kalinowski figured he had finished second.
“I just assumed Scott would probably hit a mid-iron to the back fringe (on No. 18) and 2-putt for birdie and win,” he said.
Instead, things worked out in Kalinowski’s favor, and his strong play down the stretch did indeed pay off with a win.
“I was trying to give (Harrington) something to think about — that was my mindset,” Kalinowski said of his back-nine surge. “If I can make two or three birdies to give him something to stress about the last few holes, then I did my job. It’s way harder to play when you’re one or two shots ahead rather than five shots.”
As well as Kalinowski struck the ball this week, his improvement on the greens made the difference between winning and coming up a little short.
After putting poorly in last week’s Navajo Trail Open and in the first round at Buffalo Run, Kalinowski went to a large local golf retailer and bought a long putter that he used for the final three rounds of the Mile High Invitational. He hadn’t ever used a long putter in a tournament before, and while his putting still wasn’t stellar, he took a big step in the right direction.
“This week on Tuesday I hit every green in regulation and hit two par-5s in two and shot 68,” Kalinowski said. “I hit it like a rock star and putted like I was blind. (Last week at the Navajo Trail Open) I played with a friend who’s played a lot of tour golf. He said, “˜Dude you need to get a long putter.’ He said, “˜I’ve never seen anyone miss more short putts than you.’ And after the first round this week, I said I can’t miss any more putts.”
Kalinowski didn’t sink any long putts on the back nine on Friday, but his chip-in, combined with making birdies from 5, 8 and 1 feet, did the trick, getting him to his self-set goal of shooting 31 on the back nine.
All in all, considering Kalinowski hadn’t played a multi-day tournament in 2011 before mid-June, it was a satisfying result.
“I can go over plenty of stories about (falling one shot short) over the last 15 years of my life, but we don’t really need to do that because this is one where I’m on the other side,” Kalinowski said.
And it made it extra special that the breakthrough came in the Centennial State.
“Colorado is home,” he said. “I’ve been living in Arizona for 15 years and people say, ‘Where’s home?’ My answer is, “˜I’m from Colorado but I live in Scottsdale.'”
For scores, CLICK HERE
