MANHATTAN, Kan. – Jim Colbert, the namesake to Colbert Hills Golf Course and a 1991 inductee into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame, passed away Sunday at the age of 85.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of Jim Colbert,” Athletics Director Gene Taylor said. “Not only did he make a lasting impact on the golf community – both as a player and as the architect of our own Colbert Hills – but his passion for all things K-State was admirable. I enjoyed getting to know him and seeing firsthand his love for K-State. He will be missed.”
Born on March 9, 1941, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Colbert arrived at K-State in 1961 on a football scholarship, but when injuries ended his football career, Colbert turned to golf and changed his life forever.
A three-year letterwinner on the golf team, Colbert earned a runner-up finish in the 1964 NCAA Championship, a year he also finished in second place in the Big Eight Championship.
“The loss of Jim Colbert will impact many people and projects throughout the country,” former head football coach Bill Snyder said. “Jim had a positive influence on many, many lives. He never failed to step up to help when he was in a position to help his community and people in need. He and his wonderful wife Marcia, are special friends to so many. Their development of Colbert Hills has meant the world to Manhattan and the state of Kansas, and their genuine friendship has meant the world to Sharon and me and our family. There is not enough room in the newspaper to share all that they have meant to us, this community and to the world of golf.”
After turning pro in 1965, Colbert joined the PGA Tour in 1966. His first tournament victory came at the 1969 Monsanto Open. During his 14-year span on the tour, Colbert picked up eight tournament titles. Following his retirement from professional golf in 1987, Colbert took his nearly $1.5 million winnings, to run his own golf course management company, Jim Colbert Golf. He also worked as a color analyst for golf events on ESPN.
Where Colbert’s legacy will reside forever is when he helped develop Colbert Hills Golf Course, a links-style course that became the home of K-State men’s and women’s golf. From the outset, Colbert Hills was ranked by Golfweek as the best public course in Kansas, while it has also been continuously ranked by Golf Digest among the top eight overall in the state. Since the course opened, it has played host to at least one men’s or women’s collegiate golf tournament each year, including the 2003 NCAA Central Regional.
Colbert was on hand for the Colbert Hills groundbreaking ceremony – along with Senior Tour players Walter Morgan, Bob Murphy, Lee Trevino, Hubert Green and LPGA star Annika Sorenstam – held on May 1, 2000.
A 1998 inductee to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Colbert played in 13 events as a rookie in 1966 and earned only $1,898, a performance that nearly cost him his playing privileges. However, he turned his game around the next year, solidifying his status by earning $25,425 thanks to four top-10 finishes.
Colbert earned a one-shot victory in the 1969 Monsanto Open, beginning his list of eight victories. He also earned top honors at the 1972 Greater Milwaukee Open, 1973 Greater Jacksonville Open, 1974 American Golf Classic, 1975 Walt Disney World National Team Championship, 1980 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open, 1983 Texas Open and 1983 Colonial National Invitational.
Colbert’s PGA TOUR career ended in 1987, but not before he played in 44 majors – including 17 PGA Championships, 16 US Opens, 10 Master’s and one Open Championship – and made 28 cuts in those events.
Colbert joined ESPN as a golf analyst between 1987-90 before joining the PGA TOUR Champions circuit in 1991. He found quick success in his first year, winning three tournaments, Rookie of the Year honors and $770,749 in overall winnings. In 1995, he won the Las Vegas Senior Open, winning the first million-dollar purse in TOUR-affiliated tournament history.
In 1996, Colbert received the TOUR Player of the Year award, the same year he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Colbert underwent successful surgery and returned to the course in 1998, a year in which he won the Transamerica Championship en route to earning the TOUR’s member-consensus Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Celebration of life plans are still being finalized and will be announced at a later date.
