2021 Colorado PGA Special Award Recipients Announced

2021 Colorado PGA Special Award Recipients Announced!

Every spring, the Special Awards Committee, a cohort made up of the previous year's award winners, is guided by two members of the Board of Directors in naming the best of the best within the Colorado PGA Section. This year, the 2021 Special Awards Committee is made up of Chairman, Keith Stilwell, PGA, and Joseph Carlton, PGA, the Special Awards Committee CoChair, along with the 2020 Special Award Winners. The Colorado PGA congratulates the 2021 Special Award Recipients! The following recipients are true examples of the Section's reputation as "the experts in the game and business of golf.

Alice Plain, PGA Vail Golf Club

Golf Professional of the Year

Alice Plain, PGA Director of Golf at Vail Golf Club, is being awarded the highest honor given annually by the Colorado PGA, Golf Professional of the Year. Having been elected to membership in 1996 and spending her last 13 years at Vail Golf Club, Alice has truly been able to make a lasting impact within the industry during her time in the valley. She has had the opportunity to mentor over 35 PGA-PGM Interns and over nine PGA Professionals over the course of her career and looks forward to continuing to act as mentor for young PGA Professionals. Plain has been serving as a West Chapter Board Member and Committee member for the Section and was recently re-elected to the West Chapter Board this past year for an additional three-year term. This will be Plain's eighth award, with the 2017 Merchandiser of the Year ~ West Chapter and 2017 Horton Smith Award ~ West Chapter being her most recent. Alice takes pride in the culture she has created at Vail Golf Club, one that is supportive with a team-oriented environment and one where they can have fun on a daily basis!

Ethan Malzahn, PGA Denver Country Club

Assistant PGA Golf Professional of the Year

The 2021 Assistant Professional of the Year Award goes to Ethan Malzahn, Assistant Professional at Denver Country Club. Malzahn came to the Club four years ago and was tasked with growing the junior program: managing four PGA Jr. League Teams, seeing an increase in participation from 18 to over 60 juniors this past year, an Operation36 program, and is responsible for an overall junior participation increase by over 125 children - total program consists of over 275 children. With his help, the DCC’s PGA Jr. League is one of the fastest-growing junior programs at the Club! With a dedicated, passionate, and positive energy, Malzahn manages his time effectively operating a first-class junior golf program, club fitting, tournament operations, retail management, membership relations, and teaching 400 lessons a year. Malzahn is an ambassador for and committed to the Colorado PGA Section.

Leighton Smith, PGA Leighton Smith Golf

Teacher of the Year Award

For excellence in golf instruction, Leighton Smith, PGA, of Leighton Smith Golf, is awarded Teacher of the Year. Based on seeing a need for true “coaching” and not just “instruction,” Smith started his own coaching business in 2017. His business, The Tribe, focuses on long-term technical development, goal setting, and creating momentum. Also in 2017, he joined the Education Committee and was the Player Development Award Winner. In addition to leading dozens of PGA HOPE clinics and volunteering at high school golf clinics, in 2020, Smith operated his golf programs out of five facilities in Colorado Springs and The Tribe program grew over 200%. Smith’s legacy is his impact on the game and he enjoys coaching because it allows him to be a guide in someone’s golf story! Smith is an incoming Colorado PGA Board Member, Fall 2021.

Brad Skupaka, PGA GOLFTEC HQ

Professional Development Award

Through his outstanding and continuing contributions in developing and improving educational opportunities for PGA Professionals, Brad Skupaka, PGA, is awarded the 2021 PGA Professional Development Award. Skupaka is involved in the development and implementation of training the 700+ coaches at GOLFTEC, who leave feeling inspired and excited to return to their own students. He has a positive influence on the careers of many PGA Professionals as they help to grow the game. Skupaka also has appeared in over 200 Golf Channel segments presenting content and raises money for several charitable organizations; raising over $20,000 since 2019!

Jeremy Beck, PGA GOLFTEC HQ

Bill Strausbaugh Award

Jeremy Beck, PGA, celebrating 20 years with both GOLFTEC HQ and as a PGA Member, embodies the Bill Strausbaugh Award - an award presented to a PGA Member who has shown outstanding integrity and a commitment to mentoring PGA Professionals. His career has centered around mentoring and developing fellow PGA Members through GOLFTEC’s values of team, passion, innovation, integrity, improvement, and fun. He was involved in developing Welcome2Golf which drove golfer demand in Denver and he is a frequent speaker at annual PGA Shows and employment consultant meetings. As the COO, GOLFTEC is the #2 employer of PGA Members: hiring 100+ per year. GOLFTEC launched the “Pass your PAT” year-long mentorship program aimed to help aspiring golfers pass and continue onto membership. Beck’s focus is on diversifying the game of golf by serving on an industry collaboration DE&I task force and through launching “GOLFTEC Cares” to significantly expand their community impact!

