New Year, New Rules

The Rocky Mountain Open will rekindle tradition for the 2017 tournament

 

Mike Mendelson grew up around the Rocky Mountain Open golf tournament, either washing clubs or caddying if he was lucky. Now as the Head PGA Professional for the City of Grand Junction and RMO tournament organizer, he is looking at the tournament through a different lens and is excited about the changes coming to this year’s 79th annual event.

 

With a new website, new beneficiary, and new rules of play, the 2015 RMO will look vastly different than in years past.

 

“We’re going back to our roots. Kind of like this year’s logo, we’re trying to make it more traditional,” Mendelson said. “Previous to this year, we had a four-ball portion, but this year is going to be a true open tournament.”

 

Before this year’s tournament, players were grouped into teams of two and played against other teams, taking the best score of the pair for each hole. Now, handicapped amateurs and seasoned professionals alike will all have a shot at the first place prize, a prize that also happens to be different than in the past.

 

“The winner will get a $10,000 purse. The highest I’ve ever seen previously was $8,500,” Mendelson said.

 

Part of Mendelson’s job as tournament organizer is to make sure the two RMO courses, Bookcliff Country Club and Tiara Rado, play smoothly and similarly to each other. The tournament officials are excited to match speed of the greens and other factors between the two in order to make play more consistent.

 

Another factor Mendelson wants to keep consistent is the community aspect of the RMO.

 

“In Grand Junction, it’s always been a very social golf community. Everybody knows each other no matter which course you play at,” Mendelson said. “Over the years, I think we really lost touch with the community at the RMO, so we’re trying to get back to that and get the community involved.”

 

Donors from the community are given the opportunity to play in the tournament alongside another amateur and a professional. However, this year the trios will play best ball, a much less stressful alternative for tournament sponsors who don’t play very often.