It’s been a year since our last distribution of gifts — Colorado golf-style — and we’re back in the holiday mood.
We’ve studied our naughty and nice lists, and taken time to pick out that perfect something for deserving souls. Of course, given who we are, we’ll stick with a golf theme.
Time’s a wastin’, so without further ado …
To: John Ogden, head professional at Cherry Hills Country Club. Gift: Credit where credit is due after you predicted in the weeks leading up to the BMW Championship that the winning score would be 264 to 268. Billy Horschel won with a 266 total.
To: Rory McIlroy. Gift: That no hole ever treats you as badly as the par-3 12th at Cherry Hills did during the BMW Championship. (He four-putted the hole twice in the final two rounds, including from 4 feet on Saturday. The result: triple bogey, double bogey).
To: Phil Mickelson. Gift: The ability to think of a better excuse for withdrawing from a tournament after pulling out of the no-cut BMW Championship before the weekend at Cherry Hills, citing a need “to rest and prepare for the Ryder Cup” — which took place three weeks later.
To: The CGA. Gift: In 2015, an unforgettable 100-year anniversary year worthy of an organization with such a rich history.
To: The CWGA. Gift: See above, except in 2016 in your case.
To: Hale Irwin. Gift: Just as your competitive career winds down, an ever-expanding impact on Colorado kids through the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program, the AJGA Hale Irwin Junior, and hopefully other things to come.
To: Former Coloradan Brandt Jobe, who has finished second four times — but has never won — on the PGA Tour. Gift: That 2015 brings a victory — either on the PGA Tour or the Champions circuit, for which you become eligible in August.
To: Colorado-based Champions Tour player Mark Wiebe, who battled injuries this year. Gift: That 2015 more resemble 2013 (two wins) than 2014 (0 top-25s).
To: New CGA managing director of operations Dustin Jensen, who is moving back to Colorado from North Dakota. Gift: A touch of winter warmth, Colorado style.
To: Officials from Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville. Gift: A banner season in the summer of 2015 after then being closed for more than 18 months by the September 2013 flooding.
To: George Solich. Gift: A stress-free summer in 2015 after anything but in 2014 as general chairman of the BMW Championship.
To: Doug Rohrbaugh of Carbondale. Gift: After having so much success in Colorado in recent years — including winning titles in the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open (one) and the Colorado PGA Professional Championship (two) — a top-10 finish as a member of the Champions Tour.
To: The University of Colorado women’s golf program. Gift: A top-three finish at the Pac-12 Conference Championship that you’re hosting in April at Boulder Country Club.
To: Wyndham Clark of Lone Tree, the 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year at Oklahoma State. Gift: After a lot of close calls, an individual college victory.
To: Jack Vickers. Gift: In receiving the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award, satisfaction in the impact you made in graciously hosting a PGA Tour event in Colorado for 21 years, The International.
To: Ross Macdonald (left). Gift: A third consecutive CGA Junior Stroke Play title to match Scott Petersen’s remarkable feat from the late 1980s.
To: CSU-Pueblo golfer Leina Kim. Gift: An NCAA women’s Division II title in 2015 after leading the nation in stroke average so far this season.
To: Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster. Gift: A win in a national event leading into your freshman season at Wake Forest beginning in the fall.
To: Former CU golfer Emily Talley. Gift: After knocking on the door so many times as a professional, an answer in the form of an individual title.
To: Connie Gallagher of Denver, who in October aced a par-4 at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Gift: A return trip to Pebble to relive the moment.
To: Kent and Janet Moore, both Colorado Golf Hall of Famers. Gift: That you both win state senior titles in the same year.
To: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton. Gift: That you don’t miss a beat in competitive golf next year despite those two recent knee replacements.
To: John Elway. Gift: A shot at winning both a Super Bowl (as Broncos general manager) and a HealthOne Colorado Senior Open (as a competitor) in the same year.
To: The late Jim Moore, former Western Golf Association educational director. Gift: That your ever-present upbeat spirit will live on in the Evans Scholarship program for caddies, including those at the University of Colorado.
To: Sherry Andonian-Smith (left), who almost made the cut in the 2014 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, and who went 3-0 for the Colorado PGA in the Taylor Cup matches. Gift: Colorado PGA Senior Player of the Year honors in 2015.
To: The guy who eagerly volunteered to caddie for a competitor in the 2014 HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open, only to quit mid-round, saying he had phone calls to make. Gift: That your services are required elsewhere during the 2015 tournament.
To: Leslie Core-Drevecky, the first female president of the Colorado PGA. Gift: A marked increase in play by women and girls golfers in Colorado.
To: Eric Hoos, who got struck in the head by a competitor’s golf ball while picking his ball out of the cup at the 2014 CGA Senior Stroke Play. Gift: A military-style helmet for the 2015 tournament.
To: Part-time Colorado resident Jonathan Kaye, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. Gift: After competing very little since 2010, some success on the Web.com Tour in 2015.
To: Priscilla Lind, who recently passed away. Lind was the wife of Babe Lind, who was in the first class of inductees for the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Gift: Many thanks for sharing some of Babe’s historic golf trophies and memorabilia with the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and the University of Denver.
To: Golf courses such as Broadlands, Saddleback, Park Hill, Springs Ranch and Eagle Vail which have opened part of their facilities to “footgolf”, an activity in which participants essentially play golf with their feet, using a soccer ball, much shorter holes and large cups. Gift: An “A” for effort in thinking outside the box to generate additional revenue for their golf courses.
To: The golden oldies who play golf at Heather Gardens. Gift: Good health, good friends and great fun hitting the links well into your 90s.
To: All Colorado golfers. Gift: Happy holidays.
