8 MAY 14-20, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | nizations gathered thousands of signatures protesting the decision to relinquish nine holes of the neighborhood course. One speaker argued that City Park Golf Course “has been an inspiration to the young man- hood of Denver. Young men who could not afford to drive cars have been able to enjoy golf and get wholesome exercise.” Others noted that the course operated at a profi t and helped fund the City Park Zoo. Under pressure, Cranmer relented and renewed the lease after negotiating with the state land board for additional funds to preserve City Park in its entirety as well as purchase Wellshire. In its early days, Wellshire had hosted a steady stream of local competitions. All of Denver’s municipal courses, as well as some of the private ones, were home to clubs that faced off in a year-long series of matches. After President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Cullen–Harrison Act, a precur- sor to the end of Prohibition, the Wellshire tournament committee suggested a Scotch foursome tournament where the winner was entitled to a “scoop” of beer, while the losers got only a sniff. And when the brash report- ers at the Post used a few inches of column space to challenge any business organiza- tion in the state to a match at Wellshire, a telephone company accepted their offer and delivered the scribes a “Max Baer knockout to the whiskers.” Now, as the new caretaker of one of the fi nest municipal courses in the country, and one of the few “munis” able to host top-tier golf tournaments, Denver sought to capi- talize on its new asset and attract national competitions. The city employed 75 workers to improve course conditioning and planted more than 300 trees in an effort to make the layout more challenging, a renovation Ross likely would have frowned upon. “As beautiful as trees are, and as fond as you and I are of them, we still must not lose sight of the fact that there is a limited place for them in golf,” he wrote in his memoir Golf Has Never Failed Me. “We must not allow our sentiments to crowd out the real intent of a golf course, that of providing fair playing conditions. If it in any way interferes with a properly played stroke, I think the tree is an unfair hazard and should not be allowed to stand.” Despite – or perhaps be- cause of – the arboreal addi- tions, Wellshire was chosen to host a string of amateur and professional tourna- ments over the next few decades. The United States Golf Association awarded Wellshire the 1942 National Public Links Championship – also known as the Pub- links – which was the third most important tournament run by the USGA at the time. It offered public golfers a chance at a national cham- pionship, since private club members were not allowed to enter. There would, however, be no tournament at Wellshire or anywhere else in 1942. The U.S. entrance into World War II postponed the tournament until 1946, when Wellshire was reaffi rmed as the host. Members of the USGA tournament commit- tee praised the “ideal physical setup of the clubhouse and well as the course itself for the site of a national championship.” In 1947, the East Denver Golf Club, an all-Black organization, asked the city to let it use Wellshire to host the Central States Golf Association Championship, an annual tournament for Black golf clubs from Mid- west cities. Although City Park Golf Course was the East Denver Golf Club’s home, Wellshire was Denver’s premier venue and could accommodate the more than 200 golf- ers expected. Newly-elected Mayor Quigg Newton welcomed the visiting clubs, prais- ing Wellshire in the tournament program as “one of the fi nest municipal golf courses in America.” East Denver members wrote that they were “delighted and proud” to host “the greatest golfi ng event among negroes” in their city. The championship was ultimately won by East Denver’s Benny Collier, a law clerk who celebrated at a post-tournament dance in the Wellshire clubhouse. As the popularity of golf grew across the country, a new nonprofi t called the Den- ver Civic Golf Association raised funds to host a professional golf tournament, the Denver Open. While the inaugural event was held at a nearby private course, Cherry Hills Country Club, the DCGA turned to Wellshire to host the 1948 Denver Open. Golf legend Ben Hogan was a surprise late addition to the fi eld, which attracted some of the best players in the country. Hogan had planned to skip the event, but reversed course much to the delight of the host committee. On the fi nal day, more than 3,000 paid customers, including future President Dwight Eisenhower, whose wife was from Denver, flocked to Wellshire to watch Hogan chase down the leader and win his astonishing sixth tournament in a row. Despite emerging victo- rious, Hogan left the Mile High City arguably less pop- ular than when he arrived. During an early tournament round, Hogan had a cam- eraman removed from the event for defying the sacred rules of golf etiquette. Then, despite winning, Hogan was a no-show at his own trophy ceremony. Trailing the lead- ers when he fi nished his fi nal round, Hogan packed up his clubs and headed back to the Brown Palace. When Fred Haas Jr. lost the lead on the back nine, Hogan was no- where to be found. Denver sports reporters did not appre- ciate the perceived snub to their city. One noted that the “prima donna” refused to sign autographs for a seven-year-old. Col- umnist Jack Carberry said Hogan’s actions were “no different than Marie Antoinette.” “It was a great tourney,” he wrote, “despite Ben Hogan.” The DCGA, which sponsored the Denver Open, withdrew its support for the tourna- ment after only two years. Robert Shearer, owner of the Park Hill Golf Course and president of the DCGA, claimed that a defi cit in the Open fund made it diffi cult to attract top-tier golfers. The Pros Return to Wellshire Professional golf would elude Denver for another decade, before the launch of the Denver Centennial Open, which was hosted by Wellshire in 1958 and included a fi eld of top golfers, including Arnold Palmer. Although intended as an annual event, it, too, proved short-lived and marked the last time Wellshire hosted a high-caliber professional tournament. In 1959, Wellshire once again hosted the Publinks, won by Seattle native Bill Wright, who rode a hot putter to become the fi rst Black golfer to win a USGA title. Carrying only twelve clubs instead of the standard fourteen, Wright used a Spaulding Auto- graph putter to one-putt 23 of 36 greens in his fi nal match. Wright needed the putter to perform because he was playing with irons that he hated. “I don’t really like these irons… but I brought ‘em here because I still owe $65 for them,” he said. Years later, Wright admitted that he was caught off-guard when a Seattle reporter asked him how it felt to become the fi rst Black USGA champion. “That shocked me,” he told the Colorado Golf Association. “My dad (Bob Wright) had taught me how to play, and our goal wasn’t to be the fi rst anything. The goal was to make sure that I not get embarrassed. So I was thinking that I had won the tournament. I wasn’t thinking about (being the fi rst Black Join the Club continued from page 7 continued on page 10 Wellshire earned raves around the country. The par-4 12th hole at Wellshire; on a clear day you can see Red Rocks. DENVER GOV.
