Coloradan Dave Runberg wins Trans-Miss Seniors Legends Division, while Adam Kugler of Edwards places 2nd among Super Seniors
By Gary Baines – 5/23/2025
Colorado has had an impressive run regarding the prestigious Trans-Mississippi championships so far during the decade of the 2020s.
In 2021, Jay Livsey from Lakewood Country Club claimed the Trans-Miss Mid-Masters title. The next year, Denver Country Club hosted the open-age Trans-Miss, and Connor Jones from Westminster finished runner-up in a playoff. And in 2023, Jon Lindstrom from Lakewood CC won the Trans-Miss Seniors, and Dave Runberg of Centennial finished second in the Legends Division for competitors 70 and older.
Then on Thursday, Runberg prevailed in a playoff to earn the Legends title at the Trans-Miss Seniors held in Rancho Mirage, Calif. And Adam Kugler from Edwards placed second in the Super-Senior Division for players 65 and older.
Runberg, the runner-up to Kent Moore in the 2021 CGA Super-Senior Match Play, posted scores of 73-73-74 this week for a 7-over-par total. He then made a birdie in a playoff against Jody Vasquez of Aledo, Texas to earn the title in a field of 16 Legends competitors. Also recording top-10 finishes were Dennis McKinley of Highlands Ranch (fourth place) and Tom Lawrence of Denver (ninth).
In the Super Seniors, Kugler (72-70-68 for a 3-under total) ended up four strokes behind champion Mark Morgan of Shingle Springs, Calif.
In the overall Senior Division, the top Colorado finisher was Lindstrom, who will be inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in October. The former Trans-Miss Seniors champ went 70-71-71 and ended up nine strokes behind winner Bryan Hoops of Tempe, Ariz.
For all the scores from the Trans-Miss Seniors, 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