When Brandt Jobe received word during the winter that he was nominated for the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, the touring pro probably had to hold back some chuckles. Jobe felt honored, but he couldn’t help but think of the irony.
And the timing.
Jobe, 39, missed much of the 2004 PGA Tour after undergoing surgery in July to remove part of a fractured hamate bone from his left hand. He underwent surgery on the same bone in 2003.
“I thought, ‘What if the hand hadn’t healed enough for me to play well, and I hadn’t made a dime when I went to the (Hall of Fame) ceremony? What would people think?”‘ Jobe said Monday during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Inverness Hotel and Golf Club.
Everything worked out fine. Jobe joined Dennis Lyon, Ed Nosewicz and Jack Sommers as the 2005 class of inductees. And Jobe, who began the year playing on a medical exemption, has erased any doubts about keeping his tour card by earning $701,631 through 11 events.
Jobe needed to earn $375,351 in 20 events in 2005 to retain full-time playing privileges. Thanks in large part to a $330,000 check for his runner-up finish at the BellSouth Classic, Jobe regained exempt status this year and likely has already earned enough to retain his card for 2006.
“This year has put back the fun in the game for me again,” said Jobe, who won several Colorado Golf Association championships and the 1992 Colorado Open.
Jobe posted his second top-10 finish this year Sunday with a tie for sixth ($163,600) at the Bank of America Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, a few miles down the road from Southlake, where the Jobe family makes its home. Brandt and his wife, Jennifer, have two children under the age of 6.
Carrying Jobe’s bag at the Colonial was his Denver-based swing coach, Mike McGetrick.
“Brandt is the epitome of a Hall of Famer,” McGetrick said. “He has never taken his talent for granted. And he has persevered through injury.”
Lyon, 56, runs the city of Aurora golf division and is a former president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Nosewicz, 79, is a four-time winner of the CGA senior match play championship and longtime instructor.
Sommers, 54, won the 1972 Broadmoor Invitational and four PGA Section championships.
Footnotes
Ohio-based golf course architect Arthur Hills is expected to be in town today to show Green Gables members his $6 million makeover of the 76-year-old country club. … University of Southern California-bound Tom Glissmeyer of Colorado Springs, 15-year-old Branden Barron of Centennial and 14-year-old Becca Huffer of Denver will be among the local favorites in the American Junior Golf Association’s Hiwan Junior, set for June 6-10 at Hiwan Golf Club.
