(NOTE: This story was updated on Oct. 25 with reaction and additional details from Howe.)

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If the person who was voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on Wednesday can be judged by the people who submitted letters of recommendation on her behalf, Lauren Howe will be a stellar addition to the Hall.

World Golf Hall of Famer and former USGA president Judy Bell, 12-time PGA Tour winner Dow Finsterwald and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Tom Connell all sung the praises of Howe, a longtime Coloradan who was one of the best female players in the country at various times during mid- and late 1970s and through much of the ’80s.

“Lauren was an amazing athlete with a passion to succeed,” wrote Connell, who saw Howe develop as a teenage golfer and now is a fellow instructor of hers at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora. “… For a 10-year period beginning in 1974, I was a witness to a remarkable series of accomplishments by a young prodigy from Colorado and later a seasoned professional on a national stage, coached by a brilliant teacher who happened to be her father, and supported by a large, loving family.”

Added Finsterwald, who’s also a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame: “Since moving to Colorado Springs at age 14, Lauren took the golf scene by storm.”

For her many accomplishments as a player, and for her continuing devotion to the game through her work as a golf instructor, Howe on Wednesday was voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. The Aurora resident will be inducted on June 2 at Denver Country Club.

Asked her reaction to the impending induction, Howe said on Thursday morning, “In the back of my mind, I knew it could be coming. And yet it still hit me … I’m tearing up now. It’s just so precious to me, especially having not played in a while and everything. It really hit me like a big wave.”

Also being honored on June 2 by the Hall of Fame will be Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster (as Golf Person of the Year); Mark and Lynn Cramer, who own and operate the Denver Golf Expo (Lifetime Achievement Award); golf course superintendents Fred Dickman from The Broadmoor and Barry Kendall from Green Valley Ranch (Distinguished Service Awards); and Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins and Lauren Lehigh of Loveland (Future Famer Awards). Coincidentally, Howe has been Lehigh’s swing instructor for over a decade. See below for the accomplishments of all these honorees.

As for Howe herself, she was quick to recognize the many people who helped her along the way, including the big-name women’s players of the era who took her under their wings during her early years.

“When my dad (Winston Howe Jr.) was the pro at Country Club of Colorado, one of the biggest influences in my life was to be able to go up and play golf with Judy Bell, Barbara McIntire, Tish Preuss, Nancy Syms, Cindy Hill, Bonnie Lauer — all of those gals. They were always so kind to me and walked me through a lot of things. I am so grateful to them for that.”

And of course, Howe pays tribute to her dad, who doubled as her instructor.

“My father was my teacher,” Lauren Howe said. “He always made sure that as he was working with me, he never got a jaundiced eye. He would take me back in the day to Bob Toski, Jim Flick and to Paul Runyan for my short game. To this day I think (my dad) was the best diagnostician in all the land.”

Lauren Howe’s top golf accomplishment was winning on the LPGA Tour, in 1983 at the Mayflower Classic. But she had been making an impact on the regional and national golf scene since the first half of the 1970s.

The first big breakthrough came in 1973 when she won the San Francisco Women’s City Championship shortly before turning 14.

After turning 15 in 1974, she advanced to the finals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior, losing in the title match 7 and 5 to Nancy Lopez, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1975, Howe was the co-medalist in the stroke-play portion of the same national championship. And in 1976, she was the solo stroke-play medalist.

Howe certainly made her mark in Colorado at an early age as well. In 1975, at age 16, she not only won the CWGA Junior Match Play, but the open-age CWGA Stroke Play. 

Girls high school golf in Colorado wasn’t an officially sanctioned sport until 1990, but Howe was the No. 1 player on the boys team at St. Mary’s in Colorado Springs for the three years she spent in high school.

In 1976 as a 17-year-old, the Utah native qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, which was held in a Philadelphia suburb the week following the U.S. bicentennial. An assistant to Winston Howe who was friends with JoAnne Carner set up a practice round pairing that included the 1971 national champion and the Colorado teenager. “That was so cool,” said Howe, who went on to make the cut and finish 39th in the top tournament in women’s golf. (Coincidentally, Carner won that U.S. Women’s Open — her second — in a playoff.) That same year, Howe won the Mexican Women’s Amateur.

“The year when I was 16 was my best playing year — ever,” Howe said. “It was like I was on fire that whole year. Sixteeen was a good year. I played without any doubt. If there was ever a qualifying, it wasn’t, ‘Am I going to qualify?’ It was more like, ‘Am I going to win the qualifier?’ I wish I could get that back.”

