It marks the Korn Ferry Tour’s first par-4 ace since 2012 and fifth overall.
A hole-in-one is one of the greatest shots in golf. A hole-in-one on a par 4? Even better.
That’s what Timmy Crawford did Saturday. He Monday qualified into this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event, The Ascendant at TPC Colorado. Come Saturday morning after making the cut, he hit the best shot of his life.
Crawford hit driver on the 365-yard par 4 over water and onto the green before the ball went in the cup, giving him an ace.
The hole measures 365 yards on the scorecard and is played across a large pond. Saturday’s direct line tee-to-hole measured 336 yards. It marks the Korn Ferry Tour’s first par-4 ace since 2012 and fifth overall.
This week is Crawford’s PGA Tour-sanctioned debut, and now he has a memory forever. He recently finished his college career at Illinois after four years at Loyola-Chicago.
There has been just one par-4 ace on the PGA Tour, recorded by Andrew Magee in the first round of the 2001 WM Phoenix Open (No. 17 at TPC Scottsdale). Last year, Davis Shore made a par-4 ace on PGA Tour Canada, coming at Ambassador Golf Club’s par-4 15th during the second round of the Windsor Championship.
Just three weeks ago, he won the San Juan Open (and $15,000) in Farmington, N.M.
Home is where the start is.
That’s how the saying goes, at least this week for AJ Ott.
The Fort Collins native, Fort Collins High alumnus and former Colorado State men’s golf standout is practically on home turf for his first-ever Korn Ferry Tour tournament in The Ascendant at Berthoud’s TPC Colorado course.
“This event being so close and on a course I know so well, it’s definitely special to qualify here specifically,” Ott told The Coloradoan before the event.
While he’s played in smaller pro tournaments and top collegiate events, this is Ott’s first taste of true high-level pro golf. The Korn Ferry Tour is essentially the minor-league training ground for the PGA Tour.
Ott estimates he’s played “over 70” rounds at TPC Colorado since it opened in 2018, many of them during his Rams’ career.
His familiarity paid off in qualifying for The Ascendant.
The event used a meritocratic tournament format instead of handing out four sponsor’s exemptions. Ott won the open division last Saturday, birdieing the first six holes and shooting a five-under 67 to beat 32 other hopefuls.
“I definitely felt comfortable out there,” Ott said. “Once I had that fast start, I had to keep the pedal down since it was just for one spot.”
He opened the tournament Thursday with a tough draw, getting the day’s final tee time (2:15 p.m.) as temperatures approached 100 degrees in the sweltering afternoon sun.
Ott finished a grueling first round that took nearly six hours with a steady even-par score of 72. Several dozen fans, friends and family followed him around the vast TPC Colorado layout for the largest crowd on day one.
AJ Ott watches his tee shot of Hole 1 during the Korn Ferry Tour’s The Ascendant golf tournament on Thursday, July 11, 2024, at the TPC Colorado course in Berthoud, Colo. (Photo: Logan Newell/The Coloradoan)
“My parents were excited, really just about being able to see me play,” Ott said. “I travel a lot for other tournaments and there aren’t really many in Colorado for them to come watch live.”
Ott has a short turnaround, teeing off Friday for his second round at 8:42 a.m. local time.
The crowd of supporters came as no surprise since the crafty lefthander has a storied track record in local golf.
He finished top 10 in Class 5A all four years during his Lambkins’ high school career, including a runner-up state finish his senior year in 2015.
Ott stayed home for college, playing five seasons at CSU from 2016-21. Three times he made the All-Mountain West team and won a pair of tournaments in his super senior season.
The Rams’ Most Improved Player award within the program is even named after Ott, who improved his scoring average by over three shots after his freshman season.
Since finishing his CSU career, Ott (now 26 years old) has relocated to Denver and continued pursuing his professional golf career.
He’s a member at Bear Creek Country Club in Lakewood, his home base these days, playing plays mini-tours across the country hoping to break through in the professional ranks.
He mainly enters small tournaments in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, with winter work coming in California and Arizona plus Korn Ferry/PGA Tour Qualifying “Q” School in Nebraska and Alabama.
“It certainly isn’t that glamorous,” Ott said. “You’re staying in crappy hotels and putting miles on the truck, just grinding and driving a lot.
“But it’s playing golf for a living and I started playing competitively because the sport is fun and I love it. So that’s the wide lens I try to keep in perspective.”
He often travels to events with roommate and friend Jackson Solem, a former University of Denver golfer and Longmont native who also plays pro golf.
Ott takes coaching by committee, relying on teaching pros Kirk Rider (Bear Creek) and Ed Oldham (The Ranch in Westminster) plus former college coaches and advisors in California.
Spectators follow AJ Ott as he and other golfers walk down the fairway of hole 1 during the Korn Ferry Tour’s The Ascendant golf tournament on Thursday, July 11, 2024, at the TPC Colorado course in Berthoud, Colo. (Photo: Logan Newell/The Coloradoan)
It all has Ott on the upswing lately.
Just three weeks ago, he won the San Juan Open (and $15,000) in Farmington, N.M. with a four-day score of 19-under-par for his third pro win.
“Winning is always a nice little confidence boost and it came at a good time,” he said.
The stage is bigger in Berthoud, something Ott hopes to find himself facing more often.
“I’m just thrilled and blessed to compete against some of the best golfers out there,” Ott said. “A lot of these guys have PGA (Tour) experience and they know what it takes. You’re working to be on that level.”
Ultimately, Ott said this opportunity is less about the pressure of high-level pro golf or what a good showing could mean for his career.
He’s mostly just grateful to be home for a week, quite literally staying in his childhood bedroom 12 miles north of the course in south Fort Collins.
