Kathy Malpass was in her element on Saturday, which paid dividends for participants and organizers alike in the first CGA Women’s Golf Experience of the year.

You see, the Women’s Golf Experience centers around offering group golf instruction to women as part of socially-oriented half-day events held around the state. And teaching and golf just happen to both be fortes of Malpass, a retired professor who taught sport industry operations at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and a former college golf head coach and assistant coach. And it also doesn’t hurt that she serves on the CGA’s Executive Committee and played a key role in the creation of the Women’s Golf Experience events, which debuted in 2010, when Malpass was Membership Chair at the CWGA.

So Malpass was a natural in her role on Saturday, which was to lead the putting portion of the Experience at Overland Park Golf Course.

“The great thing about these are, the women feel more comfortable in this kind of a setting with other women,” observed Malpass, a two-time CWGA Senior Player of the Year and a 10-time qualifier for USGA championships. “Obviously we want them to have a positive, fun experience with others in their comfort zone. A lot of these gals probably play with a partner or husband who’s already a player, and they’re telling them all these things to do. There’s too much for the head to realize. You can’t have that many swing thoughts when you’re out there playing. So it’s kind of nice to be with other like golfers (at the Experience) and to walk away with a fun, educational experience.

“I think these have been very successful.”

The events have been so successful, in fact, that by the end of this year, 34 Women’s Golf Experiences will have been held since 2010. And this year, a record seven such events are planned, including nine-hole Plays Day at the par-3 courses at Indian Tree and Harvard Gulch.

Besides 3 1/2 hours of group golf instruction from LPGA and PGA professionals — 45 minutes each of full swing, chipping, putting and rules, with a brief break in between — there’s lunch, prizes, goodie bags and plenty of socializing.

On Saturday, despite some threatening weather to start the day, 64 women attended the inaugural Women’s Golf Experience of 2018. It was also the first one conducted since the CWGA and the CGA integrated into one organization at the beginning of this year.

CGA executive director Ed Mate was among those on hand Saturday. He co-hosted the “In the Fairway” radio show with Jerry Walters early in the day at Overland, then observed and took part in some of the Women’s Golf Experience activities. It was Mate’s first time attending one of the Experience events.

Besides being impressed by the turnout on a day that started out less than ideal weather-wise, Mate said the CGA can learn things from such events.

“It just shows how good the Colorado Women’s Golf Association is at these types of engagement that we (the CGA) as an organization have not done,” he said. “These golfers (attending the Experience) are not going to play in the state championship, but they love golf. And it just shows me, ‘What if we did something like this for all of golfers, not just for women, what could we do?’ I can guarantee you there are men that would love to come to something like this.

“That’s the beauty of integration (is seeing) what are the best practices of both organizations. What are the things that need to be customized for that audience? What is the CGA doing that would work well for women and vice-versa?”

Indeed, Experience-like events that include men might be something that develops in the future. Laura Robinson, the former CWGA executive director who now serves as managing director of membership and integration for the CGA, said that that might be a good idea.

“I think there is an opportunity to open this up to everyone — make it co-ed” in addition to continuing to hold women-only events, Robinson said. “I think what I would do is have a mixed event rather than just men only. We’d get more people there that way, I think.”

As it is, the Women’s Golf Experience events typically draw 25-75 participants. Though many of the women are relatively new to the game, there are certainly plenty who have experience. And attendees range from the young to the retired.

There’s also quite a mix of women who are participating in the Experience for the first time, and those who back for more. For instance on Saturday, roughly 30 percent of the attendees had come to an Experience before.

Several members of the CGA’s volunteer board of directors — who played similar roles on the CWGA board — attended Saturday’s Experience. That included Malpass, Sandy Schnitzer, Phyllis Jensen and Amy Turner. Schnitzer was running the Rules portion of the Experience, and she, Malpass and Jensen have helped out at these events many times over the years. But it was Turner’s first time to attend one.

“I wish I had gone to one sooner, to one of the first ones years ago,” said Turner, a CGA Executive Committee member. “The tips from the pros — multiple pros — that’s great. If I were to come here by myself, I would probably walk away a bunch of phone numbers of women I could potentially pull together into a foursome — people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

“There’s a lot to gain today — and a lot to gain coming out of today. I was very impressed by how robust the program is — all sides of the game plus the rules — and then the social aspect at the end. You can trade numbers and get to know each other better.”

Robinson was in Turner’s shoes a couple of years ago, when she came to her first Experience. And she likewise appreciates how events like this can help grow the game incrementally.

“This is an opportunity for the women to learn some golf and learn how the rules can help them,” Robinson said. “When you put all that together, it really makes for a great experience and it makes it a great way for us to break down the barriers and make golf a more enjoyable sport.”

The folks at City of Denver Golf typically partner with the CGA (and formerly the CWGA) to host at least one of the Women’s Experiences each year, and such was the case Saturday at Overland. The instructors included Denver’s director of golf Scott Rethlake, along with others from Denver and elsewhere: Devon Puleo, Malpass, Kelly Hodge, Nick Johnson, Geoff Strasser, Kirk Mease, Maggie Hartman, Joe Pinson, Susie Helmerich and Steve Kurtz. The idea is to have a good ratio of instructors to participants so that everyone leaves feeling they received some attention and useful tips.

“The student has to get involved and in this kind of setting they have that opportunity because we have enough teachers to get the ratio down and players can practice and get immediate feedback,” Malpass said.

