Coming up on Christmas week last year, Dennis Lyon had many reasons to be joyful. He was almost a year into retirement after spending 37 1/2 years working for the City of Aurora’s golf division. He loved having time to play more golf and to dote on his grandchildren, all of whom also live in Aurora. And, of course, it was the holiday season.
But as it turned out, Lyon has absolutely no recollection of what should have been a very memorable time of year.
After getting struck by a truck on Dec. 20 as he was crossing a street while walking his dog Putter near Murphy Creek Golf Course, Lyon can’t remember anything from the next eight days. And that may be for the best, considering it was “touch and go” for a couple of days whether the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer would live to enjoy the retirement he had worked so long to earn.
“I was obviously shocked and very concerned” when first learning of the accident, said CGA executive director Ed Mate, who has long known and worked with Lyon, the president of the CGA in 2002 and 2003. “I was worried he might not make it.”
And though Lyon suffered a broken back, pelvis and two shoulders — as well as internal injuries, an ear nearly being torn off and some bleeding from the brain — he is indeed well on the way to recovery. He spent a total of seven weeks in three hospitals — including 10 days in intensive care — underwent multiple surgeries, and is now continuing his rehabilitation at his Murphy Creek home.
“I’m trying to get back to living normally,” Lyon said in a phone interview this week. “I should have a complete recovery. I’m shooting for mid-summer, but no one has told me when. Hopefully by mid-summer I’ll be out on the course (playing golf).
“I’m a hole captain for the U.S. Amateur (which will be held at Cherry Hills Country Club and CommonGround Golf Course the week of Aug. 13-19), so I’ve got to be able to walk all around Cherry Hills.”
After spending more than three decades as Aurora’s manager of golf, Lyon has many friends in the game. Appropriately, some of them have organized a golf tournament this year that will help Lyon and his family defray some of the medical expenses his insurance doesn’t pay. The event also will celebrate the fact that Lyon survived a traumatic accident in which he was thrown onto the hood of the truck that hit him, then fell onto the road.
The Tradition Tournament in Honor of Dennis Lyon is set for July 16 at 8 a.m. at Meadow Hills Golf Course in Aurora. All of the money raised from the $75-per-player entry fee — plus any other donations — will go toward Lyon’s medical and recovery costs. Those interested in playing can register through the CGA website by CLICKING HERE.
The Tradition tournament is not a new event. In fact, it’s been around since 2004, when Lyon, Mate, Gail Godbey and Bill Jewell started it at Fitzsimons Golf Course. Many years, it’s just been those four players participating, though other times as many as 30 golfers have played. Lyon, Mate, Godbey and Jewell get decked out in circa-1900 attire for the event — “we wear plus-fours and ties and get a lot of funny looks from people,” Mate noted with a laugh — and that attire is optional for this year’s tournament as well.
Not surprisingly, Lyon has been very touched at the outpouring of support he’s received — both in the form of the golf tournament and in general through the months following his accident.
“This was traumatic for me and my family,” Lyon said. “Friends like these guys (who organized the tournament), all those in the golf business and my coworkers have all been so kind and supportive. It’s made a huge difference. I want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me. It’s changed my life to some degree. I always have considered myself a people person, and now I want to be even more so.”
While Lyon certainly appreciates the fundraising support he’ll receive through the tournament, he’s looking forward to it mainly for the chance to mingle and watch everyone have some fun.
“That’s the driving force for me,” he said. “It’s more than a fundraiser; it’s a celebration of the fact I’m still here, I suppose. My family and I will all be there. I probably won’t play. I just want to hang around the first tee box and say ‘hi’. I think everyone will have fun.”
Before the accident, Lyon was having quite a memorable year in 2011. Not only was he in the first year of retirement, he received some prestigious honors. The former national president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America earned the national USGA Green Section Award, presented annually to a person who contributes significantly to golf through work with turfgrass. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. And he received the Ike Grainger Award for 25 years of volunteer work on USGA Committees.
“Dennis is so well liked and loved,” Mate said. “He’s touched a lot of lives.”
Asked how he’s feeling now, 3 1/2 months after the accident, Lyon says, “pretty good actually.” He’s walking around, has done some work in his yard, and has gone shopping. And, with son Lane (a writer and reporter in the TV business), Dennis has resumed doing some writing for Golf Course Industry magazine, for which he has been a regular contributor.
Despite what he’s endured due to the accident, Lyon has tried to remain upbeat instead of having a “woe is me” attitude.
“I’d say 90 percent of the time I’m concentrated on making a positive recovery,” he said. “About 10 percent of the time I think ‘Why did this happen?’ But you have to stay positive if you want to get better.”
