After 37½ years of working for the city of Aurora’s golf division, Dennis Lyon jokes that he’ll soon be “promoted to customer.”
Yes, after retiring as Aurora’s manager of golf at the end of the year, Lyon does indeed plan to devote more time to his own game. So instead of doing his best to please the golf customer, Lyon will be that customer.
It seems only fitting.
After working in the Colorado golf industry on and off since 1969 — and playing a key administrative role for the last 31 years — Lyon will leave some big shoes to fill.
“If we had a Mount Rushmore for golf administrators in the state of Colorado, he’d be on it,” CGA executive director Ed Mate said of Lyon. “He’s been a (course) superintendent, business guy and a great person. He remembers everybody by name whether they’re the head professional or the guy who cuts the greens. I think the world of him. He’ll be missed for sure.”
Lyon, 62, informed his boss of his impending retirement early last month, then told his staff about two weeks ago.
“They were pretty surprised,” Lyon said earlier this week. “I’ve been here longer than all of them.
“It’s going to be different. I’ve come to work for the city of Aurora since 1973. But there comes a time in life when you have newer priorities. I want to spend more time with my wife and (five) grandkids, and maybe not have that kind of stress anymore. It’s a change in focus. I’m going to have more family and golf time.”
The impact Lyon has made extends far beyond just Aurora and the courses the city owns and operates. He served as national president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (1989) and as president of the CGA (2002-2003). At the GCSAA, he was the first president to represent a municipal golf course. In addition, Lyon was on the CGA Board of Governors from 1991 through 2009.
All of that, along with his work in Aurora, resulted in Lyon being elected into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.
“That was a good feeling as an administrator and someone with a superintendents background,” Lyon said.
As Aurora’s manager of golf, Lyon oversees seven courses — Aurora Hills, Centre Hills Par-3, Fitzsimons, Meadow Hills, Murphy Creek, Saddle Rock and Springhill — and the city’s golf division includes 45 full-time employees and 250 more seasonal.
Lyon was originally hired by the city in 1973 as the superintendent at Aurora Hills. In 1979, after Aurora had added Springhill and Meadow Hills to its course list, Lyon’s role evolved into more of an administrative one, as the manager of golf.
Lyon hasn’t just spent almost all of his adulthood in Colorado, but nearly his entire life. He was born in Hayden in northwest Colorado, raised in nearby Craig, and received a horticulture degree (specializing in turf management) from Colorado State University. He later added a Masters in management from the University of Northern Colorado.
In 1969, Lyon interned under Stan Metsker at Boulder Country Club, then, after a stint in the Army, he served as the assistant superintendent at HeatherRidge in 1972. The city of Aurora hired him the next year.
Though Lyon started out as a course superintendent, the management training he acquired meshed ideally with Aurora’s growing golf needs in the 1970s.
“I took the challenge and had an interest in management,” he said. “As the position evolved, it was a perfect fit to me.”
One of the reasons Lyon figures he’s been a good fit for his post is that he considers himself “just a recreational golfer (he’s an 18.5 handicap). I think that’s one of the reasons I can relate well to the typical player.”
Over Lyon’s years as manager of golf, among his highlights are the opening of two highly regarded championship courses, Saddle Rock and Murphy Creek. And Lyon was instrumental in bringing significant tournaments to each site.
When Lyon heard the Colorado Open was planning to leave Inverness Golf Club after a six-year run (1992-1997), he contacted tournament representatives and convinced them to bring the tournament to Saddle Rock. The course hosted the Open from 1998 through 2000, with current PGA Tour player Shane Bertsch and one-time Nationwide Tour champion Scott Petersen winning at the course.
“The city was interested in promoting (Aurora) through the golf courses, and that was a good way to do it,” Lyon said.
Later, the Aurora city council wanted to lure a national championship to one of its facilities, and Lyon was a point man in doing just that. In 2008, Murphy Creek hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, where current PGA Tour player Rickie Fowler drew the most attention, though he lost that week in the round of 16.
“The Publinks was a perfect fit for us, and the city really appreciated the value that it brought to (Aurora),” said Lyon, who noted that the city’s “Team of the Year Award” went to the group that put on the U.S. Publinks.
But the last decade has also certainly presented challenges — mainly of the financial variety. Increased water rates in Aurora, along with the tough economy of the last few years have made meeting a budget a formidable task.
“It’s tough to generate enough (revenue), especially having a lot of debt with Saddle Rock and Murphy Creek,” Lyon said. “It’s been a strain on everyone in the division.”
Taking the bad with the good is par for the course for anyone who holds a position of responsibility for more than three decades. But now Lyon is ready to hand off the reins he has held for so long in Aurora Golf.
“You know when to say when,” he said. “I wanted to go out at the top of my game.”
