Two Course Staffers Die in Car Crash Near Durango

Piñon Hills groundkeepers perish in head-on collision in Northern NM

Colorado AvidGolfer

Consistently ranked among the best municipal courses in the United States, Piñon Hills Golf Course in Farmington, New Mexico, lies just an hour’s drive south of Durango.

Tragically, two of the reasons for the superb conditions of the course—42-year-old Joey Schmidt and 26-year-old Chace Powell—died last Wednesday as they returned from an irrigation workshop in Grand Junction.

Driving southbound on US Highway 491, their car was struck head-on by a car driven by 69-year-old Kenny Shorty, who was attempting to pass two vehicles ahead of him in the southbound lanes.

Prior to Piñon Hills, Schmidt, an 18-year member of the Rocky Mountain Golf Superintendents Association of America, had worked at a number of courses in Colorado, including The Bridges (Montrose), Telluride Ski & Golf Club (Telluride), Redlands Mesa (Grand Junction) and King’s Deer (Monument). He most recently had been at Farmington’s San Juan Country Club. 

Born in Gallup, New Mexico, Powell grew up in Bluff, Utah, and was an avid outdoorsman, as well as golfer.

Joey Schmidt (left) and Chace Powell (right)

“I want to express on behalf of our entire employee family our deepest condolences and sympathy to the family and loved ones of Chace Powell and Joe Schmidt,” City Manager Rob Mayes said in a statement.

“I also want to acknowledge the remarkable impact this terrible event is having on those employees who worked closely with these men, our employee family here at the City of Farmington, and to our Farmington community as a whole.  There is simply no good way to express how we feel and the depth of pain this news caused to so many.”

Schmidt and his wife, Crystal, had just celebrated their 15^th wedding anniversary March 7. 

Powell is survived by his paternal grandmother, Elda Powell; parents Marx and Mary “Cookie” Powell; brothers, Tony (Gina), Ricky (Donna) and Brandon (Cherie) Powell; nephews, Daniel, Kyle, Jacob, Toby, Trever, Samuel and Ryan; niece, Gianna; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.  

For more on their legacies, click here and here.

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