The seed was planted a few years ago when Gary Potter received a request from former CGA executive director Warren Simmons, asking for a pledge for a fundraising event in which Simmons was participating.

“I was kind of curious, and that’s where it started,” Potter recalls.

Now that seed that was inadvertently planted by Simmons is set to bear fruit in Colorado in the form of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Classic 100.

On April 7 (or March 31 in the case of some determined participants, pictured below) at the South par-3 layout at the Greg Mastriona Golf Courses at Hyland Hills in Westminster, Potter and about 15 of his cohorts on the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board of directors plan to play 100 holes for a couple of good causes. Through a ProFund campaign in which participants garner pledges for the 100-hole event, the Classic 100 will raise money for the History of Golf in Colorado Foundation — a 501c3 which benefits the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and its museum — and for youth programs that will be determined in coordination with the Colorado Golf Foundation.

(Updated March 31) More than $95,000 has been pledged to the causes. Some individual sponsors have committed to pitch in $1,000 each.

“It’s a hell of a success,” said Potter, himself a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee, and the campaign captain for the Classic 100. “Our goal Jan. 31 was to get to $40,000 overall, so doubling that is a great success.”

The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame was established in 1973 and this year — May 14 at Cherry Hills Country Club to be exact — it will induct its 44th class, Craig Stadler and Ann Finke (READ MORE). The Hall of Fame will hold its CGHOF Team Championship June 13 at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton, where the CGHOF museum is located. The public is welcome to participate in the tournament. The $125 entry fee includes golf, carts, tee gifts and lunch. Contact Potter for more information at garytpotter59@gmail.com.(Among the Hall of Fame’s inductees — and board members — are Dan Hogan and John Gardner, pictured together at top during last month’s Denver Golf Expo.)

As for the Classic 100, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board member Dave Richardson, a longtime regular at Hyland Hills, persuaded course officials to donate the South par-3 facility for the event, which figures to last about five hours. Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board members are invited to participate in a celebration after the golf has wrapped up on April 7.

Greg Mastriona, after whom the Hyland Hills golf facility is named, was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2014.

The Classic 100 participants have garnered pledges from more than 480 donors, with that total likely to increase. Steve Bell has 80 sponsors, with Potter (75), former USGA staffer and CWGA executive director Maggie Giesenhagen (51) and Castle Pines Golf Club general manager Keith Schneider (49) also garnering more than 45.

All of which tells Colorado Golf Hall of Fame president Scott Radcliffe — another Classic 100 particpant — one thing. “We have some really nice friends, and they believe in us,” he said.

Just Schneider and Potter, who like Giesenhagen have been inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, have received combined pledges totaling more than $35,000. And Bell checks in at more than $13,000.

“The best part is we have over (480) sponsors,” Potter said. “That’s a broad base. Some don’t even play golf, but they support the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. It’s amazing.”

Anyone interesting in being a Classic 100 sponsor — or for more information — can contact Potter at garytpotter59@gmail.com.
 

There seemed to be a little of everything in the way of honorees Sunday night at the 43rd annual Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Dinner at Pinehurst Country Club.

Inducted into the Hall was a woman who’s served golf very well, besides having a little game of her own (Christie Austin), along with a respected PGA golf professional with an outstanding playing record (Ron Vlosich).

And receiving awards were some of the biggest philanthropists in Colorado golf (George Solich, and Dave and Gail Liniger), one of the most notable historians of the game in the Centennial State (Dan Hogan), and by far the longest-serving executive director in CWGA history (Robin Jervey).

A crowd of about 190 turned out for the festivities, including roughly two-dozen Colorado Golf Hall of Famers and a few Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductees: Jack Vickers, Joan Birkland and Will Nicholson Jr., among them.

They honored Austin (above), a former USGA Executive Committee member who became the first female chairperson of the powerful USGA Rules of Golf Committee, and Vlosich, a former Green Gables Country Club head professional and standout player, with their inductions.

As Austin noted in her speech, in words that no doubt go double for Vlosich (left): “Have you ever had something happen in your life so special that you just can’t even believe it’s happening? Well, this is my something tonight. This is pretty amazing.”

Meanwhile, Solich was named Golf Person of the Year after being general chairman of the 2014 BMW Championship, the FedExCup Playoff event at Cherry Hills that was named the PGA Tour Tournament of the Year and that raised a record $3.5 million for the Evans Caddie Scholarship. Jervey was honored for Distinguished Service after spending 22 years at the CWGA helm. The Linigers received a Lifetime Achievement Award as their Santuary course in Sedalia has hosted tournaments that have raised almost $90 million for charity over the years. And Hogan, already a Hall of Famer, was given a similar honor as the Linigers for all the historical work he does for Colorado golf and the Hall of Fame.

Perhaps Dave Liniger spoke for all those in attendance when he said, “We love the spirit of the game.”
 

Denver’s City Park Golf Course, designed by Scotsman Tom Bendelow, is among those that can, as this year it’s joining the centenary club. And in this case, hitting the 100-year milestone is no small matter in the minds of many who have deep roots at City Park.

“I love that course,” said Tom Woodard, a former PGA head professional at City Park, as well as a former director of golf for the City of Denver. “I’ve played at that course more than any other, and I hold the course record of 61. I’ve probably played between 2,000 and 2,500 rounds there. I played there every day all day” as a kid.

