Once on the verge of buying a home in Colorado, 2000 International champ Ernie Els still holds the state close to his heart as U.S. Senior Open awaits; Langer calls Broadmoor’s greens the toughest on tour; Harrington labels them ‘treacherous’
By Gary Baines – 6/25/2025
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ernie Els is a South African by birth and a longtime world traveler, but a few decades ago he very nearly became a Coloradan — at least part-time.
During his heyday, the four-time major championship winner was enamored by the Castle Pines Golf Club area in Castle Rock, having been a regular competitor at the PGA Tour’s International.
“I was this close to buying a house down the 10th hole,” Els said this week at The Broadmoor, where he’ll play in the U.S. Senior Open starting on Thursday. “But I was talked out of it because it was too far west and so forth — all these excuses. I’m still kicking myself not buying a house at Castle Pines back in the ’90s.”
It’s easy to be taken by the beauty of Colorado, but in Els’ case he bonded with some of the powers that be at Castle Pines because of how they treated him back well before he became a World Golf Hall of Famer.
Els had played in just one PGA Tour event at the time — the 1990 Buick Southern Open, where he missed the cut. “I was as green as they came,” Els said during a 2013 visit to the state. Still, with The International being named what it was, tournament officials offered the promising young South African an invitation to compete in the lucrative event at Castle Pines. Kaye Kessler, the late longtime sports writer who helped with player relations at The International in its early years, in particular paved the path to Castle Pines for Els.
“Nobody ever even heard of me, not even in South Africa, back in those days,” Els said. “Kaye Kessler, he had a good word there with (International and Castle Pines founder Jack) Vickers, and out of the blue I got this invite to come and play at The International. I can’t even remember how I played (he placed 51st for his first made cut ever on the PGA Tour).
“But that’s where that relationship started with Colorado golf and the Vickers family and The International at Castle Pines. … I still have friends in the area, wonderful people. I’ve enjoyed so much golf around this area. I’ve played The Broadmoor with Tommy Vickers (Jack’s brother). He brought me down here many years ago, so I had a look around then and loved it.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Vail. I know a lot of people up there. A lot of time I’ve spent here and I’ve had a lot of great times.”
Of course, Els’ relationship with the state was further solidified with his victory at The International in 2000 — almost exactly a quarter century ago — and he finished in the top 10 at that event a remarkable nine times. Then in 2013 in Lakewood he was presented the Nicholson Award, named for Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and former USGA president Will Nicholson Jr., and given to prominent golfers who demonstrated a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf.
Nowadays, after winning 19 times on the PGA Tour, the 55-year-old Els is a regular on PGA Tour Champions, where he’s captured seven victories, including one early this year. This week, he’s one of five World Golf Hall of Famers in the field for the U.S. Senior Open, joining Vijay Singh, Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington.
This week they’ll all face the test that’s presented by arguably the most prestigious tournament in senior golf.
“Obviously on the main tour, the USGA really wants to find the best player that week,” Els said. Obviously, for us on the senior level, that’s also the case, but playing so many regular U.S. Opens, playing a U.S. Senior Open is a little bit more tame, if I can say that. We can breathe a little bit. It’s still going to be very difficult. They’re trying to do exactly the same examination of getting the best player in the field. But at least we can move the ball around a little bit out of the fairways. It’s not as demandingly long. It’s a bit more playable.
“I love playing USGA events,” the two-time U.S. Open champion added. “I’ve loved it my whole career. That’s why I think I’ve played well in them is that I know that everything gets tested.”
World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh tried to get a handle on The Broadmoor’s green complexes on Wednesday.
Broadmoor’s Greens Will Present “Treacherous” Challenge: Based upon the impressions of two of the World Golf Hall of Famers playing this week, the 2025 U.S. Senior Open might to a bear, so to speak.
“I think The Broadmoor may have the toughest greens anywhere pretty much — tougher than Augusta, tougher than just about anywhere we play,” said Bernhard Langer, the winningest PGA Tour Champions player in history. “There’s so much breaks and undulation on these greens. You hit a putt 2 inches shorter than you should and it ends up 6 feet away, and you hit it 2 inches further than you should and it ends up 6 feet on the other side.
