At age 11, Ralph Vranesic showed up at Cherry Hills Country Club to tote golf bags. Round after round made him a fine caddie and also tapped what would become Vranesic’s lifelong, insatiable and active interest in golf. He watched, listened and learned from those he caddied for, and it was not uncommon for Ralph to play 72 holes on any given Monday—when the caddies could play for free.
In 1937, Vranesic won the Colorado Junior State Championship. After winning the Colorado Publinks Championship and taking third place in the City Publinks in 1942, Vranesic struck double medals in 1943 as both State and City Publinks champion. He qualified seven times for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship between 1946 and ’58.
Known as a weekend golfer, Vranesic was a State Amateur quarterfinalist in 1942, 1946 and 1949; runner-up in 1948 and semifinalist in 1951. He was runner-up in the CGA Stroke Play Championship in 1949. In 1946, he won the American Legion State Tournament and finished sixth nationally. Between 1942 and 1949, he was four times selected to the Colorado Governor’s Cup Amateur Team. He owns numerous club championships and was a member of the Wellshire Golf Course team when it won the City Team Championship 19 out of 20 years.
A collector of golf shots, this respected linkster has recorded 16 eagle 2s, three holes-in-one and one double eagle. He names and executes various putts: the “drag-lag,” the “gap-slap,” the “stutter-putt” and the “parachute drop.”
