That’s certainly been the case with Colorado golf since Schwartz was awarded a P.J. Boatwright internship in 2004, working for the CGA’s Youth Programs Department. And after one year away from the golf business, she joined the CWGA staff, where she’s been a fixture for more than eight years.

But that run will end this week — Friday, to be precise — when Schwartz will leave the CWGA to become an association account manager for Interactive Management Incorporated. IMI — whose CEO, Gary Leeper, is executive director of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association — performs executive, management and administrative functions for trade and professional associations.

“I saw it as a great way to advance my career and get some different experience,” said Schwartz, director of member programs for the CWGA, who’s also done similar work in the last year for the CGA. “Also, it’s closer to home (she lives in Firestone and will work in Westminster). That was a huge reason after just getting married last year. Life changes, and it will definitely make things a lot easier on my family to be closer to home. It’ll allow me to spend more time with my family.”

Schwartz becomes the third member of the full-time CWGA staff to depart this year, following executive director Robin Jervey and tournament and junior golf operations manager Kelley Mawhinney. New CWGA executive director Ann Guiberson, who formally came on staff April 1, said on Saturday that the association is “trying to reorganize the staff and what we do now, and see what we can do to bring in some additional staff. We’re right at the beginning of looking into that.”

Schwartz has played an integral role the last several years in the CWGA’s push to get more women into the game through social golf events. This year, the association has partnered with a variety of courses and the PGA Tour Superstore in scheduling more than three-dozen such events: CLICK HERE. Schwartz helped solidify those partnerships and the CWGA’s social golf efforts in general.

“We’ll definitely miss Kim and her great innovation and enthusiasm for women’s golf and the CWGA,” Guiberson said.

Jervey, who hired Schwartz during her 22-year run as the CWGA’s executive director, likewise believes the association is losing a very valuable asset.

“She is a very creative and talented young woman and will be sorely missed,” Jervey said in a text. “The departures of Kelley and now Kim for personal reasons creates a huge void on the staff. It will take some time to identify, hire and develop the technical skills needed.”

Schwartz played college golf at the University of Wyoming and she majored in marketing and minored in public relations and communications. So what’s she’s done at the CWGA — and what she will do at IMI — are right in her wheel-house.

“I’m extremely proud of getting the (Women’s Golf) Experiences off the ground and getting momentum and building partnerships with these other social golf events,” she said. “I feel like I’m most proud that I’ve made golf accessible for women. I’ve increased membership for the CWGA because of that. My efforts have made a big impact. I’ve helped women enjoy something positive in their lives.”

(Schwartz is pictured above, at right, during last weekend’s Women’s Golf Experience in Westminster.)

Before becoming director of member programs for the CWGA, Schwartz served as director of rules and competitions for the association, then as assistant executive director.

“The golf community is a family in itself, but I don’t see those relationships going away,” she said. “I feel like I can have relationships with the golf community even if I’m not working in it. I’m definitely going to miss all the relationships and the memories. But it’s one of those things where sometimes you need to change.”
 

When Ann Guiberson attended the CWGA Annual Meeting on Saturday at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, she was expecting to see just a smattering of people she knew from back when she worked for the association.

After all, it’s been 15 years since she departed Colorado to take a job at the USGA.

“I thought I’d see a handful of people that I knew from 15 or 20 years ago, but I saw dozens,” Guiberson said after the meeting. “The players’ names are familiar to me. Many volunteers are still the same; they’re still volunteering and giving back to the game. So I’m very comfortable here in Colorado.”

That’s part of the reason Guiberson (pictured above) was hired this week to become just the third executive director in CWGA history. She’ll officially succeed Robin Jervey on April 1, about two weeks after Jervey bids adieu to Colorado after a 22-year run as the CWGA’s top staff member.

Jervey will move back to her old stomping grounds on the East Coast, where her fiance Scott Whitcomb works and resides. Jervey will handle tournament operations for the Legends Tour, the 45-and-over LPGA senior circuit. Officially, Jervey’s title will be director of event management for JBC Golf, a Boston-based management company. (For more about Jervey’s departure, CLICK HERE and see below.)

