Mark and Lynn Cramer have run the Denver Golf Expo for the last 15 years, and never before last weekend had the weather — and what came with it — wreaked such havoc with the show’s attendance.
After being about 350 attendees ahead of last year’s day 1 pace after a very nice February weather day on Friday, the bottom fell out on Saturday and Sunday. With a snowstorm hitting the metro area hard starting on Saturday afternoon, and several local broadcasters advising people not to go out unless they had to, it had an unmistakable effect at the Expo.
Attendance for the three-day show that ended on Sunday at the Denver Mart came in at 7,195, the lowest number for the Expo since 2002. The total was down 24 percent from last year’s 9,486, and it’s more than a third less than the Expo’s record of 11,202, set in 2008.
“I don’t know if it’s so much the weather, or the media hyperbole about the weather,” Mark Cramer said on Monday. “It was a good storm, but it wasn’t the storm of the century and the sky wasn’t falling. They were overly hyper about it. There were news teams yesterday telling people to stay home. It was very disappointing. They don’t realize how badly they hurt small businesses.
“It’s unfortunate that the media does what the media does to make themselves relevant. It’s at no cost to them at all. They’re creating a bigger story.”
The amount of snow from the storm varied widely over the metro area, with some areas receiving 6 inches and others 20.
With about 2,300 fewer people attending the show than last year, it’s no surprise that other numbers associated with the Expo took a hit also:
— The Used Club Sale (pictured at top), which raises money for junior golf development programs through the Colorado Golf Foundation, netted $11,845 over the weekend. While that was solid compared to the 13-year average for the Used Club Sale, it was down about 18 percent from last year.
“The attendance was down and the weather played a major role,” said CGA director of junior competitions Eric Wilkinson, who was overseeing the Used Club Sale. “Both Saturday and Sunday things cleared out earlier than normal.”
Taking the weather into account, the CGA was happy the Used Club Sale raised what it did. The sale has netted almost $60,000 for junior golf over the last four years combined.
“Anytime we can raise that amount for the program, it’s great,” said Wilkinson, who is leaving the CGA this week to become championship assistant for the 2016 Ryder Cup. “The golf community has been generous, as always. This year we had more quantity and not as much quality, but it was still a success for us. It’s still a large number to raise for the Foundation and junior golf. We’d like to thank all the donors.”
— Meanwhile, Colorado PGA professionals provided 483 free 10-minute lessons to Expo attendees. That total was down about 9 percent from 2014.
— Over the three days, 235 kids went through the Junior Golf Central area (left), participating in the Drive Chip & Putt Experience. That was off about 22 percent compared to the number of juniors who took part in the Expo’s Junior Golf Experience in 2014.
The bottom line for the Expo is that no matter how well show organizers and the golf industry — including the CGA, CWGA and Colorado PGA — prepare and plan for the event, the overall success is still somewhat dependent on things that are out of the control of them all.
Things like the weather and related issues.
“I was talking to Lynn this morning and she said we did everything right; we did a very good job,” Mark Cramer said. “We were very well organized and had a lot of participation from the golf industry. But a major winter storm and the media scaring the (heck) out of people doesn’t help. But this is the first time a major storm has hit us like this (during the Expo). We had always been pretty fortunate.”
]]>Eric Wilkinson had to take a moment to compose himself when the question was posed to him.
How hard is it going to be leaving the CGA?
“I’ll try to do this without choking up,” Wilkinson said this week. “I knew right away when I came here in 2008 that this was a real special place to work. (Executive director Ed Mate) created a great environment and you have great people to work with. I had an unforgettable seven years with the association, growing in my career and personally. Working in golf is great, and working with a group like this makes it real special. But it makes it that much harder when it’s time to leave.”
That time for Wilkinson is now as his final day as the CGA’s director of junior competitions will be Tuesday (Feb. 24). Wilkinson will be headed north — specifically, to Minneapolis — where he’ll become championship assistant with the 2016 Ryder Cup, which will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in suburban Minneapolis. Wilkinson (pictured above with junior player Jake Staiano) will work under Ryder Cup championship director Jeff Hintz.
Wilkinson is making the move primarily for family-related reasons. His wife of less than six months, Ashley, previously worked in Minneapolis and has friends there and family not far away in Wisconsin, where she grew up. And Eric is from Cleveland, so the move will get the couple closer to his family as well.
