Pat Grady, bidding to add a 2nd CGA Amateur title 19 years after the first, holes out for eagle on final hole to gain share of lead with CU’s Ty Holbrook; 2023 runner-up Gage Messingham sits a shot back after incurring 2-stroke penalty
By Gary Baines – 8/1/2025
WESTMINSTER — It certainly wasn’t the most typical of days for the players in or near the lead after three rounds of the CGA Amateur.
One golfer hit the flagstick from off the green three times on Friday at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, with the last one rolling into the hole for an eagle from 90 yards out. Another player, who shared the lead at the time, incurred a two-stroke penalty near the eighth green when his caddie stepped on the pitch mark where the golfer’s ball had embedded — after the ball was placed back in play nearby.
At the end of the day, Pat Grady of Westminster, who won the CGA Amateur 19 years ago, vaulted into a share of the lead with his 90-yard, hole-out eagle on No. 18, giving him a 5-under-par 67. And University of Colorado golfer Ty Holbrook of Boulder, who held the lead outright for just about the entire back nine on Friday, bogeyed his final two holes to end up tied with Grady for the top spot.
Grady won the CGA Amateur in 2006 while he was a University of Colorado golfer. On Saturday, he’ll try to repeat the feat as a 39-year-old accountant.
“It’s one of those things where I’ve always thought that I was still good enough,” said Grady, the CGA Player of the Year in 2007 and ’08. “With two kids and an accounting practice, it’s a little harder. But it’s in there somewhere. It would be cool” to win this again.
CU golfer Ty Holbrook extricates himself from the deep stuff near the 17th green on Friday.
As for Holbrook, he’s no stranger to playing well at Walnut Creek. In 2021, he tied for first in regulation at the course when it hosted the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, eventually falling in a playoff to Fort Collins’ Owen Cornmesser.
“I played well that week,” said Holbrook, who now lives in Colorado full time after growing up in Texas. “I like this golf course. It’s somewhere I feel good at. I have confidence here knowing I’ve played well here before. I know I have all the shots it takes to be out here and win. I’ve just got to do it tomorrow.
“And the game is definitely trending in the right direction. It’s getting better every day. I just need to take advantage of the opportunities I do have.”
Meanwhile, Gage Messingham of Arvada, a runner-up in the CGA Amateur two years ago, sits a stroke behind the co-leaders despite the two-stroke penalty he received on No. 8, which ultimately resulted in him signing for a triple bogey there. Messignham was apprised of the ruling after he had completed the following hole, No. 9. Even though the caddie took the action that led to the penalty, the player is ultimately responsible for his caddie’s actions in such matters. (See below from 8.1a(3) regarding the wording of the rule.)
Whatever the case, it wasn’t easy for the University of Iowa golfer to swallow incurring the two-stroke penalty.
“I thought it was bad judgment overall,” Messingham said. “I didn’t see it (happen) obviously, but when somebody does something like that you don’t think they’re going to do it on purpose to give you an advantage. We’re not here to cheat. I thought it was bogus, but I tried to bounce back as best I could and shoot the best score I could obviously.”
Gage Messingham signals his tee shot on the 11th hole is heading left.
Going into Saturday’s final round, Grady (69-69-67) and Holbrook (69-64-72) sit at 11 under par, one better than Messingham (67-66-73). And another half-dozen competitors also are within five strokes of the lead — Thomas Herholtz of Colorado Springs (-9), Rhett Johnson of Littleton (-8), Westin Pals of Castle Rock (-7), and the three players tied at -6: Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo and former Colorado School of Mines teammates Lucas Schulte and Lukas Taggart.
There was plenty of movement on the leaderboard coming down the stretch on Friday. Grady played his final six holes in 4 under par, capped by his half lob wedge shot for eagle on No. 18, where his ball bounced about a foot in front of the hole, then a foot behind it, and rolled into the cup.
“It was a weird day,” he said. “I hit the flagstick three times — twice were pretty bad breaks (on holes 8 and 15) and once I holed out on 18 from 90 yards. But on 18, I didn’t nail the flagstick for the third time.”
Grady came on strong on the back nine on Friday.
Meanwhile, after Holbrook drained a 15-foot par putt on 13 and a 7-foot birdie try on 14, he struggled some coming in. He pushed iron shots into deep native grass on 17 and into a penalty area on the edge of the lake on 18, leading to bogeys in both cases.
“I hit a lot of good shots, but didn’t really capitalize on the greens,” said the CU junior-to-be, who placed third in the CGA Amateur last year. “I didn’t make the ones that I should have. But I’m hitting it well, I’m hitting my driver well, which makes the golf course a lot easier. I just need to tighten up some of the shots coming in the greens.”
Holbrook (pictured Friday) finished second in a playoff at the 2021 AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior at Walnut Creek.
As for Messingham, he dropped a shot on 17 when he missed a 4-foot par attempt, then rebounded on 18, getting up and down for birdie.
“It would be great if I could pull through (tomorrow), but you never know,” said Messingham, who grew up playing Walnut Creek on a fairly regular basis. “It’s golf at the end of the day. There’s a lot of luck involved and a lot of skill involved. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Grady was equally philosophical about what awaits in Saturday’s final round.
“I need to really stay patient tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve been hitting it well, putting well, chipping well, so the chips will fall where they may come tomorrow. I’ve just got to stay out of my own way.”
Thomas Herholtz of Colorado Springs sits in fourth place heading into the final round.
The winner on Saturday not only will earn a spot on the CGA Amateur trophy, but he’ll receive an automatic berth into the U.S. Amateur, set for Aug. 11-17 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
For all the scores from the 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