Forethoughts: Mastering the Month

Jon Rizzi | Colorado AvidGolfer

April arrives bearing gifts. The warmer weather brings the crack of the bat, the thwack of the club, the trill of the robin and the drumbeat of showers that bring May flowers. While courses across Colorado green up, a new Masters champion will slide a jacket of similar hue over his shoulders at Augusta.

April also signals the annual beginning of our monthly publishing cycle. From now until September, you’ll see a new magazine every 30 days. In between, you’ll get the latest news from our website and through social media.

This month’s issue covers Colorado football legend Alfred Williams, who fills sports-radio airwaves with his cheerful laugh and his offhours with golf and more golf. “Big Al” belongs to Blackstone Country Club, where we photographed him in February shortly before he headed to Scottsdale for four 36-hole days.

Blackstone is one of the clubs featured in our annual “Clubbing Up” section. This year’s edition delivers facts on initiations, dues, amenities and communities. We also look at the new multi-club membership programs through Columbia Hospitality, ClubCorp and Troon, as well as the novel multigenerational “vertical” membership approach at Sonnenalp Club.

Whether you’re interested in joining a new a club or in adding a new club to your bag, you’ll find useful information. Our annual buyer's guide features the best of everything on the market: drivers, irons, putters and more.

But as T.S. Eliot famously wrote, April is also the “cruellest month.” In a year already marked by the deaths of golf giants Billy Casper, Charlie Sifford and Jay Morrish, I sadly add the name of Denise McGuire, who passed as the April issue went to press.

A licensed psychologist and performance coach, “Dr. Denise” counseled countless Colorado golfers—including many juniors—through her company, Get in the Zone. She utilized biofeedback technology and integrative mindbody techniques to help with the muscle tension, breathing and emotional responses related to performance. Over the years, she contributed numerous articles—often with instructor Elena King—about the mind-body connection.

Among her memorable pieces was one called “Slow Play Sucks.” The title pretty much set the tone but her tips on coping with the scourge were anything but flip. As funny as she was smart, Denise was anything but the dispassionate clinician suggested by her academic credentials. She loved Stranahan’s and Ohio State football and basketball (unless they were playing the Akron Zips).

She became a dear friend. We threatened to play golf together but never did. However, we did put in a few good showings during Tuesday Night Trivia at The Tavern in Lowry.

Less than a year ago, my future wife and I attended a party for her 50th birthday. In January, the names of many of those guests were organizing online prayer circles. Two months after her cancer diagnosis, Denise was gone.

April celebrates the renewal of life—and Denise led a full one, albeit one cut much too short. I mourn her passing but celebrate her spirit, which endures in the feats of her clients and in the hearts of her friends.

RELATED LINKS

Forethoughts: Bigger than the CAGGYs

Forethoughts: Is This How We Roll? (Award-Winning Article!)

Forethoughts: No Tiger, No Cry

Forethoughts: The Golden Boys

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com. Jon Rizzi is the founding editor and co-owner of this regional golf-related media company producing magazines, web content, tournaments, events and the Golf Passport.