On a day that featured a par-4 eagle en route to a tournament-record-tying 64 for a contender, Coloradan Becca Huffer in hunt for record third CO Women’s Open title; former University of Texas golfer Sophie Guo ahead by 1
By Gary Baines – 5/29/2025
DENVER — The catchphrase for the Inspirato Colorado Open championships, displayed on the main scoreboards at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, is “Where Legends Begin”.
And, in this case, there’s certainly a kernel of truth there.
After all, one of the first-round leaders at the U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday was Yealimi Noh, who would have won the 2019 Colorado Women’s Open had she not made a quadruple-bogey 9 on the final hole of regulation. She went on to finish second in a playoff against Coloradan Becca Huffer. Noh has since won once on the LPGA Tour.
For another example from the Colorado Women’s Open, Jennifer Kupcho posted her first professional victory at the 2020 CWO before going on to win three LPGA Tour titles, including a major.
In addition, 2006 CWO champion Paige Mackenzie — she’s the only amateur to win the championship — has gone on to success at the Golf Channel. And 2016 top-10 finisher Paige Spiranac is a social media sensation.
And perhaps other such stories are taking shape this year at the CWO. Some promising possibilities may set themselves up for big things on Thursday in round 2 at GVR. Among them:
— Sophie Guo, a 24-year-old who was born in China but now lives in Irvine, Calif. As a freshman at the University of Texas in 2019, she won an individual college title in the Bahamas, setting a Longhorn program record with a 17-under-par total for three rounds (66-67-66). Guo will take a one-stroke lead into Friday’s final round of the CWO after she birdied six of her last 10 holes on Thursday en route to a 66 and a 10-under-par total.
— Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, Calif., who matched the tournament record by shooting an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday. Previous 64s have come from two champions — Lexi Harkins (final round in 2018) and Savannah Vilaubi (second round in 2021). Abdulghany is no stranger to strong finishes at the CWO, having earned low-amateur honors in 2020 and placing fourth as a pro last year. Abdulghany was a semifinalist in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she lost to eventual champion Rose Zhang. With Thursday’s 64, Abdulghany vaulted into a tie for third place, two strokes behind Guo.
Abdulghany’s round included an 84-yard hole-out for eagle on the par-4 fourth hole with a 52-degree wedge. “I’ll take it,” she said with a laugh.
Certainly Colorado native Huffer, who now lives in Monument, understands this “Legends Begin Here” theme at the CWO. But in her case, perhaps she’d prefer a “Local Legends Continue To Be Built Here”.
A stellar player at a young age herself, Huffer won the first of her Colorado Women’s Open titles in 2013 when she was in her young 20s — with a second championship coming in 2019. And she has finished second in the tournament four times, most recently in 2023. And, sure enough, she’s in the hunt again, as a 4-under 68 on Thursday left her in solo second place, one out of the lead.
Should Huffer prevail on Friday, the Littleton High School graduate would become the first three-time champion at the Colorado Women’s Open. She and Walailak Satarak (2007 and ’08) are the two players who have won the event twice.
“It would be super fun,” the 34-year-old Huffer said of the prospect. “Hopefully it can happen. It’s one of my very favorite events of the year. It’s fun to get to play — and play well.”
A Coloradan hasn’t won the CWO since Huffer (2019) and Kupcho (2020) went back-to-back.
Sophie Guo will take a one-stroke lead going into the final round.
Joining Guo, Abdulghany and Huffer in the top four is 35-year-old Brianna Do of Lakewood., Calif., who on Sunday placed ninth in the LPGA Tour event in Mexico. Do shot a bogey-free 67 on Thursday and shares third place with Abdulghany at 8 under par.
Those four and numerous others will tee it up on Friday with a victory and $50,000 — one of the top prizes in non-tour women’s golf — on the line. In all, the CWO features a very lucrative $200,000 purse.
Guo was asked what a victory on Friday would mean to her.
