In one sense, Jim Magette should be well prepared for his new role as president of the CGA. After all, in spending his adult years as a commercial pilot, Magette knows that while things often run smoothly, periodic turbulence is a fact of life.
That’s true whether you’re in a cockpit flying a Boeing 777, or you’re president of a statewide golf association.
Magette took over as president of the CGA on Wednesday, succeeding Bill Fowler. Like Fowler, Magette is expected to serve two one-year terms in the volunteer post, heading a 30-member Board of Governors that helps steer the CGA and its staff.
Magette, a 59-year-old whose home course is The Meadows Golf Club (a public facility in his hometown of Littleton), knows he’s becoming president of an association that’s well-respected and well-run, but also one that’s not immune to challenging issues, especially given the difficult economic times.
The CGA “has an excellent name in the golf community and is looked up to by many (state and regional) associations,” said Magette, who receives feedback as a USGA committeeman and a rules official for USGA and college tournaments around the nation. “For many, we’re a model for how associations should be run. And I want to continue that.”
But with the recession taking its toll on the golf business just like on almost everything else, Magette knows the CGA has to go the extra mile to keep its membership happy. The economic downturn has impacted CGA membership; it’s down about 2.6 percent, to 45,300 members, though that drop is smaller than many other state and regional golf associations have encountered.
“One of our biggest challenges is the general state of the economy and state of the game,” Magette said. “Golf is paid for out of discretionary income. People are worried about paying for the lights and gas and feeding their family, and golf slips a little. I want people to realize we’re there for them.
“We want to make sure the association stays healthy and manages its assets — our 45,000 (CGA) members and the 63,000 (including CWGA members also). Those people make the Colorado Golf Associations. Without them we wouldn’t have the associations. There would be no way we could survive. We do appreciate that. And I want (members) to know we’re not just here to collect dues and for (administering) handicaps. We want to keep our name in the golfing public and have them understand the services we provide. We want them to feel warm and fuzzy when they pay their annual fee.”
Although overseeing the handicap system may be what members most associate the CGA and CWGA with, the associations play many other roles in promoting and growing the game of golf. Between them, the CGA and CWGA conduct more than two dozen state amateur championships and qualifiers for more than a dozen USGA tournaments. Also in that vein, countless CGA/CWGA volunteers serve as rules officials during a given year.
In addition, the CGA and CWGA measure and rate courses throughout the state. They also: oversee the Colorado Junior Golf Association and its many tournaments; run a course of their own, along with an accompanying Kids Course (CommonGround in Aurora); help fund the Eisenhower-Evans Caddie Scholarship at the University of Colorado; serve as authorities on the Rules of Golf and conduct rules seminars; partner with other organizations in exposing the game — and the values it espouses — to underprivileged youngsters and juniors in general; do turf-grass research and otherwise serve as advocates for the sport.
All of those things — and others — are on the radar screen of Magette, who has served as an officer of the CGA Board of Governors for the last several years.
For example, he would like to continue to expand opportunities for interested members to play in “net” events. In that vein, in 2009 the CGA tested a new net tournament, the season-long CGA Interclub, which will officially launch next year.
And with CommonGround Golf Course having just opened in May, a big priority will be making sure it serves its customers well while promoting CGA initiatives aimed at growing the game.
Magette credits Fowler and the guidance he’s provided for many positive steps taken in the last couple of years.
“Bill Fowler made great strides,” Magette said. “And he was a great mentor for two years. I don’t know if anyone has been more effective. The whole (CommonGround opening) was a handful. He’s a real detail guy. We’ll miss him. I hope I can be half as effective.”
While he realizes the CWGA operates with its own volunteer leadership and staff, Magette said he would “like to see (the CGA) work more hand-in-hand with the CWGA. We’re one association really. We should work more closely, but I’m not sure that’s always happened.”
Whatever is on the agenda, Magette has plenty of co-pilots to rely on in helping guide the CGA, including members of the all-volunteer Board of Governors, other volunteers, the paid CGA staff, the USGA, etc.
“It’s a well-oiled machine, and there’s no way to make a bad decision with all those people supporting me,” he said. “Those people do the work every day, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Magette first started doing volunteer work for the CGA in the 1990s, when his children, Jim and Jennifer, played junior golf. As long as he was there with his kids, Magette was asked by a CGA official if he wanted to help out with tournaments. Magette said yes, and eventually became a rules official, chief rules official, joined the Board of Governors, and now is becoming president of the CGA.
“I wanted to give something back to golf, though I know that sounds kind of trite,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten involved if someone from the CGA hadn’t asked. But especially with kids, you realize what kind of impact you can have. You show them the rules and the kids appreciate it. They carry (that experience) for a long time.
“One thing led to another and you take on more responsibility, and now it seems like I’ve always been doing it. That’s what make an avocation so fun.”
Along the way, Magette started working on the USGA Public Links Championship Committee. And in recent years, he’s served as a rules official for the U.S. Publinks, the U.S. Senior Open, the USGA State Team, as well as for the NCAA regionals and finals.
“Jim’s area of expertise is the Rules of Golf and running tournaments,” said Ed Mate, executive director of the CGA. “He’s one of the best rules minds in the state.”
Suffice it to say the great majority of Magette’s free time is devoted to working on golf in one respect or another. Fortunately, his job as a United Airlines pilot allows him to get blocks of time off for his golf-related volunteerism. He’s also a good enough player to hold a handicap at The Meadows that fluctuates between 8 and 10.
Magette learned to fly when he was 16. He became a pilot for Air Midwest in 1979, and joined United Airlines in 1985. He’s now a captain on a 777, though he spends more of his work time as a standards captain at a flight training center, responsible for certifying and recertifying pilots for the 777 aircraft.
With all that experience at the helm, Magette hopes smooth sailing is the rule, not the exception, for the CGA in the foreseeable future.
NOTE: A profile on Joanne Braucht, the president-elect of the CWGA, is planned for COgolf.org in the coming weeks.