“Huge breaks — so that’s one challenge. The other one is obviously dealing with the altitude, the wind, calculating all that. We’re not used to adding 10 percent or — is it 10? Is it 15? Is it 7? Nobody really knows. If you hit the ball really high, it goes further. If you hit it low, it goes a little shorter, all of that.
“The rough is up this week. They’ve had, I think, the last 40 days it rained 35 days if I’m not mistaken. That’s what a local told me. It’s playing very long. The ball is plugging off the tee shot pretty much. … It’s playing very long and very challenging.”
Asked a follow-up about comparing the difficulty of The Broadmoor’s greens to Augusta National’s, Langer added, “Augusta has severe greens, but there’s always flat areas. Here there’s hardly any flat areas. The ball is constantly moving either sideways or back to front or front to back. There’s so much movement. A lot of false fronts, a lot of false sides, where you think you’re on the green and you start walking and all of a sudden you see the ball rolling off the green and you’re facing even a bunker shot or a chip shot — things like that. And the rough around the green is pretty thick, where it’s hard to control the spin and how the ball reacts out of there.”
Padraig Harrington, winner of three open-age major championships, had a similar take on the notoriously difficult putting surfaces at The Broadmoor.
“The greens are very old school, treacherous at the speeds that we play them at these days and with the slopes and that,” said the Irishman, the 2022 U.S. Senior Open champion who will be competing in Colorado for the first time. “Knowing where to hit it, knowing where the right place to miss and then you’re just going to have to be good. No matter how good you putt, you’re going to have a lot of putts up and over slopes, so you’re going to have 3-, 4-, 5-footers off your good putts. It’s just going to be a relentless week of taking it on the chin, and if it runs 5 feet by, not complaining, and get up there and hit your best putt and get on with it.”
Miguel Angel Jiménez will be looking for his fifth victory of 2025 on PGA Tour Champions.
It’s little wonder why a grand total of one player — 2008 U.S. Senior Open champion Eduardo Romero — has finished better than 3 under par for 72 holes during USSOs held at The Broadmoor.
Langer has two U.S. Senior Open titles among his record 47 PGA Tour Champions victories. And even at age 67, he’s confident he can win under the right circumstances. But The Broadmoor doesn’t fit particularly well into his wheelhouse, though this will be his third time playing a USSO at the venue.
“I don’t hit the ball as high and as far as the young guys do, so I have a flatter ball flight, which makes it then hard to stop the ball on the green,” he said. “When the greens get a little firmer, the ball comes in and just releases to the back, which is not where you want to be.” In other words, he’s at a significant disadvantage here compared to long, high-ball hitters. “The long hitters will love these conditions because they can stop the ball and still reach all the holes comfortably.”
Justin Leonard, a winner on PGA Tour Champions this year, lived in Aspen from 2015-22.
Former ‘Mountain Man’ Justin Leonard Back in Centennial State, Where He Resided: Justin Leonard lived in Aspen from 2015-22, which might seem odd for a Texan whose life revolves around golf, but he took it serious enough that his Twitter/X handle during that time was @JLMountainMan.
Now, after having moved from 8,000 feet elevation to 0 (sea level), the 1997 British Open champion is back in his old home state this week, set to tee it up at the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor starting Thursday.
“I circled this on my calendar way back when I saw it four or five years ago maybe, when we were still living here,” Leonard said on Wednesday . “We left Colorado three years ago (and are) living in Florida. But it’s nice to be back. Cooler weather. I got the little reminder of Colorado weather yesterday afternoon (with a major hailstorm). But it’s a beautiful place.”
Leonard made the move from Aspen to Florida in part because he was hitting the magic age of 50 and was ready to make a run on PGA Tour Champions after having won a dozen times on the PGA Tour and doing work on the Golf Channel.
“It’s hard not to miss living in the mountains and in a mountain town,” he said. “The nice thing is now we’re on the water, so we replaced one beautiful scenery with a different one.
“I would say we haven’t really looked back because my family has been very happy.”
Though Leonard had stayed at The Broadmoor resort before, this week marks his first time playing the golf course.
“I really like the golf course,” the 53-year-old said. “It’s pretty much there in front of you. The greens, they’re difficult to read because of a little bit of the mountain and valley effect. There’s a lot of slope to them. Then you’ve got the (6,000-plus-foot) altitude; it’s an educated guess of how far the ball is going and those kind of things.
