What better way to test some of the world’s best golfers than to present a course that reflects the talents and challenges of two of the world’s most renowned golf course designers?
Organizers at The Broadmoor Golf Club have prepared a unique exam for players at the U.S. Senior Open this week. When the field begins play Thursday, it will face the work of Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones, prominent names in golf course design and in the history of The Broadmoor.
“We’ve tweaked the golf course design to look more like a Ross course,” said Mark Kelbel, head professional at The Broadmoor. “But it’s a combination of the two. The first six holes are Ross designs. Holes seven through 15 are Jones’ design and we go back to Ross again for 16 through 18.”
Ross’ influence comes from the course’s original 18-hole layout in 1918. Jones came into the picture in 1957 with the design of nine additional holes and then nine more in 1964 for a total of 36 holes on the East and West courses.
Kelbel explained each designer’s preference: Jones liked elevated greens while Ross’ influence is in the placing of bunkers and uneven greens.
“It will present a fair test of golf,” Kelbel said. “There’s nothing tricky about it. The length of it won’t bother these players. They’ll earn their money around the greens and negotiating the rough.”
Kelbel said the course could fit the talents of Fred Funk, Tom Watson, Greg Norman (who made a run at the British Open) and Hale Irwin, the honorary chairman of the tournament.
“Hale Irwin’s a great shotmaker. . . . He knows how to handle pressure,” Kelbel said of the former University of Colorado football and golf star. “But it could be anybody.”
Kelbel believes the U.S. Senior Open could provide The Broadmoor’s golf courses the stature to fit its tradition.
“The Broadmoor Invitation carried us for many years,” Kelbel said. “We had some of the storied names in golf play in that event — Mark O’Meara, Lanny Watkins, Tom Watson. As big as the golf tradition is here, our course isn’t as well known as it should be.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
