In what became a family affair, Colin Prater matches record for CGA Amateur titles with 4, giving him 6 victories in CGA open-age majors; 18-year-old Brayden Forte follows up boys Junior America’s Cup win with runner-up showing at Sonnenalp
By Gary Baines
EDWARDS — The winner of the championship essentially had been determined quite a while earlier, so the suspense was minimal at the 18th green at Sonnenalp Club. Yet there was history in the making. And for Colin Prater and his family, the emotion was palpable as the CGA Amateur came to a close on Thursday.
The 31-year-old high school science teacher from Colorado Springs put the finishing touches on what is believed to be a record-tying accomplishment. But those thoughts quickly went by the wayside as Prater’s oldest daughter Blake, who will turn 4 in the fall, ran out from among the spectators behind the green to greet her dad. He lifted her high in the air and they gave each other a high-five for a job well done.
Many parents understand such priceless moments. You might think there are going to be countless such instances — and perhaps there will be many — but each one strikes deep at the heart.
And so it was for Prater, who shared his fourth CGA Amateur victory with not only Blake but 2-year-old Logan, wife Madi and mom Gwen, all of whom were on hand for another big moment in Colin’s increasingly impressive amateur golf career.
It called to mind Prater’s third CGA Amateur win, in 2024, when an even-younger Blake gave dad a big hug after he won ever so close to home, at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy. (For her part, Logan was just 9 days old when Prater won two years ago.)
“I love it,” Prater said of Thursday’s father-daughter moment. “It's so amazing to have them here. I think Blake may remember this one a little bit more than she did two years ago at Eisenhower, but that's the other goofy thing — I just go back to being a dad, right? I’ve got one more week of summer break (before returning to teaching for a new school year), so I just go back to being a dad, and she doesn't care whether I shot 67 today or 80. She's supposed to hang out with dad.”
It was certainly beside the point in that moment, but just seconds before Colin very likely made some history. We say “very likely” because records from the early years of the CGA Amateur in the 1930s aren’t complete. But of the 91 recorded champions of the tournament, including this year, Prater and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Claude Wright are the only players to win the event four times. Wright made his victorious run in the 1940s and ‘50s. Prater has claimed all his CGA Amateur titles in just over a decade — previously triumphing in 2016, ’20 and ’24.
Prater has also captured the CGA Match Play championship twice — in 2020 and ’25. That gives him six CGA open-age majors, which puts him in the stratosphere of the best of the best amateurs in state history. And, for good measure, he’s also won two CGA Mid-Amateurs, which are limited to players 25 and older.
“I know it’s crazy to say this at 31 — I don’t know how many more opportunities I’m going to have — but my goal is to cement myself as one of the best amateur players to ever play in the state of Colorado. Maybe you could say I’m a unicorn in that I never turned pro (despite being a very formidable player). And there’s lots of great guys now that I grew up with who are playing on the mini tours (as pros). But I would love to try to cement myself as one of the best — if not the best — amateur players ever in the state of Colorado. That’s my goal over the next 10 years. I want to put myself in position to win as many Colorado state ams as I possibly can. If I can compete (at that level) into my 40s, that would be amazing.”
Prater is very familiar with the CGA Amateur trophy, having previously won the championship in 2016, '20 and '24.
Prater is a “unicorn” in another sense. In the 21st century, pretty much all the CGA Amateur champions — with the exception of Prater and 2008 winner Jonathan Marsico — have been around college age or younger when they claimed their CGA Am titles. The last winner of the championship older than Prater is now was Rick DeWitt, who was 42 when he prevailed in 1999.
Prater, a science teacher and golf coach at Cheyenne Mountain High School, is also making a habit of winning the CGA Amateur by large margins. The player from Cherokee Ridge Golf Course prevailed by five strokes on Thursday after winning by six in both 2020 and ’24.
The former University of Colorado-Colorado Springs golfer never trailed during the final round, when he followed up scores of 68-67-65 with a 3-under-par 67. He finished at 13 under par overall, after a week in which he made nine 2s — birdies on par-3 — in 72 holes. He birdied the par-3 second, 14th and 17th holes three times each.
Prater made only one bogey in the final round -- via a three-putt.
Prater ended up five better than runner-up Brayden Forte of Aurora, an 18-year-old who was playing his final tournament before beginning his college golf at San Diego State this fall. Forte, coming off an individual victory last week in the boys Junior America’s Cup and a round-of-16 performance at the U.S. Junior Amateur before that, closed with a 66 after once getting within two strokes of Prater on Thursday.
“I feel really good,” Forte said. “If you’d told me I’d finish in second after the first two days, I wouldn’t have (believed it). Obviously, I wanted to win, but I'm happy with it. It sucks coming up short, but Colin is a really good player. I got myself into a pretty big hole (after being 2 over par through two days). So I played really well to get back in it. I was two back after 10 holes (today) and just misjudged the wind on 11, and then got a bad bounce on 12. I thought that kind of stopped my momentum. But I put up a good fight. … This gives me a lot of confidence going into college.”