“So a few different factors. To play well here, you need to put the ball in the fairway. The rough is very penal. It’s tough to get the ball up-and-down from around the greens. So if you do miss greens, you’ve got to miss it in the correct spot. A lot of holes you’re just trying to make a par and keep moving forward.”
Leonard does return to Colorado as a winner on PGA Tour Champions, having earned his first victory on that circuit at the Chub Classic in Florida in February. In fact, it marked his first win on any PGA Tour-sanctioned circuit since the 2008 St. Jude Championship. He hasn’t posted another top-10 since, but has three top-15s, including a 12th place on Sunday at the Kaulig Companies Championship, a senior major.
“I think (the win has) freed me up a little bit,” he said. “It had been a while since I had won anything, unless you count the flight at the Winding Bay member-guest a few years ago (laugh). So I think it definitely freed me up. If anything, it just reminded me what it takes, the things that I don’t need to do in order to win, which are try too hard and press and all those things. So I learned some good lessons, good reminders, and hopefully I’ll get that next one here soon.”
Cink, who won a Nike Tour Event in Colorado, Set for U.S. Senior Open Debut: Like Els, another winner of a major championship who can trace his formative years as a Tour player to Colorado is Stewart Cink, who figures to be among the favorites for this week’s U.S. Senior Open.
In 1996, Cink won the Nike Colorado Classic on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour, at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton. That turned out to be the victory that clinched Cink’s PGA Tour card, though he won a third Nike Tour event at the 1996 Tour Championship.
Asked on Wednesday what he remembered of his victory in Brighton 29 years ago, Cink said jokingly, “It was in the Denver area. … I do actually remember some of it. It’s a Dye course. I remember that. My wife got in an altercation with a marshal; I remember that. But I don’t remember that much. It was a long time ago.
“It was the tournament that pretty much sealed my moving on as No. 1 to the PGA Tour the next year.”
And, of course, Cink went on to win eight times on the PGA Tour, including the British Open in 2009, when he beat Tom Watson in a playoff to deny the then-59-year-old a final major victory. Now playing full-time on PGA Tour Champions, the 52-year-old Cink has two senior victories to his credit, including one this year.
After missing the first two U.S. Senior Opens for which he was eligible — Cink split time between the PGA Tour and the Champions circuit in 2023 and ’24 — he will make his U.S. Senior Open debut this week.
“I’m excited about playing in this tournament for the first time,” Cink said. “Unfortunately, I had to miss the last couple when I was eligible, but it’s a good place to start right here. Broadmoor is a cool place. The golf course is really neat. I love being in this part of the world. My dad is from right here not too far away (in Estes Park), so it’s kind of in my DNA. I just love being here and am looking forward to it.”
Actually, Cink hasn’t played a PGA Tour event in 2025, with his last showing on that circuit being the RSM Classic in November.
“I really don’t miss playing on the PGA Tour that much,” he said. “It’s nice to play for like really huge purses, but it’s nice to be out here. I like playing PGA Tour Champions golf. It’s fun. It’s new courses mostly, and I get to see new towns. It’s a great way to sort of sunset your career. I hope that sunset lasts a long time.”
And, for the record, Cink very much likes his chances this week as a long, high-ball hitter.
“I think power is important here because you can take advantage of the altitude,” he said. “That’s a key factor around this area. Ball speed and high trajectory just makes the course shorter. Relative to other players who might hit it lower and maybe not as fast, you just gain like an exponential type of distance when you hit it high and far. So that’s going to be a lot of fun.
“It’s not the narrowest course I’ve seen for the USGA setups, but the rough is thick. If you drive it far off the tee, you’ve got shorter shots to the screen. It’s just advantage upon advantage.
“… I feel like my skill set adapts to this course very well. I have a lot of confidence here, and I’m just looking forward to having some fun playing. I love playing tournament golf against the best guys that are my age. It’s just another chance to do that, and it’s a new venue. This tournament means an awful lot to all of us.”
Looking Ahead: The heavy rain The Broadmoor received Tuesday afternoon — with some more on Wednesday — may have changed the scoring outlook for the week, at least for the short-term, according to Leonard: “With (the greens) being soft, it plays very different,” he said. “As they continue to firm up through the week, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some lower scores early in the week and then it gets more difficult as the week goes on. I think that’s how you guys at the USGA kind of prefer things to go. So I think it’s kind of in your favor so far this week.”
