2025 Tour Guide: Senior U.S. Open
The East Course at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., is no stranger to hosting major tournaments. In the more than 100-year history of the resort, it has hosted the 1959 U.S. Amateur — Jack Nicklaus’ first major win — the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open — Annika Sorenstam’s first major win — the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2018 U.S. Senior Open.
In 2025, East and West Course superintendent Michael Sartori will host his fourth major. For two of those four, Sartori, an Ohio native who has lived at the base of the Rockies for more than 20 years now, has had to deal with the wrath of Mother Nature.
“My first (tournament as superintendent) was in 2008, the Senior Open, which was at the end of July,” he says. “We hit record heat in the city four out of the seven days of the championship. At the 2011 Women’s Open, we had lightning delays and ended up finishing on Monday. So, that was a unique challenge.”
The weather in 2018 at the Senior Open, Sartori says, was flawless. Leaving him hoping — and knocking on wood — for another year of good weather. Luckily for Sartori, with the help of both his team and the agronomy folks at the USGA, the weather is usually the only thing he has to worry about in the lead-up to tournament week.
“Having that consistency with (USGA) executive director Ben Kimball, who started with us at the 2011 Women’s Open and was with us in 2018 for that Senior Open, and all of the Broadmoor leadership (being) the same over a number of these championships, has made it a very easy and seamless process from one championship to another,” he adds.
Small-town feel
The area around The Broadmoor is quaint; 15 minutes south of downtown Colorado Springs, the second largest city in the state. But that changes during tournament week, Sartori says, as spectators and media flock to the resort.
“It’s a completely different change from our normal day-to-day. Once the grandstands start being built and the tents start being put up, those just turn us into a championship facility. Even though we strive for that every day, I feel like when the fans show up and the tents and the bleachers and all of these things are being put in place, and the setup begins that prior week and the week of championship week, it’s just a completely different feeling. Everyone is completely motivated to do whatever we need to do.”
With that sudden shift to a bustling area comes the change back to a quiet area of town, Sartori adds. With the Senior U.S. Open set for the last week of June, that leaves less than two months to get everything done for the crew at The Broadmoor.
Sartori says that managing emotions during the weeks after the tournament has left town is just as important as keeping your cool when the cameras are on.
“We still have July and August to go with a lot of events at the hotel with our corporate and member side of things,” he says. “So, to keep everyone’s motivation high can be a little bit tricky. There is a little bit of a letdown after these championships, but we still have a lot of work to do afterward, and keeping everyone motivated is our top priority.”
To keep that energy up, Sartori seeks help from his team, including East Course assistants Scott Metz and Shane Mosser; West Course assistants Jonathan Worscheck and William Dwyer; equipment manager Sam Martin and Fred Dickman, director of golf maintenance and grounds.
“As long as you make each job fun and are positive and motivating, the staff feeds off of that,” Sartori says. “That curtails some of that mundane work that we do. It’s all about keeping it a fun, positive, energetic and positive environment. I think the more you do that, the less letdown there’s going to be.”
Rocky Mountain weather
Back to the weather challenges, Sartori says in his 20-plus years of working in Colorado Springs, he’s learned to deal with the ups and downs that come with a course nestled right up against the mountain. But still, he’s not sure what to expect on any given day.
“We had snow last night, but the day before, it was 75, so it fluctuates on a completely random scale. Usually, by mid-April, we’ll get in more of a decent weather pattern, but a snowstorm in late April or early May is not out of the question,” he says. “We sit so close to the Rocky Mountains that we can get bad hailstorms. Directly after the Senior Open in 2018, (a hailstorm) kind of wiped us out. We were closed for a couple of weeks, but it’s just one of those challenges you work through and take daily here. It keeps it unique and fun and always makes my job and day interesting.”
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