It’s become nearly an annual event this time of year: The Colorado PGA — or one of its members — wins a PGA of America national award.
This summer is no exception.
The 2018 PGA national award winners were announced on Tuesday, and the Colorado PGA Section as a whole earned the Herb Graffis Award for the second time since 2011. The Graffis Award goes to a PGA Section for “extraordinary and exemplary contributions and achievements in the area of player development”.
With the Graffis honor, in the last dozen years (2007 through ’18), CPGA members — or the Section as a whole — have earned 10 national awards from the PGA of America.
“Every now and again I have to pause and stop to take a moment so I can process all that the Colorado PGA professionals do to serve our local communities and grow the game of golf,” Colorado PGA president Ty Thompson said in a Section media release.
Most of the PGA of America’s national awards will be presented on Nov. 6 during the organization’s annual meeting in Indian Wells, Calif.
The Colorado PGA’s recent strides in player development include the very successful Golf in Schools program that the Section conducts along with the help of the other Allied Golf Associations. Golf in Schools introduces more than 10,000 kids to the game each school year through their P.E. classes.
There’s also the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, a joint effort of the Colorado PGA and the CGA; PGA Junior League; and the Drive, Chip & Putt competitions.
In addition, there’s PGA HOPE (which stands for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere), a program which uses golf as a rehabilitation tool to help military veterans assimilate back into society; and the Colorado PGA REACH Invitational, which annually awards a combat-wounded veteran a debt-free home through a partnership with the Military Warriors Support Foundation.
Also, the Colorado PGA has partnered with the U.S. Olympic Committee’s FLAME (Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere) to introduce the game to minority college students.
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Dating back to 1958 — when Dow Finsterwald won the PGA Championship and took home the PGA of America’s Player of the Year honor — the Colorado PGA has received 19 national PGA annual awards.
ҬӬHere are all the PGA of America national award winners from the Colorado PGA:
— Dow Finsterwald, 1958 Player of the Year
ҬРWarren Smith, 1973 Golf Professional of the Year
ҬРJim Bailey, 1976 Horton Smith Award
ҬРPaul Runyan, 1977 Horton Smith Award
ҬРKeith Schneider, 1990 Private Merchandiser of the YearӬ
— Alan Abrams, 1997 Junior Golf Leader
ҬРMike McGetrick, 1999 Teacher of the Year
ҬРVic Kline, 2000 Golf Professional of the YearӬ
— Russ Miller, 2003 Resort Merchandiser of the Year
ҬРDanny Harvanek, 2007 Junior Golf Leader
ҬРClayton Cole, 2008 Bill Strausbaugh Award
ҬРKyle Heyen, 2009 Presidents Plaque Award
ҬРAnn Finke, 2010 Junior Golf LeaderӬ
— Colorado Section PGA, 2011 Herb Graffis Award
ҬРGeorge Kahrhoff, 2012 Private Merchandiser of the YearӬ
— Dale Smigelsky, 2012 Public Merchandiser of the Year”¨
— Jim Hajek, 2015 Public Merdhandiser of the Year
ҬРMark Pfingston, 2017 Public Merdhandiser of the Year
— Colorado Section PGA, 2018 Herb Graffis Award”¨
