Christie Austin and Jim Bunch have taken volunteerism to a new level, which has turned out to be a feather in the cap of the Colorado golf community.
Bunch spends about 100 nights annually on the road in his volunteer role, while Austin traveled 76 days in her first year in a similar position. They work on nights and weekends. They’ve left full-time jobs or put them on the back burner. And the kicker is, the two Coloradans not only give of their time, they pay for travel and related expenses out of their own pocket. Those costs run about $20,000 to $25,000 per year, by Bunch’s estimate.
But Bunch and Austin wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, they’re among the most influential people in the world of golf — they’re two of the 15 members of the USGA Executive Committee — and giving back to the game is a big priority.
“It’s exhausting, but there’s enormous satisfaction,” Bunch said in a recent interview. “Everybody on the committee has their own niche, and at the end of the day we all have smiles on our faces.”
Asked what serving on one of the most prestigious bodies in golf has meant to her, Austin said, “I’ve been beyond thrilled.”
And there are some nice perks, one of which kicks in next week. Members of the USGA Executive Committee are invited to be rules officials at the Masters, and Bunch and Austin will take on that role starting April 9 at Augusta National — along with fellow Coloradans Dow Finsterwald and Robin Elbardawil, executive director of the Colorado Women’s Golf Association. Another Coloradan, Denver’s Will Nicholson Jr., is an Augusta member, a former USGA president, and a former chairman of the Masters Rules Committee.
Even Bunch, who serves as chairman of the USGA’s Rules of Golf Committee, gets a thrill out of his position as a rules official at major championships; this will be his seventh Masters in that role.
“It’s long periods of inaction interrupted by moments of sheer panic,” he said with a chuckle.
While being a rules official might put Bunch and Austin in the public eye, they do most of their USGA Executive Committee work behind the scenes, and it’s of no small import in the world of golf.
Bunch, a member of the Executive Committee since 2003, not only chairs the very influential Rules of Golf Committee, but also the USGA Finance Committee and the Bob Jones Award Committee. This year, he also became an Executive Committee officer (secretary) for the first time.
Austin, who in 2007 became just the fifth woman ever to join the Executive Committee, chairs the Colorado Springs-based USGA Grants Committee and recently became the first woman to chair the men’s U.S. Amateur Public Links Committee. She also serves on eight other committees.
That’s a lot of influence for two Coloradans (Bunch lives in Denver and Austin in Cherry Hills Village). After all, the USGA has served as the governing body of golf for the U.S., its territories and Mexico since the association’s formation in 1894. The USGA conducts 13 national championships each year, helps write and interpret the Rules of Golf, oversees the handicap system, sets equipment standards, acts as a golf historian, and generally tries to promote and support the game.
“I think it’s pretty amazing to have two (USGA Executive Committee members) from Colorado,” said Ed Mate, executive director of the Colorado Golf Association. “That’s pretty good representation. And it’s not only now. We have two (living) past (USGA) presidents from Colorado.”
Indeed, Nicholson (1980-81) and Colorado Springs’ Judy Bell (1996-97) have served as USGA presidents, as did Denver’s Frank Woodward (1915-16), the only USGA president from the western U.S. before 1960. Bell is the only woman to be elected USGA president.
“The USGA Executive Committee has a lot of power,” Mate said. “They’re not just figureheads. They set policy and approve rule changes. They’re an powerful group. They run the USGA.
“I think it’s significant” that two Coloradans are on the committee. “It brings a Western perspective. If all the committee members lived within 15 miles of (USGA’s) Golf House (in New Jersey), there wouldn’t be that same perspective. That’s healthy and good. And it gives us as a state golf association the ear of Executive Committee members. I see both (Bunch and Austin) regularly. Having that is very valuable and helpful to our association.”
Only one state besides Colorado has more representatives on the 15-member USGA Executive Committee — California, with three, including president Jim Vernon.
“To have two members from the state is very unusual,” Bunch noted.
“You look at the map of where committee members are from, and a lot are from the Northeast and California, and the rest are scattered,” Austin added. “It says a lot about Colorado and our ability to contribute (to have two committee members).”
