Once those 100-degree days take up residence in the desert, Kevin Stadler’s thoughts turn to Denver.
The PGA Tour member and former Kent Denver and University of Southern California golfer said he wants to move back to Colorado and live here for at least part of the year. Stad-ler has made Scottsdale, Ariz., his home base for several years.
“Every time I’m here, I want to stay,” Stadler said this week after a U.S. Open sectional qualifying round at Columbine Country Club. “It would definitely be great to be here more often. I haven’t been back enough.”
Stadler, 29, shot 71-71 at Columbine and failed to earn a spot in the U.S. Open. But he is entered this week in the St. Jude Classic near Memphis, Tenn.
Stadler has only conditional status on the PGA Tour this year, having failed to retain full playing privileges because he finished outside the top 125 on the 2008 money list. Those with tour cards (last year’s top 125, qualifiers from the season-ending “tour school” and other exempted players) get first dibs when tournament fields are filled.
This will be Stadler’s ninth PGA Tour start in 2009. He has earned $221,305, with a best finish of 14th in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am ($94,550) in February.
“I’ve been playing a lot better this year. I just haven’t gotten in many tournaments,” Stadler said. “But that’s what I get for losing my job last year. Hopefully, I’ll start getting in more. After the U.S. Open, a lot of the top guys start slowing it down.”
Stadler said he has been looking at houses in the Denver area for a couple of weeks and may find a place by late summer. Nothing personal, but don’t look for him to move near his father. Craig Stadler, the 1982 Masters champion, lives west of Evergreen.
“It’s gorgeous up there. It’s just really far,” Kevin said.
Youth learning opportunity.
Denver-area YMCAs will combine to take as many as 1,000 youngsters and teens, ages 5 to 18, to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on June 23-25 for an introduction to golf. The sessions, conducted by the Colorado PGA Section, will include practice with full-swing shots using limited-flight BirdieBalls that were invented in suburban Denver.
Footnotes.
Two members of the University of Denver women’s golf team received 2008-09 All-America mention from Golfweek. Stephanie Sherlock (Barrie, Ontario), a junior this past season, earned second-team All-America honors, and departing senior Dawn Shockley (Estes Park) was named to the honorable-mention list. . . . Zagat has come out with a sixth-edition update to its “The Ultimate Golfer’s Guide” — a survey of golfers who rate the top courses in each state. Topping Colorado’s course rating are Red Sky- Fazio (29 points out of 30), Red Sky-Norman (28), Raven at Three Peaks (28), Breckenridge (27), Broadmoor East (27), Broadmoor West (27), Cordillera (Mountain) and Cordillera (Summit).
This week’s events
PGA TOUR
St. Jude Classic
At TPC Southwind in Germantown, Tenn.
Today-Friday: 1:30 p.m., GOLF
Saturday-Sunday: 11 a.m., GOLF; 1 p.m., KCNC-4
LPGA TOUR
McDonald’s LPGA Championship
At Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.
Today-Friday: 10:30 a.m.,GOLF
Saturday-Sunday: 2 p.m., GOLF
NATIONWIDE TOUR
Knoxville Open
At Fox Den Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn.
Today-Sunday: no TV
