Notable anniversaries we’ll celebrate in Colorado golf in 2026: Wellshire opening, Denver double for Sandra Palmer, The International debuts and much more
By Gary Baines – 1/5/2026
Depending somewhat on how one might formally define “golf” and its origins, many people believe that in Colorado specifically, the game dates back 130-140 years.
Obviously much has happened in Colorado golf since the beginning in the late 1800s. Here at ColoradoGolf.org, we try to highlight that history on an ongoing basis. But it’s become somewhat traditional shortly after New Year’s to make note of some of the milestone anniversaries that will be celebrated in Colorado golf in that given year.
For our purposes here, each year we focus on significant Colorado golf happenings from 5, 10, 20, 25, 30, 40 50, 100 years ago, etc. With that in mind, off we go for our 2026 edition …
125 Years Ago (1901)
— The annual state amateur match play is held for the first time, with Frank Woodward winning the title 3 and 2 in the finals over H.K. B. Davis Sr. The event has been held annually ever since, becoming the oldest state golf championship in Colorado. The CGA has conducted the tournament since 1915.
110 Years Ago (1916)
— The Colorado Women’s Golf Association is founded. The first president is Mrs. Olyn Hemming.
— Ella Moffat McLaughlin, wife of the first CGA president (M.A. McLaughlin), wins the inaugural CWGA Match Play title. During the period from 1915–21, the McLaughlins capture five CGA/CWGA Match Play championships between them (three for Ella, two for M.A.). And Ella’s sister, Frances Moffat, earned the CWGA title in 1918, defeating her sister in the final. Frances was the first secretary of the CWGA. Ella McLaughlin will be inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2026.
100 Years Ago (1926)
— Wellshire Golf Course, designed by Donald Ross, opens in Denver. The City of Denver bought the course in 1936 and made it into a public facility. Wellshire hosted the Denver Open, a PGA Tour event, in 1948 and ’58, with Ben Hogan winning the former, marking his sixth straight victory on the PGA Tour, a run which also included the U.S. Open. But Hogan failed to show up for the trophy ceremony, having left the course as he believed his score wasn’t going to be good enough to prevail. In 1959, the U.S. Amateur Public Links was held at Wellshire, where history was made as Bill Wright became the first black player to win a USGA championship.
— Also debuting that year was Lincoln Park Golf Course in Grand Junction.
90 Years Ago (1936)
— The Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association is founded.
— Future LPGA co-founder Patty Berg finishes runner-up — to champion Marion Miley — at the Women’s Trans National at Denver Country Club.
80 Years Ago (1946)
— For just the second time, a USGA championship is held in Colorado, with the U.S. Amateur Public Links coming to Wellshire GC (following Cherry Hills hosting the 1938 U.S. Open). Coming on the heels of his victory in the Park Hills Invitational, future PGA Tour player Smiley Quick prevails at Wellshire.
— Mildred “Babe” Zaharias, a resident of Edgewater at the time, won the Women’s Trans-Miss hosted by Denver Country Club, then captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur followed by 1947 Ladies’ British Open Amateur, becoming the first woman to hold those two titles simultaneously.
— Denver Country Club hosted the Trans-Miss Championship, with Skee Riegal claiming the title and Denver’s own Charles “Babe” Lind placing second.
70 Years Ago (1956)
— In the second of two Mile High Opens on the LPGA Tour being played at Lakewood Country Club, future World Golf Hall of Famer Marlene Hagge claimed the title.
— Now-Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Barbara McIntire almost became the first amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open, falling in a playoff to Kathy Cornelius.
— President Dwight Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for six weeks at Fitzsimons after playing 27 holes at Cherry Hills Country Club.
50 Years Ago (1976)
— For the second time in four years, future World Golf Hall of Famer Sandra Palmer won the National Jewish Hospital Open at Green Gables Country Club.
— Lewis Lehmig won the second of his three U.S. Senior Amateur titles as Cherry Hills CC hosted the championship
— At another USGA championship in Colorado, Madden Hatcher III won the U.S. Junior Amateur at Hiwan Golf Club, where Coloradan Steve Jones was a semifinalist.
— Jim Bailey of Hyland Hills Golf Course won the national PGA of America’s Horton Smith Award. The following year, Paul Runyan of Green Gables CC earned the same prestigious award, given for outstanding contributions to professional education.