Colorado joined that rarefied air when Austin was voted in two years ago. Besides adding more of a women’s perspective to the Executive Committee, she brought more than 20 years of business experience (most notably as chief financial officer of Denver-based Marsico Capital Management, from which she has since retired). Austin also has plenty of experience as a high-level competitor, having qualified for eight U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs and being named the CWGA’s Senior Player of the Year in 2007. She also served as vice chairman of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open held at Cherry Hills Country Club, where Austin belongs (along with Colorado Golf Club).
“It’s a real tribute to Christie” that the USGA sought her out to interview for a spot on the Executive Committee, Bunch said. “She’s very plugged in to golf and her business background is perfect. She had an illustrious career with Marsico Funds. She’s an impressive woman.”
While Austin is happy how things worked out, she admits that initially “I quite frankly didn’t know how I hit the (USGA’s) radar screen. “¦ They were interested in diversifying — there had been only four women in the previous 113 years on the Executive Committee. The times are changing; it doesn’t matter what gender you are if you’re committed to the game. And I brought some other things to the table.”
Though Austin has plenty of roles at the USGA — as well as serving on the boards of the CWGA and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame — her chairmanship of the Grants Committee takes up more of her time than anything else. Recently during a visit to the family condominium in Scottsdale, Ariz., Austin was busy reading some 220 grant requests. Meanwhile, in her “spare time” early this year, she studied up for the formidable USGA Rules of Golf exam, on which she scored 99 percent.
“You have to be motivated to give back to the game,” Austin said of the time committed by Executive Committee members.
The USGA Grants Committee is likewise motivated, devoting millions of dollars annually to golf projects that help introduce the game to people who may not otherwise be exposed to it. Last year, one of the USGA’s largest grants ($175,000) went to the CGA and CWGA for their junior course and instruction facilities — largely devoted to disadvantaged youth — at the CommonGround Golf Course that will open in Aurora on May 23.
As for Bunch, he’s been a lawyer (from 1970 to ’90) and an investment banker (starting in 1988). But in order to make time for his expanding role at the USGA, Bunch said he’s “more or less” been on sabbatical since 2005.
Nicholson, a fellow member at Denver Country Club and Castle Pines Golf Club, approached Bunch almost seven years ago about possibly joining the USGA Executive Committee. Bunch previously served on the executive committee for the Western Golf Association, and was obviously receptive to the USGA overtures.
As busy as Bunch is now, with the considerable work that goes into being chairman of the Rules of Golf Committee since 2006, it’s nothing compared to the year (from 2006 to “˜07) he spent as chairman of two major committees — Rules of Golf and Grants. “That was a busy year,” he said.
People have certainly taken notice of Bunch’s devotion to the cause.
“Jim has been an incredible representative of our region,” Austin noted.
Given the prominent role Bunch has played on the Executive Committee, it’s natural to wonder if he may one day be a candidate to become president of the USGA. While Bunch won’t say definitely that that won’t happen, he notes that Executive Committee vice presidents often move into the president’s role. Vernon’s term runs for another year, and there are two VPs on the Executive Committee, meaning that if things go according to form, it very possibly could be five years before anyone other than those three would be president.
Bunch enjoys serving with the USGA, but the commitment is considerable. For instance, he’s a member at both Denver Country Club and Castle Pines, but estimates he played a total of seven rounds between the two clubs last year. “I hate to figure out what the per-round cost of that is,” he said.
In addition to attending the four regularly-scheduled Executive Committee meetings each year, there’s a lot of time involved working at USGA events and other major championships. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that Bunch devotes many days and most of every morning to Rules of Golf matters, including working in conjunction with the Royal and Ancient in writing, interpreting and protecting the Rules of Golf. Then there are rules workshops, considerable time spent on the phone and exchanging e-mails, etc.
“There’s always something in the mill for change,” he said. “Rules become very addictive; people get it in their DNA.
“It’s a very heavy time commitment. You make sacrifices, and the opportunity costs are large. It’s almost like it takes over your life. But it’s great. When you feel like complaining, someone will tell you that there are only about 100,000 serious golfers out there who would like to be in your position. And it is quite rewarding. The very best part is the people you meet and the friends you make. I have friends all over the world that I wouldn’t have met under other circumstances. The bond you form is immediate with people in golf.”
