Colorado Springs, Colo. – Fantastic weather greeted the players as they arrived at The Club at Flying Horse, Club Course, for the first round of the 2022 Colorado Senior PGA Professional Championship. Calm winds and warm temperatures made for impeccable scoring conditions and many players took full advantage with 9 of the 50 breaking par on day 1.
Defending champion Micah Rudosky, PGA, Head Professional at Conquistador Golf Course, continued his strong play in this championship posting a 6-under-par 66 to give him a share of the lead heading into the final round. “I pitched it in for eagle on the Par 4 fifteenth, which certainly helped because when I did miss a green, I usually made bogey,” Rudosky said. 4 birdies and no bogeys on his front nine gave him the solo lead at the turn but a roller coaster back nine with 3 bogeys, 3 birdies, and an eagle gave him a closing nine 34, and that share of the lead. When asked about the game plan for tomorrow to defend his title, Rudosky stated, “I have to shoot under par to contend.”
Tied with Rudosky at the top are Doug Montgomery, PGA Instructor at Gott Golf, and past champion Doug Rohrbaugh, PGA Instructor at River Valley Ranch Golf Course. 7 birdies an eagle and 3 bogies were scattered across Montgomery’s card, leading to his 66. When asked about his round, Montgomery stated, “Through about the fourteenth hole I had perfect yardages on all of my approach shots and then that quit and I didn’t do so good on the last 6 holes,” as he closed with bogies on 15 and 17.
2012 and 2013 champion, Rohrbaugh, was bogey-free for his first round 66 and gave all the credit to his driver and putter, “I didn’t miss a fairway and had 11 putts on the front and 23 putts total.” Bogey free in any round of golf is stellar, and you need to have a stellar short game to make this happen. Rohrbaugh stated, “I made an 8-footer on the first hole for par and everything else was inside 3 feet for par, the ones where I got up and down.”
Right on their heels is Matt Schalk, PGA Director of Golf at Colorado National Golf Club who fired a 5-under-par 67. Schalk coming off a T57 finish at the Inspirato Colorado Open, where he was the lowest finishing Colorado PGA Professional, continued his hot play with 6 birdies an eagle, and 2 bogies on day 1. Schalk, when asked what was working today, stated, “Mostly all my irons, when I came out of the Colorado Open, my iron play was pretty darn good.” He will need his iron play to be the highlight of his game again tomorrow as play shifts to the much more difficult North Course at The Club at Flying Horse.
Rounding out the Top-6 are Grant Jackson, PGA Assistant Professional at Saddle Rock Golf Course, and Dave Arbuckle, PGA Life Member, who both shot 4-under-par 67s to only be 2 shots back heading into tomorrow’s final round.
The North Course at The Club at Flying Horse, which just opened 2 years ago, takes center stage tomorrow and is the perfect golf course to crown our 2022 Colorado Senior PGA Professional Champion. Rohrbaugh stated, “You have to play everything a full club less” than what he was today due to the firmness of the North Course, which should prove to be a tough but fair test for the 50 Senior Colorado PGA Professionals teeing it up in the final round.
Thank you to the PGA Team at The Club at Flying Horse, General Manager Glenn Wallace, PGA, Director of Golf Jacob O’Dell, PGA and 1st Assistant’s Justin Vaughn and Mack Borowicz, PGA. A thank you to our national presenting partner, Cadillac, supporting partner Golf Channel and the PGA Tour for their support and continued partnership of this Championship.
The Top-8 qualifiers from this championship qualified for the
2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship, set to be played on October 13-16, 2022, at Twin Warriors & Santa Ana Golf Clubs in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.
