It was freezing cold a few years back when Mike McGetrick tagged along with Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore while the two golf course architects first surveyed the open meadows and wooded hillsides on 1,700 acres just south of downtown Parker.

Thursday wasn't much different, but the weather did little to chill the enthusiasm as PGA of America chief executive officer Joe Steranka formally announced Colorado Golf Club as the site of the 71st Senior PGA Championship from May 24-30, 2010.

"Building the golf course is something I've wanted to do the last 13 years. And once we owned this property and realized the potential of what could be here, it was like, 'Wow,' " said McGetrick, a local teaching pro and founder/managing partner of the private 18-hole club just east of Parker Road.

While players of any level can enjoy the course, McGetrick said, it also is challenging enough for the best players in the world.

The course can be stretched to 7,604 yards, making it the longest to host a Senior PGA Championship.

The PGA of America has held the PGA Championship three times in Colorado, twice at Cherry Hills Country Club (1941 and 1985) and in 1967 at Columbine Country Club.

This will be the first Senior PGA in Colorado, coming on the heels of the successful U.S. Senior Open during the summer at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

"Those (PGA) championships were extremely well received and extremely well regarded," Steranka said. "Well, the spotlight is a lot brighter in the two decades since we were last here."

The Champions Tour will have even bigger names by May 2010, with Tom Lehman, Fred Couples and Paul Azinger among the players who will be eligible.

Steranka acknowledged Colorado Golf Club, which opened in 2007 and has yet to complete its clubhouse, is one of the youngest courses to host a major championship. But he said it was a testament to Crenshaw and Coore.

"What they created here looks like it's been here quite some time," he said, noting the course is surrounded by 1,300 acres protected by a conservation easement.

Steranka said researchers also analyzed weather charts the past seven years to ensure Memorial Day weekend in Colorado would be suitable for golf.

He said they found the average highs ranged from 68 to 87 degrees, without the roiling summer thunderstorms that plagued The International at Castle Pines.

The four-day tournament is expected to draw as many as 25,000 spectators per day.

Denver pro Mark Wiebe is among those expecting to compete in 2010.

"I'm so excited just to have a tournament back in Denver, let alone a major, and with the names that are going to come into play (in the next two years), I think it's going to be huge for the state," Wiebe said.

Wiebe has played the course six to eight times and said it can be quite challenging, with plenty of risk-reward shots.

"This is a great golf course. As you can see, these guys kind of knew going in what they were doing," he said.