Regis, DU alum Chris Korte leads by 2 at Colorado Open and hopes to go the distance; ex-champ Zahkai Brown vaults into contention with 62 and shares 3rd place with 2024 winner Davis Bryant
By Gary Baines – 7/25/2025
DENVER — It was one of those seemingly straightforward questions that sometimes take a moment to answer — perhaps not unlike, “How old are you?”, for those of us of a certain age.
Chris Korte, who grew up in Littleton and graduated from Regis Jesuit High School and the University of Denver, shot an 8-under-par 63 on Friday to stake himself to a two-stroke lead at the halfway point of the $200,000 Inspirato Colorado Open.
Obviously, that will mean Korte will be playing on the weekend at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. And since he’s been competing mainly in Monday qualifiers for the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours of late — and has narrowly missed the cut at recent tour events for which he’s qualified — it seemed like a legitimate query: When’s the last time he’s played all four rounds of a 72-hole tournament?
“I’ve got to think about that one,” the 28-year-old said. “That’s an incredible question actually. I truly can’t remember it.”
Finally, Korte surmised it must be the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open in early March, when he finished tied for 16th place.
And while that’s a memorable accomplishment for any high-level golfer — his first made cut in a PGA Tour event — this weekend is certainly an opportunity for another. Playing in the state where he grew up — and won Colorado amateur championships in 2015 (CGA Amateur) and 2017 (CGA Match Play) — Korte has set himself up well to win one of the most prestigious state and regional championships in the country.
With his nine-birdie, one-bogey 63 on Friday, Korte stands at 11 under par overall heading into the weekend.
“The game has been feeling really good this whole year, so I feel like it’s just kind of a matter of time,” said Korte, who in the last 10 months has Monday qualified for four PGA Tour events and this month’s Korn Ferry Tour tournament at TPC Colorado. “I’ve made it through some Monday qualifiers and took advantage in one or two of them. I feel like every round I’ve gone out there, I’ve given it a really solid run. I’m not changing what I’m doing, I’ll go relax, have a good day tomorrow and see where I’m at Sunday and do it again.”
Korte, who just missed the cut in last week’s Barracuda Championship one the PGA Tour, played his first 10 holes of the Colorado Open in 1 over par. Since then, he’s gone 12 under in his last 26 holes.
“I just didn’t make any mistakes today,” he said. “The one bogey I made (on No. 16) I thought I hit a perfect wedge shot, but it had a little hook spin on it from a sidehill lie and went off the green and I had a tough lie down there. That was unfortunate, but I bounced right back from that and I made a bunch of birdies on the front side — my back nine.
“I hit it great all day. It was a really fun day.”
Korte lines up a putt on his 10th hole on Friday.
These days, Korte resides primarily in Scottsdale, Ariz., but he still has family, friends and associates in Colorado.
“It’s been awesome being back,” he said. “You can’t beat Colorado this time of year.”
Winning a Colorado Open would be a big highlight of Korte’s golf career, but with two rounds remaining, he fully realizes it’s far too soon to be entertaining such thoughts with gusto.
“There’s still a lot of golf left,” he said. “I feel like I’m maybe not a veteran at this point, but I’ve been around enough to know that anything can happen. I’ve got to keep focused and doing what I’m doing. Hopefully I’ll keep hitting great shots and see a few putts roll in here and there and see how things stack up at the end.”
All that said, while Korte acknowledges there’s a different mindset competing in Monday qualifiers vs. 72-hole tournaments, given his success on Mondays, he’s trying to bring some of that to bear in tournaments such as the Colorado Open.
“If you go into a Monday (where the top four players earn spots into the tournament field) and finish fifth, it’s the same as finishing last,” he said. “There’s nothing to lose out there. which sort of frees you up a little bit and takes some of the tension out.
“I’ve been trying to apply how I’ve been feeling in Monday qualifiers to four-round events. Unfortunately with my status this year, it’s been mostly Mondays for me. I haven’t had that many chances to play a great four-round event like this one is. It’s really like trying to feel like every day is Monday, I guess.”
Jhared Hack of Las Vegas sits in second place after 36 holes.