This week, Woodard and several other people with longtime ties to City Park will join other prominent members of the Colorado golf community and Denver dignitaries in celebrating City Park Golf Course’s 100th birthday. On Friday (April 27), a “Centennial Season Tee-Off Breakfast” will be held at the facility at 2500 York Street. Invitees will share stories about the course, then hit ceremonial tee shots from the eighth hole, which features some picturesque views of the Denver skyline and the mountains beyond.

It will be the start of a 100-year celebration at City Park. Also on the schedule is a Centennial Tournament on Sept. 1, and a variety of promotions which prominently feature the number 100 in various ways. Though plans haven’t been finalized, City Park head professional Keith Soriano said a time capsule may be buried as part of the Centennial Tournament celebration on Sept. 1.

“To have 100 years of golf played here is incredible,” Soriano said. “It’s a big moment in the history of the course. But it’s also an opportunity to look forward and see where we can take the course and what it can mean to the community in future years. We want it to be a place for everyone.”

Not surprisingly, City Park has a rich history over the last century. Among those who have played the course are former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, outstanding all-around athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Charlie Sifford and Jonathan Kaye of PGA Tour fame, and 1952 Olympic long jump champion Jerome Biffle.

Some of those players — and many others — were attracted to City Park because it was known as a place where there was plenty of “action” — in other words, where a little cash was known to be exchanged via golf bets.

Another thing that’s made City Park distinctive is the makeup of its players. To put it succinctly, Woodard believes the course is still the most diverse in Denver.

Three people invited to share their thoughts about City Park on Friday certainly know of what they speak. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and noted Colorado golf historian Dan Hogan won 10 club championships at City Park and claimed the Denver Muni-Links title three times. He was a regular at the course for about a quarter-century beginning in the late 1950s.

Woodard moved to within a couple blocks of the course in 1967. He caddied at City Park, played there daily, and after attending the University of Colorado and spending time as a tour player, he served as City Park’s head professional from 1987 to ’90, and as Denver’s director of golf from 1997 to 2006. Woodard was there long enough that he can remember the days when the head professional — who doubled as the concessionaire — lived in the upstairs of the clubhouse with his wife. And Woodard’s sponsor as a tour player, Willie Kellum, came from City Park-based East Denver Golf Club.

As for Ed Mate, the CGA’s executive director, he grew up playing and practicing at City Park, primarily from 1979 to ’85.

“City Park had two practice greens, and we’d sit out there for hours putting for Cokes,” Mate remembers. “That’s one of my favorite memories. The fewest (cumulative) strokes would win. One time I was down 50 Cokes, and you’d always go double or nothing. I don’t know if anyone ever paid off. But I think that’s one of the reasons I became a pretty good putter.”

Mate recalls how Woodard, who grew up at the club, was held in such high regard, particularly during the 2 1/2 years that he competed on the PGA Tour during the early and mid 1980s.

“He was a legend,” Mate said. “People would get out the sports pages and show his name that was in bold face (in the PGA Tour scores). When he came back, it was like a king returning. For me it was like, ‘Wow, it’s the Tom Woodard everyone is talking about.'”

But long before Woodard gained prominence, Hogan was a renowned player at City Park. He remembers annual home-and-home Denver public links league matches against teams from the other city courses. Hogan, who played in a couple of British Amateurs, was one of the more formidable competitors.

“I had an awful lot of fun out there” at City Park, Hogan said. “There was just so much competition. And it was quite a melting pot (of players from various ethnic backgrounds). At one time they had four men’s clubs out there — the East Denver Golf Club (made up of African-American players), the City Park Men’s Club (white) and two Japanese-American clubs.”

A founding member of the East Denver Golf Club, Judge James Flanigan, helped knock down racial barriers in state golf tournaments when he was refused the right to play in the CGA Match Play Championship in 1961. The next year, the CGA changed its policies and admitted minority clubs, including the East Denver Golf Club.

Coincidentally, one of the notables Mate remembers most from his City Park days was Sam Valuck, who ironically won the 1961 CGA Match Play from which Flanigan was barred.

While many of the various men’s club golfers played with their own groups at City Park, gambling eventually integrated people of different races.

“When I started playing there (in the late 1960s), the men’s clubs were pretty much segregated, but the gambling games weren’t,” said Woodard, now the director of golf for the Foothills Park & Recreation District. “The color of money — green — was the only thing that mattered there. I thought that was pretty amazing.”

Indeed, money games were part of what made City Park famous. Kaye, who has since won twice on the PGA Tour, was among the active participants as a youngster, as were some local professionals and other promising young players.

“The thing I remember most is the gambling games,” Woodard said. “Every Friday and Saturday you could find a game — but you better bring your ‘A’ game. You better be ready to play. If you were a good player from a public course, you eventually made your way to City Park.”

During Mate’s days at the course, one of the better players who was a regular there was CU golfer Darrell Knight.

“He was a guy I idolized,” Mate said. “He was so polished. He was really friendly with the younger kids; he wasn’t too good for you. He and Sam Valuck would hit balls forever. City Park had a driving range where you could shag your own balls, which really added to the communal aspect of the course.”