— Future Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler won the first of his three Broadmoor Invitation titles.
Jack Vickers, here presenting The International trophy to Davis Love III, founded the tournament, which debuted 40 years ago.
40 Years Ago (1986)
— The International PGA Tour event debuted at Castle Pines Golf Club, which opened five years earlier in Castle Rock. The event’s 21-year run featured a modified Stableford scoring format. Both the tournament and the course were founded by future Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Jack Vickers. Ken Green won the first International. Subsequent champions included Phil Mickelson (twice), Davis Love III (twice), Greg Norman, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.
— In a 15-month span starting in 1986, Colorado hosted six tour events (PGA, LPGA and Senior).
— The LPGA National Pro-Am, held at Lone Tree Golf Club and Glenmoor Country Club, was won by now-World Golf Hall of Famer Amy Alcott.
— Part-time Coloradan Dale Douglass won the U.S. Senior Open at in Columbus, Ohio, marking one of his four PGA Senior Tour victories as a rookie. Douglass was later inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
— Now-Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Madison, Miss. He represented the U.S. on the Walker Cup team in ’87 and competed in the Masters in ’88.
— World Golf Hall of Famer Gary Player captured the Denver Post Champions of Golf title at TPC Plum Creek in Castle Rock.
— Future longtime Colorado resident Craig Stadler won the Jerry Ford Invitational in Vail.
— Riverdale Dunes, which would later host two Korn Ferry Tour events (the tour was then known as the Nike Tour) opens in Brighton.
Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell, then the president of the USGA, presents former Yuma resident Steve Jones the U.S. Open trophy in 1996. (Photo: USGA)
30 Years Ago (1996)
— Judy Bell of Colorado Springs and The Broadmoor, becomes the first female president of the USGA, which was founded in 1894.
— Steve Jones, who grew up in Yuma, Colo., and played golf at CU, overcame Davis Love and Tom Lehman to win the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club. That gave former CU golfers four U.S. Open titles (Hale Irwin has three).
— Stewart Cink won the Nike Colorado Classic — a Nike Tour event — at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton.
— The Jerry Ford Invitational ended a 20-year run in the Vail Valley, with Dillard Pruitt winning the final one.
25 Years Ago (2001)
— Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
— Green Valley Ranch, which has now hosted the Colorado Open championships for more than 20 years, opened in northeast Denver.
20 Years Ago (2006)
— The International PGA Tour event is played for the last time, with all 21 contested at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock. Dean Wilson will go down as the event’s final champion.
— Ballyneal, a Tom Doak-designed course that has long earned widespread acclaim, openedin Holyoke in northeast Colorado.
— Colorado Golf Club in Parker, which has gone on to host a Senior PGA Championship, a Solheim Cup and a U.S. Mid-Amateur, opened in Parker after being designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crewshaw.
— Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo hosted the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, where Tiffany Joh won and future University of Denver golfer Kimberly Kim was runner-up. Kim won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2006.
— The prestigious AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions was held at Hiwan Golf Club. Among the competitors were Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed.
— Roy Edwards became just the third full-time CU men’s golf head coach since 1948, following Les Fowler (1948-76) and Mark Simpson (1977-2005). Edwards remains at the Buffs’ helm.
— Now-Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Dow Finsterwald is inducted into the national PGA of America Hall of Fame.
10 Years Ago (2016)
— Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell received the USGA’s highest honor, the Bob Jones Award.
— The CWGA celebrated its 100th anniversary. Two years later, the CWGA and the CGA were integrated, with the organization known as the CGA going forward.
— A $6 million renovation and expansion was completed on the Evans Scholars house for caddies at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
— CU’s Esther Lee set a women’s NCAA record for single-round scoring relative to par when she shot an 11-under-par 61 en route to victory in the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque.
— The purse for the Colorado Open doubled, to $250,000, with the winner’s portion more than quadrupling, to $100,000, the most for a state open.
5 years Ago (2021)
— Kyle Heyen from Hiwan Golf Club is inducted into the national PGA of America Hall of Fame.
— Colorado Sports — and World Golf — Hall of Famer Babe Zaharias is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
— Jennifer Kupcho became the first golfer who grew up in Colorado to compete in the Solheim Cup.
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