Following up from earlier this week, when we started our two-part retrospective on the top Colorado golf-related stories of 2018 (CLICK HERE for the first installment), we continue our countdown with the top dozen stories of the year — in reverse order. And at the end, included is a list of honorable-mention selections.

12. Stewart Signs With No. 1-Ranked College Team in Nation: It’s not often that a Colorado golfer signs a national letter of intent with the No. 1-ranked college program in the nation. But such was the case in November when Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins put his John Hancock on the dotted line with Oklahoma State. Stewart, who graduated from Fossil Ridge High School this month, will be headed to Stillwater for the fall semester next year. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Boys Player of the Year is one of at least nine Colorado residents or JGAC members from the Class of 2019 who are headed to NCAA Division I golf programs. READ MORE

11. Another National Honor for Colorado PGA: Dating back to the late 1950s, members of the Colorado PGA or the Section itself have won 19 national awards from the PGA of America. Ten of those 19 have come since 2007, including this year’s Herb Graffis Award for player development, which the CPGA received for the second time since 2011. READ MORE

10. New CGA President Janene Guzowski Continues Trend in Colorado: The last several months of this year have proven to be a major boon for women in leadership roles in Colorado golf. Janene Guzowski is the new president of the CGA, Janet Moore is the new president of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and Molly Greenblatt has become the new chairperson of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. And that’s in addition to Suzy Whaley being elected the first national president of the PGA of America. READ MORE

9. Colorado, Hiwan Shine as Girls Junior Americas Cup Hosts: The Girls Junior Americas Cup — a team competition featuring players from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico — is hosted just once every 18 years by Colorado, and 2018 was the Centennial State’s turn. Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, where the Colorado Open was held from 1964 to ’91, was a fitting mountainous setting for the event. While Mexico swept the team and individual titles, Colorado posted its best finish since 2013 by placing fifth out of 18 teams. Staff and volunteers from the CGA and the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado played major roles in running this major junior event. READ MORE

8. Colorado Sweeps Team, Individual Titles at Boys Junior America’s Cup: At the same time the Girls Junior Amerias Cup was taking place at Hiwan, a Colorado team (left) was making history at the boys Junior America’s Cup in Montana. For the first time in the 44 years in which Colorado has competed in the event, its squad claimed the team title. In fact, a Colorado team had never finished better than third before this year in the competition that includes players from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico. To add to the feat, Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins won the individual title out of the 72-player field. Joining Stewart on the winning team were Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch, Davis Bryant of Aurora and Walker Franklin of Broomfield. Former longtime CGA staffer Dustin Jensen captained the Colorado squad. READ MORE

7. 2 Coloradans Qualify for PGA Tour, 2 More for LPGA Tour: Seldom have players who grew up in Colorado enjoyed so much success in qualifying for the top men’s and women’s golf tours in the world as they did in the final half of 2018. Wyndham Clark and Jim Knous earned promotions to the PGA Tour with their performances on the Web.com Tour regular season and Finals, respectively. And Jennifer Kupcho and Becca Huffer landed spots on the LPGA Tour in 2019 by both finishing in the top 10 in the eight-round LPGA Q-Series, with Kupcho placing second and Huffer 10th. All four Coloradans will be rookies on those top circuits in 2019. In fact, the PGA Tour’s wraparound season began in October, and Knous recorded a top-10 finish in his first event as a member of that Tour. Joining Kupcho and Huffer in earning an LPGA card last month was former University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi.

6. Gearing Up for Rules Changes: With the modernized Rules of Golf set to take effect on Jan. 1, the USGA and its affiliated Allied Golf Associations have been very busy trying to bring members up to speed on the changes. For the CGA, that effort has included weekly “Ready for the 2019 Rules” videos and four-hour Ready for the Rules seminars held at various locations around the state late in 2018 and also planned for the first several months of 2019. READ MORE

5. Year 1 of New-Look CGA: Our No. 1 story of 2017 in Colorado golf was the unification a year ago of the CGA and CWGA after both associations had celebrated their 100th anniversaries as separate — but complementary — organizations serving golf in Colorado. With 2018 being their first full calendar year together, things have gone, by just about any measure, extremely well. All of which is very good news, considering how many golfers the new-look CGA serves as members. There’s still work to be done, but it’s certainly been a stellar first year together.

4. CSU Golfers Claim USGA National Title: Golfers with strong Colorado ties don’t often get to say they’re reigning USGA national champions, but Colorado State University golfers Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor (left) earned that honor by winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title in early May in Tarzana, Calif. The two never trailed in the first four matches they played at El Caballero Country Club. In the title match, they were 2 down with four holes left, but a big-time rally down the stretch netted them a 1-up victory over teenagers Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei and Lei Ye of China — and the national championship. The victory was believed to be the first USGA national amateur championship by a person or team with strong Colorado ties since Jill McGill won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. READ MORE

3. Vickers Passes Away: There are almost 12 dozen people in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, but even in that select group, there are some that took it to the next level. A good rule of thumb as to who those people are is if they’ve also been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. There are less than a dozen people who are members of both Halls of Fame. One of them passed away in September — 93-year-old Jack Vickers. Vickers made his mark in a variety of sports, but likely will be most remembered as the founder of Castle Pines Golf Club and The International that hosted PGA Tour events for 21 years. No less than Jack Nicklaus, who designed Castle Pines, paid tribute to Vickers the day he died. Vickers’ International ran from 1986 through 2006. It featured a unique modified Stableford scoring system, which promoted aggressive play as a birdie and a bogey were worth more than two pars. The tournament produced quite a few big-name champions, including Greg Norman, Davis Love III (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Vijay Singh and Ernie Els. READ MORE

2. Kupcho Phenomenon Continues: Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster may very well accomplish great things in the coming decades, but even long into the future, 2018 will be a year she’ll remember fondly. Here’s a brief rundown of what she accomplished: The Wake Forest golfer won an NCAA Division I individual title a year (left) after placing second. She became the first Colorado resident to win the prestigious individual championship on the women’s side. She helped three U.S. national teams capture international team titles in 2018 — at the Curtis Cup, the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. In the latter event, Kupcho finished second individually out of a field of 170. She also placed second at the eight-round final stage of LPGA Q-school. After concluding her college career in May, she’ll immediately begin her LPGA career. Kupcho finished an LPGA career-best 16th this year in the LPGA Marathon Classic. Overall in 2018, she won three individual college titles. Kupcho also claimed the prestigious Mark H. McCormack Medal, becoming the first American to win the women’s McCormack honor as the top female player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings as of the conclusion of the U.S. Women’s Amateur. And she was named the world female Amateur of the Year by digital new magazine Global Golf Post. READ MORE

1. U.S. Senior Open a Hit at The Broadmoor: It had been almost four years since Colorado had hosted a big-time tour-level event — the kind that attracts 100,000-plus fans. But the drought ended this year when the U.S. Senior Open (pictured at top) was conducted at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. And the results didn’t disappoint. The announced attendance for the week was 134,500, the most for the Senior Open since the 157,126 in Omaha, Neb., in 2013. David Toms, who won the 1999 Sprint International at Castle Pines but hadn’t captured a title on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions in seven years, captured the victory at the Senior Open by one stroke. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe placed fifth, marking his second straight top-5 performance in the U.S. Senior Open. Shortly after the conclusion of the championship, the USGA announced that the U.S. Senior Open will return to The Broadmoor in 2025.

Honorable Mention

— Lauren Howe, who grew up in Colorado, was a finalist in the U.S. Girls’ Junior as a 15-year-old and went on to win an event on the LPGA Tour, was voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

— Patrick Reidy became the fifth 50-something player in the last six years to win the Colorado PGA Professional Championship.

— Players from Texas swept the two CGA women’s major titles in 2018, giving Texans three consecutive such championships. Emily Gilbreth, a lifetime Houstonian before moving to Denver, won the 2017 CGA Women’s Match Play; Kristin Glesne of San Antonio the 2018 CGA Women’s Stroke Play; and Kennedy Swann the 2018 CGA Women’s Match Play.

— Former BYU golfer Justin Keiley won his second straight Rocky Mountain Open, defeating former Montrose resident Brandon Bingaman in a playoff after the latter shot a course-record 11-under-par 60 in the final round at Tiara Rado in Grand Junction.