The closest challenger to Korte after two days is Jhared Hack of Las Vegas, a 35-year-old former Western Amateur champion who gained notoriety by shooting a 15-under-par 57 at Las Vegas Golf Club in 2021. Hack (66-67) trails Korte by two.
Among the big group tied for third place, three back of Korte, are former Colorado Open champions Davis Bryant (2024), Wil Collins (2005 and ’22), Sam Saunders of Albuquerque (2019), and Zahkai Brown (2013). Also sharing third is former University of Denver golfer John Sand (rounds of 67-67).
2013 champion Zahkai Brown came within two strokes of the low Colorado Open round ever at GVR.
Zahkai Brown Soars Up Scoreboard with 62: While Korte went low with a 63 on Friday, 2013 Colorado Open champion Zahkai Brown matched his nine second-round birdies and did him one better, score-wise, for the round.
The Golden resident bounced back from a first-round 72 that left him in danger of missing the cut to fire a 9-under 62 and vault all the way up to third place going into the weekend. The 35-year-old stands at 8 under par, three behind Korte.
The 62 was Brown’s best single-round score at the Colorado Open — he shot 63 in round 3 in 2012 — and was just two strokes off the overall Colorado Open record-low round at GVR — set by Sam Saunders of Albuquerque in 2018 and matched by Mark Anguiano in 2020.
Brown, a former CGA Player of the Year, arrived at GVR far later than he planned for Thursday’s round 1 — with an auto accident and some other issues delaying him.
“I was frustrated and jittery yesterday,” Brown said. “It’s not a good feeling as a golfer to feel rushed.”
But everything ran like clockwork on Friday as he bounced back with a nine-birdie, no-bogey round. Actually, considering he eagled his final hole on Thursday — the ninth — Brown has played his last 19 holes in 11 under par.
The eagle “made my attitude change a little bit,” Brown said. “Today I played like, ‘What have I got to lose?’ You’ve got to play to make the cut. I just kind of got it going. I made a really lucky chip-in on 13 where I hit it over the green in the bunker, and (then I) one-hopped it into the hole for a 2 from probably 15-20 yards.
“I didn’t have a good attitude yesterday and didn’t get any good breaks. Today I had good breaks and the putts were doing in. That makes for a good round.”
Also helping matters were two things that happened on the fifth hole on Friday. There, Brown made a 50-foot birdie putt, and he figured out an issue with his swing that was causing shots to go to the right of his target line.
“I started squaring the club, and that allowed for the score to happen today,” he said.
Brown feels that bodes well for the weekend for the veteran of roughly 20 Colorado Opens.
“I feel comfortable,” he said. “I figured out my swing, so I’m hitting it where I’m trying to hit it. That makes golf easy. I’ll keep going at it because you can score out here. I would say a couple of 8s (8 under par each day on the weekend) would be good.”
Despite being in the bunker on his final hole on Friday, defending champion Davis Bryant finished strong in round 2.
Well-Traveled Davis Bryant in Hunt for 2nd Straight Open Title: Davis Bryant finds himself in a similar position as he was a year ago at the halfway point of the Colorado Open. Which is to say the Aurora resident is in contention for the title.
It’s not the exact same as 2024, mind you. A year ago after two rounds, he’d shot 65-64 and led by four. This week, it’s 67-67 so far and he trails by three with two rounds left. Playing his final seven holes in 4 under par on Friday — including a chip-in from about 40 feet on No. 15 — helped matters.
Of course, while plenty is similar to what it was a year ago at the Colorado Open for Bryant, much is different in a bigger sense. In the wake of his breakthrough victory at his home course in that week’s Colorado Open, Bryant earned his DP World Tour card in the fall, and recently posted two top-10 finishes on that circuit and made his PGA Tour debut earlier this month.
And he’s traveled — A LOT.
“I know I’ve been to roughly 18-20 countries in the last year, if you include starting in Morocco last (summer),” the 25-year-old former Colorado State University golfer said. “That’s been great. But I haven’t upgraded to first class yet. I’m still waiting to do that.”