“There are a lot of personal layers to this,” Wilkinson said. “We want to start a family and be closer to our families. This has always been in the plans for us, but it happened a lot quicker than I thought it would over the last month and a half. All of a sudden we had two job offers. Our heads are still spinning a little bit. It hasn’t really set in that I’m leaving the (CGA).”
The CGA has been Wilkinson’s career home since he earned a USGA P.J. Boatwright Internship with the association in 2008. In January of 2009, he became a full-time staffer as manager of member services, and he worked closely with Gerry Brown, the CGA’s director of handicapping and course rating. Wilkinson provided handicap support, worked on course ratings and helped grow membership.
In the latter part of 2011, when then-director of youth programs Dustin Jensen moved back to North Dakota, Wilkinson took on his current role as director of junior competitions. There, he’s made an impact through ongoing interaction with many CJGA players over the last three-plus years.
“I’ll really miss working with juniors and their families,” Wilkinson said. “You develop so many relationships in junior golf. Outside of leaving the staff, it’ll be the hardest leaving those relationships.
“A lot of the memories I have are from the tournament season. Every day, you’re outside and working with staff, volunteers, junior players and parents. And every day is an exciting new adventure on the golf course. It’s been great.”
Like Jensen before him, Wilkinson made an impression with the junior players and was very well liked.
“Eric has been a great team member,” Mate said. “He’s really added a lot to the junior golf program, he’s learned a lot, and he’s going to be missed. But I’m thrilled for him. I’m glad he’s staying in golf. He’s a great golf administrator.”
Over the past three years, Wilkinson has captained the Colorado boys Junior America’s Cup teams. He’s also been the CGA’s point man in conducting the Used Club Sale at the annual Denver Golf Expo — a role he’s playing again this weekend at the Denver Mart. Over the last two years combined, the Used Club Sale has netted more than $32,000 for junior golf development programs. And he’s added value to the CJGA membership through, by example, entering into a partnership with the Colorado Rockies which can pay dividends for CJGA members.
Mate said that, given the timing of the departure, the CGA won’t hire a new director of junior competitions until after the tournament season concludes. In the meantime, Jensen, who recently rejoined the CGA staff as managing director of operations, will help handle the responsibilities, along with other staffers and interns, including new CJGA summer intern Ashley Barnhart. As director of operations, Jensen already has been overseeing the CGA/CJGA junior competitions, along with rules and competitions, and course rating and handicapping.
Before his recent 3 1/2 years at the University of Jamestown, where his multi-faceted job included coaching the men’s and women’s golf teams, Jensen spent seven years as a popular director of youth programs for the CGA.
On Friday morning, Eric Wilkinson could empathize with Target employees who man the front doors leading up to post-Thanksgiving sales.
The CGA’s director of junior competitions was overseeing the CGA/CWGA Used Club Sale at the Denver Golf Expo, but suffice it to say he wasn’t ready for what awaited him when the show opened at the Denver Mart on Friday.
“We didn’t open until 10 and some people were waiting in line for an hour,” Wilkinson recounted on Monday. “One guy thought another guy was cutting in line, and things started getting physical. They were shoving to get the best spot. (When we opened), it was like the Running of the Bulls. People were running toward the putters and the sets of clubs we were selling. It was literally like Black Friday at Target. Things were priced to sell, and we were swamped for two hours.”
While the Used Club Sale, which benefits the associations’ junior developmental programs, didn’t set a record for the third straight year, that was probably only because they had little inventory of donated clubs and equipment available on Sunday after doing brisk sales on Friday and Saturday.
The Used Club Sale, which this year also featured women’s clothing, netted about $14,400 for junior developmental programs. While that was down from the record $17,500 raised last year, it was still the third-highest total in the 12-year history of the event.
“We had another really good year. It’s a testament to the generosity of the Colorado golf community,” Wilkinson said, noting that clubs and equipment are donated throughout the year, culminating in more than a month of golfers contributing equipment at the PGA Tour Superstore in Greenwood Village. “It shows that word of mouth is really working.”
Overall, numbers at the 21st annual Denver Golf Expo were a mixed bag.