Brayden Forte and caddie Luke Edwards, along with Prater, watch Forte's birdie putt on No. 10 fall. Forte would leave that hole within two of the lead.
Helping Forte’s cause this week was the youngest son of CU men’s head coach Roy Edwards — Luke — who caddied for Forte and helped him read putts.
“He was a big help this week,” Forte said of the younger Edwards.
CU golfer Ty Holbrook finished third at the CGA Amateur for the third straight year.
CU golfer Ty Holbrook managed to extend his feat of oddities in this event, placing third for the third straight year at the CGA Amateur. What are the odds of that?
“Low,” Holbrook said with a smile. “You’d think, at least.
“It just wasn't my day today. I was just burning edges all day and couldn't really find the bottom of the hole. Sometimes that happens, so you go to the next event and try to right the wrongs and see if we can get some more putts to fall.
But I gave it everything I had.”
Asked if he plans to return next year for a fourth run at the CGA Amateur title, Holbrook said, “Absolutely. I want to win this thing really bad. Any state championship, you want to win. I'll definitely be coming next year and hopefully be lifting that trophy.”
Holbrook checked in six back of Prater after a final-round 72.
CU's Tyler Long birdied his first five holes on Thursday, but couldn't sustain the run and finished fourth.
Speaking of oddities, the fourth-place finisher was Tyler Long of Evergreen, another CU golfer (though that’s not the odd part). Long started his round with five straight birdies — which is no small feat in itself — but then didn’t make another birdie in his final 13 holes en route to a 66. He ended up at 2 under overall, 11 behind Prater.
Former state high school individual champion Thayer Plewe of Cortez, playing in his first career CGA championship, rounded out the top five, at even par, after going 68-67 the last two days.
Thayer Plewe placed fifth in his first CGA championship appearance.
Despite entering the final round with just a one-stroke lead, Prater never was caught on Thursday. He birdied the second and third holes — from 25 feet and 9 feet, respectively — and had a relatively comfortable lead for most of the day. The most notable exception was in the middle of the round, when Forte made four birdies in five holes (Nos. 6-10). When the 2025 CGA State Junior champion drained a 12-foot birdie on No. 10 — and Prater ended up three-putting for his only bogey of the day — the teenager trailed by just two.
But the challenge was short-lived as Forte bogeyed the following two holes — three-putting No. 11 and missing the green on No. 12. And when Prater made a 30-foot birdie on No. 14 and a 10-footer on No. 17 — the two par-3s on the back nine — he took a six-stroke lead into the final hole. And despite three-putting for par from long distance while Forte and Holbrook made birdies, it was stress-free down the stretch.
Forte and Edwards celebrate one of Forte's birdies on Thursday.
Besides earning a fourth CGA Amateur title, Thursday’s victory brings with it one big perk — a spot in the 2027 U.S. Amateur. It’ll be Prater’s fifth U.S. Am, a total which includes making match play at Cherry Hills Country Club in 2023.
“I think that’s icing on the cake for sure,” Prater said. “I don't think at the beginning of the week, you're like, ‘Hey, I want to qualify for the Am next year. It's obviously something that is a perk and a wonderful thing to accomplish as a result of winning the state am, but you’ve got to try and stay focused on these four days. So you don't really let your mind drift to that being a possibility until it's all said and done.”
Prater jokes with daughter Blake, held by her mom Madi, during the final round.
As for the main objective this week — winning the CGA Amateur — Prater savored beating a field that is so accomplished.
“You look at that top-10 leaderboard; there’s a bunch of young juniors in the state of Colorado that are really good,” Prater noted. “Brayden Forte is a stud. Ty could be one of the best DI players in the country this next year. You’ve got Thayer Plewe, who was playing in his first CGA championship. There’s a lot of really good players in this field. So to be able to come out on top in those four days, it’s awesome, truly remarkable. You have that goal at the beginning of the week, but to be able to accomplish it is awesome.”
Not only has Prater now won four of the last 11 CGA Amateurs, but it should be noted he skipped two of those 11. So he’s won almost 50 percent of those he’s played since 2016.
A deer was an interested observer behind the first green on Thursday.
Notable: Two players who earlier qualified for the 2026 U.S. Amateur — and will depart on Friday for the championship at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. — were paired for Thursday’s final round with University of Colorado golfer Tyler Long of Evergreen being joined by Collin Engelhardt of Castle Pines. Long ended up finishing fourth at the CGA Amateur and Engelhardt sixth. … Four current members of Team Colorado — the elite junior squad that’s part of the USGA National Development Program — finished in the top 10 at the CGA Amateur. Forte ended up second, Nicholas Brooks of Parker seventh, and Brayden Destefano of Peyton and Gavin Amella of Castle Rock shared eighth.
For all the scores from the CGA Amateur, CLICK HERE.
The CGA Amateur trophy at Sonnenalp during the final round.
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