While Jervey is moving back East, Guiberson — her right-hand person at the CWGA from 1995 to ’99 — is returning to guide the CWGA after 15 years on the East Coast. Guiberson was introduced to the membership at Saturday’s meeting, and she’ll spend the next week working with Jervey on making a smooth transition. Then after attending the Women’s (golf) Association Roundtable Meeting with some CWGA staff and board members March 10-12 in Phoenix, Guiberson will return to her home in Rochester, N.Y., and get ready to move back to Colorado.

Jervey believes she’s leaving the CWGA in very good care.

“I’m happy to turn it over to Ann,” she said. “She’s excited to come back to Colorado. I know her heart is in the right place. The CWGA will be in really good hands.

“She’s wonderful with detail. Nothing will be undone. She’s the kind that will make sure everything is just right. I know we got along very well when we worked together because we both had that same quality of checking all the boxes.

“Her temperament is excellent. It takes a lot to fluster her. Working with volunteers is kind of an art that you learn over time because you’re working with a ton of different personalities. The (USGA) has thousands of volunteers around the country. I think she really enjoys that. It will be great to bring her here because we’ve got our pool to work with and we rely on them heavily to get everything done.”

Guiberson — an All-Big Eight golfer and Scholastic All-American at the University of Nebraska where she played from 1988 to ’92, and an assistant coach at NU and Colorado State University — worked for the USGA from 1999 to March of last year, when her department was realigned. For those 14 years, she was the director of regional affairs for the East and Great Lakes Regions, covering nine states and the District of Columbia and encompassing roughly 30 golf associations. For much of her time at the USGA, she also was the director of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship.

“With the USGA I wore many different hats,” Guiberson said. “I might be giving a presentation, working on a website, marking a golf course, recruiting volunteers. I’ve done a lot of different things. At the CWGA, I worked in the day-to-day, then I went to work at the USGA in more of a strategic position. Now I’ll be coming back and working in the day-to-day as well as the strategic, so I can blend the experience of those two positions.

“I’m excited to get back to Colorado. It’s really returning home for me.”

It was Guiberson’s work with the USGA that helped set her apart for the CWGA executive director job.

“Just look at her resume and the experience she had with the USGA,” said CWGA president Joanie Ott, part of a five-person group that selected Guiberson. “She has all the tools that we’re looking for. Her interview was incredible. She has a fine sense of humor, and her attention to detail, her skill set, her expertise, it just came out. It was head and (shoulders) above other candidates. We’re just thrilled to have her.”

When Guiberson worked at the CWGA in the 1990s, she and Jervey were the association’s only staffers (compared to now, when there are five women on staff). That was also a time in which golf was growing considerably. The number of female golfers in the U.S. jumped from 5 million in ’95 to 5.4 million in 2000, and courses were opening on a regular basis. But from 2005 to 2012, the ranks of female golfers dropped from 7 million to 5 million, and no new course has opened in Colorado since 2009.

“The staff is larger, and it’s more sophisticated,” Guiberson said of the CWGA. “They’re expanding their programs. Golf was booming back in that time; it was doing well. There were golf course openings in Colorado. It seemed like every couple of weeks we were working with a new club. Now, there’s a different set of challenges with golf overall — participation, affordability and access and making golf fun and welcoming. That’s all things the (CWGA) is working on. … Everyone is interested in getting more women and players out there to play golf. What every association in the country is addressing every day is membership — growing membership and also retaining membership. That will be a priority.”

While Guiberson has some familiarity with the golf market in Colorado, she will take some time learning how the landscape has changed, and getting to know the CWGA staff and volunteers, the clubs that have opened in Colorado in the new millennium, as well as local PGA professionals.

“The CWGA is a leader in promoting women’s golf,” she said. “I’m confident everything is going to be pretty solid. And we can come in and take a look at where we can expand and what we need to do to increase our membership at this point.”

Guiberson, a 4.0 handicap and a former regular at Willis Case Golf Course who competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1996, also plans to uphold the CWGA’s long tradition of running first-class state championships and national qualifiers. In addition, she’ll be part of the leadership of the CGA/CWGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course, and she’ll be at the forefront of the CWGA’s plans to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2016. That just touches on a few of her many duties.