Two-time U.S. Senior Open winner Hale Irwin (left), honorary chairman for the 2025 tournament, chats in a TV interview with The Broadmoor’s director of golf, Russ Miller.
Still UnBearable: Langer, of course, was part of a pairing, along with Hale Irwin and Tom Watson, that encountered a large black bear running across a fairway at The Broadmoor they were playing during the 2008 U.S. Senior Open.
And Langer’s memory of the incident remains vivid.
“That was a scary moment really,” he said. “Until then I had never experienced a bear this close to me. I was walking down the middle of the fairway with Tom Watson and we hear this commotion, so we look over there, and about 100 yards away this bear was coming straight at us, and I’m thinking, ‘What am I doing now?’
“I said, ‘Well, if I run away from him, he’s faster than me. I don’t want him to jump on my back and maul me apart. So I just stood still and tried to be non-threatening, and Tom tried to do the same thing, and he still kept coming at us. And he literally ran 10 feet from us into the trees on the other side of the fairway and went up the tree.
“But I didn’t know the difference between a grizzly and a black bear. Now I do. I have a home in North Carolina, and we have black bears in our neighborhood. They’re not that dangerous, so I’m not too scared anymore.”
Irwin memorably noted that Dottie Pepper, a TV reporter walking with the group, panicked a bit at the bear encounter.
“Dottie about wet her britches,” Irwin said.
One young man was among the kids enjoying the junior golf amenities at the U.S. Senior Open on Wednesday.
Notable: At a similar time as on Tuesday, lightning in the area delayed practice rounds on Wednesday afternoon. But unlike Tuesday, play resumed late in the afternoon. … As practice rounds progressed at the East Course on Wednesday, a local qualifier for the Drive, Chip & Putt was being conducted by the Colorado PGA at The Broadmoor’s West Course. A field of 116 kids was scheduled to compete. The USGA, which runs the U.S. Senior Open, teams with the PGA of America and the Masters to conduct the Drive, Chip & Putt, which features local, sub-regional and regional qualifying, plus the National Finals at Augusta National the Sunday before the Masters.
A Drive, Chip & Putt local qualifier was held Wednesday at The Broadmoor’s West Course, while practice rounds were played at the East.
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U.S. Senior Open: The Essentials
What: 45th U.S. Senior Open.
When: Championship rounds June 26-29.
Where: East Course at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. 7,247 yards, par-70.
Hole By Hole Set-Up:
Hole 1: 429 yards (Par 4)
Hole 2: 339 yards (Par 4)
Hole 3: 601 yards (Par 5)
Hole 4: 165 yards (Par 3)
Hole 5: 433 yards (Par 4)
Hole 6: 402 yards (Par 4)
Hole 7: 426 yards (Par 4)
Hole 8: 178 yards (Par 3)
Hole 9: 535 yards (Par 5)
OUT: 3,508 yards (Par 36)
Hole 10: 501 yards (Par 4)
Hole 11: 478 yards (Par 4)
Hole 12: 223 yards (Par 3)
Hole 13: 493 yards (Par 4)
Hole 14: 427 yards (Par 4)
Hole 15: 459 yards (Par 4)
Hole 16: 180 yards (Par 3)
Hole 17: 545 yards (Par 4)
Hole 18: 433 yards (Par 4)
IN: 3,739 yards (Par 34)
TOTAL: 7,247 yards (Par 70)
Field Size: 156 players, all age 50 as of June 26.
Cut: After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 60 scorers and ties.
Potential Playoff: Two-hole aggregate.
TV Broadcast (All times MT):
Thursday and Friday (June 26-27): Peacock, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Golf Channel, 4-7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday (June 28-29): NBC, noon-4 p.m.
Purse: $4 million, with $800,000 going to the winner.
“Locals” in the Field: Barring the unforeseen, six players with significant Colorado ties will be in the field: Parker resident Shane Bertsch, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe, Denver resident Chris DiMarco, former Aspen resident Justin Leonard, former Colorado State University golfer Darrin Overson, and Erie resident Matt Schalk.
Open-Age Major Champions in Field (Majors Won: 26): Ernie Els 4, Vijay Singh 3, Padraig Harrington 3, Bernhard Langer 2, Angel Cabrera 2, Retief Goosen 2, Lee Janzen 2, David Toms, Y.E. Yang, Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard, Jeff Sluman, Mike Weir.
