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.