This is the fourth in our debut year of bi-monthly series on the Colorado Men’s Golf Program. Features will be varied, from alumni interviews to topics of the day, etc. This feature highlights CU’s inductees and others honored by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, which on November 18 held its 50th Anniversary Gala at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. It included an awesome “fireside” chat with former Buffaloes Hale Irwin and Steve Jones, along with professionals Hollis Stacy and Craig Stadler (complete with a fake fireplace and emceed by KUSA-TV’s Tom Green). Some excerpts later in story.
The Broadmoor is the new location of Colorado’s Golf Hall of Fame; it previously for years had been located at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton, but outgrew the facility. There are 20 with CU ties who have been honored by the Hall for their careers, contributions to the game or afforded prestigious awards in association with the game of golf. Those include 14 inducted into the Hall of Fame:
Hale Irwin (inducted 1974)
Joan Birkland (inducted 1977; Golf Person of the Year 1995)
Dale Douglass (inducted 1977; Golf Person of the Year 1986)
Les Fowler (inducted 1978)
Robert Kirchner (inducted 1982; Golf Person of the Year 1975 & 1978)
Larry McAtee (inducted 1992)
Steve Jones (inducted 1997; Golf Person of the Year 1989)
Ray Stenzel (inducted 1998)
Larry Webb (inducted 2000)
John Hamer (inducted 2002)
Mark Crabtree (inducted 2006)
Tom Woodard (inducted 2013; Golf Person of the Year 1997)
M.J. Mastalir (inducted 2017; Distinguished Service Award, 1995)
Gary Baines (inducted 2022)
The most prominent are CU’s U.S. Open champions, Irwin (1974, 1979 and 1990) and Jones (1996), but those four wins are just the icing on the cake when it comes to everything this select group has on their resumes.
Irwin, of course, was also the 1967 NCAA individual champion, winning 20 times on the PGA Tour and on 45 occasions on the Senior/Champions circuit. The all-time CU leader in tournaments won (four), he racked up two medalist honors in Big 8 Conference play, winning the 1966 title outright and sharing the ’67 crown when he was a first-team All-American. He is one of just five players to have led the Buffs in average three or more seasons. He earned a combined six letters in football and golf; after playing quarterback as a sophomore, he became a two-time first-team all-Big Eight selection at weak side safety in 1965 and 1966,…
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