— Three Colorado courses — Castle Pines, Ballyneal and Cherry Hills — are ranked among the 150 Greatest International Courses, according to Golf Digest.

— Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs finished sixth — tying the best showing ever by a Coloradan — in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta. At the 2019 National Finals, three Coloradans will compete — Caitlyn Chin of Greenwood Village, Chunya Boonta of Centennial and Grady Ortiz of Colorado.

— The University of Denver women’s golf team saw its remarkable string of league tournament championships end at 14, though the Pioneers’ Sophie Newlove claimed the individual title at Summit League Championship.

— CU’s Robyn Choi qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Open for a second straight year. Choi later earned her LPGA Tour card at the final stage of Q-school.

— Former Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, who won the CGA Amateur in August, claimed the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational championship for the second straight year for his second individual college title in eight days.

— Doug Rohrbaugh, who was paired with Scott McCarron and Miguel Angel Jimenez at the Senior PGA Championship, became the first golfer to sweep the Colorado PGA Player of Year and Senior Player of Year honors in the same season. Like Rohrbaugh, Colorado PGA professional Chris Johnson qualified for two PGA Tour Champions majors in 2018 — the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship.

— Nicholas Pevny of Aspen captured a national title, prevailing in the boys 12-13 age division of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida.

— Former Parker resident Elizabeth Wang finished 34th — fourth among amateurs — at the U.S. Women’s Open. Wang also made it to the round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and to the round of 32 at the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Wang, now playing for Harvard, defeated Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster in 19 holes in the round of 64 at the U.S. Women’s Am.

— Fort Collins resident Dillon Stewart became to first Coloradan to win the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior boys title. Later, he captured a second AJGA championship, this time in Montana, and won 5A state high school individual and team titles.

— New Colorado resident Dan Erickson shot a 9-under-par 61 — a course record by two strokes at Fort Collins Country Club — en route to qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, where he made match play but bowed out in the round of 64 at Pebble Beach.

— Hadley Ashton of Erie finished fifth in the girls 9-10 division at the prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Championships.

— Thirty-two years after winning her first CGA/CWGA title, Kristine Franklin earned her second, this time overcoming five-time champion Kim Eaton in the Women’s Senior Stroke Play.

— Greg Condon of the southern Colorado town of Monte Vista shared stroke-play medalist honors in the U.S. Senior Amateur, while Scott Sullivan of Grand Junction advanced to the match play round of 16.

(Note: This story was updated on Jan. 2)

When it comes to women assuming major leadership roles in Colorado golf organizations — ones traditionally held by men — the last five years have marked a seismic shift in the landscape.

— In 2014, Leslie Core-Drevecky became the first female president of the Colorado PGA.

— A year ago, when the CGA and CWGA joined forces and became one organization, Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary agreed to serve one year as co-presidents of the CGA, with Miner becoming the first female president of the association.

— This fall, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee Janet Moore was chosen the new president of that organization. Moore is a five-time winner of the CGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

— Also this fall, Molly Greenblatt was selected chairperson of the board for the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, which adminsters the CoBank Colorado Open Championships and The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch. Greenblatt earned low-amateur honors in the 1999 Colorado Women’s Open.

— On a national level, last month Suzy Whaley became the first female president of the PGA of America.

— Then last week, Janene Guzowski (pictured) was elected president of the CGA’s volunteer board of directors, becoming the first woman to hold that position outright. It was just over two years ago that Guzowski and Tracy Zabel became the first women to serve on the CGA board. Before the CGA and the CWGA started down the road of integrating — at the behest of the USGA — “we were operating under the understanding with the CWGA that if there were any talented women that were being considered, the CWGA would sure appreciate the opportunity to have them join their board,” CGA executive director Ed Mate said. “And that would happen a lot. We’d have a woman we thought highly of, and we’d steer that individual to the CWGA.”

But nowadays, with the boards of the CGA and CWGA having merged a year ago, roughly 40 percent of the CGA board in 2018 were women. That will remain true in 2019. And next year, three members of the Executive Committee will be women, with Guzowski joined by Dana Murray (secretary) and Miner (past president). To see the CGA’s 2018 volunteer leadership, CLICK HERE.

Asked her impression of women taking more leadership roles in Colorado golf, Guzowski said, “It’s a phenomenon, and to me it represents what happened last year with the historic merger of the CGA and the CWGA. Women are coming forward and people are giving us a chance to show everybody what we can do with golf in Colorado. It’s not strictly a man’s world anymore with golf or anything else for that matter. For us it’s an amazing growth and coming together in Colorado golf.”

The CGA has obviously experienced major changes over the last year, and Mate is among those who see the selection of Guzowski as the association’s new president as ideal in several respects.

“We have a lot of positive momentum with the integration and we just want to continue that as we have a lot of work yet to be done,” Mate said. “Having a strong, positive leader like Janene, it became obvious she was the right choice. This was the decision of the Nominating Committee, chaired by Doak Jacoway. They looked at the talent and looked at the situation and what does the organization need right now, and Janene was the clear, head-and-shoulders choice for the job at this point in time.

“She has the right set of skills. She personable. She loves caddies; that’s been her passion. The work she does with the Western Golf Association (which administers the Evans Scholarship for caddies) is also part of our mission. She was the right person at the right time.”

Though McCleary ended up serving three years as CGA president/co-president — while Miner did two as CWGA president and one as CGA co-president — traditionally CGA presidents have served two consecutive one-year terms. That was the case for every president from 2000 through 2015, and likely will be true for Guzowski as well.

“I hope to take us into the new year strong,” said Guzowski, a resident of the Cherry Creek area of Denver who belongs to Lakewood Country Club and Frost Creek in Eagle and owns a 15 handicap. “The committee chairs are all picked and they’re all off and running. I have some big shoes to fill after Joe and Juliet. I have four huge shoes to fill. They were instrumental in bringing the CGA and the CWGA together and they’ve led strongly and wonderfully through the process. I’m looking forward to taking what they have done and running with it.”

Guzowski, a graduate of Southern Methodist University who sells the Carlisle clothing line, is certainly no stranger to being in golf leadership roles on boards traditionally dominated by men. As mentioned, she was one of the first two women on the CGA board. She was also the first female director in Colorado for the WGA, joining that organization in 2011. In addition, she was the first female chairperson of the caddie committee at Lakewood Country Club.

“She’s the most likeable person,” Mate said of Guzowski. “She made it so comfortable for everybody. Let’s be honest: There’s a patriarchal culture, but she came in and didn’t miss a beat (in the WGA role). Now there are more women being considered for director’s positions around the country, and she was a pioneer in that respect.”

Guzowski also has served on the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board since 2015.

As Guzowski begins her term as the CGA president, we conducted a Q&A with her last week. Here’s some of that conversation:

Q: How does it feel to be one of first women to become president of the CGA?

Janene Guzowski: “Of course, I’m honored and I’m humbled. I’m looking forward to leading the united group (after the merger of the CGA and the CWGA) and serving golf in Colorado for all people. I’m just thrilled. It’s going to be a learning experience for all of us.”

Q: Whenever you were first approached about possibly taking the role as president, what compelled to say yes?

JG: “I didn’t say yes right away. I was first of all very stunned. I understand the reason why they have asked me. I needed to see what kind of time commitment was involved, which is a lot. I’m approaching it as a full-time unpaid job. It already is. I had to think about it, talk to my husband (Alan). I have an 82-year-old gorgeous mother who I spend a lot of time with. I assume it’s going to take some time away from everybody — friends, family — and I wanted to make sure that it was OK with everybody.

“Of course, I was honored and flattered. I feel I can do a good job and do what they’ve asked me to do and expect me to do — and I’m excited to go forward.”

Q: What are your priorities for your time as president?

JG: “We’re introducing our new branding, our new logo, which is amazing. That will all come out at the end of January, and I look forward to representing that logo and getting it out there for people to look at and know what it stands for. I’d like to work with a lot more women’s groups and getting more women involved with the CGA. I’d like to have tournaments that serve a broader range of mainly men — a handicap or flighted tournament for a golfer of any handicap, which we don’t have right now with the CGA. Women have all kinds of (those types of) tournaments, but there aren’t any for the men. I’d like to see if we can get one of those tournaments implemented (possibly for 2020 or 2021). I’d like to have a co-ed tournament sponsored by the CGA open to all level of players as well. Those are some top issues for me.”

