Over the last dozen years, Mike McGetrick says he has been involved in a journey, an adventure that has taken more twists and turns than a mild-mannered golf instructor would ever imagine.
The first part, which took the longest time and might have appeared the hardest, was actually somewhat simple. While mentoring and teaching some of golf’s best players, at courses and venues around the world, McGetrick kept an idea in the back of his mind — developing a world-class golf club.
In 2006, it came to fruition when the Colorado Golf Club opened to rave reviews. Despite its youth, the facility was an immediate hit and was awarded a Solheim Cup by the LPGA and a Senior PGA Championship by the PGA of America. The latter will be contested May 27-30 in Parker.
At that point, one would have expected all the heavy lifting to be completed, with McGetrick and his vision basking in the adulation.
Instead, McGetrick finds himself enmeshed in a kind of rough thicker than anything found on any of his facility’s 1,700 acres. The economy that has played havoc everywhere in the world from Greece to Wall Street has also made its mark at the CGC.
“Absolutely, it’s taken a toll on me,” McGetrick said recently. “The stuff that’s going on now is something that no one would want to go through, but we want to get it done. We want to complete the journey.
“That’s been my objective for the last 18 months. It’s what I do every day — more so than being a golf professional.”
Earlier this season, McGetrick spent time caddying for one of his pupils, Brandt Jobe, as he played in Nationwide Tour events in Panama and South America. But the teacher, whose clientele includes Jobe and Leif Olson of the PGA, and major champions Juli Inkster, Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon on the LPGA, has spent virtually no time instructing recently. Similarly, McGetrick has sold his interests in the Denver-area golf academies that have borne his name.
Instead, his sole golfing focus has been on the CGC — a necessity that might have seemed preposterous just a few years ago. At that time, nothing could go wrong for the course. Besides landing the major events, outside the ropes, the real estate company that was also part of the operation had sold about 130 of the 170 lots available for home sites and work had begun on the clubhouse, which was supposed to be the centerpiece of the facility.
However, the economic downturn has slowed nearly everything to a crawl. There have been only a few home sites moved, and work was halted on the clubhouse. With an infusion of capital badly needed, things got to the point where talk began circulating that the PGA was thinking of moving the Senior Championship.
“You always heard the rumors,” McGetrick said. “There was a lot of stuff out there — that the PGA was going to pull out of this; there were rumors that it was going to go to Columbine Country Club.
“But not once, and I mean never, did the PGA say they were going to pull out of Colorado Golf Club. The only issue they cared about was that we would be financially secure before the tournament and financially secure after the tournament, that we would be open.”
Kerry Haigh, the managing director of tournaments for the PGA of America, said the organization is reluctant to discuss its financial and contractual issues with the course it does business with, but admits to being made aware of “internal challenges” at CGC.
“At the time, when we spoke to them and (awarded the club the Senior PGA), the world and the economy wasn’t where it is today,” Haigh said. “Certainly no one could have foreseen what’s happened over the last 18 months, but it’s always been our intent to hold the championship there. We just needed some assurances that things would be as we had talked about.”
To that end, while the clubhouse won’t be completed by the start of the tournament, parts of the building will be available for the players. Also, while the initial hope was for the club to find capital through the private sector, McGetrick is trying to find alternative revenue sources.
“We’re looking to see if we can convert it to an equity club for the members sooner than we anticipated,” he said. “We’ve had a group of members who have stepped up and helped us through a difficult time, but we’d never walk away from it, because this place is too special, and there are too many options out there to get it recapitalized.”
Looking back a decade ago when he would cobble together ideas on what his perfect golf club would look like, and comparing it to his struggles today, McGetrick admits with a chuckle that there’s something to be said for the adage of being careful what you wish for because someday you may actually get it.
“What we’ve learned, as an ownership and a club, and maybe the PGA of America too, is that you have to have years of experience under your belt to establish yourself as a club,” he said.
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
Senior PGA field
Fulton Allem, South Africa
Michael Allen, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Tommy Armour, Los Colinas, Texas
Perry Arthur, Plano, Texas
Paul Azinger, Bradenton, Fla.
Andy Bean, Lakeland, Fla.
Chip Beck, Lake Forest, Ill.
Ronnie Black, Tucson
Phil Blackmar, Corpus Christi, Texas
James Blair III, Ogden, Utah
Jay Don Blake, St. George, Utah
Joe Bostic, Jupiter, Fla.
Bob Boyd, Wilmington, N.C.
Bill Britton, Rumson, N.J.
Olin Browne, Tequesta, Fla.
Brad Bryant, Lakeland, Fla.
Curt Byrum, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Bob Cameron, England
Mark Carnevale, Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Rocky Catalano, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Roger Chapman, England
Bobby Clampett, Carmel, Calif.
Russ Cochran, Paducah, Ky.
Cleve Coldwater, Clarks Summit, Pa.
John Cook, Orlando, Fla.
Fred Couples, La Quinta, Calif.
Ben Crenshaw, Austin, Texas
Paul Daniels, Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Rodger Davis, Australia
Jim Dent, Tampa, Fla.
