Sammie Chergo, the former University of Denver women’s golf head coach who became the executive director of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame last summer, is leaving that position effective on Tuesday.
Chergo said she’s taken a job as director of development at Purdue University in Indiana, where she’ll be part of the senior fundraising team working with major gifts.
“I am so thankful to the CGHOF for giving me the chance to be part of the great traditions and history of golf in Colorado,” Chergo wrote in an email on Friday. “It is the wonderful people who surround the Hall that made this job such an honor and great fun for me.”
Scott Radcliffe, president of the Hall of Fame, thanked Chergo for her hard work and dedication on behalf of the CGHOF. He said the Hall of Fame has accomplished much over the past year and that Chergo was critical to that success.
Prior to becoming executive director of the Hall of Fame, Chergo was a highly regarded women’s head coach in the college golf ranks. Under her leadership, the DU women posted sixth- and fifth-place finishes in the NCAA Finals in 2008 and ’09, respectively. Chergo coached the DU women’s team for 15 years before departing in 2013. From 2014 to ’16, Chergo served as head coach of the Oregon State University women’s golf program. Except for that stint in Oregon, Chergo is a lifelong Coloradan. She played college golf at Colorado State University.
Chergo received the 2009 Golf Person of the Year award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. (She’s pictured above, at left, last summer when she served as emcee for an exhibition at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club conducted by former U.S. Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer.)
The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame was founded in 1973 to honor men and women who have made outstanding contributions to golf in the Centennial State. The CGHOF museum is located in the clubhouse for the Riverdale Golf Courses in Brighton.