HMGA Newsletter · Issue #07

Two majors are in the books, the auto-bids from both have been reassigned, and every remaining place in the Hud Dean Cup now runs through a single round on August 30.

The biggest qualifier of the season

Seventy-nine of the Cup's ninety-six places are filled. The last seventeen are all on the line at the Last Chance Qualifier. The Championship and Premier now carry six spots each, more than any qualifier we've run this year.

There is no event after this one. Miss it and the season is over.

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You must designate your flight when you register.

One rule change for August 30. The Safety Net — the protocol that offers a Premier spot to a Championship entrant who finishes below the cut but posts a Premier-caliber score — works differently at this qualifier. Premier's two Safety Net places have both been used this season, so at the Last Chance Qualifier the net no longer adds a Premier spot. It draws from the six already on offer.

In practice, Premier becomes a single merged leaderboard: the six lowest gross scores among Premier entrants and net-eligible Championship entrants combined. A Championship player who accepts takes a spot, and the Premier qualifier sitting sixth is bumped. The net is only ever offered at or better than that day's Premier cut score, so anyone taking a place has matched or beaten the player losing it.

Decisions are made that day, at the course. Because this is the final qualifier, nobody should be waiting until Selection Sunday to learn where they stand. Once both leaderboards are final, the committee will identify eligible players at the scoring table and they'll accept or decline before leaving.

FULL SAFETY NET PROTOCOL →

Before the golf: the window is short if you want one of these limited edition jackets produced by this year’s captains.

It's the FootJoy HydroLite X rain hoodie in Field Green — FJ's lightest waterproof shell, seam sealed, with four-way stretch panels set into the arms and back so it doesn't fight your swing. The full Cup crest is embroidered across the back at about eleven inches. Chest and sleeves stay clean.

$160 all in. FootJoy lists it at $225 blank; yours comes embroidered with nearly a thirty percent discount, because the club is buying a run. No shipping — hoodies are handed out at the club and billed to your member account, so you'll need your member number when you order.

This is optional and entirely separate from your $400 entry fee for the cup.

Orders close Thursday, September 5. Hoodies in hand in time for Cup weekend.

ORDER YOUR HOODIE →

Ryan Jaco is your 2026 Men's Club Champion — on the 37th hole

The two seed against the one, and it went the distance. Jaco beat Eric Smidinger in the quarterfinals and Andrew Howe in the semifinal to reach the final against Stephen Reed, who had come through Mike Long, Skyler Moore, and Jim Jagels.

Reed was 1 up through most of the match. Reed missed from five feet on 17 to win it, then hit his approach on 18 to twenty feet with Jaco short of the green — before Jaco chipped in to force extra holes. Jaco took the first playoff hole, the 37th of the day, for his first club championship.

Championship Flight · Semifinalists

Flight Winners

Congratulations also to Kathy Malpass, the 2026 Ladies' Club Champion, and to flight winners Joella Salas and Andrea Durbin.

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Barry Streett won the Champ Flight gross at 157 over 36 holes, one clear of Jeffrey Shipley and three clear of Christian Wilson. Matthew Kornfeind took low net at 141 on the back of a 69.

Mark Heiden was second in Super Senior and Thomas Rockers second net in the Senior flight.

Eleven of thirteen went to players who were already in

The Club Championship carries thirteen Cup auto-bids — four Championship semifinalists, four Premier first-flight semifinalists, and five Legacy flight winners. When we went to award them, eleven had gone to players who had already qualified earlier in the season.

Here's why. Of the sixteen players in the Championship bracket, fourteen already held a Cup spot before the first tee shot. All four semifinalists were in. So were all four quarterfinalists. Only Adam Deutschmann and Mike Long were unqualified, and both lost in the Round of 16.

What the committee decided. Rather than let those places lapse, spots held by already-qualified players roll down to the next finisher who competed in the Club Championship — the same trickle-down rule we applied at the Stroke Play Major and at the Senior Club Championship.

The committee will revisit this qualification structure for the 2027 season.

Every remaining place is at the Last Chance Qualifier on August 30.

LIVE STANDINGS →

Wed · Aug 26 — Draft Wave 2 · "Mid-Summer Push": Captains Sewell and Pollard make the largest set of picks of the season, drawing from every player qualified to date.

Sun · Aug 30 — Last Chance Qualifier: The final standalone qualifier. Seventeen spots — six Championship, six Premier, five Legacy. Safety Net decisions made same day at the scoring table.

Sun · Sep 13 — Draft Wave 3 · "Selection Sunday": The final wave. Rosters lock at 48 per team.

Fri–Sun · Sep 25–27 — THE HUD DEAN CUP: Team Hud versus Team Dean. Ninety-six players, three flights, one cup.

HIWAN MEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION · EVERGREEN, COLORADO hiwanmensgolf.site · archive

— TEAM HUD · TEAM DEAN · ONE CUP —