Hallberg

Colorado Notes Column:
Inside the Ropes

By Joe E. Cervi
RockiesGolf.com Columnist

June 7, 1999

The U.S. Open. It's everyman's championship.

Any golfer with a handicap of 1.4 or better is eligible to compete for a spot in one of golf's four major championships.

Twenty-one such players, pros and amateurs alike, tee it up Monday at Columbine Country Club in Littleton in a 36-hole sectional qualifier. The top two finishers earn spots in the U.S. Open June 17-20 at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina.

Several of the golfers attempting to qualify at Columbine know all about the U.S. Open. Castle Rock's Brandt Jobe is a mainstay on the Asian Tour. The former Colorado Open champion must endure the qualifying process anyway.

Touring pro Gary Hallberg, who lives at Castle Pines, is also a part of the Columbine field. Hallberg finished 156th on the money list last year and must qualify for the Open.

Pueblo professional Jason Allen knows first-hand what a day at Columbine can bring. He played 36 holes -- and three more playoff holes -- last year to earn a spot in the Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Though he missed the cut, his first Open odyssey was incredible.

Columbine plays 7,179 yards and is a par-72. It was the home of the 1967 PGA Championship and is a tight course with a forest full of mature Cottonwood trees. The player who can maintain his game, and his sanity, for 36 holes, has the advantage.

	Singh

SINGH-ING PRAISE

Defending Sprint International champion Vijay Singh said the tournament's popularity with touring players will continue to keep the field strong.

Singh, the defending PGA champion, won the International for the first time last year. And he said he's playing even better this year. He's already a winner this year, taking the Honda Classic. And he is currently ninth on the money list ($1,113,798).

"The thing it did most was give me confidence. I feel like I can win every time out. Winning a major, people perceive me a little different. The older guys on the tour, it's like getting into a new club."

Singh's schedule hits the biggies the rest of the year: the Memorial this week (which he played well in early), the U.S. Open, the Canadian Open, the Buick Open, the PGA and, of course, the Sprint International.

	Richard Oh

OH, YES YOU CAN

Richard Oh of Meridian Golf Club, seeded 59th, won the CGA Senior Match Play Championships at Los Verdes Country Club in Denver.

Oh defeated Boulder Country Club senior Bob Bauers 3 and 2. Ed Coover of Fox Hill Country Club defeated Don Baughman of Lincoln Park 4 and 2 to win the Super Senior Division.

DO PELICANS FLY?

Bob McNamee hopes so. The former director of golf for the city of Greeley is now head professional at Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club in Windsor.

McNamee said the course, designed by Ted Robinson Sr. and developed in large part by former Denver Broncos wide receiver Steve Watson, will be opened for daily fee use July 12. "We'll be in the $25-35 range," said McNamee.

Maybe pelicans swim.

OUT OF NOWHERE

Assembly line worker Matt Gallegos jumped from relative obscurity to the top of the leaderboard in the 1999 Southern Colorado Amateur Open last month.

Gallegos, 31, beat the strongest amateur field possible with his two-day total 146. That's 2-over-par on the 7,147-yard par-72 Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo.

Gallegos beat top Colorado amateurs Michael Harrington and Rick DeWitt, the 1998 Colorado Golf Association Player of the Year.

Other than the CGA Stroke Play Championships, the Southern Colorado Amateur is the strongest non-professional tournament in the state each year.

JUNIOR FLIGHTS

The Sprint International announced two junior programs that are new this year.

The Pro-Junior Challenge is Aug. 18 at the Ridge at Castle Pines. Winners of a series of junior (ages 10-18) tournaments tee it up with PGA Tour pros in this grand finale. This is the culmination of the four-month long Youth Golf Series. That features clinics and tournaments around state sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Junior Golf Association and the Colorado Section PGA.

The program's celebrity spokesman is former Denver Nuggets player (and coach) Bill Hanzlik. For more information, call Don Hurter at (303) 745-3697, or Dave Kolquist at (303) 420-4487.