Mark Cramer, who owns and operates the Expo along with his wife Lynn, said that 9,486 people attended the three-day show. That’s down about 3 percent from last year. The attendance has dropped each of the last three years, going from 10,749 in 2011 to 10,519 in 2012 to 9,773 last year to 9,486 this winter. The Expo’s record for attendance was 11,202, in 2008.
“What we’re seeing regarding the numbers is probably following industry (trends),” Cramer said, noting the National Golf Foundation has reported that the number of golfers in the U.S. dropped from 30 million in 2005 to 25.3 million in 2012. “There’s a trend. That begs the question: What else can I do for the industry, and what do we need to do to bring those numbers up? That will be stuff I’ll be puzzling over and sorting through for the next four months or so. And I’ll talk to a lot of people” to get their input.
Cramer said the number of exhibitors at the Expo was down about 20 from last year, but some of that might have been due to higher exhibitor rates the Expo was charging this year. That hike was in response to considerably higher rent the Denver Mart charged the Expo, and the fact that the Expo bought out the parking so that attendees wouldn’t be charged for it.
On the positive side, the Colorado PGA reported that its professionals gave 528 free 10-minute lessons (left) over the three days of the show.
“I’ll tell you what is significant about that: You get a lesson, you hit more balls, then see what you can do on the course,” Cramer said. “If you start to do better on the course, it affects the (number of) rounds played. I’m delighted with that number.”
And though the numbers were down from previous years at the Junior Golf Experience activity center (middle photo), about 300 kids participated this year.
Meanwhile, Cramer said he heard from numerous exhibitors that their sales during the show surpassed the figures of last year.
“They smoked it down there,” Cramer said. “(Course-related exhibitors) smoked it on passes. They saw substantial increases in sales. And sales at Lenny’s Golf were up over last year.
“We’re doing a lot right. I think the world of the state associations (the CGA, CWGA, Colorado PGA, etc.) and how much they do to grow the game. They aren’t afraid to go out and do stuff (outside the box) if that’s what it takes.”
Attendance at the Denver Golf Expo has dipped slightly each of the last two years, but you wouldn’t know it by the results of the CGA and CWGA’s Used Club Sale conducted at the event.
The 12th annual sale, which raises money for the associations’ youth developmental programs, has set records each of the last two years at the Expo, which this year is set for Friday through Sunday (Feb. 7-9) at The Denver Mart, located at I-25 and 58th Ave.
In 2012, the Used Club Sale doubled its intake from the previous year by netting about $16,000 for youth programs. And last year, that figure increased to $17,500.
“The generosity of the golf community has been awesome,” said Eric Wilkinson, the CGA’s director of junior competitions and the point man in the Used Club Sale. “We had a lady come into the PGA Tour Superstore and said she wanted to make sure her donation was going to the Used Club Sale. So it’s starting to have a snowball effect with a lot of word of mouth.”
Wilkinson said between donations collected at the Tour Superstore and elsewhere, there’s a storage unit completely full of clubs and other equipment.
“It’s comparable or we have more than last year,” he said. “We have a ton of sets, more than what we had last year. It’s been another great year of receiving donations.”
Said Mark Cramer, who owns and operates the Expo along with his wife, Lynn: “The CJGA has that (Used Club Sale) running like a machine.”
One variable this year is that consignments are no longer being accepted, so all clubs and equipment involved in the Used Club Sale will be donations. Donations for the sale can be made this week at the north side main entrance of the Denver Mart, from noon to 3 p.m. on Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.
“We’re obviously going to try to exceed what we’ve done in the year before (in raising money), but if we hit last year’s mark, that would be great,” Wilkinson said.
Meanwhile, another major youth-oriented exhibit, the Junior Golf Experience activity center, will remain a popular mainstay of the Expo, but it won’t be found in its usual spot. It’s been moved to the Pavilion, adjacent to the area where the Colorado PGA conducts its free 10-minute lessons.
“With that one huge area, hopefully it will be an added attraction,” said Eddie Ainsworth, executive director for the Colorado PGA. “We’re looking forward to doing that.”
And Ainsworth said the Colorado PGA plans to advertise its new tee time network, which is scheduled to go live in the first week of April. And at their exhibit area, the CGA and CWGA will be trying to attract new members. Existing CGA and CWGA members can receive a free gift by stopping by the associations’ exhibit — a free bucket of practice balls at CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA.