After one year of college golf at the University of Tulsa — as a teammate of Lopez — Howe won the prestigious Women’s Western Amateur in 1977. Then she turned pro at age 18. That same year she was named the Woman Athlete of the Year by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. 

In 1978, Howe joined the LPGA Tour after winning the Q-school tournament — becoming the youngest medalist at that time and setting a scoring record that stood for more than two decades.

“All this stuff is really so touching to me,” Howe said in recalling some career highlights. “One of the coolest memories came after winning the school. My dad went with me to the qualifying school and we drove out of the parking lot singing, ‘We are the champions.'”

In 1983 after recording her victory in the LPGA Tour’s Mayflower Classic in Indianapolis, Howe was named Golf Person of the Year by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. That season she finished 19th on the LPGA money list.

Also during her 13-year LPGA Tour career, which was interrupted at times by injuries, Howe finished second in the 1986 Mazda LPGA Hall of Fame Championship, where she lost in a playoff to Amy Alcott. That season, Howe notched five top-10 finishes on the LPGA circuit.

Howe (left) has been a golf instructor since 1991 and spent 2003-08 teaching at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., before returning to Colorado, where she’s been based for the last decade. She now teaches at CommonGround GC, which is owned and operated by the CGA.

Despite her extensive playing career, Howe isn’t playing golf these days, but hopes to in the future. Two years ago while competing in a Legends Tour event near Plymouth, Mass., Howe was involved in a major automobile accident in which she sustained injuries to her brain, knee and wrist. Surgeries ensued.

“I can’t stand on a practice tee like I used. I’ve changed the way I’ve got to teach,” she said. “There are still ramifications, but we’ve settled the lawsuit and I have started at a brain clinic, which is the biggest thing.”

As for the possibility of playing and competing again, Howe said, “I haven’t played in two years. I really want to play in the (U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Next year) would be ideal. It might be optimistic, but I’m going to act as if” that might happen.

In the meantime, she’ll relish going into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Asked about the reaction she’s gotten since telling friends and families the news, Howe said, “My best friend from high school said, ‘It’s about time.’ And my parents (Winston and Dolores, who now live in Highlands Ranch) were really happy. I have six brothers and sisters who were over the moon too.”

While Howe will be the lone Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee on June 2 at Denver Country Club, several other people will receive awards from the Hall:

— Golf Person of the Year: Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster earns this honor from the Hall of Fame for the second time in three years. The 21-year-old has been the No. 1-ranked women’s amateur in the world almost continuously since July. In May, the Wake Forest golfer became the first Colorado resident to win the Women’s NCAA Division I individual title after finishing sixth and second at that national championship the previous two years. She represented winning U.S. teams in three prestigious international competitions this year — the Curtis Cup, Arnold Palmer Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship. In that last event, Kupcho finished second individually out of a field of 170. Kupcho competed in the LPGA Tour’s Marathon Classic in July, finishing 16th, her best showing in an LPGA event. The NCAA championship in May was one of three individual victories for Kupcho during the spring portion of the college season. In August, Kupcho became the first American woman to win the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top women’s player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings as of the conclusion the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

— Lifetime Achievement: Mark and Lynn Cramer have owned and operated the Denver Golf Expo since purchasing it from PGA professional Stan Fenn in 2000, and every year it’s been a winter mainstay on the Colorado golf calendar. The Expo typically draws about 10,000 attendees each year at the Denver Mart. The Cramers take pride in supporting the major golf organizations in Colorado — and in the support those organizations give the Expo. The Expo over the years has made donations totaling $85,000 to the Colorado PGA charitable foundation, now known as Colorado PGA REACH.

— Distinguished Service: Course superintendents Fred Dickman from The Broadmoor Golf Club and Barry Kendall from Green Valley Ranch Golf Club overcame major weather-related obstacles so that big-time championships could be conducted with as little disruption as possible. In the case of The Broadmoor, a major hailstorm hit the area less than two weeks before the U.S. Senior Open was scheduled. But thanks to tireless work by Dickman and his staff, there was very little indication that anything had happened by the time the senior pros teed it up in late June. As for Green Valley Ranch, heavy rain, hail and winds estimated at 60 mph hit the area the evening before the scheduled first round of the CoBank Colorado Open. Thursday’s round was canceled and the tournament was reduced to 54 holes for the first time since 1981. But Kendall and his crew worked 11 straight hours pumping the water off the course and from the bunkers. By the weekend, players were raving about the course condition.