But Guiberson knows it won’t be easy to follow in the footsteps of Jervey, who is one of the longest-serving executive directors in Colorado golf history.

“As I was sitting through the meeting, I was thinking all the things Robin Jervey has done over the last 22 years,” Guiberson said. “She’s done a lot. Those are going to be very big shoes to fill.”

Fond Farewell for Jervey: If there was any question how much Jervey is appreciated for her 22 years as CWGA executive director, it was answered at Saturday’s Annual Meeting, the last Jervey will preside over before heading East for a new job.

When she closed her remarks by noting her impending departure, those in attendance at Inverness gave her a 20-second ovation.

Two of those in attendance, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton and former CWGA president Pat Kuntz, thought so much of Jervey (pictured at left) in her time with the CWGA that they made a special trip from their residence in Tempe, Ariz., to attend Saturday’s meeting.

Not surprisingly, Jervey became emotional when she spoke about leaving in the final minutes of her business-meeting address.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve you for the last 22 years,” she said. “Colorado is an amazing state filled with outstanding people. I will cherish my experiences here and all the wonderful friends and acquaintances I’ve made. … Thank you very much.”

Ott then presented Jervey with “a medallion for you to remember us by.”

Meanwhile, Saturday marked the final day for fellow staffer Kelley Mawhinney, the CWGA’s tournament and junior golf operations manager, who is moving to Charleston, S.C., after three years with the association, the last two as a full-time staffer.

CWGA Annual Meeting Notes: A total of about 240 people attended Saturday’s meeting, with 96 clubs from around the state represented (see photo below). … The three members of the CWGA board of directors who stepped down from that role at the end of 2013 were recognized for their years of service: Kathryn Davis, Karla Harding and Sue Romek. Davis is a former CWGA president. … Also recognized was Jan Fincher, who received the CWGA Volunteer Award at last fall’s Colorado Golf Awards Brunch. … Jervey announced that the CWGA will hold a season kickoff party on April 10, from 4-8 p.m., at the PGA Tour Superstore in Greenwood Village. Admission is free. … Also noted was a new series of social golf outings at CommonGround Golf Course this year, called Monday Mixers. For more information on these and a multitude of other social golf events, CLICK HERE. … Janene Guzowski of Lakewood Country Club, a director for the Western Golf Association, gave those in attendance a brief preview of the BMW Championship, the PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff event that will be held at Cherry Hills Country Club the first week of September. “It is rockin’ awesome because I went to the one in Chicago last year,” Guzowski said. “It’s going to blow Denver away.”

It was a nice bit of symmetry for Jervey. In ’92, she presided over her first annual meeting as the CWGA’s executive director. On Saturday (March 1) at Inverness, Jervey will oversee her last as she’s leaving the CWGA in about a month to become director of event management for JBC Golf, based in the Boston area. (For that story, CLICK HERE.)

After Jervey’s 22 years on the job, her last major public event as CWGA executive director could be emotional.

“I’m sure it will be,” said Jervey (pictured above, with fellow CWGA staffer Kim Schwartz, at last year’s annual meeting). “I couldn’t keep it together the other day (at a party in her honor at the home of Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Kent and Janet Moore). As the time gets closer, some things hit me as sentimental. I’m sure it will be tough to deal with, with this (annual meeting) being the last one. I’ll try to keep it together, but I’m sure I’ll lose it.”

These first months of 2014 have been — and will be — full of change for female golf administrators in the state. Besides Jervey, Saturday’s CWGA annual meeting will mark the final day on the job for Kelley Mawhinney, CWGA tournament and junior golf operations manager, who is moving to South Carolina/Georgia (or thereabouts) after three years of working for the association, the first one as an intern, then two as a staffer.

In another move, former CWGA staff member LindaSue Chenoweth recently departed — for family-related reasons — after nearly a decade with the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, much of it spent as the chief operations officer. Chenoweth did considerable behind-the-scenes work to make the three HealthOne Colorado Open championships (men’s open, women’s open and men’s seniors) run smoothly. She also played a key role with the First Tee of Green Valley Ranch.