With all that, plus a lot of great golf deals, a club demo area, free education seminars and a lot more, it should certainly be enough to whet the appetite of golfers looking forward to the 2014 season.
“We’re glad the season is right around the corner,” Ainsworth said.
21st Annual Denver Golf Expo: Just the Essentials
What: 21st Denver Golf Expo.
When: Feb. 7-9 (Friday through Sunday).
Where: The Denver Mart (I-25 and 58th Ave.)
Show Hours: Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Ticket Prices: adults, $13; seniors (50 and over) and military with ID, $11; kids 16 and under, $3.
Tickets Available: At the door at the Denver Mart or at TicketsWest at King Soopers.
Parking: Free.
Show Features: The Junior Golf Experience activity center (now located in the Pavilion, near the Colorado PGA instruction area), free swing seminars from Colorado PGA professionals, Used Club Sale to benefit CGA and CWGA junior golf developmental programs, free educational seminars beginning at 10 a.m. each day, club demo area.
Donations for Used Club Sale Accepted: Drop off at the north side main entrance of the Denver Mart Thursday, noon to 3 p.m.; and Friday, 8 a.m.-noon. (Note: There are no consignments accepted this years; all clubs dropped off are simply donations.)
For More Information: CLICK HERE
Educational Seminars Scheduled for Expo
Friday, Feb. 7, 10-10:30 a.m. — Building business on and off the course (CWGA)
Friday, Feb. 7, 11-11:30 a.m. — Impact drills for better ball-striking (Kevin Cubbage, PGA)
Friday, Feb. 7, noon-12:30 p.m. — Golf training aids (Rick Timm, PGA)
Friday, Feb. 7, 1-1:30 p.m. — Great wedge play and utilizing bounce (Nathan Morris, PGA)
Friday, Feb. 7, 2-2:30 p.m. — Dispelling golf’s common myths and misconceptions (Patrick Nuber, PGA)
Friday, Feb. 7, 3-3:30 p.m. — How to improve your game by 5 shots this year (Ed Oldham, PGA)
Friday, Feb. 7, 4-4:30 p.m. — Rules of Golf (Alex Crall, CGA)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 10-10:30 a.m. — Building business on and off the course (CWGA)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 11-11:30 a.m. — Is your game painful? Three ways to reduce the pain in your game (Dee Tidwell)
Saturday, Feb. 8, noon-12:30 p.m. — How to take a successful golf lesson (Rick Timm, PGA)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 1-1:30 p.m. — The elements of playing better (Trent Wearner, PGA)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2-2:30 p.m. — Aimpoint green reading: Stop guessing (Scott Hofer, PGA)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 3-3:30 p.m. — Innovative mobile golf instruction & entertainment fore everyone (Casey Schiel, PGA)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 4-4:30 p.m. — Rules of Golf (Alex Crall, CGA)
Sunday, Feb. 9, 10-10:30 a.m. — Innovative mobile golf instruction & entertainment fore everyone (Casey Schiel, PGA)
Sunday, Feb. 9, 11-11:30 a.m. — Building business on and off the course (CWGA)
Sunday, Feb. 9, noon-12:30 p.m. — P3: Plan, practice, perform (Steve Patterson, PGA)
Sunday, Feb. 9, 1-1:30 p.m. — Junior golf opportunities (Rick Timm, PGA)
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2-2:30 p.m. — Rules of Golf (Alex Crall, CGA)
Now it’s the CJGA’s turn.
Starting this year, 14-18-year-old golfers will be permitted to use distance-only measuring devices in CJGA tournaments, as well as in the CGA and CWGA Junior Stroke Play and Junior Match Play Championships.
In other words, many of the state’s top events for junior players will feature a lot more golfers lasering the distances of their shots, and a lot fewer pacing off the yardages from sprinkler heads and the like.
“We traditionally follow the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) lead on policy changes, and they’re allowing (distance-only range-finders) in all their events in 2013,” said Eric Wilkinson, the CGA’s director of junior competitions. “We want to stay consistent with national junior tours and other (golf organizations) around us. A lot of other state and regional junior golf associations are allowing them, and we didn’t want to be in a position where players in our events weren’t allowed to use them.”