Senior Major Champions in Field (Senior Majors Won: 44): Bernhard Langer 12, Miguel Angel Jiménez 3, Alex Cejka 3, Fred Funk 3, Angel Cabrera 2, Jerry Kelly 2, Paul Broadhurst 2, Jeff Maggert 2, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen, Steven Alker, K.J. Choi, Doug Barron, Ken Tanigawa, David Toms, Scott McCarron, Rocco Mediate, Gene Sauers, Olin Browne, Brad Bryant.
PGA Tour Wins Among Players in Field (264): Vijay Singh 34, Ernie Els 19, David Toms 13, Justin Leonard 12, Stuart Appleby 9, Stewart Cink 8, Fred Funk 8, K.J. Choi 8, Lee Janzen 8, Mike Weir 8, Retief Goosen 7, Padraig Harrington 6, Rocco Mediate 6, Jeff Sluman 6, Paul Goydos 5, Scott Verplank 5, Brian Gay 5, Stephen Ames 4, Billy Andrade 4, Chad Campbell 4, Woody Austin 4, Joe Durant 4, Bob Estes 4, Duffy Waldorf 4, Steve Flesch 4, Notah Begay 4, Angel Cabrera 3, Darren Clarke 3, Jeff Maggert 3, Chris DiMarco 3, Gene Sauers 3, Rod Pampling 3, Bernhard Langer 3, J.J. Henry 3, Kirk Triplett 3, Jerry Kelly 3, Olin Browne 3, Scott McCarron 3, Boo Weekley 3, Len Mattiace 2, Paul Stankowski 2, Y.E. Yang 2, Brad Bryant, Arjun Atwal, Eric Axley, Michael Campbell, Jim Carter, Alex Cejka, Greg Chalmers, Glen Day, Ken Duke, Harrison Frazar, Jason Gore, Mark Hensby, Freddie Jacobson, Tim Petrovic, Dicky Pride, Ted Purdy, Kevin Sutherland, Bo Van Pelt, Willie Wood, Matt Gogel.
For Players in Field, Winners of Big-Time Tournaments — That Are Open to Pros — in Colorado: Shane Bertsch (1998 Colorado Open at Saddle Rock), Stewart Cink (1996 Nike Colorado Classic at Riverdale Dunes), Ernie Els (2000 International at Castle Pines), Retief Goosen (2005 International at Castle Pines), Lee Janzen (1995 International at Castle Pines), Brandt Jobe (1992 Colorado Open at Inverness), Rod Pampling (2004 International at Castle Pines), Tom Pernice Jr. (2001 International at Castle Pines), Tag Ridings (Korn Ferry Tour’s 2021 TPC Colorado Classic at TPC Colorado), Vijay Singh (1998 International at Castle Pines), David Toms (1999 International at Castle Pines and 2018 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor), Willie Wood (1983 Broadmoor Invitation at The Broadmoor and the 1984 Colorado Open at Hiwan), Duffy Waldorf (1984 Broadmoor Invitation at The Broadmoor). Note: Jobe, Ridings, Wood and Waldorf earned spots in the USSO field through recent final-qualifying tournaments.
Ticket Info: Kids 17 and under will be admitted free to the U.S. Senior Open when accompanied by a ticketed adult. For U.S. Senior Open ticket information and packages, CLICK HERE.
More Information: For more general information about the U.S. Senior Open, CLICK HERE.
(NOTE: Some of the previously published stories in this periodic series related to the 2025 U.S. Senior Open:
— Matt Schalk of Erie a U.S. Senior Open qualifying medalist for 2nd straight year; Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe, Denver resident Chris DiMarco, former CSU golfer Darrin Overson and Utahn Steve Schneiter also headed to USSO at The Broadmoor
— As U.S. Senior Open approaches, The Broadmoor is set to once again present one of the toughest tests in senior golf
— Ranking of the previous 8 USGA championships held at The Broadmoor
— U.S. Senior Open record book brimming with Colorado-related superlatives
— Fully exempt players for 2025 U.S. Senior Open
— Highlights of the three previous times Colorado has hosted the U.S. Senior Open
— Hale Irwin named honorary chair for 2025 Senior Open
— Senior Open going to a 2-stage qualifying process in 2025)
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