Q: Caddies are close to your heart. Will that be another priority for you, whether it be the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course or the Evans Scholarship at CU or whatever the case may be?

JG: “I’ve been on the caddie committee at Lakewood Country Club for 18 years. I chaired the committee for five years on and off. Next year will be my ninth year on the board of directors for the WGA. I’ve work with the Solich Caddie Academy kids. I was the chairman of the Caddie Development Committee for the CGA. All that will continue. It’s all near and dear to my heart.

“I was put on the caddie committee at Lakewood Country Club 18 years ago and watching these 13- and 14-year-old children — they’re children at the time — being trained to be a caddie, trained to talk to adults, trained to get up and be at a job at 6:30 in the morning … These kids are trained to be accountable and to have a future job throughout high school and perhaps college. Watching these kids grow and mature, talking to them about the Evans Scholarship and the possibility of getting full-ride tuition at CU, it changes children into adults and it’s an amazing thing to see. I’ve enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it. I enjoy training caddies (left), I take caddies, I keep in touch with caddies. It’s going to continue to be a big thing for me. One of my favorite things that Ed Mate always says is the ‘C’ in CGA stands as much for caddies as it does for Colorado. That’s perhaps one of the reasons I became so involved so quickly because I have that same love that Ed does.”

Q: Having been on the CGA board, how do you think the integration of the CGA and CWGA has gone?

JG: “It could not have gone better. Joe and Juliet are now almost best friends. They got along so famously. I love Juliet’s analogy of a marriage. She gave up her name, her bank account, she moved. The CGA offered the CWGA so much in return for what they gave up. Golf in Colorado is going to be so much better for everybody. The Colorado Golf Association is all people, all ages — women, kids, men, people of all backgrounds and all inclusive of golf — whereas it wasn’t in the previous years.”

Q: What’s been your experience like since joining the CGA board in September 2016?

JG: “I think it’s one of the best boards I’ve ever served on. I think the Colorado Golf Association is the best golf association in the United States if you ask me — not that I’ve served on other ones. But in comparison to other boards I sit on, it’s organized and it runs smoothly. The staff … Ed Mate is amazing as our executive director. Meetings are run efficiently and timely. The issues that are brought up are important for golf in the state of Colorado. The talent on the board itself, there’s so much talent that can be tapped. I hope to do that as well; I hope to bring out the best in every person on the board, to get them involved in volunteering. There are so many smart, intelligent, talented people to work with. It’s thrilling.”
 

It’s been a quick-moving, eventful last three years in golf administration for Laura Robinson.

And, as of the end of this month, the ride will be over for a person who couldn’t have foreseen all the twists and turns along the way.

Robinson, a former CWGA executive director who’s currently the managing director of membership and integration for the CGA, plans on retiring at the end of the year, calling it a career after lengthy stints in the business world, as a college faculty member in an information technology studies program — and these recent years in leadership roles in Colorado golf.

“This has been the most rewarding three years of my career,” Robinson said in a recent phone conversation. “I had to pull knowledge from every aspect of all my experience together — from accounting and finance, employment law, human resources, marketing, customer service (and) operations in order the lead the CWGA, then to integrate the two associations (the CGA and the CWGA).

“I think I’ve been very, very lucky to have this as the capstone to my career. It’s been so much fun. I truly appreciate the support the CWGA board of directors gave me by first hiring me for the job, then keeping me in line and teaching me about golf administration and everything we were trying to do to build out women’s golf in Colorado.”

Robinson, a Colorado resident for the last 20 years, couldn’t have known what to expect when she volunteered in the summer of 2014 to help develop an I.T. stragegy for the CWGA. She then joined the association’s volunteer board of directors in 2015.

When the CWGA board decided to go in a new direction, leadership-wise, it turned to Robinson, who became the acting executive director at the beginning of 2016 and resigned her board position. And in May of that year, the “acting” part of her title was removed and Robinson became just the fourth E.D. the CWGA ever had, following Maggie Giesenhagen (1988-1991), Robin Jervey (1992-2014) and Ann Guiberson (2014-15).

During Robinson’s time as executive director, the CWGA celebrated its 100th anniversary throughout 2016, then the association joined forces with the CGA, becoming one organization at the beginning of this year. The unification, prompted by the USGA’s decision to partner with just one full-service Allied Golf Association in each state or region, was long in the works, with current CGA co-presidents Joe McCleary and Juliet Miner playing key roles in the process, along with Robinson and CGA executive director Ed Mate. (The four are pictured below.)

“This was an unexpected career move for me,” Robinson said regarding golf administration. “I was thrilled to be working for the CWGA for two years and learning about golf administration and running a small business. Merging with the CGA was a wonderful business move and I was really excited to be one of the leaders in that effort.

“It was very exciting formulating a plan make the CWGA and CGA a new organization to support the future of the game. It was so exciting to be part of all that — to lead an effort to integrate two companies so successfully, to identify a new logo, a new website (both of which will be unveiled early next year), a new way of operating, to expand our programs to men. It was just so exciting to be part of making sure the future of golf was strong in Colorado.”

And, given that this process has played out over more than three years, how does she think the integration has worked out?

“The two organizations were combined to make both of us stronger,” Robinson said. “We could share the resources the CGA had. They had more resources than the CWGA. And the CGA could benefit from all of the programs that are developed for women and high handicappers that could be rolled out for men. We were literally building the future of a golf association in Colorado to serve a wider variety of people than either organization had served before. It was really exciting to be part of that.”

Mate has worked closely with Robinson in recent years, both before and after the unification, and he certainly appreciates what Robinson has done to make the merger relatively seamless.

“Laura was just the right person at the right time in so many ways because of her business background, her ability to organize, prioritize and really kind of tease out the right questions through the integration,” Mate said. “She maintained the really good continuity with the leadership of the CWGA through this transition. She was just indispensible.

“Her business background has been such a great addition, a skill set we’ve been able to really capitalize on because she was able to develop a strategic plan by working with a team during the busiest time of the year. As we’re preparing for next year, we have by far the best blueprint to guide us for the next several years. She led us through a process of prioritization and analysis of membership. She almost did a Masters degree project that was an excercise in strategic planning. It will have huge benefits moving forward. She’s leaving us in great position. What a great legacy that that will live on for a while.

“Beyond that, she’s been very fun to work with, very passionate about the game of golf.”

The staff of the CWGA didn’t simply move into the same offices as the CGA. The volunteer boards of the two organizations were joined together — with McCleary and Miner agreeing to serve a year as co-presidents to further ease the transition period — and the CWGA staff has become integral in CGA work moving forward. That includes Kate Moore, Matthew Walker, Aaron Guereca and Debbie Kolb — in addition to Robinson.

“We had a great team in the (CWGA) office, and I’m so glad for the CGA that every one of them has decided to stay,” Robinson said. “I feel like I’ve made friends for life through this whole experience.”

And Robinson’s run over these recent years also gave her an ever-increasing appreciation of the work volunteers do — and have done — for the associtions.

“Due to this experience, I truly learned about volunteerism,” she said. “The CWGA has almost a hundred dedicated volunteers, passionate about golf, passionate about giving back to the game they love. Without the volunteers, we couldn’t have had the successful tournaments and Golf Experiences that we had. Thank you to each and every one of the volunteers for being part of the success.”

During the last year as part of the CGA staff, Robinson (at left with Miner) has taken on a multi-faceted role in the effort to make the association as good as it can be serving its newly combined membership.

“I led the team to integrate the two organizations,” she said. “It was a lot more than simply moving in together. We had to identify new roles and responsibilities. We kicked off a plan to develop a new brand and identity through a new logo and color scheme, which will be shared with the public at the (Denver) Golf Expo in February. We have a new website that is currently under development to take advantage of the new brand identity — presenting one consolidated view of the CGA to all golfers in the state.

“I was behind the effort to create a strategic plan for the newly formed CGA. It wasn’t merely taking two organizations and band-aiding them together. We really wanted to take advantage that we were a new organization focused on new programs, new demographics and a new way of operating. So a strategic plan that I developed helped support that effort. We still have a few tasks left in the integration, (including) merging all of our documents and the combined website. Though we started moving in (to the CGA offices) in late October of 2017, it truly has taken over a year to complete the integration of the two organizations.”

