The 2026 Cherry Creek Classic at Cherry Creek Golf Course in Shelby Township wanted to be several different rounds in one Sunday morning, and it nearly succeeded. A frost delay pushed the 8:30am start back by an hour while the field waited out conditions that had no business showing up in May. Then the sun arrived, the temperature climbed to the mid-60s, and Cherry Creek briefly looked like the kind of spring morning that makes everyone remember why they play this game. Then the back nine happened, the wind kicked up, and the temperatures dropped right back down. Schizophrenic conditions, start to finish. One player didn’t seem to notice any of it. Anthony Dean shot a net 68 (-4), won by four strokes, and became the first two-time winner of the 2026 Mulligan Tour season. The money race leader just pulled away from the rest of the field, and it wasn’t particularly close.
Let’s put Dean’s round in context. Three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to build the foundation. Three more birdies and two eagles on the back nine to bury the field. That’s six birdies and three eagles in 18 holes at Cherry Creek on a day where the conditions made it hard enough to make par. The net 68 (-4) winning margin of four strokes is a blowout by Mulligan Tour standards on this type of layout, and Dean delivered it on a course that doesn’t hand out low numbers generously. Sweet Sixteen champion. Cherry Creek Classic champion. Money race leader at $68.00 — ten clear of the next man on the board. Anthony Dean is having a season.
John Ferlito chased him as hard as anyone could have on Sunday. Six birdies. Eleven of thirteen fairways hit. A net 72 (E) that would have won most Mulligan Tour events and on Sunday finished second by four shots. Ferlito’s fairway percentage is the kind of number that separates players — 11 of 13 on a windy, difficult back nine at Cherry Creek is elite driving, and he converted it into a clean, consistent round that earned him $24 and kept his name near the top of the Eastern Division money chase. He also stuck it close enough on hole 17 to claim the $10 cash CTP prize. The man who came back from shoulder surgery and immediately won the Sparty Classic now has two top-two finishes in his last two starts.
Kevin Gregoire finished third at net 74, picked up $16, and — more importantly for the afternoon’s storylines — claimed a skin on hole 6 as part of the 2026 Cherry Creek Classic’s first skins game of the season. Seven skins were won at $7 apiece, and the winners read like a tour directory: Dean on 4, Gregoire on 6, Klipa on 9, Withey on 11 and 13, Barnes on 14, and Levine on 18. Seven different moments of brilliance across 18 holes, six players walking away with a little extra change in their pocket. That’s the skins game.
Jonathan Barnes and Jeff Klipa tied for fourth at net 76. Klipa’s approach on hole 7 won him the $20 account credit in the closest-to-pin competition — the all-time wins leader picking up extra hardware on a course where he finished tied for fourth in 2025. Barnes at 3.7 continues to be the most dangerous near-scratch player on the tour, posting competitive rounds at every stop without the result yet that his game suggests is coming.
Stewart Levine, Mike Wassman, and Chuck Withey each carded net 77 to share sixth. Wassman’s consistency through the spring has been one of the quieter stories of the 2026 season — the rookie who started at 0.0 in March is now cashing checks at Cherry Creek. Withey claimed two skins on the back nine and added to what has been a solid if not headline-grabbing early season for the defending money title holder.
The overall 2026 money standings entering the week after Cherry Creek tell the story of a season taking shape. Dean leads at $68. Birkle sits second at $60 despite a quiet recent stretch. Ferlito at $56 is the hottest player over the last three weeks. Stalo at $47.17, Wessel Jr. at $44, Wilsey at $43.50 — the top of the money list is competitive and could look completely different by Memorial Day. The Memorial Tournament is next on the calendar, played at Gateway Golf Club. The first major of the 2026 season. The leaderboard just got a lot more interesting.