Dennis Lyon Honored Again

Colorado Avid Golfer

Colorado Golf Hall of Fame member Dennis Lyon has won the Golf Course Superintendents Society of America's Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award for 2013.

Named in 2009 in honor of Morley, the GCSAA’s founder and first president, The Distinguished Service Award annually honors individuals who have made an outstanding, substantive and enduring contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession.
The 64-year-old Lyon, a former GCSAA president who spent nearly 40 years as the City of Aurora's manager of golf, shaped more than just the golf industry in Colorado. He shaped lives, too.

“He is one of the best role models that I try to live by,” Ed Mate, executive director for the Colorado Golf Association (CGA) told Golf Course Management magazine. “He treats everybody the same, whether it is the mayor or the part-time irrigation tech. He knows them by name. It’s the examples he sets, the respect he commands, that I admire.”

In 1989 he became the first GCSAA president from the municipal sector of his profession, offering the municipal golf course’s perspective of the industry. He helped transform the superintendent from being more than just a golf course employee; he acted as a representative for them in the boardroom.

Lyon spent 18 years on the Board of Governors for the CGA and was president of the state association in 2002 and 2003. During his time at Aurora, the number of courses grew to seven, including the construction of Saddle Rock, which hosted three Colorado Opens, and Murphy Creek, site of the 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links.

In 2011, Lyon won the national USGA Green Section Award, which is presented annually to a person who contributes significantly to golf through work with turfgrass. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and the Ike Grainger Award for 25 years of volunteer work on USGA committees.

In addition to Lyon, three other titans in the golf course management industry—Frank Lamphier, Ken Mangum and Roch Gaussoin—also received this year's Morley award.