As the CGA forges on, Robinson and her husband Paul will continue to split time between Colorado and Florida — and will remain members at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen. The plan for the foreseeable future includes “playing lots of golf, ski and travel,” she said.

And, there will be time to reflect on these eventful last few years in golf administration.

“Every day was memorable,” she said. “Every day was a learning experience, meeting new people, developing new programs, cementing our relationship in the golf community. One of the highlights was when the CWGA (received a distinguished service award from) the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. I think that cemented our history and our place in history in the golf community. Another high moment was when I chaired my very first annual meeting for almost 175 women from clubs all over the state. That was incredibly rewarding to see the level of passion, energy and participation from public clubs, private clubs, nine-hole leagues, 18-hole leagues, championship golfers and high handicappers alike.”
   

Even from afar, World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III had an impact on Sunday’s proceedings down the stretch at the CoBank Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.

With his son, Dru Love, in a playoff for the title, but having hit some poor shots in the last three holes of regulation, the younger Love quickly gave the old man a call.

“He gave me some advice,” Dru relayed later. “He’s been in a lot of playoffs. He’s won a lot of them and lost a lot of them so he knows what he’s doing. He gave me some good advice. I went to the range and did what he told me. And under that much pressure I didn’t hit a single bad shot in the playoff.

“I told him the last three holes (of regulation) I didn’t hit it good. Someone told me, ‘You’re tied for the lead’ after I chipped in for birdie (from 30 feet on No. 15). When they told me that, I got really excited, a little nervous, and I didn’t play very good golf the last few holes. To get in with three pars the last three was actually really good from where I was a few times.

“(Davis) told me to go to the range, slow everything down and take big, long, slow swings and get clean contact. Hit 9-irons 100 yards with big, smooth swings, so you can get your feel back. I had kind of lost it there the last hole, skulling a 9-iron from the rough (with his third shot before hitting his fourth to 6 inches from a bunker 135 yards out and saving par). So he just told me to get back my contact, get some confidence back and go beat ’em. Take ’em down.”

And Dru did just that.

The 24-year-old from Sea Island, Ga., prevailed on the second hole of a playoff in spectacular fashion. Playing the par-5 18th hole — a dogleg right with trouble all along the right side — for the third time in an hour, Love hit a 2-iron from 280 yards that ran up 30 feet short of the hole. And he rolled the putt right into the middle of the cup to defeat Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, who had shot a 12-under-par 60 to force the playoff.

“It feels great to get this done,” said Love (pictured left and above). “I know my dad is really happy for me and we’ll have a big party when I get home.”

Love notched the biggest win of his career and earned $100,000 in the process. Saunders settled for a far smaller check — $20,000 — for finishing second.

Love closed with an 8-under-par 64 despite bogeying his first hole on Sunday. Counting the playoff, he made an eagle and nine birdies in his final 19 holes. He finished with a 19-under-par 197 total in the weather-shortened event.

Dru Love is far from the first member of his family to win significant golf tournaments in Colorado. His dad captured the PGA Tour’s International twice at Castle Pines (1990 and 2003). And his grandfather, Davis Love II, won the CGA Junior Match Play in both 1953 and ’54.

As for Saunders (below) on Sunday, he carded an eagle, 10 birdies and one bogey in regulation. Needing to make a 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 59, he left the putt a foot short and “settled” for a 60, which was two strokes better than the previous course record at GVR.

Coloradans Shane Bertsch and Riley Arp, who were 1-2 going into the final round, each birdied the final hole to share third place at 198, good for $9,500 apiece.

Other Coloradans to place in the top 10 were two-time Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan (seventh place, 203) and amateur Kyler Dunkle of Parker (ninth, 204). Tolan made six straight birdies on the front nine en route to a 65 on Sunday.

While Love’s championship-winning eagle was plenty impressive, he needed a disjointed par on his 54th hole to even force the first Colorado Open playoff since 2008. His drive there went left, narrowly avoiding the hazard. His next shot went about a foot into the primary rough, where he drew a good lie, but skulled his next about 50 yards into a bunker near the right hazard line. Love admitted the shot “rattled me pretty good.”

But from there, he almost holed out a stellar sand shot from 135 yards, leaving himself with just a tap-in par.

“It was the worst shot I’ve ever hit in pro golf, without a doubt, followed up with maybe one of the best,” he said.

Between the final full swing in regulation and the eagle on the second playoff hole, “There’s nothing like being in the moment and pulling shots off. It’s why we play,” Love noted.

“This is my best win ever. I’ve played some better golf, more complete golf, but I’ve never beaten a field this good. It’s rewarding.”

And what did dad say after Dru called him after he won?

“He answered the phone yelling, ‘Way to go!’,” Dru said of Davis. “I’m sure my girlfriend (who was at GVR) was texting him and my family and letting them know what was going in. As soon as that putt went in, I walked in here, grabbed my phone and called him. He just right away (said), ‘Way to go.’ He was real happy. Everybody was real happy. We’re just going to have to celebrate.”

Love’s recovery on the final hole of regulation and his playoff eagle after he had missed a 6-foot birdie attempt on the first extra hole left Saunders with a roller-coaster of emotions.

“It sucks (not to win), but he played great and he made a great putt there. That’s all you can do,” said Saunders, who isn’t to be confused with the golfer with the same name who used to live in Fort Collins and is Arnold Palmer’s grandson. “I would have taken (second) coming into the week, so it was a good week.”

Saunders’ course-record 60 in the final round was a sight to behold as he forced overtime despite starting the day in 17th place and eight out of the lead.

Saunders had been struggling so badly with his game that within the last couple of months he’d contemplated giving up professional golf until he turned things around and recently won the San Juan Open. And on Sunday he tied the Colorado Open scoring record — set by Nick Mason at Saddleback Golf Course in 2007 — and was very close to shooting the elusive 59.

Saunders was 12 under through 16 holes, but missed a 15-foot birdie attempt on 17 and was in the front bunker in two on the par-5 18th. But he hit his sand shot a little fat, then didn’t get his 20-foot birdie attempt to the hole.

“I just wanted to shoot 59,” the former Univeristy of New Mexico golfer said. “You don’t have very many opportunities. But 60 is great. It’s my best competitive round ever (by two). I played great. I just couldn’t miss. so I can’t complain. … It was a great day, so much fun.”

Before Love drained his winning eagle putt, Saunders had hit an outstanding long bunker shot on the second playoff hole and had 8 feet left for birdie.

As for the top Coloradans, Arp (left) essentially hit every green in regulation on Sunday until he slightly pulled his drive on 15 and his ball went into the water, leading to a bogey. His only other bogey was of the three-putt variety, on No. 8.

“I don’t necessarily see it like I lost (the tournament),” the former Colorado State University golfer said. “They came back and beat some guys, including me. It’s not the end of the world. I’m just going to take this and learn from it.”

Bertsch, a veteran of the PGA and Web.com Tour, had two hiccups on his front nine, going into the sand on 5 and pulling his tee shot into the native on 6. Those were the only bogeys of the day for the 36-hole leader.

“All in all I obviously played good golf this week,” the 48-year-old said. “But it only takes one shot just to get you thinking a little bit. And you know these guys are going to come at you. … I feel good about what I’ve found in my game in the last month, but I sure would have liked to win it today.”

Low-Am Honors Another Feather in Dunkle’s Cap: It’s been a good last few weeks for Kyler Dunkle of Parker.

The 2016 CGA Player of the Year qualified earlier this month for the U.S. Amateur, and on Sunday he tied for ninth in the Colorado Open and earned low-amateur honors.

The senior-to-be at the University of Utah shot rounds of 66-70-68 for a 12-under-par 204 total. That was one better in the amateur competition than Griffin Barela of Lakewood, who closed with a 67, and two better than CGA Match Play champion AJ Ott of Fort Collins (69 Sunday).

“This is my fourth time playing this tournament and I’ve missed the cut the last three years by one,” Dunkle (left) noted. “To be able to play well enough this year to where I can take home low-amateur honors, that’s really cool. I played some good golf. I’m really happy. It’s hard to be disappointed when you shoot three rounds under par.

“It was a lot of fun. My dad was caddying for me and I’m sure he was a little more stressed out this week than I was, but it was a lot of fun for us to be out here.”