“It would mean so much,” she said following her seven-birdie, one-bogey round. “Also for myself because of all the work I’ve done — and to show other players and sponsors that I’m a good player and there’s more big things to come (given) my potential.”
Guo competes some on the Epson Tour and some on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour, where she won once last year. Unlike most of the others at the top of the leaderboard, Guo is making her Colorado Women’s Open debut this week.
“My friend told me there’s this Colorado Open championship here,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, the purse seems pretty nice.’ So I signed up about two weeks ago.”
In contrast, Huffer is competing in the CWO for the umpteenth time — and finds herself on the leaderboard once again.
“I think I’m in a good position,” said Huffer, a former LPGA Tour player who is back competing regularly on the Epson Tour this year. “Hopefully I play some more of the same golf and see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully the weather cooperates and I have a good round.”
Like in 2019 when she won — and most if not all years since — Huffer’s younger brother Zach is caddying for her this week.
“It’s been fun because he’s got a job working in New York now,” Huffer said after her seven-birdie, three-bogey day. “This is kind of his fun week of the year to come caddie. We’ve been having a good time.”
Like Huffer — albeit to a much lesser extent — Abdulghany has had some success in the CWO at Green Valley Ranch, with her low-amateur finish five years ago, last year’s fourth-place showing and being in contention this year.
“This golf course has its quirks for sure,” she said. “Some greens are hard; you’ve got to manage where you’re landing it. But I feel really comfortable on this golf course and it gives me good numbers and good visuals especially off the tee.”
Alyaa Abdulghany, who placed fourth last year, played her final 10 holes in 6 under par on Thursday.
Abdughany’s 64 came on the heels of a 72 she shot in very trying weather conditions on Wednesday afternoon.
“I made a few long putts (including a 30-footer on Thursday), but today was just an accumulation of really good play,” she said. “Every single hole I could take away something good — whether it was a nice tee shot or a nice putt. It was really good.”
Also among those on the leaderboard through 36 holes are 2023 champion Haylee Harford (6 under par overall) and first-round leader and LPGA Tour rookie Mariel Galdiano of Orlando (5 under).
The last pairing — featuring Guo, Huffer and Huffer’s amateur partner Pat Hamill — will tee off for Friday’s final round at 9:35 a.m.
Not all the spectators on Thursday were of the human variety.
In addition to Huffer, three players with strong Colorado connections are in the top 20 through two rounds at the CWO.
Lauren (Lehigh) Dickey, a two-time girls state high school champion who grew up in Loveland, shares 15th place with two local amateurs — University of Colorado golfer Morgan Miller and Colorado State University player Kara Kaneshiro. Miller is a former CGA Women’s Player of the Year and Kaneshiro came ever so close to qualifying for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Relatively newly married Lauren (Lehigh) Dickey shares 15th place through 36 holes.
Dickey has gone 70-72, while both Miller and Kaneshiro have shot consecutive 71s. The latter two share the lead in the amateur competition, sitting two strokes ahead of home-course favorite Emma Bryant of Aurora (72-72), a former University of Denver golfer.
Dickey, who married fellow former University of New Mexico golfer Sam Dickey last October and who now lives in Albuquerque, is in the midst of her first full calendar year as a golf professional. A quarterfinalist in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur, Dickey has competed recently on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour, where she’s posted two top-20 finishes this spring.
Notable: A total of 46 championship competitors — all those at 5 over par or better for two rounds — made the 36-hole cut and will advance to Friday’s final round. Among the notables who missed the cut was Colorado Golf Hall of Famer. three-time USGA champion and former LPGA Tour veteran Jill McGill, who followed up a 74 with an 81. … The team from Bluebird Club, a new course and club in the works in the southeast Denver metro area, leads the pro-am competition by three strokes as it sits at 18 under par in the net better ball event. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Pat Hamill, who helped resurrect the Colorado Open championships in the early 2000s and is a founder of the Bluebird Club, teamed up with Becca Huffer to form the Bluebird Club team.
For all the scores from the Colorado Women’s Open, 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