— Future Famers: Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins won the individual title in the 2018 boys Junior America’s Cup, which featured some of the top junior golfers from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico. He also led Colorado to its first team title ever in the boys Junior America’s Cup. Earlier in the year, Stewart became the first Colorado boy to win the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. In the fall, as a senior, he captured the 5A state high school individual championship and led Fossil Ridge to its first team title in boys golf. Also late in the season, Stewart notched his second AJGA title of 2018 at the AJGA Junior at Big Sky in Montana. He shared medalist honors in qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur and finished second at the Colorado Junior Amateur. Stewart, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s 2018 Boys Player of the Year, has verbally committed to play college golf at Oklahoma State

Lauren Lehigh of Loveland was one of 24 players (12 girls) worldwide to be named to the Transamerica Scholastic Junior All-America Team by the AJGA. The Loveland High School senior earned that honor by placing in the top five in an AJGA open or invitational, then based on the following criteria: standardized test scores, grade-point average, school leadership and community service. She won the girls division of the Colorado Junior Match Play, one of four Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors. During the course of 2018 at JGAC events, Lehigh won three times, placed second seven times and third three times. One of the runner-ups was in her title defense at the 4A state high school tournament. Lehigh finished third among girls at the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. She helped lead Colorado to a fifth-place finish at the Girls Junior Americas Cup competition at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, where Lehigh tied for 14th place individually. She also placed 13th nationally in Big I National Championship. Lehigh, who’s been a member of the Hale Irwin Player Program for three years, has verbally committed to play in college at the University of New Mexico. Earlier this month, she was named the JGAC’s Girls Player of the Year for 2018.
 

If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Over the years, plenty of factors have affected attendance at the annual Denver Golf Expo, including weather issues and date conflicts with major sporting events or Valentine’s Day.

This year, there’s no overlap with the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 or Cupid’s big day, and though the Winter Olympics start this weekend, the time difference in Korea may keep that from being a major issue for the Expo. And, barring Saturday’s forecast snow and cold from becoming a problem, the weather looks decent from the organizers’ perspective — not so warm that many people will stay away to actually play golf, and not likely adverse enough to keep a lot of people off the roads.

If everything aligns, Expo owners and operators Mark and Lynn Cramer are hoping attendance exceeding 10,000 for the three days (Friday through Sunday) is possible. The show hasn’t reached that mark since 2012, though last year was reasonably close (9,136).

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed that we’ll be over 10,000 — and the numbers support that,” Mark Cramer said recently, also noting that the number of exhibitors is up to 131 this year compared to 112 in 2017. “People have more money and at the shows that have been held, the gates are up for this year.”

This winter, as the Expo celebrates its 25th “birthday”, the show will be held — as usual — Friday through Sunday at the Denver Mart (northeast of the intersection of I-25 and 58th Ave.). Tickets run $13 for adults, $11 for seniors (over 50) and military with ID, and $3 for kids 16 and under.

As always, the show will feature exhibitors with plenty of deals, a lot of golf-related merchandise for sale, free lessons with PGA professionals, seminars on a variety of topics, a Lenny’s Golf club demo area, workshops, contests, and the opportunity to interact with many of the top golf organizations in the state — the CGA, Colorado PGA, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, The First Tee of Denver, etc.

Here are a few of the highlights:

— With the CGA and CWGA having united into one Allied Golf Association effective at the start of this year, its presence will be consolidated into one large area near the entrance to the Denver Mart. With a new tagline of “Celebrating the Future of Golf Together,” the integrated staff will be on hand to answer questions about the unification and other matters; to add or renew memberships; to inform people about programs, events and championships; and to explain benefits and discounts members receive. There also will be a few contest giveaways — for foursomes at CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course and grand-prize stay-and-play packages for Laughlin, Nev. People can be entered in the contests by becoming members or taking surveys which help the CGA better understand needs of members and prospective members.

— The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, a joint effort of the CGA and the Colorado PGA, will be a fixture at the Expo once again. There, kids can participate in golf-related activities, get pointers on their games, and obtain information on a myriad of golf events and opportunities in 2018 — for every level from beginners to top-level players.

— The CGA will be conducting a two-day Rules of Golf Workshop at the Expo on Saturday and Sunday. And like last year — when the workshop was conducted in conjunction with the Expo for the first time since 2010 — the event has sold out well ahead of time. 