On Sunday, Dunkle had an eagle from 1 1/2 feet, a birdie where he hit to 3 inches and another birdie to 1 foot. But he also three-putted from 4 feet once.

For the week, he capitalized big-time on the par-5s, playing them in 11 under par.

“It’s been fun to see how much my game has progressed,” the 21-year-old said. “It feel like I’m playing some good golf right now and I’m excited to go to the state am next week and to the U.S. Am in a couple of weeks.”

Award for the CGA, CWGA: After the conclusion of the tournament, the CGA and CWGA were presented with the Robert M. Kirchner Award, which is given to an individual or organization for contributing greatly to amateur, professional and/or tournament golf in Colorado. The CGA and CWGA, each more than a century old, became one organization on Jan. 1 after a two-year integration process, joining forces to serve golfers in the state.

“For over a hundred years, two great organizations have represented amateur golf here in the state of Colorado — from championships to course ratings to the handicap system,” said Chris Nordling, chairman of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “And now these two organizations have come together to be one, for hopefully the next 100 years.”

The CGA’s co-presidents in 2018, Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary, accepted the award. (Pictured are, from left: Pat Hamill, founder of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, Miner, McCleary and Nordling.)

“We get to represent over 60,000 golfers in the state of Colorado and we also get to work with young people,” Miner said. “We try to help all the young people so that someday they can play in this tournament and make their parents proud.”

For scores and the payout from the Colorado Open, CLICK HERE.

It was quite a diverse and accomplished group of inductees and award winners that were celebrated Sunday night at the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s 46th annual induction dinner, held at Sanctuary golf course in Sedalia:

— Inducted was a person (Jim Bunch) who has served at some of the highest levels of volunteer golf administration, including on the USGA Executive Committee and as chairman of the Western Golf Association, the USGA Rules of Golf Committee and of the Evans Scholars Foundation that awards full tuition and housing college scholarships to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means.

Helping salute Bunch on Sunday — via video — were USGA CEO Mike Davis and WGA president and CEO John Kaczkowski.

“Jim always gave back (to the game) more than he received,” Davis noted.

Bunch’s foundation in golf was laid when he caddied in the Chicago area beginning as a 12-year-old. “I got more education in the caddie yard than I did in the rest of my life,” he said.

— Also inducted was a PGA Master Professional (Danny Harvanek) whose instruction work with junior golfers earned him the PGA of America’s national Junior Golf Leader award and who planted the seeds that led to the highly successful Colorado PGA Golf in Schools program.

Noted Harvanek, who was the first PGA head professional at Bear Creek Golf Club, earned the Colorado PGA Golf Professional of the Year honor three times, received an award from the CGA for outstanding contributions to amateur golf, and authored eight golf books: It’s been “a Walter Mitty life.”

(The two inductees are pictured above, with Harvanek at left.)

— Honored for distinguished service was an organization (the CWGA) which drew accolades for more than a century of work in women’s golf and which continues to be a cornerstone of the game in Colorado after joining forces with the CGA at the beginning of the year.

“In the past, we worked hard to become the best damn women’s golf association around — and we did it,” said Juliet Miner, the final president of the CWGA, and now co-president of the CGA with Joe McCleary.

— Likewise honored was the the first class of “Future Famers” — teenagers who have shown all the makings of stellar careers in Colorado golf: Davis Bryant of Aurora and Hailey Schalk of Erie. Schalk will defend her 3A girls state high school title starting Monday in Pueblo.

Noting the name of the award presented to Bryant and Schalk, longtime CGHOF master of ceremonies Tom Green quipped, “No pressure there.”

— Also receiving an award (Golf Person of the Year) was a PGA golf professional (Mark Pfingston of the Golf Club at Bear Dance) who last year earned the PGA of America’s top honor for merchandising at a public facility.

— And there was the man CGHOF president Scott Radcliffe called “kind of a background guy” (Rich Billings), who has provided the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame all manner of support over the last several decades. Billings received a lifetime achievement honor.

“It’s a tremendous organization,” Billings said of the Hall of Fame. “And I feel tremendous kinship with the board.”

A crowd of about 180 attended Sunday’s banquet, including many CGHOF inductees, among them 1958 PGA Championship winner Dow Finsterwald and the Century of Golf Gala’s Colorado Golf Professional of the Century, Vic Kline.

For an earlier story about some of the accomplishments of Sunday’s honorees, CLICK HERE.

The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame will return to Sanctuary on Aug. 22 to host its annual golf tournament. For more information on that event, email CGHOF executive director Jennifer Lyons at jennifer@cghof.org

Below are some additional photos from Sunday’s fesitivites: From top: Miner and former CWGA executive director Laura Robinson; Pfingston; and Billings. 

“I’m a comer, I’m a doer, I’m a participant.”

That was Juliet Miner’s matter-of-fact reaction after answering in the affirmative when recently asked if she had attended each G4 Summit since the event’s inception in 2014.

Indeed, when it comes to volunteering in Colorado golf, Miner does far more than her fair share. And she’s not just a passive volunteer. She plays key roles, and doesn’t hesitate when tough decisions have to be made and big-picture planning is needed.

In that regard, she’s been in the right position at the right time. For the past two years, Miner served as president of the CWGA, and this year she’s a co-president of the CGA along with Joe McCleary.

And during her tenure as president/co-president, she, along with other association leaders, has been where the buck stops as the CWGA switched executive directors, conducted a series of celebrations as part of its 100th anniversary, and as the CWGA joined with the CGA to become a single Allied Golf Association serving both men and women in Colorado.

It’s little wonder why Miner was named Volunteer of the Year for 2017 at the recent CGA Women’s Annual Meeting.

“It’s been unbelievable working with her,” said McCleary, who was sole president of the CGA for two years before he and Miner agreed to be co-presidents. “She’s a thinker, she’s a doer. I think everything came together at the right time because we have an excellent working relationship.”

Asked about all that’s happened in her time as president/co-president, Miner won’t deny that it was more than she expected, but she didn’t shy away from doing what needed to be done.

“I’m from the Midwest (she grew up in Iowa) and we’re big on duty,” she said in a recent interview. “I was surprised that it was as much of a challenge as it was. Fortunately for me, I thrive on challenges, so I just set to it and got it done.

“If we all do our part, it makes it easier for all of us. If we all gave a bottle of water, people wouldn’t be thirsty. If we all gave food, nobody would be hungry. If we all volunteered, people would be helped. It just takes a big effort from a lot of people. If everybody did their part, it would be easy.”

And Miner is quick to point out she’s gotten plenty of help during her time in a leadership role.

“I have a sense of great pride for the accomplishments that I’ve been able to make through all the wonderful friendships and collaborations with everyone — the men, the women, commitee chairs, golfers, members,” Miner said. “I’ve gotten feedback from everyone I’ve come into contact with and if I didn’t know the answer (regarding a particular issue), I’ve asked for help from people. I’d have to say Laura Robinson and Kathryn Davis (former CWGA executive director and president, respectively) were my pillars of support, along with Joanie Ott, who was my predecessor” as CWGA president.

Robinson, currently the managing director of membership and integration at the CGA, served with Miner on the CWGA board of directors before becoming executive director in 2016, heading the staff that carried out the wishes of the CWGA board.

“It’s been very special with Juliet,” Robinson said. “We really do complement each other. Juliet sees the big picture so clearly. Her job is to set the vision and strategy and my job is to execute. We were fortunate that we had complementary sets of skills. We actually had a lot of fun. I’m going to miss her (when she steps down as co-president at the end of the year) as far being as my boss.”

With the executive director change, the CWGA’s 100th anniversary celebrations and the integration with the CGA, “She made all that happen,” Robinson added. “Juliet has a lot of courage to make change happen. She saw the need for change a couple of years ago and knew that kind of change would be better for women’s golf.”

Miner, a criminal defense attorney since 1984 and a Colorado resident since ’83, was helped in her current role by experience she gained in the 1990s. That was when she served as the president of the club at Perry Park Country Club in Larkspur.

“Not the ladies group — the club (overall),” she noted. “It was a similar situation (as now). They got me on the board and the vice president resigned, so I was president for two years, which was unprecedented. I went through the death of a club manager (and other significant issues). This is nothing new to me.”