Rick Cole, PGA Life Member

Warren Smith Award

The Warren Smith Award is given to a PGA Professional for his/her outstanding contributions to the game and to the Section. A golfer since age 11, who has given over 9,000 lessons during his time as a PGA Professional, and hosted three LPGA Tour events, the 2021 Warren Smith Award is presented to Rick Cole, PGA. Previously, Cole was named the 2016 Colorado PGA Section Senior Player of the Year and the 2019 Bill Strausbaugh Award Winner. Cole has taught and mentored often without charge, simply out of his passion and love for the game of golf. His past students have become outstanding instructors in the PGA themselves, some attaining “top 50” status. Mentoring, building relationships, and being an ambassador for golf are his top priorities. The Colorado Open Tournament Committee member, says his greatest quality of leadership is that of listening. In 2016, at age 64, he tied for first place in the Colorado Section Championship!

Stefanie Ferguson, PGA Experience Golf

Player Development Award

Lead instructor at CommonGround and ExperienceGolf, Stefanie Ferguson, PGA, is named the 2021 PGA Player Development Award recipient. Ferguson had 1,018 students last year through lessons, camps, Junior programs, adult programs, season-long programs, and others; totaling roughly 5,000 individual visits. ExperienceGolf and Ferguson have programming for every type of golfer and time availability. She is committed to growing the game of golf through the Committed Player Program, Welcome2Golf, Adult and Youth Operation36, the Hale Irwin Junior Program targeting juniors looking to play at the collegiate level, Colorado Golf Association Outreach programs, Big Brothers Big Sisters programs, helping Special Olympics and Girl Scouts, and others! In addition, Ferguson serves on the Women’s Tournament Committee, is the LPGA Education Coordinator, was named to Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers 2021-2022 list, and won the 2021 Colorado Avid Golfer CAGGY Award for Best Instructor for Women - Staff Pick.

Jason Witczak, PGA The Club at Pradera

Youth Player Development Award

The recipient of the 2021 PGA Youth Player Development Award, Jason Witczak, PGA Director of Instruction at The Club at Pradera, is deeply committed to growing the game of golf, as a father to three young players himself. In addition to his Elevation Junior Golf Academy, a significant contribution Witczak made was through launching The Saguaro Junior Golf Academy at Arrowhead Country Club in Arizona. He made weekly trips to work with Arrowhead’s juniors and train their instruction team. Witczak is now running simultaneous youth programs and PGA Jr. League Teams at both Pradera and Arrowhead. Witczak’s passion is building core family memories that his golfers will carry throughout their lives. He believes that peaking interest in golf at a young age will create excitement and enthusiasm through their entire family. Through this outlook, he had a record of 910 juniors in his programs last summer. Witczak tailored his programs to each age group to create a pathway through Club programming, helped secure 40+ scholarships over the past five years, and has represented the PGA Jr. League via a CBS Special.

Paul Surniak, PGA Cheyenne Shadows Golf Club

Patriot Award

Paul Surniak, PGA Director of Instruction at Cheyenne Shadows Golf Club at Fort Carson, with 12 years of service at the Club, is the recipient of the 2021 Patriot Award for his contributions and support to the United States Armed Forces and its Active Duty personal and Veterans. The PGA HOPE, the Salute Military Golf Association, where he is the chapter head, and the Wounded Warrior Project promotions are created and/or coordinated by Surniak, including social media, digital media, and radio spots. Along with his large Junior program on base for military families, Surniak coordinates individualized classes for active-duty soldiers from the hospital’s pain clinic, which has become a popular rehabilitation program at Fort Carson. His PGA HOPE programs have waiting lists every season. Surniak is passionate about the morale and welfare of wounded warriors, disabled veterans, and their families and has worked with national Veteran charities. Surniak is a previous winner of the Colorado PGA REACH Pillar Award for Supporting Our Military.

Tristen Fay, PGA Fort Collins Country Club

Private Merchandiser of the Year

A first-time award winner, Tristen Fay, PGA Head Professional at Fort Collins Country Club, is the recipient of the 2021 Private Merchandiser of the Year. He has four simple principles that shape his merchandising philosophy - member service, product selection, visual displays and sound fiscal management, with member service being the cornerstone for any successful merchandising operation. Fay deems, “We position our shop as a unique retail destination with a selection and service you won’t find anywhere else. ” Since joining Fort Collins Country Club in 2016, the shop revenue has increased by 60%.

Jim Miller, PGA Sonnenalp Golf Club

Resort Merchandiser of the Year

This year’s Resort Merchandiser of the Year is awarded to the 2007 Private Merchandiser of the year, Jim Miller, PGA, the General Manager at the Sonnenalp Club in Edwards, Colorado. His merchandising philosophy is to be meaningful and help cultivate deeper connections with the members and guests of Sonnenalp, ensuring that the products and energy in the golf shop match the new Sonnenalp Club culture (the Club saw a 6 million dollar renovation in 2016). The consistent relentlessness and willingness to try new things in the club are the reasons Jim feels the success of the club continues to grow each and every year.

Cody Hasten, PGA Haymaker Golf Course

Public Merchandiser of the Year

Head Professional at Haymaker Golf Club, Cody Hasten, PGA, is the recipient of the 2021 Public Merchandiser of the Year. As a tourist destination, a strategic merchandising philosophy is key for Hasten and his team, as he contributes his success to being more efficient in focusing their buying to a customer-specific preference. In identifying that there are two distinctly different customer groups in their market, out-of-town vacationers and locals, Hasten has to maintain credibility to both markets. Season pass holders and new members complete questionnaires that ask about preferred brands, thus Hasten and his team are able to keep a pulse on the customer’s needs, keeping inventory fresh and relevant.

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