Added Kelley Mawhinney, tournament and junior golf operations manager for the CWGA: “We wanted to be on the same page (as the AJGA). We don’t want to confuse players” with varying rules.
The AJGA allowed range-finders on a trial basis in four tournaments in 2012. Distance-measure devices are already permitted in college events, but the USGA doesn’t allow them in its national championships or its qualifiers.
Wilkinson was quick to note that the CJGA allowance applies only to 14-18-year-olds in the association’s tournaments, and not to younger players. Also, devices measuring only distance will be permitted; those that gauge such things as slope, wind speed, elevation, temperature, etc., are forbidden, even if such functions are turned off or ignored. So are the use of smart phone apps.
“It’s up to fellow competitors to police it themselves, but we’re trying to educate players in advance,” Wilkinson said. “We know we’ll get a lot of questions at our first event, so we want to be proactive.”
The first tournament in which the distance measuring devices will be allowed is the CJGA Spring Series event this weekend (April 27-28) at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo.
While the increased affordability of the devices have made the Colorado associations amenable to permitting them for juniors, the organizations are still sensitive that some teenagers may not be able to afford range-finders. For that reason, distance information can be shared among players. For example, a competitor without a range-finder can get the distance to the pin from a fellow player, or can borrow such a device.
The approval of the use of such devices — which came from the CGA Junior Tournament Committee and the CWGA Rules and Tournament Committees — will affect many events, but most notably the CGA and CWGA junior state championships. Those tournaments are among the most prestigious in Colorado, with both the CGA and CWGA Junior Match Play dating back to the early 1950s, and the boys and girls Junior Stroke Play originating in the late 1970s.
Although CJGA officials discussed the possibility of the use of distance measuring devices speeding up play — especially among players with a higher handicap — Wilkinson said that wasn’t a major reason the association’s policy was changed.
Indeed, Pete Lis, who just left his job as CGA director of rules and competitions to become an LPGA Tour rules official, said he isn’t convinced that range-finders speed up play.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think it makes any difference,” Lis said recently. “I’ve seen some players pace off the yardage and shoot it too, so I think an argument can be made that it worsens pace of play. But I don’t think it makes that much difference.”
So much that he once had them ingrained on his chest.
Well, sort of.
When Lis and Dustin Jensen first worked for the CGA, they shared an apartment. Even now, Jensen can’t help but chuckle when recalling one episode regarding Lis.
“He was a diehard about the Rules of Golf,” said Jensen, now the golf coach and associate director of alumni relations at Jamestown College in North Dakota. “He sat out on the patio at our apartment and was reading the original Rules of Golf or a book like that and happened to fall asleep. He was catching a suntan and had his shirt off. He fell asleep with the book laying on his stomach, and he ended up having the outline of the book burned into his stomach. We thought that was pretty funny. He loved the Rules of Golf to the point that he would burn them into his chest.”
Considering Lis’ deep involvement with the Rules, who could be surprised that after being highly respected in his seven years as the CGA’s director of rules and competitions, he’s earned his way onto a bigger stage?
After wrapping up an almost-decade-long stint with the CGA on Friday (April 19), Lis will go to work — starting Monday — as an LPGA Tour rules official. In fact, he’s scheduled to make his debut at next week’s North Texas LPGA Shootout in Irving.
So how well does Lis (pictured) know the Rules of Golf?
He has gotten ever so close to perfection — without quite reaching it — the last couple of times he’s taken the PGA/USGA Rules of Golf exam.
He said he’s scored 99 on the test twice, tantalizingly close to perfect scores. Considering a 92 or better is good enough to qualify for officiating at a U.S. Open, a U.S. Women’s Open or a U.S. Senior Open, a 99 is pretty rarefied territory.
“He’s as good as I’ve ever seen in a Rules situation — and I mean that,” said CGA executive director Ed Mate. “He’s like a five-tool athlete; he can do it all. He understands the Rules and the principles behind them. He’s a people person and he works well in a group. And he’s level-headed.
“It’s tough to lose him, but it’s gratifying to see people like Pete and Thomas Pagel (a CGA staffer from 2003-08 who is now senior director, Rules of Golf & Amateur Status, for the USGA) achieve their goals. It says a lot about them, and about the CGA.”