Like McCleary and other association presidents in the past, Miner volunteers considerable time to the role. It’s not unusual for her to spend 20 hours a month on her volunteer duties during busy times of the year. And in 2017, she racked up 4,000 miles of driving while serving the CWGA. She averages four meetings a month, along with a like number of phone calls. Overall, this is her seventh year on the board of the CWGA/CGA. She’s a past captain of the Colorado Girls Junior America’s Cup team and she continues to serve on the CGA Course Rating Committee and on the board of trustees for the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. Still, she notes that there are other women’s golf volunteers in the state who devote even more time to the cause.

(And despite her job as a lawyer and her volunteer duties, Miner still plays more than 100 rounds of golf per year. “I try to play golf every day that I can,” she said. “I’m no spring chicken and I’ve only got probably 20 years left (to play regularly). I want to play every day that I can in the 20 years that I have left.”)

Pivotal in the bigger picture of golf in Colorado was the integration with the CGA, which was long in the making. As part of efforts to streamline its relationship with state and regional golf associations, the USGA announced that starting at the beginning of 2018, it would partner with just one full-service Allied Golf Association in each state or region. That directive led to the unification of the associations, which was finalized in the case of the CGA and the CWGA late last summer. The board of directors of the two associations formed into one leadership team, with McCleary and Miner becoming co-presidents. And the staff of the associations merged, based out of the existing CGA offices in Greenwood Village.

Integration of separate golf associations in some other states/regions didn’t go as smoothly. But a foundation that Miner and McCleary laid in the fall of 2015 — before they were presidents — paid dividends in that regard.

The USGA had held a town hall meeting in K.C. regarding its Allied Golf Association plan. On the flight back to Denver, Miner had boarded first, and when McCleary later walked down the aisle, he sat in an available seat in the same row. The two chatted on the flight — mainly about personal things rather than the USGA plan — and hit it off well.

“I firmly belive if you know someone personally, you can do business with them,” Miner said. “That’s the beauty of golf. If you can play a round of golf with someone, you can do business with them. You know what their ethics are, you know what their goals are, what their challenges are. That’s the way to do business.”

Said McCleary: “I didn’t really know her until we went to Kansas City. Our friendship — which is what I’ll call it because I think it’s applicable — really started to develop on the plane flight back.”

From there, as presidents of the CGA and CWGA, McCleary and Miner met regularly for breakfast or lunch, and called each other whenever needed.

“We constantly met and refined the goals of both organizations in the unification (process) so we could combine them to make a better organization,” Miner said. “We’ve always had the same vision — to be the best Allied Golf Association there is and to continue to do the groundbreaking efforts both the CGA and the CWGA have made.

“Although we have a written transition agreement (for the unification of the CGA and CWGA), I would say this is a handshake deal. He promised me and I promised him that we would both get what our members wanted. Although we confirmed it in writing, it was a handshake deal. When I say a handshake deal, that’s a good thing. We trusted each other to understand what each other wanted and needed. We were working toward a common goal.”

McCleary has pointed out at recent public golf functions that he and Miner share the same initials, including the middle name — JFM. McCleary is Joe Franklin McCleary and Miner is Juliet Frances Miner. If that wasn’t a good omen for the two getting along, what is?

“It’s been one of those connection points,” McCleary said. “A lot of time it’s chemistry that gets things done and there was a certain amount of chemistry in getting everything finished (with the unification). That just made it easier for me. I’ve always had a good working relationship with the women from the time I was at Saddle Rock (Golf Course), and this took it to the next level.”

After Miner and McCleary had put so much effort into the integration process, their terms as president were supposed to expire at the end of 2017. But to them — and many others — it didn’t make sense to possibly lose that momentum. So they agreed to stay on in a leadership role for 2018 and presented a united front by sharing the CGA president’s role.

“That sent the right message to everybody involved,” McCleary noted.

Given this unexpected third year as a president, Miner jokingly says she’s the reluctant president — similar to the names of films such as the Relucant Astronaut and the Reluctant Debutante.

“No, I never hesitated (in adding a year to her term),” she said. “It was a show of unity and unification and (McCleary and my) personalities just melded because we have the same work ethic. He’s more detail-oriented, I’m more overview-oriented but together we’re pretty fantastic. I think we were able to present a united front that was best for both organizations and the united organization.”

The unification process was smooth to the point that the CGA nominated the CWGA for the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Distinguished Service Award, which will be formally presented on May 20 at Sanctuary.

At the recent CGA Women’s Annual Meeting, where Miner received the Volunteer of the Year Award, she was happy to have her husband, Butch Pike, on hand.

“I got to share the award with my husband,” she said, noting that he has driven her to many golf functions over the years. “I think it’s important to say nobody can volunteer without the support of the families because the families are the ones that give up the time with you. It was really fun to have my husband there so he could see what it’s all about because he’d managed to avoid it up until then.”
 

The transition from what was long known as the CWGA Annual Meeting to what is now named the CGA Women’s Annual Meeting appeared seamless on Saturday at the Hilton Denver Inverness.

To be sure, there were some questions from attendees about how specific things will work now that the CGA and CWGA are one unified organization.

But, generally speaking, longtime CGA executive director Ed Mate seemed to sum up the mood of the day when he noted, “We’re just better together. It’s that simple.”

Saturday’s Women’s Annual Meeting featured many of the mainstays from years past — there were golf worshops, a silent auction to benefit the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, awards presentations, brunch and plenty of socializing among the 175 attendees, which represented about 90 clubs from around the state.

But the one thing that veered from the normal was a panel discussion featuring CGA co-presidents Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary, with Mate asking questions. (Pictured above are, from left, McCleary, Mate and Miner.) One of those queries was about the integration of the CGA and the CWGA, which became official as of Jan. 1. It’s part of a nationwide effort by the USGA to streamline its relationship with state and regional golf associations by partnering with just one full-service Allied Golf Association in each state or region. 

Subsequently, the board of directors of the two associations have formed into one leadership team — in fact it held a quarterly meeting just after the Women’s Annual Meeting. McCleary, the CGA president for the past two years, and Miner, who  served as the CWGA president for a similar time, are co-presidents of the CGA for 2018. And the staff of the associations have also merged, based out of the current CGA offices in Greenwood Village.

“We love to do course rating, we love to run tournaments, we love to run USGA qualifiers, we love to work with (members),” Miner told the audience at the Women’s Annual Meeting. “It was only obvious to our membership that this (unification) was a good thing because now we’re bigger, better, stronger, richer — and we have lots of staff. If you talk to our staff, each and every one of them loves the synergy of being in that office together. … This is not just to make the best of something that the USGA decided was a good idea for golf, but to make it the best for golf in Colorado, and to be a beacon for golf in the United States of America.”

McCleary feels similary after going through a unification process that lasted more than two years.

“From the beginning I said, ‘Let’s do what’s best for golf and golfers in the state of Colorado,” he told the attendees. “We needed to come together as one organization representing both men and women (in order) to lay the groundwork for the future. Things are changing. It’s incredibly important to do what we’ve done. I think it’s paid dividends and it will pay significant dividends in the future.”

Laura Robinson, former CWGA executive director and current managing director of membership and integration for the CGA, organized Saturday’s meeting and liked the way the panel discussion went.

“I hope the women here who heard Joe, Juliet and Ed talk gained a sense of confidence that this (integration) is really good for women’s golf,” Robinson said.

One way that the inification paid off tangibly was evident on Saturday. Last year, the silent auction at the CWGA Annual Meeting raised slightly under $7,000 for junior golf. This year, more than double that total — $15,365 to be exact — was raised for the cause (left). With increased resources being brought to bear with the merged organizations, close to 100 items were available for auction, and a nearly two-week-long online element was added this year, yielding $7,570 of the $15,365 total.

All in all, Miner saw this year’s Annual Meeting as a valuable tool in more ways than one.

“I think the meeting went as successfully as it has been for the last number of years,” she said. “The difference is that we had all of the (pre-existing) CGA board here, which is comprised of mostly men. They’re all here and they’re seeing what we do. They get to see our product — which before they’d only heard about — up close.”

Saddle Rock WGA Named Women’s Club of the Year: For the second straight year, a Women’s Club of the Year was recognized at the Annual Meeting, and this year the honor went to members of the Saddle Rock Women’s Golf Association (left).

