Kim Schwartz has worked for the betterment of Colorado golf for almost the last decade, and those who have gotten to know her during that time can relate when she says, “I’m a very passionate person, so whatever I get involved with I know I’ll end up loving and I’ll make the best of it.”
That’s certainly been the case with Colorado golf since Schwartz was awarded a P.J. Boatwright internship in 2004, working for the CGA’s Youth Programs Department. And after one year away from the golf business, she joined the CWGA staff, where she’s been a fixture for more than eight years.
But that run will end this week — Friday, to be precise — when Schwartz will leave the CWGA to become an association account manager for Interactive Management Incorporated. IMI — whose CEO, Gary Leeper, is executive director of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association — performs executive, management and administrative functions for trade and professional associations.
“I saw it as a great way to advance my career and get some different experience,” said Schwartz, director of member programs for the CWGA, who’s also done similar work in the last year for the CGA. “Also, it’s closer to home (she lives in Firestone and will work in Westminster). That was a huge reason after just getting married last year. Life changes, and it will definitely make things a lot easier on my family to be closer to home. It’ll allow me to spend more time with my family.”
Schwartz becomes the third member of the full-time CWGA staff to depart this year, following executive director Robin Jervey and tournament and junior golf operations manager Kelley Mawhinney. New CWGA executive director Ann Guiberson, who formally came on staff April 1, said on Saturday that the association is “trying to reorganize the staff and what we do now, and see what we can do to bring in some additional staff. We’re right at the beginning of looking into that.”
Schwartz has played an integral role the last several years in the CWGA’s push to get more women into the game through social golf events. This year, the association has partnered with a variety of courses and the PGA Tour Superstore in scheduling more than three-dozen such events: CLICK HERE. Schwartz helped solidify those partnerships and the CWGA’s social golf efforts in general.
“We’ll definitely miss Kim and her great innovation and enthusiasm for women’s golf and the CWGA,” Guiberson said.
Jervey, who hired Schwartz during her 22-year run as the CWGA’s executive director, likewise believes the association is losing a very valuable asset.
“She is a very creative and talented young woman and will be sorely missed,” Jervey said in a text. “The departures of Kelley and now Kim for personal reasons creates a huge void on the staff. It will take some time to identify, hire and develop the technical skills needed.”
Schwartz played college golf at the University of Wyoming and she majored in marketing and minored in public relations and communications. So what’s she’s done at the CWGA — and what she will do at IMI — are right in her wheel-house.
“I’m extremely proud of getting the (Women’s Golf) Experiences off the ground and getting momentum and building partnerships with these other social golf events,” she said. “I feel like I’m most proud that I’ve made golf accessible for women. I’ve increased membership for the CWGA because of that. My efforts have made a big impact. I’ve helped women enjoy something positive in their lives.”
(Schwartz is pictured above, at right, during last weekend’s Women’s Golf Experience in Westminster.)
Before becoming director of member programs for the CWGA, Schwartz served as director of rules and competitions for the association, then as assistant executive director.
“The golf community is a family in itself, but I don’t see those relationships going away,” she said. “I feel like I can have relationships with the golf community even if I’m not working in it. I’m definitely going to miss all the relationships and the memories. But it’s one of those things where sometimes you need to change.”