With Lis not being officially hired by the LPGA Tour until April 1, Mate said that the current CGA staff will handle his tournament and related duties during the 2013 season. CGA director of operations Briena Goldsmith will take the lead in that regard, but Mate and other staffers will be juggling tasks also this year. Then Mate will look to fill Lis’ position in the 2013-14 off-season.
As for Lis, he’ll be one of eight regular LPGA Tour rules officials. In that regard, he’ll be fulfilling a longtime professional aspiration.
“My career goal has been to work on a tour,” the 32-year-old said. “It’s bittersweet (leaving the CGA) but it’s the perfect time in my career to have this opportunity, especially as a single guy. But the Colorado golf community has been great to me. (The CGA staff) is like my family. I’ve gotten to know them not only professionally but personally. I owe this opportunity to the CGA and USGA for taking a chance on me as a Boatwright intern in 2003. They taught me so much.”
As with the majority of the CGA staff, Lis came on board as a USGA P.J. Boatwright intern. The internship “is designed to give experience to individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in golf administration, while assisting state and regional golf associations, as well as other non-profit organizations dedicated to the promotion of amateur golf, on a short-term, entry-level basis.”
Before he received the internship at the CGA, Lis had been an assistant golf professional in Massachusetts, and he had never before been to Colorado. But of the five or six state and regional golf associations he was interested in for a Boatwright internship, the CGA was the one that responded to his queries.
So Lis started his year-long internship in February 2003, and late in 2004 he joined the CGA’s full-time staff as assistant director of course rating and handicapping, a post held held until 2006. Then he took took over the rules and competitions job he held for seven years.
“Every event I was doing what I love to do,” he said. “On the golf course is my favorite place to be, talking to players and hearing stories.”
But it certainly wasn’t all easy. After all, Lis often had to make the final call regarding enforcement of the Rules and handing out penalties. Lis wasn’t afraid of making those tough calls, even if it involved penalizing a defending champion at the HealthOne Colorado Open, or some players in contention at a CGA championship.
Although Lis sometimes received “blowback” in such situations, he knows it comes with the territory.
Overall, he’ll look back on his experience with the CGA very fondly. And based on the feedback Lis has gotten since telling people he was leaving to take the LPGA job, the feeling is mutual.
“I’ve heard from staff, rules officials, players, and they’ve all been very supportive,” Lis said. “It’s been overwhelming. They’ve thanked me for my time here, and I’ve thanked them for helping me learn. I’m going to miss everyone in Colorado, though I’m going to be around for a while.”
Indeed, Lis said he plans to live in Colorado until probably the late summer or early fall. And, yes, he said he is scheduled to work the Solheim Cup Aug. 16-18 at Colorado Golf Club, where the best female golfers from the U.S. and Europe will square off in their biennial matches. Sometime after that, Lis plans to move to the Orlando area, where he has some family, and which isn’t far from LPGA headquarters in Daytona Beach.
In the meantime, given that he has off weeks here and there, Lis said he may even volunteer for a CGA championship or a USGA qualifier sometime this year.
Speaking of tournaments Lis has worked over the years, some have left an indelible memory. Eric Wilkinson, now the CGA director of junior competitions, remembers Lis getting his Rules cart stuck in the mud at Heritage Todd Creek Golf Club during the 2010 CGA Senior Match Play.
“I think in his efforts to get the cart out, he completely caked himself in mud,” Wilkinson recalled.
Wilkinson also remembers working the 5A boys state high school tournament with Lis at Eisenhower Golf Club in 2008. When the two arrived at the gate to the Air Force Academy, the sentry wouldn’t let them pass since the tags on the CGA van had expired. The guard didn’t believe Lis when he said they were there to run the tournament, so one of the club professionals came to the gate and drove Lis and Wilkinson in so Lis could conduct the rules meeting a day before the tournament started.
Wilkinson recalls Pete saying, “How the (heck) are you supposed to convince a guard with an M-16 that you are there to run a golf tournament?”
To avoid another problem when they returned for the first day of the tournament, Lis drove all the way back to Greenwood Village that night to switch out the vans.
It’s all in a day’s work for a person who lives by the Rules.