The award is presented to a club that has demonstrated a commitment to golf or their community through innovative programs such as fundraising, programs or competitions.

Saddle Rock WGA stood out in part thanks to a tweak of the traditional member-guest tournament format that led to additional fundraising for a good cause. The club played a “Cha-Cha-Cha for Charity” and members were able to invite multiple guests, which increased participation significantly. That resulted in a donation of more than $1,100 to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Additionally, to support the teaching and development of junior golf programs in the community, money was raised for the Paul McMullen Scholarship Fund. Also, Saddle Rock has long provided volunteers for the annual Grandview High School girls golf invitational, running shuttles, registration, check-in and scoring.

The Saddle Rock WGA has celebrated 20 years as an association, with 10 of its original members still actively participating in league play.

Other nominees for the Women’s Club of the Year were:

— Aurora Hills 9-Hole Women’s Golf Association
— Kissing Camels Ladies Golf Association
— Pinery Ladies Golf Association
— Red Sky Ranch
— Riverdale Women’s Golf Association

Last year’s co-Clubs of the Year were from Patty Jewett and Fitzsimons.

Miner Honored as Volunteer of the Year: Juliet Miner has overseen much in her two  years as president of the CWGA and now as co-president of the CGA. There was the hiring of a new CWGA executive director. There was the CWGA celebrating the centennial of its founding. There was the CWGA joining forces with the CGA in establishing a single USGA-affiliated golf association in Colorado.

On Saturday, for all Miner has done for the CWGA, she was named the Volunteer of the Year. (She’s pictured speaking to attendees.)

(FYI: A feature story on Miner and her accomplishments will be published later this month on the coloradogolf.org and coloradowomensgolf.org websites.)

Players of the Year for 2017: The CWGA Players of the Year — and the winner of a related award — were announced last fall, but the three honorees were publicly recognized on Saturday.

Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, the CWGA’s Player of the Year the previous three seasons, was given the President’s Award, the CWGA’s highest honor. Mary Weinsten of Highlands Ranch earned the Player of the Year honor. And Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton won the Senior Player of the Year Award for the eighth time in nine years. Eaton, now an Arizona resident, was likewise named the Arizona Women’s Golf Association Senior POY in 2017, earning that honor for the sixth time.

Kupcho and Weinstein are in the midst of their college seasons — Kupcho at Wake Forest and Weinstein at the University of Denver — and were unable to attend Saturday’s festivities. But Eaton (left) traveled from Arizona for the event.

For information on the 2017 accomplishments of the three players, CLICK HERE.

In Short: A $7,000 check — from money raised at the 2017 CWGA Annual Meeting, was presented Saturday to Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Alan Abrams, president of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado. … Besides CGA co-presidents Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary and executive director Ed Mate, among those in attendance Saturday were the CGA volunteer board of directors, Colorado PGA executive director Eddie Ainsworth and Colorado Golf Hall of Fame president Scott Radcliffe and executive director Jennifer Lyons. The CWGA is receiving a Distinguished Service Award from the Golf Hall of Fame in May. … Among the announcements to attendees on Saturday was a reminder that the Girls Junior America’s Cup, a tournament featuring many of the top female junior golfers from the western U.S., along with Canada and Mexico, will be played in Colorado for the first time in 18 years. The event is set for July 25-27 at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen. … Recognized Saturday for its fundraising was the Raccoon Creek Ladies 9-Hole Group, whose 2017 tournament to benefit the Evans Scholarship for caddies led to a $1,200 donation. … Among the former CWGA board members — and current CGA board members — who have accepted chairperson duties for CGA committees are Laurie Steenrod (Course Rating Committee) and Phyllis Jensen (Tournament Site Selection Committee). … Miner said CGA Women’s Annual Meetings will continue into the future “as long as you (attendees) keep coming.”
 

As is typical, a couple of hundred people — primarily women — will gather to attend golf workshops, learn about upcoming events conducted by their state golf association and the benefits of membership, socialize a little bit, have brunch and raise money for a worthy cause.

And it will all happen at the usual site, the newly renamed Hilton Denver Inverness in Englewood — on Saturday, March 3.

Still, there will be changes from years past — some noticeable and others fairly subtle.

First, there’s a tweak of the name — from CWGA Annual Meeting to CGA Women’s Annual Meeting.

And the staff on hand running the show will be quite a bit larger than normal.

It’s all a byproduct of the CGA and CWGA joining forces and becoming one USGA-recognized Allied Golf Association, under the CGA banner. The unification process was in the works much of last year and officially went into effect a couple of months ago.

One upshot is that the two associations merged staffs — and board of directors — with most of them expected to be on hand at the Women’s Annual Meeting. Indeed, a CGA board meeting is scheduled at Inverness right after the conclusion of the women’s annual festivities.

“We’re excited about introducing people to the whole CGA,” said Laura Robinson, the former CWGA executive director who now serves as the managing director of membership and integration for the CGA and who continues to organize the Women’s Annual Meeting.

With the changes that have taken place with the CGA and CWGA since last year’s Annual Meeting, part of the agenda — during brunch — will be a panel discussion featuring CGA co-presidents Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary, moderated by CGA executive director Ed Mate.

Miner was the president of the CWGA in 2016 and ’17 before taking on the CGA co-presidency. And McCleary was the CGA’s president in 2016 and ’17 before becoming co-president with Miner this year.

“It’ll be possible for people to ask questions about the integration (of the two associations),” Robinson said. “We have done an enormous amount of communication with member clubs (over the last year-plus). The first of the month we have have sent emails to all the member clubs. I hope that all the communication that we’ve done has answered a lot of questions.”

Robinson said one of the benefits of the integration of the two associations is more resources for events like the Women’s Annual Meeting. That’s apparent in the case of the silent auction benefiting junior golf that’s traditionally been held in conjunction with the event. Now that auction includes close to 100 items, many of them rounds of golf (including foursomes at Ballyneal and Frost Creek, each valued at $1,000), golf accessories and memorabilia, plus a smattering of non-golf items. 

In a departure from the past, 21 of the items are up for auction for a couple of weeks leading up to the Women’s Annual Meeting — along with up until 11:45 a.m. on March 3, both online and in person. As of Friday, more than $4,100 had been bid online. Suffice it to say that it’s very likely more will be raised for junior golf through the auction than last year (just under $7,000). (CLICK HERE for the online auction.)

Four different hour-long workshops are scheduled as part of the Women’s Annual Meeting: Discover How You Play Your Best Golf (led by Elena King, a highly-regarded instructor at CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course); Rules of Golf: Oh, What a Relief It Is! (led by rules officials Karla Harding and Sandy Schnitzer); Tournament Management (led by Aaron Guereca from the CGA staff and Rory Luck from Golf Genius Software); and Handicapping (led by longtime CGA director of handicapping and course rating Gerry Brown).

Also on March 3, several awards will be given out. The women’s Club of the Year and the Volunteer of the Year will be announced at the meeting. And three players who earned awards for their 2017 play will be recognized: Jennifer Kupcho (President’s Award), Mary Weinstein (Player of the Year) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton (Senior Player of the Year for the eighth time in nine years). Kupcho (Wake Forest) and Weinstein (University of Denver) are in the midst of the spring portion of their college schedules.

And, in another first at the Women’s Annual Meeting, CGA bag tags will be distributed.

It’s only appropriate given the CGA tagline of “Celebrating the Future of Golf Together”.
 

Bolster served as president, the CWGA’s top volunteer position, in 1992. She played a key role in the hiring of Robin (Elbardawil) Jervey as executive director, leading the search committee. Jervey, who succeeded the CWGA’s first executive director, Maggie Giesenhagen, went on spend 22 years as the association’s top staffer, by far the longest tenure of anyone in that position. (Bolster, at right in photo, is pictured in 2014 with Jervey.)

Bolster, who was elected CWGA president in November 1991, was a strong leader of the association. Besides being president, she was a vice-president, chaired the association’s Rules Committee and served on the Course Rating and Handicap Committee at various times. She proudly volunteered for the CWGA until she and husband Bill moved to Arizona in 1998, and a CWGA necklace was her pride and joy.

While in Colorado, Bolster was a longtime member and ardent golfer at Fox Hill Country Club in Longmont.