The remaining Women’s Golf Experience events for 2018 are:

— May 19 at Saddleback GC

— June 2 at CommonGround GC

— June 9 at Cheyenne Shadows at Fort Carson

— June 23 at The Bridges at Montrose

— July 14 Play Day at Indian Tree GC

— July 29 Play Day at Harvard Gulch GC

For more information on Women’s Golf Experience events, CLICK HERE or call 303-366-4653.

The group ran the gamut in terms of age (young women to senior citizens) and golf ability (USGA handicap indexes ranging from 13 to 64, and most with no handicaps at all).

But young or old, good players or not, the 44 women who gathered Saturday at the Greg Mastriona Courses at Hyland Hills in Westminster had at least a couple of things in common. They like golf and are looking to improve their games, and they love to have a good time while they’re at it.

Saturday’s outing marked the start of the fifth year of the Women’s Golf Experiences, events hosted by the CWGA that combine small-group instruction with some fun social interaction with other women interested in the game.

“I do like events like this,” said Monica Halley, who participated in some of the popular “Ladies Night Out” social golf events at Hyland Hills last year. “I’m not a brand-new golfer, but I’m somewhat new. I don’t keep score yet. But this kind of gives me a way to come out and be with other women where I don’t feel intimidated. I feel like I fit in and can learn. They teach you a lot of new skills.

“My husband golfs and my youngest son is going to school at (CU-Colorado Springs) to be a golf pro. I’ve been around it but haven’t gone out too much myself. So this gives me a good opportunity to go out. And I was just thinking about joining a women’s group here in the summer on Tuesday and Thursday morning.”

That is music to the ears of organizers of events such as these. With the National Golf Foundation reporting that the number of female golfers in the U.S. dropped from 7 million in 2005 to 5 million in 2012, making potential new women’s golfers — and golfers in general — feel welcome and wanting to play more is a high priority.

“The CWGA is helping courses take advantage of this opportunity that women want social golf,” said Kim Schwartz, the association’s director of member programs. “Women are social, so they want opportunities to go play and have fun. As the CWGA, we represent all of women (golfers) across the state. We’re not just a championship organization. If we can offer opportunities by partnering with different golf courses, that’s huge to have (programs) for women to enjoy golf.”

Over the last several years, the CWGA has placed an ever-increasing emphasis on building the base of women’s golfers through social golf activities.

At the Women’s Golf Experience events, participants receive roughly 45 minutes of small-group instruction at each of four stations — full swing, chipping, putting, and rules, then have lunch afterward. Goodie bags are distributed and drawings are held for prizes. PGA/LPGA professionals provide the instruction. Among those leading the way Saturday was 2011 HealthOne Colorado Open champion Ben Portie, now the women’s golf head coach at Metro State, along with PGA professionals Val Heim and Joe Chavez of Hyland Hills, Jeff Carter from the Broadlands and Brian Lindstrom from Highland Meadows.

Saturday was the first of three Women’s Golf Experience events scheduled for 2014, with the others being May 10 at Overland Park in Denver and May 17 at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Denver broadcast personality Denise Plante is expected to be a special guest at the Overland Park Experience.

But the Experience events just scratch the surface of social golf outings the CWGA organizes or participates in. This year alone, there are more than three-dozen such events, with Hyland Hills, CommonGround, Buffalo Run and the City of Denver courses among those hosting outings. For a list of events, CLICK HERE. Many include social get-togethers in addition to golf.

Saturday marked the first local Women’s Golf Experience that new CWGA executive director Ann Guiberson has witnessed firsthand, and she came away impressed.

“This is a terrific event today,” she said. “We’ve got a good mix of CWGA members and new golfers and advanced golfers, and everyone is supporting each other and having a good time.

“I talked to a few people today who said they weren’t sure if they were going to come out, but they decided to come. Once you get here, everyone is talking to everybody else and sharing experiences and helping each other. It’s a great program.

“Kim (Schwartz) has done a fantastic job putting this program together the last couple of years. Based on what I’ve seen today, it’s something we will definitely continue and maybe even take around the rest of the state.”

Among the sites that have hosted Women’s Golf Experience events in past years are Grand Junction, Colorado Springs and Loveland, in addition to the Denver metro area.

Included among the first-time participants on Saturday was Shona Eliason, president of the Women’s 9-Hole League at the Broadlands in Broomfield. She attended along with one of her regular playing partners.

“It’s one of those benefits that we get that we don’t usually take advantage of,” Eliason said of the Experience, which is discounted for CWGA members.

Eliason, a 20-handicap, enjoyed the rules instruction, along with the fact that most of the various teaching stations featured two instructors for each rotating group of 10 or 11 players.

“I like that they have different instructors at each station because sometimes if you just go with one or two instructors (total) and you do a half-day clinic, it’s not quite as interesting,” Eliason said. “I also liked that they had two people at each one. It changed it up.”

The idea is that the Experience engages the participants to the point that they’re drawn into the game long-term.

“We have two instructors at most of the stations to give somewhat personalized instruction, so everyone of every ability can get something out of it,” Schwartz said. “That’s what the goal is today. That’s why we’re drawing that broad range (of golfers). But by far, most of the participants are newer golfers or new to golf. I think why this is popular in the spring is because it’s kind of jump-starting their games.”

Drawing more women into the sport will take time, but events like the Women’s Golf Experience are part of the step-by-step process.

“We can’t just build women’s golf by ourselves,” Schwartz said. “We have to work with everyone else in the community.”