— As has been a regular feature at the Expo, Colorado PGA pros will offer free 10-minute lessons throughout the three-day show.

— Seminars will be conducted from 11 a.m. through mid-afternoon each day. There will be swing, putting and mental tips from numerous PGA pros, and sessions on the importance of club fitting and the path to success for junior golfers. “Lessons from an LPGA Tour Champion” will be conducted at 3 p.m. on Saturday by Lauren Howe, a Coloradan who won an LPGA event in 1983. At 1 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Sunday, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kaye Kessler, a sports writer who chronicled Jack Nicklaus’ golf career from an early age, is scheduled to discuss the impact of Colorado and Coloradans on the national golf scene. And at 1 p.m. on Sunday, CGA director of rules and competitions Robert Duke will speak about lowering scores through understanding the Rules of Golf and preview prospective Rules changes that will take effect in 2019. For all the seminar topics, CLICK HERE.

— The radio folks from 104.3 The Fan will be broadcasting live from the Expo at various times this weekend.

— The grand prize up for grabs at this year’s show is a trip for four to Bandon Dunes in Oregon, including three nights lodging and a total of 12 rounds of golf at the Bandon Dunes resort.

The hours for the show this weekend are:

Friday, Feb. 9 — 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 — 9 a.m.-5 p.m.”¨
Sunday, Feb. 11 — 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

For more information about the Expo, CLICK HERE.

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.
 

When the CGA and CWGA opened the public course in the spring of 2009, Harmon landed a job as a golf shop attendant while still a teenager. She’s seen the facility — still the newest course in Colorado — develop through its formative years, to the point that it served as one of the host sites for the stroke-play portion of last year’s U.S. Amateur.

Just like CommonGround, Harmon (pictured) has graduated quickly. Now 22, she’s moved up the ranks to the point that the PGA apprentice was recently named director of player development at the CommonGround Learning Center.

“The progression has been very natural at CommonGround,” Harmon said. “I’m obviously really excited. I’ve been here since the very beginning, and it’s great to play a bigger role. I have a passion for CommonGround and the (growth of the game) programs out here, like Ed and Dave do.”

That would be Ed Mate, executive director of the CGA, and Dave Troyer, CommonGround’s director of golf.

“I understand what they’re trying to do with the program,” Harmon said. “I’ve seen the transformation and I know what to do to make the program ours.”

After almost four years of outsourcing most of the instruction at CommonGround, the CGA and CWGA, owners and operators of the course, have restructured the teaching program, bringing it more “in house.” Elena King, a director of instruction at CommonGround since its opening, will continue to do considerable teaching at the facility, but as an independent instructor. King was the LPGA Central Section Teacher of the Year in 2011.

“We wanted to have more control over the programming,” Mate said. “We had a great partnership with Elena — and with Elena and Gary Davis before that — but anytime you outsource you don’t have as much control. We want to make sure we’re executing the (CommonGround) mission: ‘A place for all, and all the game teaches.’ Teaching is a big part of that.”

Added Troyer, Harmon’s boss during all of her time at CommonGround: “We wanted someone on salary to run player development, someone who is 100 percent focused on growing the game. She makes it much more seamless regarding our outreach efforts, whether it be with Boy Scouts, Special Olympics or whatever.

“Lauren has been very integral for us since Day 1. She has a very good understanding of our clientele and who we’re marketing to.”

Harmon grew up in the Denver area and played golf for Grandview High School in south Aurora. She hopes to complete her PGA training and become a Class A PGA professional by 2015.

If sheer energy plays a significant role in her new position, Harmon figures to be a good fit for the job.

Asked to characterize Harmon, Troyer said, “She’s a non-stop energy bunny. Her relaxation and enjoyment is to spend more time at work.”

At CommonGround, Harmon anticipates that starting this year “we’ll have a lot more options for individual instruction (including golf fitness, biomechanics and the mental side of the game). I’m really focused on expanding the game for people. We’ll have a lot of programs for those who have not played the game (regularly).”

Harmon said that CommonGround likely will have seven instructors doing considerable teaching at the course this year. Among them are expected to be Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Tom Connell and Lauren Howe, winner of an LPGA Tour event in 1983 and a former CWGA Stroke Play champion.

“I am definitely excited to have her as a part of the team,” Harmon said of Howe.

As for Connell, the head professional at Denver Country Club for 27 years until retiring in 2009, Harmon said he’s “been a great mentor to me in helping grasp the concepts of teaching kids.”