Going into July of 2024, Bryant had been to a grand total of three countries — the U.S., Canada and Mexico. But he hit Morocco, Sweden, Spain, South Africa and Mauritius in the remainder of 2024.
And in 2025 on the DP World Tour and the affiliated HotelPlanner Tour, “it’s been probably 16-17 countries. It’s a lot of traveling, but I’m getting used to it,” he said.
In fact, he’s gotten so accustomed to it — and playing at sea level much of the time — that getting used to competing again in the mile-high air of Colorado, where he grew up, hasn’t been seamless.
“I haven’t played at altitude in quite a few months,” he said. “That’s a little bit of a difference. Even though it’s home, I’ve made a couple of mistakes I normally don’t make — clubbing or trusting the trajectory of some shots. There’s a couple shots I want back. When you play at sea level for weeks and weeks and weeks and you come back home, it’s ‘Even though it’s home, it is challenging.’”
Bryant’s personal vibe while competing in this Colorado Open is also a bit different than it was a year ago. Of course, after all he’s been through in the last 12 months, how could it not be?
“It feels a little bit different this year knowing what happened last year and how big the tournament was last year and how that all went down,” he said. “But I’m as hungry as I was last year to win again this year — more or less for the pride and trying see that (champions) picture on that wall again for another year.”
Bryant is attempting to become the first player since Dave Hill in 1976 and ’77 to win back-to-back Colorado Opens.
“I’d love to put my name in a different part of the record book,” he said.
Wyoming State Open champ AJ Ott has been on quite a roll of late.
AJ Ott Looks to Duplicate Bryant’s Feat: A year ago, Bryant won the Wyoming State Open prior to capturing the title in the Colorado Open.
AJ Ott, a former teammate of Bryant’s at CSU, wouldn’t mind following suit. Earlier this month, Ott won the 2025 Wyoming Open, and through 36 holes, he stands 14that the Colorado Open, where he placed ninth a year ago.
Ott has posted back-to-back rounds of 68 and sits five strokes behind leader Chris Korte.
“I definitely haven’t had my best stuff,” the former CGA Player of the Year said. “In spite of that, I’ve tried to keep a good attitude. I feel OK, but I’m excited for the weekend. I’m going to have to a shoot a couple of low ones for sure.”
In his last seven tournament rounds, including qualifiers leading up the Korn Ferry Tour’s tournament at TPC Colorado, the Wyoming Open and the first two rounds of the Colorado Open, Ott has gone 65-66-65-63-61-68-68.
“I’ve been playing solid for sure,” said Ott, now a resident of Lakewood. “And building off each day. All of us who are trying to make it — who don’t have (tour-related) status — are just trying to build for Q-school (in the fall). For me, I think that’s just playing as much as possible.”
A well-camouflaged frog was chilling on a hot day at GVR.
Notable: Two-time CGA Match Play champion Nick Nosewicz made seven birdies on Friday en route to a 5-under-par 66 and grabbed a three-stroke lead in the low-amateur competition. In fact, Nosewicz trails overall leader Chris Korte by just four strokes after rounds of 69-66. Charlie Tucker of Castle Pines (69-69) sits in second among the amateurs. First-round overall co-leader Willis Panzarello, a University of Denver golfer, is tied for third in the amateur competition with former European Tour player Matt Zions, who matched Nosewicz’s second-round 66. Former Greeley resident Parker Edens, the low-am each of the last two years, made a 25-foot birdie on his final hole Friday to make the cut on the number and is among those at 2 under par and five back of Nosewicz. … The 67 players who finished at 2 under par or better for 36 holes made the cut and advance to the weekend. Among those who had their tournament cut short were first-round co-leader Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo (65-77); former PGA Tour player Sam Saunders of Fort Collins, Arnold Palmer’s grandson (69-73); four-time Colorado PGA Professional champion Micah Rudosky (69-73); nine-time Colorado PGA overall player of the year Geoff Keffer (71-72); and two-time PGA Championship qualifier Brandon Bingaman (72-73).
For all the scores from the Colorado Open, CLICK HERE.
For Saturday’s third-round tee times, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com