Trevor Dodds, St. Louis
Dale Douglass, Castle Rock
Allen Doyle, La Grange, Ga.
Drummond, Ross, Scotland
David Eger, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Keith Fergus, Houston
Jon Fiedler, Camarillo, Calif.
Bruce Fleisher, Greenville, S.C.
Bob Ford, Oakmont, Pa.
Dan Forsman, Provo, Utah
Peter Fowler, Australia
Angel Franco, Paraguay
Robin Freeman, La Quinta, Calif.
David Frost, South Africa
Fred Funk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Rob Gibbons, Molalla, Ore.
Freddy Gibson, Orlando, Fla.
Bob Gilder, Corvallis, Ore.
Bill Glasson, Stillwater, Okla.
Mike Goodes, Reidsville, N.C.
Jay Haas, Greer, S.C.
Walter Hall, Clearwater, Fla.
Gary Hallberg, Castle Rock
Jimmy Hamilton, Knightdale, N.C.
Kirk Hanefeld, Acton, Mass.
John Harris, Minneapolis
Mike Harwood, Australia
Steve Haskins, El Paso
Morris Hatalsky, Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Mark Hayes, Edmond, Okla.
Scott Hoch, Orlando, Fla.
Fred Holton, Montgomery, Ala.
Mike Hulbert, Orlando, Fla.
Hale Irwin, Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Bill Israelson, Staples, Minn.
John Jacobs, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Peter Jacobsen, Bonita Springs, Fla.
Mark James, England
Tom Jenkins, Austin, Texas
Nick Job, England
Tony Johnstone, Zimbabwe
Gene Jones, Orlando, Fla.
Darrell Kestner, Glen Cove, N.Y.
Tom Kite, Austin, Texas
Bernhard Langer, Germany
Tom Lehman, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wayne Levi, Naples Fla.
Bill Loeffler, Castle Rock
Chien Soon Lu, Taiwan
Sandy Lyle, Scotland
Mike Malaska, Mesa, Ariz.
James Mason, Dillard, Ga.
Blaine McCallister, Jacksonville, Fla.
Mark McCumber, Jacksonville, Fla.
David Merriman, Australia
Hajime Meshiai, Japan
Lindy Miller, Fort Worth, Texas
Larry Mize, Columbus, Ga.
Gil Morgan, Edmond, Okla.
Larry Nelson, Marietta, Ga.
Andy North, Madison, Wis.
Rod Nuckolls, Wichita, Kan.
Andrew Oldcorn, Scotland
Mark O’Meara, Windermere, Fla.
Jet Ozaki, Japan
Joe Ozaki, Japan
Jerry Pate, Pensacola, Fla.
Corey Pavin, Dallas
David Peoples, Germantown, Tenn.
Tom Pernice Jr., Murrieta, Calif.
Don Pooley, Tucson
Nick Price, Hobe Sound, Fla.
Tom Purtzer, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Glenn Ralph, England
Mike Reid, Westminster, Md.
Loren Roberts, Germantown, Tenn.
Eduardo Romero, Argentina
Jeffrey Roth, Farmington, N.M.
Jim Roy, Syracuse, N.Y.
Jim Rutledge, Canada
Ed Sabo, Tequesta, Fla.
Mike San Filippo, Hobe Sound, Fla.
Ted Schulz, Louisville, Ky.
Peter Senior, Australia
Scott Simpson, San Diego
Tim Simpson, Greensboro, Ga.
Joey Sindelar, Horseheads, N.Y.
Jeff Sluman, Hinsdale, Ill.
Bertus Smit, South Africa
Des Smyth, Ireland
Gary Sowinski, San Diego
Scott Spence, Middletown, R.I.
Kevin Spurgeon, England
Craig Stadler, Evergreen
Chris Starkjohann, Oceanside, Calif.
Curtis Strange, Morehead City, N.C.
Bruce Summerhays, Farmingtn, Utah
Hal Sutton, Shreveport, La.
Doug Tewell, Edmond, Okla.
Kim Thompson, Salt Lake City
Le. Thompson, Ponte Vedra, Fla.
David Thore, Wilmington, N.C.
Katsuyoshi Tomori, Japan
Sam Torrance, Scotland
Gary Trivisonno, Aurora, Ohio
Jerry Tucker, Stuart, Fla.
Bob Tway, Edmond, Okla.
Bruch Vaughan, Hutchinson, Kan.
Ron Vlosich, Lakewood
Bobby Wadkins, Manakin Sabot, Va.
Lanny Wadkins, Dallas
Tom Wargo, Centralia, Ill.
Tsukasa Watanabe, Japan
Denis Watson, Zimbabwe
Tom Watson, White Sulphur, W.Va.
D.A. Weibring, Frisco, Texas
Ralph West, Avondale, Ariz.
Jim White, Lincoln, Neb.
Mark Wiebe, Denver
Chris Williams, South Africa
Jim Woodward, Oklahoma City
Mike Zaremba, Pueblo West
Fuzzy Zoeller, Floyds Knobs, Ind.
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