On a leaderboard full of PGA Tour veterans, teaching pro Steve Holmes prevails at Colorado Senior Open, calling the feat ‘like winning a major’; Shane Bertsch 2nd, while fellow Coloradan Matt Schalk notches his 4th straight top-8 finish in the event
By Gary Baines
DENVER — The lead group for the final round of the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open was comprised of golfers who have played in a combined 943 PGA Tour events, 384 PGA Tour Champions tournaments and won twice on the PGA Tour and three times on the Champions circuit.
Steve Holmes, a PGA teaching professional from Simi Valley, Calif., teed it up in the penultimate group, playing the role of David and slaying the three-headed Goliath on Friday, walking away with the Senior Open trophy and $15,000 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.
Willie Wood, winner of one title on the PGA Tour and two on the Champions circuit, was three strokes ahead of Holmes heading into the final round, while fellow Tour veterans Shane Bertsch of Parker and Guy Boros were tied with the Californian.
But not only did Holmes win, it wasn’t particularly close as he prevailed by three over runner-up Bertsch, the home-state favorite, by five over Boros and by six over Wood.
“You’re only as good as the people you beat,” the 54-year-old Holmes said. “If you just beat a bunch of 20-handicappers, it’s one thing. When you’re beating guys with resumés, it puts a little validation in there.
“I figured one of them was going to play great.”
But it turned out none of them did. While Bertsch was solid with a 2-under-par 70 on Friday, Boros shot 72 and Wood 76. It was Holmes, with his 5-under 67 in the final round, who set himself apart and emerged with the victory.
Holmes, who finished second in the Senior Open two years ago, came out on top this time.
“I’ve been in the last group a couple of times, and last night I was like, ‘It’s probably better that I’m in the second-to-last group. I don’t have that pressure of a final group,’” said Holmes, who has played in a PGA Championship and two Senior PGAs. “I figured if I put some pressure on them, maybe they’d feel it a little bit. It would maybe get them to tighten up a little bit. They’re all proven players, all fantastic. Any one of them could have won.”
The bottom line is that Holmes will go down as a CSO champion — the same as PGA Tour winners like Jonathan Kaye and Boros, who have also come out on top at GVR.
“For seniors who aren’t on the Champions tour, there isn’t a whole lot to play in, so I always consider this our major,” Holmes said. “… For me, I look forward to this tournament every year. … For me, it’s like winning a major.”
Holmes had two separate runs of four straight birdies on Friday — on holes 2-5 and 11-14. That was more than enough to overcome a hooked tee ball into the penalty area on 10 that led to a double bogey, and a bogey on 16. He ended up at 11 under par overall — the least under par for any CSO winner since 2020.
Shane Bertsch of Parker fell a little short in his bid to add a Colorado Senior Open title to his Colorado Open victory.
Bertsch, the PGA Tour Champions regular who has won once on that circuit, placed solo second at 8 under, two years after placing third in this event. He had a goal of shooting 6 under on Friday, which would have been enough for the win, but it didn’t happen.
“All in all, I played all right,” said Bertsch, the 1998 Colorado Open champion. “Second is the next-best” if you don’t win. “Second means a lot. I don’t get the trophy and the title, but I’ll come back next year. And I built some momentum” for the stretch run on PGA Tour Champions.
Bertsch, who made three birdies and a bogey on Friday, lamented not being more aware of how he stood relative to the lead as he played the final nine. He missed an opportunity on the par-5 ninth after hitting a very long drive, but then pulling his approach into a green-side bunker, failing to get up and down and making a par.
“I didn’t quite know where the lead was and I probably should have checked earlier,” he said. “I was going at it, but I was always like, ‘Par is not killing me’ because I was with (Boros and Wood, who weren’t at their best). It’s always hard when you don’t have an exact bead on it, and I didn’t know until the 16th green.”
Bertsch thought the par-5 ninth hole could have sparked him to potential victory, but he went into a bunker and made par.
With several of the leaders struggling, Matt Schalk of Erie, the 2022 national Senior PGA Professional Champion, vaulted into a third-place finish at 6 under — alongside Boros and Chris Dompier of Tucson. Schalk matched the low round of the day, with a 5-under 67, as he went 5 under for his final nine holes, making five birdie putts of 8 feet or less.
“I really should have birdied every hole on the back nine other than No. 17,” he said. “It was nice that it all kind of came together today, especially on that back nine because the finish was kind of getting to some people.”
Matt Schalk of Erie matched the best score of the final round with a 67. (file photo)
Schalk now owns four straight top-8 finishes in the Colorado Senior Open as he was runner-up in 2023, fourth in 2024 and eighth last year.
“I’m super excited,” said Schalk, the PGA general manager at Colorado National Golf Club. “I was like, ‘Hopefully I can finish fifth or sixth.’ Then I watched some of the carnage coming in (from the final players on the course). But I was surprised to be in third. I’m happy though.”
