M.H. “Sonny” Brinkerhoff — a past president of the CGA, a key figure in the development of the Eisenhower-Evans caddie scholarship program at the University of Colorado, and a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame — passed away on Wednesday. He was 91.
Brinkerhoff served as president of the CGA in 1978 and ’79, and was a governor emeritus for the association. He was also the club president at Cherry Hills Country Club in the mid-1960s. But Brinkerhoff probably made his biggest impact on golf with the Eisenhower-Evans program, which provides full scholarships at CU to qualifying caddies.
Along with Dick Campbell, Brinkerhoff was known as one of the founding fathers of the Eisenhower-Evans program. He played a prominent role in the 1967 purchase of a fraternity house across the street from CU that became — and remains — the home of the E.E. Scholarship house. And for almost a quarter-century, Brinkerhoff oversaw the maintenance and improvement projects at the house on behalf of the Western Golf Association and the CGA and CWGA.
For his many years of volunteer work in golf, Brinkerhoff was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.
Brinkerhoff, a native of Shreveport, La., lived in Colorado since 1954. He was long a prominent figure in the oil and gas business in the Rocky Mountain region and in Texas.
Brinkerhoff and his wife, Jo, had four children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial service for Brinkerhoff will be held on Jan. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church (1820 Broadway in Denver).
The family requests that memorials be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church or to the Evans Scholarship Foundation, 1 Briad Road, Golf, IL 60029.
