COLORADO SPRINGS — This weekend, nearly 150 golfers are competing for a chance at the US Senior Open Championship title.
To be able to play in this tournament, many of the golfers had to qualify first. One of those qualifying tournaments was held a few weeks ago at the Country Club of Colorado, in Colorado Springs. The top five golfers, with two alternates, got an invitation to play in the U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor.
"It's a special thing to play in a major. It's really special to play in a USGA championship, like the Senior Open, or any USGA championships,” Matt Schalk said.
Colorado native Matt Schalk is one of the many golfers who qualified to play in this year's US Senior Open Championship.
"I'm excited, very excited. I'm excited to kind of have a home game, right? That was the most exciting thing for me. I played in the Senior Open last year in Newport, Rhode Island, and, you know, didn't play particularly well, wasn't super comfortable playing,” Schalk said.
He said this time around, he will have lots of family support on the course.
"My daughter will be caddying for me. So that's probably the most special time, being able to play in a major and have your daughter on the bag,” Schalk said.
This won't be Schalk's first round at the Broadmoor. He played the East Course last year in the USGA Senior Open Qualifier.
"You got to play chess when you're out there. You have to attack the greens from the right parts of the fairway. You have to make sure you're on the right parts of the greens putting to those hole locations. Sometimes you're better off missing a green in a certain spot than you are being on the green because the greens are so fast,” Schalk said.
The putting greens at the Broadmoor are known to be some of the most difficult in the country. This championship tournament will be Schalk’s third major.
"Hopefully I'm more comfortable playing and just being at altitude, because a lot of players will come here and struggle with the distances and the altitude. So me being a native Coloradoan, it's more of an advantage for me,” Schalk said.
One of Schalk’s competitors he is going up against is Darrin Overson. Overson hopes his years of playing golf in Utah will help him take stronger swings in Colorado Springs
"It's a little bit higher here than it is in Utah, where I play, it's about a half club difference. So there is a little bit of math and stuff you got to do to figure out how far the ball is going to go in the air and what it's going to do on the ground when you hit it,” Overson said.
Overson played golf in college at Colorado State University and went on to play in a number of USGA events. This weekend will be his first tee off at the Broadmoor.
"I love playing in USGA events. That's what it is. Just turning 50 in October, and having another opportunity to play in another USGA event, and the US Senior Open would be one of the goals that I had this year when I turned 50. So it's going to be awesome,” Overson said.
To follow along with Overson and Schalk and to see the scores from the US Senior Open, visit the official USGA website.
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