This year, those reflections have particularly come into focus.

With the CGA celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, there’s been a concerted look back on the past century of golf in Colorado. That includes a 10-part series of stories on notable people and events from the last hundred years.

Writing that series was illuminating, which brings us back to Thanksgiving. A better understanding of the past can lead to increased appreciation for all we have to be thankful for in Colorado golf.

To wit, here are 10 things that come to mind:

— Rich History of Golf. The Century of Golf Gala held recently at The Broadmoor particulary brought this home, with Jack Nicklaus reminiscing about his strong links to Colorado over the last 60 years. Nicklaus is one of golf’s all-time pantheon to have won significant tournaments in the state, with others being Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Kathy Whitworth, Babe Zaharias, Annika Sorenstam, Gary Player, Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson. For much more about Colorado golf history, CLICK HERE.

— Teamwork. Another thing that the Century of Golf Gala — 1,250 attendees strong — and related activities reinforced is that big things can happen when the Colorado golf community joins forces. Teaming up with the CGA in making it all a major success were the CWGA, Colorado PGA and the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association.

— Great Venues. The day of the Century of Golf Gala, a golf outing held at The Broadmoor (pictured) demonstrated yet again what stellar golf courses Colorado has produced. On a mid-November day, temperatures reached the mid-60s, and the setting was enough to make any golfer take pause. The same can be said for countless other courses in the state — Sanctuary, Arrowhead, Castle Pines, Ballyneal, Red Sky, Eisenhower, etc., etc. Golfers in Colorado are indeed fortunate.

— Good of the Game Partnerships. The recent creation of a partnership between the CGA and the Colorado PGA will result in a new Colorado Junior Tour and many other advantages for all levels of junior golfers in Colorado (READ MORE). It’s yet another example of how the game can be well served by constructive cooperation.

— Local Players Who Excel. Colorado has a long history of homegrown players hitting it big — with Hale Irwin, Steve Jones, Dale Douglass, Jill McGill, Brandt Jobe, Bob Byman, Kevin Stadler, Shane Bertsch, Bill Loeffler and to some extent Mike Reid, to name some. It’s always fun for Coloradans to have one of their own to root for on the national or international level. And we also have some very promising young players potentially in a similar pipleline with the likes of Mark Hubbard, Jennifer Kupcho, Wyndham Clark and Hannah Wood.

— Highly Regarded PGA Professionals. There are oustanding PGA professionals throughout the country, but members of the Colorado PGA have proven to be high achievers as the Section or its members have won national PGA of America awards eight times in the last nine years. And highly respected instructor Ann Finke was recently voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, along with Colorado-based Champions Tour player Craig Stadler. And Vic Kline was honored as Colorado Golf Professional of the Century during the Century of Golf Gala.

— Foundations to Support Good Causes. Numerous golf foundations in Colorado do considerable and commendable work in bolstering good causes through the game of golf. Among them are the Colorado Golf Foundation, Colorado PGA Reach, the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, and the Rocky Mountain Environmental Golf Institute.

— Volunteers. While the staffs of the major golf organizations in Colorado do yeoman’s work, those organizations would be a shell of what they are were it not for volunteers. Such volunteerism came to the forefront this past year with the passing of Joe Salvo, and the departure from the Colorado tournament golf scene of Rich Langston and Joan Scholes. Each of them made major contributions — in terms of both time and dediction — to the likes of the CGA, CWGA and Colorado PGA over the years. And many, many others do likewise each year.

— Another Senior Major on the Horizon.This year it was announced that the 2018 U.S. Senior Open will be contested at The Broadmoor the year the resort celebrates its 100th birthday. It will mark the third U.S. Senior Open held in Colorado, meaning only Ohio (with six) will have hosted more. The Centennial State also was home to another senior major, the Senior PGA Championship contested at Colorado Golf Club in 2010.

— Good People. I’ve always marveled at the number of good people you meet through the game of golf. Perhaps it’s part of the significant “self-policing” aspect of the sport that tends to attract people of high character. But whatever the case, it’s refreshing.

And yet another reason to give thanks.
 

A tweet from the Pacific Coast Golf Association put it succinctly: “Dr. Joe Salvo, RIP to one of golf’s great volunteers. We will miss you”, adding the hashtag #bestsmileinthegame.

Indeed, Salvo will long be remembered for many things, not the least of which was his amiable manner and how he gave of himself and his time.

Salvo, a member of the CGA board of governors for 16 years and one of the top volunteer rules officials in Colorado, passed away unexpectedly on April 10 at the age of 78.

A memorial service will be held for the longtime Colorado Springs resident on May 26 at 1 p.m. at the Broadmoor Community Church (315 Lake Avenue in Colorado Springs).

Salvo passed away just a day after CGA executive director Ed Mate said goodbye to him in the Portland airport after both had attended the Pacific Coast Amateur spring meeting along with USGA regional affairs director Mark Passey. The next night, Mate received an email saying that Salvo had just died, leaving a significant void in the Colorado golf community.

“First and foremost, Joe was just a special person,” Mate said. “He collected friends everywhere he went. He had an incredible gift with people, whether it was with the CGA, the Pacific Coast, his medical practice or anywhere else. Everybody liked him because he was so sincere and so in the moment — and you can’t fake that. He touched people in a special way. We’re lucky because he was so passionate about golf and the Rules of Golf. He had a lot of passions, but golf was a focal point the last 20 years or so.”

Indeed, Salvo had been a CGA volunteer for more than 25 years, and he currently was chairman of the association’s Rules Committee. But Salvo’s golf-related volunteerism certainly didn’t stop there. He also gave of his time with the USGA, often working as a rules official at the U.S. Senior Amateur and the U.S. Senior Open; as a trustee for the Pacific Coast G.A. and its Pacific Coast Amateur; with the Arizona Golf Association as he was a part-time resident of that state; and in college golf.

In fact, Salvo was scheduled to work last week’s Pac-12 Conference Women’s Championships at Boulder Country Club. “He was looking forward to being here,” noted that tournament’s head rules official Bob Austin, while still taken aback at how Salvo passed away so abruptly.

And Salvo didn’t just volunteer a few hours here or there to golf. Indeed, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the oral and maxillofacial surgeon volunteered thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hours over the years.

Mike Boster, a fellow prominent rules official and a good friend of Salvo, estimates that Salvo — who’s held memberships at the Broadmoor, Kissing Camels and Tucson National — typically worked 70-75 days a year on the course, and that doesn’t include traveling and the like.

“Joe gave so much to the game and to every association he was with,” Boster said. “He was pretty much a year-round rules official.”

Another longtime rules official, Rich Langston, still remembers the first tournament he worked alongside Salvo — the 1994 CGA Senior Match Play at the Ranch Country Club.

“Joe was always just a super guy,” Langston said. “He enjoyed the game and always had good stories about growing up. He and I were probably the only two youngsters I know of who wore knickers when we were little — Joe because his dad was a tailor and could make a pair of knickers for a dollar, and me because that’s what my older brother had, and that’s what I wore.”

While many people knew Salvo through golf, he led an eventful life in many realms. He spent eight years in the Army, doing two tours in Vietnam; he played college golf at Tufts University in Massachusetts — where he was born; he spent 34 years in his private oral and maxillofacial practice; he was a member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America; and he was a certified pistol and personal defense instructor. And Joe and his wife, Beth, played golf in more than 35 countries on five continents.

All in all, a life well lived.