To add to the list, two CGA female staffers are going on maternity leave in the first half of 2014. Director of operations Briena Goldsmith is expected to give birth in mid-April and return to her CGA work after three months. And Evans Scholarship Recruiter Emily Olson begins her maternity leave late this month and plans to work part-time upon her return in the spring.

A lot of things “seem to be happening all at once,” Jervey said.

Amid all the changes, the CWGA will host one of Colorado’s biggest women’s golf-related meetings of the year, Saturday’s CWGA annual meeting at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center.

The day will feature a variety of 50-minute educational breakout sessions and a keynote speech by Cheryl Burget, who runs leadership and transformational workshops. Jervey said about 250 people are expected to attend the meeting, most representing the roughly 100 clubs which come to the event.

Among the highlights of the day will be:

— Burget, who speaks internationally, is the founder of “Your Intended Life”, a company that helps people become successful “by learning to live their passions.” She’ll touch on that subject, as well as “the Passion Test for Golf — Keys to Creating Your Best Game” and about “the importance of focus and intention” in breakout sessions and during her brunch keynote address.

“It’s been a few years since we’ve had a keynote speaker, so hopefully the members will enjoy that,” Jervey said.

— The other breakout sessions will include a best-practices discussion regarding women’s club membership, with some of the more successful clubs in Colorado sharing what makes things work for them; one-time LPGA Tour champion Lauren Howe will speak about managing your emotions to have greater success in golf and life; a Rules of Golf interactive session; and an open forum with CWGA staffers.

— Janene Guzowski of Lakewood Country Club, a director for the Western Golf Association, will talk about the 2014 BMW Championship PGA Tour event that will be played at Cherry Hills Country Club this year, and about the Evans Caddie Scholarship. Proceeds from the BMW Championship benefit the Evans Scholarship. Near the the end of the day, there will be a drawing for BMW Championship tickets.

— In the business meeting that will conclude the day, Jervey will speak about the CWGA highlights of last year and what’s upcoming, and she’ll undoubtedly bid adieu to the membership.

— And, depending on how candidate interviews go this week, the new CWGA executive director may be introduced to the members.
 

“We weren’t expecting anything. There was no advance warning,” noted Edie Bell, the CWGA’s manager of course rating and handicap administration.

But a pleasant surprise awaited Bell, CWGA finance and club services manager Ginger Washco and CWGA tournament and junior golf operations manager Kelley Mawhinney, who were attending the meeting.

Three awards were presented for best GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network) service — for large, medium, and small associations — and the CWGA earned the 2013 national honor for “Best GHIN Service for a Medium Association.” The New Jersey State Golf Association won in the large-association category, while the Kansas Women’s Golf Association claimed the small-association honor.

While the award was a nice feather in the cap for the CWGA, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. After all, this is the second time in the last five years that the association has earned the national honor, and the third time since 1995. That’s saying something, considering GHIN.com lists 79 state and regional golf associations. In the CWGA’s medium-size category, there are 22 golf associations.

(Bell, Washco and Mawhinney are pictured above, with the award.)

“I think it’s a great credit to the staff,” CWGA executive director Robin Jervey said, referring to Bell, Washco, Mawhinney and Kim Schwartz, the association’s membership programs and marketing manager. “We work hard to provide good customer service. I’m very proud of them. This is the third time we’ve won this award during my time with the CWGA, so it’s nice to see we’re continuing the good work.”

The honor is given based on the results of surveys GHIN mails to all clubs using GHIN services. Judging by the replies, state and regional golf associations (men’s or women’s) around the country are rated based on the GHIN service and support they provide to their members and clubs.

In all, 37 CWGA member clubs responded to the survey, according to the USGA’s Fran Nee, assistant director of GHIN Association Services.

“We don’t get a lot of (immediate) feedback, other than the occasional, ‘Thanks for helping,'” Bell said. “We feel good that this acknowledges that our customers are getting the GHIN support they need from the staff at the CWGA.”

Among the things the GHIN service offers customers are a handicap program, a tournament pairing program, an eRevision newsletter, a GHIN mobile app, and much more. The CWGA — and CGA — offer support on many levels, including through conducting multiple handicap seminars each year.

The CWGA previously won the national GHIN service award in 1995 and 2009.
 

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.”