The 49th president of the Colorado PGA looks a lot like the 40th as Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kyle Heyen returns to the role he also held 2 decades ago
By Gary Baines – 11/18/2024
Earlier this month, when Kyle Heyen attended the PGA of America Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., inevitably a conversation or two with fellow PGA members turned to the Arvada resident recently becoming president of the Colorado PGA — two decades after first serving in the same role.
“I don’t think it’s a surprise,” Heyen noted in recounting those conversations. “One person said it’s in my DNA.”
Indeed, though it’s rare — but definitely not unprecedented — for individuals to serve non-consecutive terms as Colorado PGA president, if anyone is going to do it, it’s probably going to be a person such as Heyen. After all, he has been a fixture — nearly continuously — as a Colorado PGA board member since 1998.
So when the Section ran into an issue this year regarding its board of directors, it’s not surprising that Heyen became part of the solution. The problem was that two Section officers left Colorado for other jobs in the golf industry outside of the state. That included vice president Jim Miller, who last month accepted a position as PGA general manager/chief operating officer at The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego. And given that those officers had been expected to ascend to top leadership positions within the Colorado PGA — as Cathy Matthews-Kane’s two-year term as president was ending — the Section was in a bit of a bind.
So they turned to Heyen, who was the Colorado PGA president from late 2004 to ’06 and who was inducted into the national PGA of America Hall of Fame in 2021.
“I got the phone call asking me if I would consider being the Section president again — some 20 years later,” the 67-year-old said in a phone interview. “My first response was let me think about it overnight. It was the right thing to do. We had two individuals who (recently) accepted the responsibility of those positions — as vice president (Mark Bacheldor) and secretary (CJ Perry). To have somebody who has been in that position (as Section president) before — being a board of control member, being a national board member — would help the transition going forward for (CEO/executive director Steven Bartkowski) and the staff of the Colorado Section and our PGA members.”
So at the Colorado PGA’s annual meeting on Oct. 21, Heyen was sworn in as the 49th president of the Section — after previously being the 40th. The plan is for his term to run for a year.
“In this time of transition, Kyle’s willingness to step in and lead, despite having already served in this role in 2005, speaks volumes about his commitment to the Section and our PGA of America Golf Professionals,” Bartkowski said in an email to Colorado Golf Journal. “His leadership, experience, and deep passion for the game of golf will be invaluable as we navigate this period of change. We are confident that Kyle’s guidance will help us continue to grow, support our professionals, and uphold the values that make the Colorado PGA such a strong community.”
Heyen becomes the fifth person in history to served non-consecutive terms as president of the Colorado PGA, joining Warren Smith (1965-66, 1969, 1973-74), Gerald King (1970, 1976), Vic Kline (1975, 1978, 1983, 1991-92) and Paul Babb (1980, 1986). Perhaps not coincidentally, three of those five are national PGA of America Hall of Famers: Smith (inducted in 2005), Kline (2005) and Heyen (2021). Another Colorado PGA president, Dow Finsterwald (1972) is also of part of that Hall of Fame. It should be noted that Heyen worked under Kline at Indian Tree Golf Club in the late 1970s.
But no one else has had as long between their Colorado PGA presidential terms as Heyen.
“Within our 41 (PGA of America) Sections, (non-consecutive terms as president) isn’t uncommon,” Heyen said. “Individuals relocate to improve their employment positions, and life changes. But there’s probably not too many other stories out there like this (where terms are separated by 20 years). I would agree with that.”
Heyen has long been a prominent member of the Colorado golf community, to the point that he was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He worked as the PGA head professional at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen from 1985 through 2023 (prior to that being an assistant pro, starting in December 1980), and has served as director of instruction and member engagement at Hiwan since the beginning of this year. During that time, he served as head professional when Hiwan hosted its final seven Colorado Opens (1985-91) and when it was the site of prestigious national and regional junior championships, including both the boys Junior America’s Cup and the Girls Junior Americas Cup, the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, the Rolex Girls Junior and other AJGA events.
Heyen (left) with another national PGA of America Hall of Famer, Dow Finsterwald, in 2016. (file photo)
Besides serving on the Colorado PGA board for more than a quarter-century, Heyen has been active in national PGA of America leadership. He was one of four members of the Board of Control (2008-12) and did work as a national director (2014-17). Besides being a national PGA of America Hall of Famer, in 2009 Heyen received the PGA of America’s national President’s Plaque, presented for extraordinary and exemplary contributions in player development. Among Heyen’s many awards from the Colorado PGA are its highest honor, Golf Professional of the Year, in 2005 and ’06.
Asked what his priorities are as president of the Section is this time around, Heyen said one big item is nurturing the new leadership for the CPGA. In that respect, he referenced a Section mentorship seminar this month.
“Out of the 900 members and associates we have within the Section, there are close to 100 individuals signed up for it,” Heyen said. “It’s mentoring, developing the next crew of leadership.”
Personally speaking, he’s relishing his return to a top-level position in helping guide the Colorado PGA for the near future.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “Steven is a great CEO/executive director. Everything is moving forward and we’re growing. It will be a period for me to enjoy leadership — however I can help improve the game of golf and serve the (Colorado PGA) members.”
For the record, the Colorado PGA Section serves not only the Centennial State, but eastern Wyoming and part of South Dakota. Here is its entire board of directors.
Heyen has been a PGA of America member for more than 42 years.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com