Dates, sites set for 2024 Colorado Golf Hall of Fame induction dinner and tournament
By Gary Baines – 2/27/2024
At a time of year when many people are in a festive mood anyway, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame will celebrate a record-tying six new inductees, along with a handful of other honorees.
Hall of Fame officials recently finalized plans for their annual induction dinner, with the event set for the evening and night of Monday, Dec. 2, at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center (7800 E. Tufts Ave.).
Meanwhile, also scheduled is the CGHOF’s golf tournament as The Club at Ravenna (8285 Dante Dr., in Littleton) will host the event on Monday, July 8. The highly-acclaimed and picturesque Ravenna layout was designed by Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jay Morrish and opened 17 years ago.
The induction dinner and the tournament are the two big events conducted regularly by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1973. The organization celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, when it opened its new $1.6 million CGHOF Museum at The Broadmoor, where self-conducted tours can be made free of charge.
At the Dec. 2 dinner, the Hall of Fame will induct its largest class since six were also enshrined in 1976. This year’s group includes Colorado natives Wyndham Clark and Jennifer Kupcho, each of whom has won three events — including one major — on the PGA/LPGA Tour, respectively. Clark (now 30) and Kupcho (26) will be two of the youngest Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductees ever.
Also set for induction are George Solich, Pat Hamill, Joe Assell and the late Gene Torres.
Solich played pivotal roles in bringing BMW Championship PGA Tour events to Colorado in 2014 and ’24 and helped found the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy. Hamill, like Solich a significant philanthropist in golf-related causes and beyond, led the way in reviving the Colorado Open in the early 2000s. Assell founded the very successful and ever-expanding GOLFTEC, a business focused on instruction and club fitting. And Torres, a Colorado native, won a Colorado Open and a state high school individual title among other championships in the Centennial State.
The induction of the six will bring the all-time number of CGHOF inductees to 154.
In addition, five people will be recognized on Dec. 2 with Colorado Golf Hall of Fame honors: Jim Hillary (Golf Person of the Year); Kathy Walker (Lifetime Achievement), Mark Passey (Distinguished Service), and Charlie Tucker and Logan Hale (Future Famers).
For more information regarding the 2024 CGHOF inductees and honorees, CLICK HERE.
The induction dinner will be the first for the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame since 2022 as last year the organization instead held its 50th anniversary gala at The Broadmoor. Otherwise, the Hall of Fame has held inducted dinners every year from 1973-2022, with the exception of 2020, when Covid-19 safety concerns precluded such an event.
Further specifics regarding the 2024 CGHOF induction dinner and the tournament, including registration information, will be forthcoming at a later date.
Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductees who attended November’s 50th anniversary gala at The Broadmoor.
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