Westward

For just the fifth time in the last 50 years, CGA Amateur headed for western Colorado as Sonnenalp Club in Edwards set for its third go-around as host of the championship

By Gary Baines 

Western Colorado — and the mountainous portion of the state — will get its chance to shine next week as the CGA Amateur pays a visit.

The state amateur — in this case the stroke-play version — much more often than not is held along the foot of the Front Range, simply because much of the state’s population is based there. But occasionally — and more often in recent years — the CGA Amateur is conducted in western Colorado.

This summer is one of those summers as the championship, which dates back to the 1930s, is headed for the western half of the state. Specifically, Sonnenalp Club in Edwards, west of Vail, will host the 72-hole event Monday through next Thursday (Aug. 3-6). While balls fly further in Colorado in general than at sea level, that effect is accentuated in the thin air at nearly 7,500 feet of elevation.

In the last 50 years, only two Colorado courses in western Colorado have hosted the CGA Amateur — River Valley Ranch in Carbondale (2003 and 2022) and Sonnenalp (which was previously known as Singletree; 1985, 2017 and this year). Sonnenalp has also twice been the site of the Colorado Open — in 2001 and 2002, the latter won by impending Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Stadler, who recorded his first professional victory there.

Next week, three past CGA Amateur champions will be back for more, including Thomas Herholtz (winner in 2025) and Colin Prater (2016, ’20 and ’24), both of Colorado Springs, and Pat Grady of Westminster (2006). Prater, who didn’t compete in last year’s CGA Am, has won five CGA open-age major championships overall as he’s also captured two Match Play titles.

Among the other entrants are former state high school champion Thayer Plewe of Cortez, who came ever so close to qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Open; Collin Engelhardt of Castle Pines, who recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur; 2026 CGA Match Play champion Traejan Andrews of Greeley; Brayden Forte of Aurora, who advanced to the round of 16 at this month’s U.S. Junior Amateur; past CGA Match Play champions Nick Nosewicz of Aurora and Matthew Wilkinson of Centennial; and numerous top players from Colorado-based college programs.

The winner of the CGA Amateur title next week will earn a spot in the 2027 U.S. Amateur, set for Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y.

The field at Sonnanalp will include 84 players, with the top 40 and ties after 36 holes advancing to the final two rounds.

Several winners of the CGA Amateur in the 21st century are active members of PGA Tour-affiliated circuits: Wyndham Clark (2010 champ; five-time winner on PGA Tour, including two U.S. Opens); Davis Bryant (2019 champ; DP World Tour); Chris Korte (2015 champ; Korn Ferry Tour); Dillon Stewart (2023 champ; Korn Ferry Tour/PGA Tour Americas); and Griffin Barela (2021 champ; PGA Tour Americas).

For opening-round tee times for the 2026 CGA Amateur, 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