“I’m excited to sleep in my own bed for a few days,” Ott said before laughing. “It’s a pretty cheap hotel bill this week.”
The course can play up to 8,029 yards from the tournament tees.
Professional golf is back in Colorado for what has become an annual summer tradition: The Ascendant at TPC Colorado in Berthoud.
This will be the sixth annual edition of the Korn Ferry Tour event that started in 2019, and it’s a popular spot on tour.
The golfers are fresh off a bye week for the Independence Day holiday, and The Ascendant was named Korn Ferry Tournament of the Year in 2023 for the second time in three years.
The Colorado stop kicks off the back half of the tour calendar, as top golfers hope to cement a top-30 finish in the season standings to earn their PGA Tour card.
Here’s what golf fans should know about the 2024 edition of The Ascendant Presented by Blue, including players to watch, how to watch/follow online, ticket options and more.
The TPC Colorado course
The TPC Colorado at Heron Lakes course opened in summer 2018 and is an 18-hole layout just northwest of Berthoud that is renowned for its prodigious length.
TPC Colorado plays as a semi-hybrid of American and European links golf, featuring deep pot bunkers and scenic holes lined by shimmering lakes with Rocky Mountain vistas in the distance.
Players to watch at TPC Colorado
The Colorado connections
AJ Ott: The 2021 Colorado State graduate and former Rams’ star qualified thanks to a win in the sponsor exemption tournaments held Saturday at TPC Colorado. It will be Ott’s first-ever Korn Ferry Tour appearance.
Jeremy Paul: The former University of Colorado golfer finished third at TPC Colorado in 2022 and sits at No. 13 on this year’s Korn Ferry Tour points list, including a win at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic in January.
Kyle Westmoreland: The former Air Force Academy standout is 25th on the tour’s points list and has five top-five finishes this season, highlighted by a runner-up finish in The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.
Sam Saunders: The Fort Collins resident and grandson of Arnold Palmer is often a fan favorite at this event. He had his best finish of the season last month with a tie for 14th at the UNC Health Championship.
Kevin Stadler: The part-time Denver resident and son of former PGA Tour star Craig Stadler will be looking for his first made cut this season.
Josh Creel: The Cheyenne native and former CU golfer is coming off a tie for 34th at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic last week and is looking to snap a streak of five missed cuts at the Korn Ferry ranks.
Former Ascendant champions
Nelson Ledesma: The inaugural champion in 2019 is back and could use a good finish while currently at 42nd on the points list.
Tag Ridings: The 2021 winner is looking to regain his form from three years ago after just one top-25 finish to date this season.
Track record of success
There are a handful of golfers who sit among the top 20 on the Korn Ferry Tour and were in Sunday contention at The Ascendant last year:
Tim Widing: Tied for fourth (16 under) last year and is currently third on the Korn Ferry points list.
Quade Cummins: Tied for sixth (14 under) in 2023 and sits at No. 8 on this season’s points list.
Frankie Capan III: Tied for 14th (11 under) last year and is 10th on 2023-24 Korn Ferry points list.
Jackson Suber: Tied for ninth (13 under) in 2023 and currently 11th on the points list.
Isaiah Salinda: Tied for 16th (10 under) in last year’s event and sits at No. 15 on Korn Ferry points list.
Former PGA Tour winners in TPC Colorado field:
Ben Crane (5 wins); Bo Van Pelt (1)
Tournament schedule, format
The tournament features four 18-hole rounds, July 11- 14. The field of 156 will be cut to the low 65 scores (including ties) for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Leaders are expected to tee off by 1:30 p.m. local time on the weekend, weather permitting. For example, the 2022 final round was moved up nearly three hours due to anticipated inclement weather.
The prize purse for the 2024 edition is again $1 million, with the winner set to earn $180,000.
Past TPC Colorado results, champions
The tournament has been consistently competitive, with three of the five champions winning by just one shot and the other two winners taking it by two strokes each.
An event scoring record has also been set or matched in all five years.
Here are the previous Ascendant at TPC Colorado winners:
2023: Nicholas Lindheim (20 under) 2022: Zecheng “Marty” Dou (17 under) 2021: Tag Ridings (16 under) 2020: Will Zalatoris (15 under) 2019: Nelson Ledesma (15 under)
The Ascendant has become a launching pad to the PGA Tour, with Ledesma, Zalatoris, Dou and Lindheim all moving up after winning at TPC Colorado.
Zalatoris is currently No. 46 in the Official World Golf Ranking (after consecutive years in the top 20) and has four top-10 finishes at major championships.
Lindheim will not be defending his 2023 title this week.
There will be plenty of that this week in Berthoud, Colorado, an hour north of Denver and 5,000 feet above sea level.
The Korn Ferry Tour is making its fifth visit to TPC Colorado, which has been stretched to a record 8,029 yards this week.
You read that right: 8,029 yards.
The course, which opened in 2018, was designed by Arthur Schaupeter and plays as a par 72.
If you’ve seen the guys on the Korn Ferry Tour, you know they can poke it around the yard. But you still gotta marvel at some of these numbers. Here’s a look at the official scorecard:
The scorecard for TPC Colorado in Berthoud, Colorado.
There’s no easing into this course, as the opening hole is 624 yards. The second hole is a 238-yard par 3. The card says the fifth hole, like No. 1 a par 5, is 624 but it’s clarified on the Korn Ferry Tour website it’ll play 638 yards this week.
The hole that gets all the attention, though, is the 773-yard par 5 which features a big dogleg left.
And you’re not beaten up through 17 holes, the finisher is a little old 531-yard par 4.
Big-hitting Will Zalatoris is one of the four past champions of the tournament. Last year’s winner, Zecheng Dou, won the event at 17 under. He made birdie on the 13th in two of the four rounds.
