Century Links: A Team Effort

The Colorado PGA’s Golf in Schools program is an object lesson in collaboration.

Jon Rizzi

At last month’s Player’s Championship, leaders of the United States Golf Association, PGA of America, PGA TOUR, Masters Tournament, LPGA, and the World Golf Foundation announced a “spirit of collaboration to grow, protect and perpetuate the health of the game.” The chief area of development? Bring the game to young people.

For the leaders of the Colorado Golf Association (CGA) and Colorado’s allied golf organizations, the announcement served as a ringing endorsement of the cooperative approach they have always taken with each other. “Working together maximizes the impact we can have on the game,” says CGA Director of Development Ryan Smith. “The spirit of collaboration plays a critical role in our Century of Golf celebration this year.”

And when it comes to bringing the game to young people, nowhere does that collaborative spirit play a more critical role than in the five-year-old Colorado PGA (CPGA) Golf in Schools Program. The joint effort between the CPGA, CGA, Colorado Women’s Golf Association and Colorado Open Golf Foundation (representing The First Tee Green Valley Ranch) has introduced nearly 40,000 schoolchildren to the game, according to Colorado PGA Executive Director Eddie Ainsworth.

Coordinated by the CPGA through participating schools and courses, the free program currently serves 37 schools across the state, with a long-term participation goal of 60. The program consists of three days of at-school PGA Professional golf instruction using golf and “near-golf” equipment and then transitioning the kids to the course on a field trip. While at the course, the resident member of the Rocky Mountain Superintendents Association often provides STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. In 2014, 22 PGA instructors and 26 courses participated.

CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned by the CGA, regularly hosts Golf in Schools field trips for students from eight schools. On May 12, 142 fourth and fifth graders from nearby Virginia Court Elementary School participated with PGA Professionals Gary Davis, Tom and Andy Connell, Chris Schultz and CGA Managing Director of Programs Erin Gangloff. The school and course have partnered for four years.

“We love working with them!” Mac-Kenzie Petersen, the school’s physical education specialist, says. “Not only do our kids get personalized, individual instruction, but they are also taught lessons that apply to golf and everyday life. For 98 percent of our kids, this is the first time they have held a golf club or stepped onto a golf course. Introducing lifetime sports is a priority for me as a PE teacher, and CommonGround keeps it fun so the kids are easily hooked!”

“I would challenge anyone to be pessimistic about the future of golf after seeing the Colorado PGA Golf in Schools program,” says CGA Executive Director Ed Mate. “When you see the excitement in kids’ eyes as they see a golf ball fly, you just know the game has a bright future.”

Ainsworth, like Mate, sees the program as an “on ramp” to participation in organized junior-level and high school programs—and beyond.

Despite its success, however, the program requires funding. Staged by Colorado AvidGolfer at Red Sky Golf Club June 5-6, the Audi Corporate Cup annually benefits Golf in Schools. So do donations to the Colorado Open Golf Foundation and the Colorado Golf Foundation, the latter of which intends to provide additional Golf in Schools funding through contributions to the Century of Golf Gala to be held November 14 at Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center. Jack Nicklaus will speak at the event.

“We’re great friends and great allies in what we’re doing,” Ainsworth says of Mate and the CGA.

Mate seconds that emotion. “Working together, I am very bullish on the future of golf. We just need to put this great game in the hands of golf’s future, and that’s the kids. They’ll take it from there.”

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Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.