John Kraft

A Denver schoolteacher for 30 years, John Kraft made his golf home at Lakewood Country Club. Stories and rumors about him abounded. He was best known for his magical play with fairway woods, with which he would often finish closer to the hole than his opponents would with short irons. Not a long hitter, Kraft wore down competitors with steady play and icy nerves. He qualified for the U.S. Amateur 10 times and won the Broadmoor Men’s Invitation in 1941 and ’42. He twice won the Colorado Match Play and took first in the Trans-Mississippi and Senior Trans-Mississippi. Kraft’s accomplishments for the record books are many, but so much of his legend comes from rounds to which only a few Lakewood members and the 100-year-old cottonwoods can tell.