And Schalk wasn’t the only Colorado PGA member to record a top-10 at the CSO as Micah Rudosky of Cortez tied for sixth place at 5 under par. He was also sixth in this event in 2022.
Holmes put together two streaks of four straight birdies on Friday.
Meanwhile, this is also not Holmes’ first time on the final leaderboard at the Colorado Senior Open as he was runner-up in 2024 to Kaye. But he missed the cut in last year’s CSO.
This time, en route to victory, Holmes’ front-nine run included birdies from 20, 18, 6 and 10 feet. On the back nine, starting at No. 11, it was two 18-inchers, and putts of 20 and 3 feet. That essentially left everyone in his wake, and he cruised to victory.
“Today I played really well,” he said. “I’d been having a problem in final rounds being really tentative. I told myself today I’m going to be a little more aggressive — and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”
But it did.
Plus, he noted, there was a good omen along the way. “I had cart No. 8. I knew I had won when I got my cart. It’s a very lucky number in Asia. … When I got No. 8, I said, ‘I’m winning this.’”
And … “I was looking at all the (banners with the names of the CSO champions) today. I texted Greg Bruckner, who has won this a couple of times. I’m like, ‘I kind of want my name on one of those flags.’”
The bottom line is it was satisfying, given the travails of many professional golfers.
“You never know when you’re going to get your next win,” Holmes said. “I was telling the guys I’m staying with, ‘Man, I’m on the golf course going, I’m pretty sure I’m going to quit golf.’’ And I had just shot 6 under (on day 1). The guy goes, ‘You sound like a professional golfer.’ That’s just the way pro golf is. You’re one minute away from quitting, then the next minute, you’re getting ready to win a tournament.”
And true to the life of a teaching professional, Holmes was scheduled to catch a flight later Friday and be back on the lesson tee on Saturday morning.
Mark Henderson prevailed by one in the amateur competition.
Mark Henderson Low-Am in His CSO Debut: Mark Henderson turned 50 less than three months ago, and that meant he was competing in the Colorado Senior Open for the first time. And though he had ideas that he could be in the running for the overall title, the golfer from Highlands Ranch and Columbine Country Club settled for a 16th-place finish — and low-amateur honors.
The 2024 CGA Mid-Amateur Match Play champion posted rounds of 70-72-72 for a 2-under-par total, which was one stroke better than four-time CSO low-am and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jon Lindstrom of Denver (73-70-72). Henderson was 3 under par on the front nine Friday before playing his final five hom\les in 3 over.
“There’s a lot of good amateurs here,” Henderson said. “Lindstrom is incredible. I was watching the leaderboard, so it was nice to bring it home. It’s just a great tournament overall. It’s fun to play in the Colorado Open, and now that I’m 50, the Senior Open. It’s nice to have some other tournaments to play in.
“I came into this, to be honest, hoping I could contend (for the overall title). I’ve been struggling with a little sloppy play — and I did it here as well, unfortunately. It’s hard to be perfectly sharp. I’m an amateur. I played really well every day for parts of the round. I had a 3-footer to go 4 under (on Friday) through nine holes — and missed it. I had a 7-footer on 10 to go 4 under, and missed that. Then the wheels kind of fell off and I shot 3 over on the back nine.”
Henderson marks the second straight CSO low-amateur who’s a Columbine Country Club member as Brian Guetz took those honors last year.
“It’s funny,” Henderson noted. “I’m the baby out here (among senior golfers). I have an almost 5-year-old daughter. I started very old for having kids. Now I’m the youngest out here, and I’m playing with a lot of guys with kids much, much older. Their lives are completely different from mine with little princess dresses and stuff.
“I played with Carl Baker the (previous) two days — who’s 70 years old. He’s a really, really good player. He’s shot his age so many times that he doesn’t even keep track anymore. That’s impressive.”
Scribes and Such: The Ralph Moore Golf Journalism Award has been presented by the Colorado Open championships since 1989, almost annually. It’s dedicated to “forwarding the pursuit of excellence in golf reporting.”
The award is named for Ralph Moore, the first recipient, who was a longtime sports writer at the Denver Post, with one of his main beats being golf. He’s a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.
One of Moore’s sons, journalist John Moore, was on hand to present the honor on Friday.
The 2026 award went to Chris Schmaedeke, who has worked on the sports staff at the Denver Gazette since 2022, with his duties including writing about golf. John Moore also works at the Denver Gazette, as a senior arts journalist.
Guy Boros turned 62 and tied for third overall on Friday.
Birthday Boy: Guy Boros of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., turned 62 years old on Friday, and would have loved to have won his second Colorado Senior Open to celebrate. Alas, he had to settle for a tie for third place. But, if it’s any consolation, he claimed the super-senior title, for players 60 and older, and the $1,000 additional prize money that goes with it. At 6 under par, he ended up a stroke ahead of 65-year-old Willie Wood among the super-seniors.
— Results: For all the scores from the Colorado Senior Open, CLICK HERE.
Willie Wood to a three-stroke lead into the final round but made back-to-back double bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes and shot 76.
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