2025 Denver Murphy Creek Golf Course Tournament Results

Murphy Creek welcomed 56 players of the Denver Chapter of the Amateur Players Tour for a Sunday afternoon tournament. The weather was a welcome relief with projected hot temperatures of 80 degrees with little chance of rain.  This weather was great for the beginning of the tournament after a week of high temperatures between 95 and 100 degrees. As was unfortunately predictable, since no rain was forecast until late in the evening, the players had to experience a lightning delay of over 60 minutes + with a period of heavy rain. The lightning was less than 1 mile away and was overhead for an extended period. Nearby Denver International Airport reported over 1,000 planes were delayed or cancelled due to the severe weather threat.  Hardy players made their way back to the course and all, but 1 foursome finished the round before it was too dark to continue play.

NOTABLES: Eagles, birdies, and low scores were the highlights of the day. David Berg scored an Eagle 3 on the Par 5 sixth hole by reaching the green in 2 and sinking a breaking right to left putt of 15’. Congratulations to David. Dustin Williamson and fellow guests Chris Griffith and Max Lange led the Birdie parade with 6 birdies each for Dustin and Chris, while Max made 5 birdies.  Veteran APT member and multi-APT winner Greg Otto matched Max with 5 birdies. Williamson had a hot streak of 4 birdies in a row on holes 11-14, while Griffith began his round with an impressive 4 birdies in a row on holes 1-4! Dustin set a record low for APT Denver with a 5 under round of 67 and was closely followed by Colorado Mines golfer Max Lange with a score of 68 (-4).  A whopping total of 64 birdies were made with birdies coming in all 5 Divisions.  D4 player Jeff Fulkerson had 3 birdies to help him score a very impressive 39 on the back nine. Ryan Shephard was the D5 player that contributed to the birdie total by getting a 3 on the Par 4 tenth hole.

DIVISION 1: The Division 1 field included 4 guests that elevated the keen competition immensely. All the guests quickly became APT members! As mentioned Dustin Williamson shot a very impressive, record low score for APT Denver with his 67 to win the Division and earn the trophy.  Max Lange was a close second with his 68 to win second place money. Greg Otto ended in 3^rd place with a 1 under score of 71.

DIVISION 2: An extremely competitive tournament for D2 unfolded throughout the day and ended in a tie for 1^st place.  Guest Paul Hueber and veteran, multi-winner on the APT Denver tour Hendrik Orlowski battled to a tie with scores of 75. The two players played an on-course playoff and both Hendrik and Paul parred the first hole. Paul Hueber outlasted Orlowski on the second hole by hitting the green and two-putting for a winning par.  Orlowski missed the green on his approach from the left rough, and his chip came up short leading to a two-putt bogey. Hueber (35-40) earned his first win on the APT tour and became a member.  Orlowski scores were 36-39 during the round. Guest and new member Chris Griffith won 3^rd place and missed the playoff by 1 stroke with 74 (36-40).

DIVISION 3: Aaron Skiles followed up his win at Pinehurst Country Club with an impressive score of 75 (37-38) to win the trophy and first place.  Skiles has really come into himself again with great play late in the summer.  Greg DeRoeck had a very solid D3 score of 78 (40-38) to earn 2^nd place money and points. Finishing out of the money by only 1 stroke, Scott Rowley and Ethan Andrews tied for 3^rd place with scores of 79 (39-40 for Rowley and (37-very impressive 42 for Andrews).

DIVISION 4: Division 4 had great competition as well and had at least 3 different leaders at one point.  The competition came down to the final few holes to determine the winner. A completely surprised and newcomer to D4 Connor Rogers won the Division trophy and prize money with a score of 85 (44-41).  Jeff Fulkerson got extremely hot on the back nine shooting 39 to tie Pete Lupfer for 2^nd place with scores of 87. Lupfer (41-46) held the lead after 9 holes before Fulkerson and Rogers had nice scores on the back nine.

DIVISION 5: Darkness, long day with the lightning and heavy rain delay, and fierce competition with ties were all in play for the hearty souled D5 players! As predicted and communicated at the 12^th hole, the D5 players might not be able to finish all 18 holes with any daylight remaining.  Everyone was hopeful, but the sun went down too fast. At the end of the day, former APT winners Brandon Jansson and Jami VonKaenel battled right down to the end with the last couple putts probably played with the aid of cell phone flashlights on! 😊😊Brandon and Jami tied for 1^st place and split the prize pool and tournament points. Brandon was the winner of the well-earned trophy. The Player of the Year competition for Denver’s D5 is going to be remarkably close down the stretch between Brandon, Jami and Chris Lancaster. It will be fun to see how this materializes.  Anthony Mercadante, Folds of Honor Denver Chapter member, and Victor Duarte finished in a tie for 3^rd place.

OPEN NET: Aaron Skiles was red-hot in his D2 play and won the Open Net Competition at Murphy Creek with an amazing 6 under par score of 66 (32-34). Hendrik Orlowski and Paul Hueber not only tied for the D2 gross competition, but they also ended up in a tie for 2^nd place in the Open Net Competition with even par scores of 72. Paul and Hendrik split the prize pool money for 2^nd place.

SENIOR NET: 16 Senior players entered the Net competition Double Dip option. Three players scored 1 under par scores of 71 for the tie. Greg DeRoeck came out the winner in the scorecard playoff on the second step of determining the winner.  DeRoeck won the trophy and 1^st place prize money with scores of 36-35 and won the tie based on his score on the last 6 holes.  Seth Gurss and Scott Rowley split the 2^nd place money.

FOLDS OF HONOR 50/50 RAFFLE: Pete Lupfer was the winner of the 50/50 Raffle winning $115 with a contribution of $115 going to Folds of Honor.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE:

RIVERDALE DUNES: The Pete Dye designed layout welcomes the APT Tour to the 2^nd ELEVATED EVENT in the Denver schedule on August 20.  This elevated event will provide DOUBLE PAYOUTS and DOUBLE POINTS. This tournament may change the standings in many divisional POY awards. Registration closes at midnight August 13.

Fox Hollow: This highly popular and impressive course welcomes the Denver Chapter of the APT back for a second year. Fox Hollow will welcome APT players to an 8:30 am shotgun start on August 31. This will prove to be an excellent tune-up tournament before the Denver Local Finals.

APT Denver Local Finals at Raccoon Creek: Raccoon Creek was the host of the very first APT Denver tour in mid-summer 2024 (June 23^rd to be exact). This Final tournament of the Denver 2025 Season will be an 8:30 am shotgun start on September 13. Lunch, Finals Awards Presentation, and Player of the Year Awards Ceremony are included in the tournament fee. Do not miss this tournament. Registration is open for ALL PLAYERS and closes September 6 at midnight. Players must play in this event to be eligible for Denver Player of the Year Honors and Prizes.