Anyone who knew Katie Fiorella won’t soon forget her, but some of her friends and acquaintances are making doubly sure her name is immortalized.
Fiorella, a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee who was as well known for her love of Willis Case Golf Course in Denver as she was for her considerable golfing ability, already has a four-hole kids course at Willis Case named for her (Katie’s Course).
And now Fiorella will have a prominent spot on the regulation course as well, as a stone bench honoring her has been built behind the 18th green, on a high point with expansive views of the Front Range. “Katie’s Bench” will be formally dedicated in a ceremony on June 9 at 4 p.m.
“There was such a strong love between Katie and Willis Case that it’s appropriate to have a memorial bench there,” said fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Lynn Zmistowski, who estimates she played thousands of rounds of golf with Fiorella over several decades. “Her heart was so much in that course. You think about Katie and how she’s looking down from heaven with a smile. We knew how much she loved Willis Case, and this shows our love for her. It’s really special.”
Fiorella was a fixture at Willis Case in northwest Denver for the better part of six decades until passing away at age 80 in 2008. She won the women’s club championship at the course an amazing 22 times. In May 1956, she accomplished an extremely rare feat by making two holes-in-one in a single day at Willis Case, acing the 158-yard 10th hole in a morning round, then the 158-yard fourth hole in the afternoon. For that, she received some national attention as the Associated Press ran a short story that was printed in several prominent newspapers. (Fiorella would go on to make six holes-in-one in her lifetime.)
But Fiorella’s golfing ability certainly extended well beyond Willis Case. She was a five-time runner-up in the CWGA Match Play Championship, then dominated the senior ranks in the mid-1980s, winning the CWGA Senior Stroke Play in 1984, ’85 and ’87. She also captured the CWGA Brassie team title seven times, including six with Zmistowski.
In addition to her accomplishments as a competitor one of Fiorella’s favorite memories was being invited to play a round with professional tour players Patty Berg and Gloria Armstrong in 1958. Another was having a photo taken with Jack Nicklaus when the Golden Bear was in Vail.
“It’s important to honor someone who gave so much to the state and was such an outstanding golfer,” said Laura Fischer, president of the Willis Case Women’s Golf Association, which raised the money to pay for Katie’s Bench.
But as much as Fiorella made a mark with her outstanding play, it was her personality that made her beloved by many in the Colorado golf community.
“Everyone who ever played with Katie knew she was always so encouraging,” Zmistowski said. “Even when things weren’t going well for your golf game, she always had something good to say. She’d always say, ‘Keep plugging.’ She pulled for the other person, even though it sometimes worked to her detriment (in tournaments).”
In fact, that “keep plugging” phrase is one of four inscriptions on the recently completed Katie’s Bench. Others note that she was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1989, that this resting place is indeed called “Katie’s Bench” and that it’s in memory of Katie Fiorella 1928-2008.
Zmistowski tells a story which gives some indication of how much Fiorella was loved at Willis Case. For most of her time at the course, Fiorella walked the layout using a manual push cart. But as Fiorella was getting up in age, Zmistowski had the idea of getting her a Kangaroo electric cart. She asked many of Katie’s other friends if they could each kick in $10 or so, and within about 10 days Zmistowski had collected $1,500.
They gave Fiorella the Kangaroo cart for her 66th birthday, threw her a party and had more than $600 left over. That money went to Fiorella, who used it for her green fees at Willis Case.
After Fiorella passed away, Zmistowski and the Willis Case Women’s Golf Association spearheaded the effort to build a memorial bench for Katie at the course, but the idea took a couple of years to become a reality. Since Fiorella always talked about how the 17th hole needed a permanent bench, the original thought was to put it there. Since City of Denver officials weren’t keen on that location, Fiorella’s sister, Agnes Brady, suggested the picturesque spot behind the 18th green. After all, Fiorella never seemed to tire of the view of the mountains from the higher spots on the course.
Because city officials wanted a uniform type of bench for memorials, it was finally decided that Colorado red sandstone that came from a Lyons-based company would be used for Katie’s Bench. The Willis Case Women’s Golf Association raised money for the project by selling metallic ball markers and through donations.
With Zmistowki’s architect husband, Bill, helping considerably with the project, the superintendent at Willis Case, Bobby Murtaugh, installed the bench and the surrounding base and flagstone, putting it all together in the off-season.
“It took time and patience, but it ended up being perfect,” Lynn Zmistowski said. “It was worth the wait.”