Bolster grew up in Huntington, W. Va., and attended Marshall University. Hannah and Bill married in 1961 and spent the next 17 years in Saginaw, Mich., before moving to Colorado. Bill predeceased Hannah.

If you’re a fan of variety, of the new and different, you should like what awaits in Colorado golf in 2018.

There’s a return of major tour-level tournament golf to the Centennial State for the first time since 2014. There’s a joining of forces by two of the biggest golf associations in the state. Colorado will take its turn hosting many of the best girls players in the western U.S., Canada and Mexico. And, for the first time in nine years, a new 18-hole course will open in the state.

And those are just the highlights of what the new year will bring for the Colorado golf community.

Let’s take a closer look at all of the aforementioned and more:

— U.S. Senior Open: It’s been a while since Colorado hosted a big-time golf tournament — the kind that draws 100,000 people-plus over the course of a week. To be precise, the last one was in September 2014 when the BMW Championship — a FedExCup Playoff event on the PGA Tour — came to Cherry Hills Country Club. That tournament culminated quite a run for major golf events in Colorado in the wake of the demise of The International PGA Tour event that was conducted from 1986 through 2006. That run included:

— The 2008 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor
— The 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Murphy Creek
— The 2009 Arnold Palmer Cup at Cherry Hills
— The 2010 Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club
— The 2010 Trans-Mississippi at Denver Country Club
— The 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor
— The 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills and CommonGround
— The 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club
— The 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills

But it’s been a bit of a drought since, though tournaments like the men’s Pac-12 Conference Championships have paid a visit.

Suffice it to say the 2018 U.S. Senior Open will be a welcome change of pace for Colorado golf fans. The event, set for the week of June 25-July 1 at the East Course at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, will be the highlight for a year in which the resort will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. The tournament itself is scheduled for June 28-July 1.

The Senior Open will be the fourth tour major to have been hosted by The Broadmoor in the last 25 years, with the previous ones being the 1995 and 2011 U.S. Women’s Opens and the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. Overall, after the completion of this year’s championship, only Ohio (with six) will have hosted the U.S. Senior Open more times than Colorado (three, including the 1993 edition at Cherry Hills).

When The Broadmoor hosted the 2008 Senior Open, the event drew an announced 128,714 spectators for the week.

Among the players who will likely compete at The Broadmoor this year are World Golf Hall of Famers Bernhard Langer, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Vijay Singh, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Mark O’Meara and Tom Kite.

A qualifying tournament for the Senior Open will be held on Memorial Day (May 28) at The Broadmoor’s East Course.

— CGA, CWGA Join Forces: The agreement that led to the unification of the CGA and CWGA — two organizations that were formed more than 100 years ago — was the top story in Colorado golf in 2017. This year, after the two associations formally have become one (under the Colorado Golf Association name), the practical matters of merging will play out over the course of the year. The hope is that the combined membership of about 60,000 will be well-served by the consolidated association, which will be under the leadership of a board led by co-presidents Joe McCleary and Juliet Miner, who previously served as presidents of the CGA and CWGA, respectively, along with longtime CGA executive director Ed Mate and his staff.

The CGA, along with the Colorado PGA, Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents, and course owners and operators figure to play a major role in paving the path to success for Colorado golf for decades to come.

— Girls Junior America’s Cup: The Girls Junior America’s Cup, which debuted in 1978, has long been a showcase for the best female junior players in the western U.S., Canada and Mexico. Among those who have competed in the event are World Golf Hall of Famer Lorena Ochoa — a three-time champion (1997-99) — and fellow LPGA Tour veterans Brandie Burton, Pat Hurst, Dawn Coe-Jones, along with Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jill McGill.

Colorado has hosted the tournament just twice over the past 40 years — in 1982 and 2000, both at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy — but No. 3 is coming this summer as Hiwan Golf Club (left) in Evergreen will be the site for the proceedings July 25-27, with practice rounds set for July 23-24 and the opening ceremonies on July 24. Hiwan, the site for the Colorado Open from 1964 through ’91, has had its fair share of major junior events over the years, having hosted the 1965 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the 1976 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 2006 AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions and the 2011 boys Junior America’s Cup. The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado will join Hiwan in a host role for the GJAC this year.

The Girls Junior America’s Cup features 18 four-person teams, each representing a state, country or region. The event includes both team and individual competitions. Colorado has won the GJAC team title once — in 1993 — with Heather Stock, Jennifer Kern, Ann Grooms and Jennifer McCormick playing for the victorious team and Kern earning the individual championship that year.

Some of the best girls players in Colorado history have competed for their state in the Girls Junior America’s Cup. That includes McGill, Jennifer Kupcho, Ashley Tait, Becca Huffer, Kelly Jacques, Hannah Wood, Somin Lee and Paige Spiranac.

Last year’s Colorado team finished sixth out of 18 teams, and three of the four representatives will be eligible to return: Hailey Schalk of Erie, the JGAC girls Player of the Year in 2017; Charlotte Hillary of Englewood and Lauren Lehigh of Loveland. Over the weekend in Arizona at the Silver Belle Championship, Hillary finished 22nd — out of a formidable 96-player field that included both college players and juniors. Hillary shot rounds of 75-73-72 there.

— TPC Colorado: There was a time not so long ago that a new course opening in Colorado would have been but a minor blip on the radar screen in any given year. After all, there were single years — in 1997 and ’99, for example — when 10 courses opened in the state. But that was before the Great Recession hit almost a decade ago.

Now, with the last new 18-hole course opening in Colorado being CommonGround in 2009, a new layout draws much more attention. TPC Colorado, a semi-private/high-end daily fee course in Berthoud, is expected to end the drought when it opens around June 1.

The course, which has sets of tees that range from 4,157 to 7,991 yards, has an agreement in place in which it will host a Web.com Tour event for at least five years, beginning in 2019. It will be the first time a tour-caliber event will be contested over multiple years in Colorado since The International departed after the 2006 tournament.

Meanwhile, the Colorado PGA will hold its top tournament, the Colorado PGA Professional Championship, at TPC Colorado Sept. 10-12 of this year.

While the U.S. Senior Open and the Girls Junior America’s Cup are some of the notable events set for 2018, it’s also worth mentioning one competition that won’t take place in 2018. The Colorado Cup matches, a Ryder Cup-style competiton between CGA/CWGA amateurs and Colorado PGA professionals that has been held every year since 1971, will see that annual streak end this year. The event has become biennial, meaning the next competition will be in 2019.

— Dates for Key Winter Events: While the statewide tournament golf season won’t begin in earnest until spring, there are several significant events in the interim that can serve to whet the appetite.

The Denver Golf Expo will be held Feb. 9-11 at the Denver Mart. The G4 Summit, which brings together many of the leaders in the Colorado golf industry to hear about and discuss key issues facing the game, is set for Feb. 28 at The Broadmoor. And the CGA’s Women’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for March 3 at the Inverness Hotel & Conference Center in Englewood.

— State Amateurs: Both of the top CGA men’s championships will be contested in the Denver metro area in 2018, with the CGA Match Play returning for the second straight year to the Club at Ravenna in Littleton (June 18-22) and Pinehurst Country Club in south Denver being the site for the CGA Amateur Aug. 2-5.

On the women’s side, the CGA Women’s Match Play is set for July 16-19 at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont, while the CGA Women’s Stroke Play is tentatively scheduled for June 19-21 at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker.

— CoBank Colorado Open Championships: The CoBank Colorado Open tournaments at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver fall into similar time slots as in the recent past, though the Colorado Open itself will be a week later than usual (July 26-29). The Senior Open is scheduled for May 30-June 1 and the Women’s Open for Aug. 29-31.

— Other Notable Events. Also on the schedule for 2018 are:

Qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open is planned for May 14 at The Ranch Country Club in Westminster. The national Women’s Open itself will be held earlier than normal, May 31-June 3 at Shoal Creek in Alabama.

The fourth annual AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, which draws a formidable field from Colorado as well as players nationally and internationally, is set for June 4-7 at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster.

Qualifying for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be held June 12 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora. The first national championship in this event is set for July 12-15 at Chicago Golf Club.

It’s a rare treat when Denver Country Club hosts a state championship, but it will do so this year when the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s season-ending Tour Championship is contested at the historic course Oct. 6-7.