I know a lot of you keep up with pending tournament play by reading this column every week. But for those who signed up for last weekend’s Hampton Inn-Yellow Ball Challenge, you already know the event was cancelled because of rain. Welcome to southwest Colorado weather.
Dalton Ranch Golf Club will be abuzz Friday with the 16th annual Bank of the San Juans Golf Tournament. It is hard to believe this event is in its 16th year. It’s becoming a mainstay for local charities, and this year’s beneficiary is The Community Foundation serving Southwest Colorado.
I will have results for you next week.
The feeling is hard to describe when the Navajo Trail Open comes around every year at Hillcrest Golf Club. This is such a special event for the Four Corners and kicks off two weeks of top-notch competition with the NTO and the San Juan Open in Farmington.
It all starts Saturday at Hillcrest with the Sponsors Tournament. There is a shotgun start at 1 p.m. and dinner to follow in the clubhouse. Then, five days later, on June 18, the start of four days of competition begins with the Pro-Am and the 54-hole Open portion of the First National Bank-Navajo Trail Open on June 19-21.
Current conditions are looking favorable for another record-breaking event. The tournament brings in over 40 professionals and nearly 200 amateurs from all over the southwest.
A reminder to all casual golfers: Hillcrest will be closed to general play for the four days of the tournament – June 18-21.
The women have their days in the spotlight at Dalton Ranch Golf Club and The Glacier Club on June 17-18 with the annual Columbine Classic Duet. It took one hour, back on May 1, to completely fill the tournament entries, which is a testament to its popularity.
The beneficiaries of this year’s event are the Fort Lewis College women’s golf team and the Durango High School girl’s golf team. The Columbine committee also has decided funds for the FLC program will be in the form of a Nick Turner Scholarship in memory of Nick’s long-term contributions to the tournament and his relationship with Fort Lewis College.
I wanted to put in a quick plug for the South Forty Golf Course in Cortez. I found out that they recently added a refreshment venue to their 9-hole course and driving range, which is called the South Forty Snack Shack. Every offering is a buck.
Last week, the Hillcrest Women’s Golf Association weekly event was nixed because of weather. But the Dalton Ranch Women’s Golf Association Wednesday Ladies Day event went off without a hitch June 3 with Red Team vs. White Team Match Play. The Red Team won, 48-42. Congrats to Red Team members Fran Rusk, Amy Harlow, Nancy West, Sue Samet, Karen Wallace, Claudia Patterson, Diane Smith, Marlene Gebhardt, Alison Epstein and Sandy Kolb.
