Brighton – Ed Mate couldn’t have been more excited about the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame finally finding a permanent home if Mate were a Hall of Famer himself.
The historical items on display in the Riverdale Golf Courses clubhouse had been in storage. Mate, executive director of the Colorado Golf Association, meant no disrespect, but had to box up the memorabilia 19 months ago when the combined offices of the CGA and Colorado Women’s Golf Association moved from Lowry to a smaller space near the Denver Tech Center. There wasn’t enough wall space to display the 107 Hall of Fame portraits, not to mention all the other historical artifacts. And besides, other than CGA and CWGA staff members and a few visitors, who would know it was there?
“Instead of being tucked away somewhere, the Hall of Fame is where people can see it,” Mate said at the recent official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“It’s nice to see all the old faces,” said Hall of Famer Bill Bisdorf, winner of three Colorado Opens. “If you don’t have something like this, it’s forgotten, just like everything else. It’s out of sight, out of mind.”
Situated in the Riverdale clubhouse (13300 Riverdale Road) between the pro shop and restaurant, the museum is free to the public.
There’s so much to see, so much to learn.
A prominent display honors Mildred “Babe” Zaharias, who lived in the Denver area and played out of Park Hill when she won the 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1947 British Ladies Championship. A vintage photo shows both trophies sitting atop the bar in the Park Hill lounge, which served as their proud keeper for a time.
Another display spotlights the history of Cherry Hills Country Club, site of next month’s 2005 U.S. Women’s Open and host to numerous national championships beginning in 1938 with the first U.S. Open played west of the Mississippi River.
Other areas feature the accomplishments of Charles “Babe” Lind, the first Coloradan to play in the Masters (1947); legendary University of Colorado golf coach Les Fowler; Jim English, low amateur in the 1959 U.S. Open at Winged Foot; and Bisdorf, who qualified for six U.S. Opens and played in nine straight PGA Championships from 1960-68. The collection also includes programs from the 1941 PGA Championship at Cherry Hills and the 1946 Trans-Mississippi Golf Association Championship at Denver Country Club, newspaper clippings, tournament medals and golf books.
Plans call for the displays to change periodically, reflecting various themes and historical trends in Colorado golf.
“We hope this will open the floodgates and people will realize they might have something that will be good for the exhibit that others should see,” said Tom Ferrell, a Denver-based golf journalist and entrepreneur whose company, OnTour Media, earned the contract to construct the displays.
Tying everything together is a bright, easy-to-read historical timeline that tells the story of golf in Colorado and offers a chronological perspective. The timeline begins at 1887, when a promoter at Overland Park horse track staged an exhibition on hitting golf balls – the first known mention of golf in Colorado.
The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame was formed in 1973.
“When you look at this, it brings back so many memories,” 1992 inductee Larry McAtee said. “You can see the faces. You can hear the shots.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
