The day-long series of functions involves some of the biggest players in the Colorado Golf Industry — including the CGA, CWGA, Colorado PGA, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, and the Mile High Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America. The event addresses challenges golf faces and how to be more effective growing the game, shares best practices and emphasizes collaboration among industry leaders.

This year’s Summit will certainly have a big-time feel to it, and it is all open to the public. (See below for registration information.)

It doesn’t hurt that the event will be held at the Broadmoor, which last year was named the top resort in North America in Golf magazine’s biennial rankings.

But beyond that, the event has attracted several notable speakers, headlined by PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua (pictured), who will give the keynote address. Bevacqua, who came to the PGA in 2012 after a 10 1/2-year stint with the USGA, in 2010 was named one of the 40 most influential people in golf under 40 years old. He’ll speak on the PGA of America’s Strategic Plan.

“Having Pete Bevacqua here is a big deal; he’s the CEO of one of the major golf organizations,” noted Ed Mate, executive director of the CGA. “The goal is to get people (to attend the G4 Summit) and have great content there. That starts with Pete.”

But it certainly doesn’t end there. Also among speakers from national organizations are Hunki Yun, director of strategic projects at the USGA (on the science behind pace of play), and Sandy Cross, senior director of diversity and inclusion at the PGA of America (on how understanding generational attributes and diversity and inclusion can attract more golfers).

Bevacqua, Yun, Cross and J.D. Dockstader, chief business development officer of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, will participate in an industry panel discussion moderated by golf strategist Jim Keegan.

Also at the Summit, the CGA plans to unveil its new logo as part of the association’s centennial celebration. The formal public debut of the logo will take place at the Denver Golf Expo Feb. 20-22.

And though it’s not technically a part of the G4 Summit — just held in conjunction with the event — two-time PGA Championship winner and putting guru Dave Stockton will be the headliner for the Colorado PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit that will take place Feb. 11 at the Broadmoor. Entry to that event is limited to PGA and LPGA professionals.

Last year marked the debut of the G4 Summit, which is billed as “a coming together of the golf industry in Colorado”. (For the purposes of the Summit, the CGA and CWGA together are considered one of the four founding participants in the event.) More than 125 golf industry leaders attended the 2014 Summit, and organizers hope for a marked increase this year.

The G4 Summit features a state of the industry update, thematic speeches, roundtable meetings, a panel discussion and the annual public golf operators meeting, with all the sessions designed to bolster the game of golf in Colorado.

“Last year was great, exactly what we wanted — a coming together of the golf industry,” Mate said. “We want to make sure we’re good stewards of the game.”

To register for the G4 Summit or to get more information, CLICK HERE.

The 2015 session of the Colorado Legislature convened this week, and the state’s golf community plans to be more than merely interested observers.

With several issues very relevant to the game of golf definitely or possibly coming up during this year’s four-month session, the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado will have a representative looking out for their interests at the Statehouse in Denver.

Jennifer Cassell (pictured), a lobbyist who also recently has worked part-time on the CWGA staff, was retained by the Allied Golf Associations in the fall, and she could very well continue in an advocacy role on an ongoing basis.

“We want to be out ahead of issues and be in a position to react” in a timely manner to bills that affect Colorado golf in the State Legislature, CGA executive director Ed Mate said. “This way, we’ll have an oar in the water at the state capitol.”

The main impetus to have representation at the Legislature starting now is that the Pesticide Applicators’ Act has a sunset provision, meaning that in this session lawmakers will review it and vote on renewing the act, possibly with some changes from previous incarnations.

The Colorado golf industry is hoping that the Legislature will follow the recommendation issued in October by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), which wants the act to continue for another nine years, until 2024, while requiring some applicators to receive additional training prior to pesticide use. A bill will likely come forward in the State Legislature sometime between mid-January and early February, Cassell said.

“I’ll obviously have an eye on the pesticide bill,” she said this week. “When I hear it’s in committee, I’ll ask (representatives of) the golf associations — possibly the golf course superintendents and maybe Ed Mate and Eddie Ainsworth (executive director of the Colorado PGA) — to come and testify.”

Other issues of particular interest to the Colorado golf industry that could come up in a given session are bills related to water usage, certain contract employment legislation, and tourism.

“There are generally 700 or so bills that are introduced and debated each session,” said Cassell (pictured at left at the Statehouse). “I’ll be both actively lobbying and keeping track” of key issues for the Allied Golf Associations. “We want to raise awareness of golf industry issues and be more involved in the legislative process. All sorts of things happen at the state capitol that can have a real impact.”

The push for retaining a legislative advocate at this point came from the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association, which sees the responsible application of pesticides by professionals as being crucial to course maintenance. And with some environmental groups expected to advocate for change in the Pesticide Applicators’ Act, the golf community wanted its voice heard as well.

“It has the potential to have a very large impact on golf,” Mate said of the act. “Without the prudent application of chemicals, golf is in big trouble.”

Cassell’s background makes her a good fit to advocate for the golf industry. She played college golf at the University of Kansas in the early 2000s and has spent time working in a golf shop and mowing greens and tees. She’s a volunteer assistant coach for the women’s golf program at the University of Denver, where she earned a Masters degree. And after serving on the CWGA board of directors, Cassell joined the association’s staff last year as programs associate when the CWGA became short-staffed.

As a lobbyist, Cassell works for the firm Tomlinson & Associates, advocating on behalf of agriculture issues, economic development, insurance and higher education. This is her fourth state legislative session serving as a lobbyist, and she’s done work at the state capitol in Kansas and Colorado for over a decade, including for Gov. Hickenlooper.