Seven Others Qualify to Join Keffer at Bandon Dunes Next April at the 2026 PGA Professional National Championship Colorado Springs, CO, September 17, 2025 - The final round of the 68th Colorado PGA Professional Championship was pushed back two hours from the scheduled 7:30 am start time due to the second round not being completed the night before. The second round resumed at 7:30 am on Wednesday morning and concluded at 8:35 pm. The cut was made at +9, and final round tee times were off and running at 9:30 am, with the leaders teeing off at 11:00 am. That final group included two-time Colorado PGA Professional Champion Geoff Keffer, PGA Assistant Professional at Lakewood Country Club. Keffer began the day with a one-shot lead and was determined to hoist the Ralph “Rip” Arnold Memorial Award Trophy for a third time. After birdies on one and four and an eagle on five, Keffer had jumped to 11-under-par and held a five-shot lead over his closest competitor. Keffer had seven pars, two birdies, and two bogies over his next 11 holes. “Knowing where I was at, just tried to make low stress pars the whole way,” Keffer said. Then, after low-stress golf over the last 11-hole stretch, Keffer stood on the 17th tee with the golf tournament pretty much won. He could very easily lay up and secure his par, which he did the exact opposite of. Knocking a mini driver on the green to 30 feet and rolling in the eagle putt to jump to 13-under-par. “Getting that one to go in on 17 was just a bonus,” Keffer stated. After a par at the last, Keffer posted a final round 66 and an eight-shot victory in a truly dominant wire-to-wire finish. Keffer captures his first section championship triumph since he won the trophy back in 2020 at Valley Country Club. “We have so many great players in this section that anytime I can be around the top, it is always great,” Keffer said. This win is Keffer’s seventh for the Colorado PGA tournament season, and extends his lead atop the Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year List to 1,548 points with only the Pro-Assistant, Masek Match Play Finals, and the West Chapter Championship left on the 2025 Colorado PGA tournament calendar. Keffer’s win qualifies him for the 2026 PGA Professional Championship, his seventh consecutive PPC. Along with Keffer, seven others will join him at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on April 26-29, 2026. Finishing in a four-way tie for second place, with a 54-hole total of 211, 5-under-par, were Henry Bernard, PGA Assistant Professional at TPC Colorado; Matt Schalk, PGA General Manager at Colorado National Golf Club; Caine Fitzgerald, PGA Head Professional at Meadow Hills Golf Course, and Ben Lanting, PGA Assistant Professional at Bear Creek Golf Club. Joining those five at Bandon Dunes next April will be solo sixth finisher and four-time section champion, Micah Rudosky, PGA Head Professional at Conquistador Golf Course, who fired rounds of 71-69-72 for a three-day total of 212, 5-under-par. A huge thanks to all of our partners of the Colorado PGA Professional Championship. Tom Bauerle, Drew Hunter, and Reed Tomlinson of Colorado Golf & Turf and Club Car, Chris McCallum of Titleist, and Adam Boland of Footjoy, Steven Vigil of Nike Golf, Shaun Haberstroh, Chris Brown, Sam Marley, and Chris Kurth of Taylormade Golf, and Mike Marsilli and Marcus Gregory of Callaway Golf. To our local partners, Chase & Derby McGee of Links & Peaks, Dr. Little of The Golf Clinic, Erin Bates of Liquid Death, Taylor Erkman of Strackaline, Samantha Masciarelli of 1st and 10th tee bars, Zach Ledvina of Maui Jim, and Kelly Jobe of Sterling Cut Glass, for their support of this championship and the Colorado PGA. Last but certainly not least is our fantastic host facility, Flying Horse North, and its dedicated staff. PGA General Manager, Glenn Wallace, PGA Director of Golf, Jacob O’Dell, PGA Head Golf Professional, Mack Borowicz, and Golf Course Superintendent, John Doncilovich, and his entire grounds staff for having the golf course in peak championship condition for the entire week. In the solo seventh position was Chris Hyten, PGA Assistant Professional at Castle Pines Golf Club. Hyten shot rounds of 71-67-75 for a three-day total of 213, 4-under-par. Hyten qualified for his fourth PGA Professional Championship and first since 2022 at Todd Creek. The eighth and final qualifier for Bandon Dunes is Bill Hancock, PGA Assistant Professional at Meadow Hills Golf Course. Hancock defeated Dan Sniffin in a one-hole playoff after making a birdie on the par-5 5th hole. Hancock fired a final round of 75 after rounds of 71 and 68 on days one and two.

Colorado Springs, CO, September 17, 2025 - Day two of the Colorado PGA Professional Championship was a carbon copy of day one, with cool temperatures and sunny skies greeting the players as they arrived at Flying Horse North for “moving day.” Up for grabs this week is the Ralph “Rip” Arnold Memorial Trophy, eight qualifying spots into the National PGA Professional Championship at Bandon Dunes in 2026, and a $75,000 purse, which is the largest purse in the history of the championship. Among the day one leaders to get an early start on day two was Geoff Keffer, PGA Assistant Professional at Lakewood Country Club. Keffer teed off at 8:00 am and got off to a tough start, bogeying three of his first six holes. “I just got some bad breaks on my opening nine, leading to the three bogies,” Keffer stated. A much-needed birdie on the 18th jump-started Keffer, and he carried that momentum on his closing nine. “I hit a couple close and had a couple of two-putt birdies [on the back nine],” Keffer stated. Keffer carded five birdies with no bogies on his back nine for a closing 31 and second round 69 to sit at seven-under-par for the Championship. Three back of Keffer’s lead is Ben Lanting, PGA Assistant Professional at Bear Creek Golf Club. “I feel very tired, rollercoaster is the only way to describe it,” Lanting said, after having another up-and-down day at Flying Horse North. Lanting carded an eagle, five birdies, two bogies, and two double bogies to card a one-under-par 71 for his second round and sit at four-under-par for the Championship and in the running to capture his first Colorado PGA Professional Championship title. “This one means the most to me out of anything I play in,” Lanting said, “I had a stretch of three seconds in a row [2021, 2022, 2023], and fifth last year, this is why I practice, this is why I work hard, to win the Section Championship would mean so much.” Then, as the afternoon wave had begun play, the storms rolled in and play was suspended at 2:45 pm. The delay would last two hours and eight minutes before play would ultimately resume at 4:53 pm. After the delay, temperatures had dropped a few degrees, and the sun began to poke its way through the clouds from time to time, but a soft golf course meant birdies were there for the taking. Players took advantage of the soft conditions with Dustin Miller, PGA Director of Instruction at The Swing Bays, Bill Hancock, PGA Assistant Professional at Meadow Hills Golf Course, Micah Rudosky, PGA Head Professional at Conquistador Golf Course, and Chris Hyten, PGA Assistant Professional at Castle Pines Golf Club all firing rounds under par to jump up multipe spots and into the Top 5 heading into the final round. Miller and Hyten finished at three and five under par, respectively, for the second round, putting them in a tie for second place at six-under-par and one shot behind Keffer. Miller’s round consisted of five birdies and two bogies. “I stayed patient throughout the round and didn’t try to force anything,” Miller said. “I knew when I could be aggressive and when I needed to stay with planned shots.”