Deeply religious, Mark Simpson liked to say the best thing about golf is you can blame only yourself for failure.
“He was more than a coach,” said Scott Petersen, a Nationwide Tour pro who played for Simpson at the University of Colorado in the early 1990s. “He brought his morals and values into his coaching. That’s the most important thing he taught us.”
Simpson lost a year-long battle with cancer early Monday. Family members were at his bedside when Simpson, 55, died just after midnight at the HospiceCare of Boulder County in Louisville. A smoker for most of his adult life, Simpson was diagnosed with lung cancer last December. After months of chemotherapy and surgery in April to remove two tumors, Simpson was proclaimed cancer-free. He continued to coach the team. But the cancer returned in August and quickly spread.
A Durango native, Simpson played golf at CU and coached the Buffaloes through 29 seasons, tying him with his predecessor, Les Fowler, for the third-longest tenure within the athletic department.
When Simpson took over the men’s golf program in January 1977, he wasn’t much older (26) than some of his players.
“He didn’t really know what he was doing that first year, but he was intent on creating so much fun for us,” said University of Louisville coach Mark Crabtree, a junior on Simpson’s first team.
Simpson evolved as a coach and quickly learned that players might not say so but they wanted discipline. He became a “trendsetter,” said city of Denver golf director Tom Woodard, a senior on Simpson’s first team.
“When I first got to CU, there was no getting up at 6 a.m. to work out. He started all that,” Woodard said.
Simpson’s teams qualified for 15 NCAA Tournaments. His first recruit, Steve Jones, from tiny Yuma on Colorado’s eastern plains, became an All-American. Jones turned pro after leaving CU and won eight PGA Tour events, including the 1996 U.S. Open. Another former pupil, Jonathan Kaye, has two PGA Tour victories.
“We have lost a great Colorado Buffalo,” athletic director Mike Bohn said from New York, where is attending Big 12 meetings, in a statement released by CU. “All of us should never forget the contributions he made to the university and the positive impact he had on hundreds of students.”
In addition to his coaching duties, Simpson served as an administrative assistant for the CU athletic department for nine years and was president of the Alumni C-Club for five years in the 1980s.
“What I’ll always remember is the tremendous love affair Mark Simpson had with the University of Colorado,” said Crabtree, who later coached and recruited against Simpson while at Colorado State. “He was as dedicated to his employer as anybody I’ve ever known. That kind of loyalty is a rare thing these days.”
Gregg Grost, executive director of the Norman, Okla.-based Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), called Simpson “a Rock of Gibraltar” in the profession.
“He was a guy that young coaches wanted to get to know,” Grost said. “He was always willing to offer advice.”
Simpson served as GCAA president from 2000-02 and was chairman of the NCAA golf committee from 1990-92. Inducted into the GCAA Hall of Fame on Jan. 12 in New Orleans, Simpson was instrumental in strengthening the organization in recent years, Grost said.
“Mark thought we should pattern our association after that of the college basketball coaches,” Grost said. “He was a visionary.”
CU’s golf team was informed of Simpson’s passing in an emotional meeting Monday morning.
Simpson is survived by his mother, Martha; his wife, Valorie; daughters Lindsey and Michelle; and one grandchild. He was preceded in death by his father, George, and sister, Judith Pierson. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
