Gary Albrecht, 2023-2024 CGA President, was born and raised in Jackson, MN - a small farm town in southwestern Minnesota. He went to college at St. John’s University in Minnesota and then taught at Hill Murray High School in Saint Paul, where he coached football, basketball, and golf. He later attended William Mitchell College of Law and started practicing law in 1984. In 1995, Gary developed a client based in Denver, so he moved out to Colorado to help run the company and has been here ever since.
KK: How did you get involved in golf?
GA: I grew up in this small town with a nine-hole public course: Jackson Golf Club. Neither of my parents played. My first memory was going to the Catholic Park right down the street, a block from where I grew up. They would flood the park in the winter, and we'd skate there. We hit golf balls in the summer using my friends’ parents’ cast-off golf clubs. When we reached the point where we could hit across the park into Mrs. Pribyl’s yard, it was time to move. We went to the athletic field and hit balls there, or I would go to the end of my street and hit into a gravel pit across the road. When I was 11, I was invited by my childhood friend, his mom, and a neighbor’s mom to play golf at the Jackson Golf Club.
KK: You're a pretty good golfer now. Has your game improved with time, or has it remained steady?
GA: I am a better player now than when I was young. I think, for one, the only real training I had was with our golf coaches. I could always hit the ball far, but finding it was a challenge sometimes. And that was okay because I wanted to smash it. I qualified twice to compete in the national long drive championship. At the time, they held the championship in conjunction with the PGA Championship. In 1982, I went to Southern Hills in Tulsa, OK. It was during the week of the PGA Championship, and I had a pass to go into the locker room and there I saw Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros, and many other well-known pros. I was in heaven. It was quite an experience. But to answer your question, I continued playing and was a member of different clubs. When I became a senior, I started playing in CGA events, and I think that playing regular tournament golf caused me to work on my game differently.
KK: When were you introduced to the CGA Board?
GA: In 2009, when CommonGround opened, I joined the Men's Club and started playing there regularly. Along the way, I met Pete Lis, the Director of Rules and Competitions for the CGA. We became good friends, and he mentioned the CGA and becoming a board member to me. He said he thought I would enjoy it. I didn't know what the CGA did. As I learned more and met Ed Mate, one thing led to another, and in 2012, I joined the board. I was very involved with the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, especially training caddies. I've kind of climbed the CGA ladder, but it's been rewarding, and it's a great organization.
KK: When did you become CGA President and what do you do in that role?
GA: Last year; I have a two-year term 2023-2024. I work closely with Ed Mate on a variety of projects. The business of the Colorado Golf Association: Delivering core services offered by the USGA to members of the association is a steady, consistent kind of business, and I believe the fact that the CGA owns and operates CommonGround creates an enormous opportunity. We do Golf in Schools, help support Youth On Course and have the caddie academy.
KK: What would you say you're most proud of as president?
GA: We've accomplished so many things. We enlarged the CommonGround clubhouse, and a couple of years ago, we expanded the driving range. We continue to work on long-term projects. Last year, I was very involved when the USGA asked the CGA to deliver core services to golfers in Wyoming. I wrote the contract between the CGA and the Wyoming State Golf Association.
KK: Do you have a favorite golf memory?
GA: I thought you might ask that question. I can't say that I have just one. I played with my best friend in New York, and he made a hole-in-one on the last hole of the golf course 81 days before he died. He had terminal cancer, and the shot was called. I told the group, “Everybody think 1,” before he made it. The story was published in The Golfers Journal. Another good memory is that I participated in the 100 Hole Hike at Ballyneal three times. I played 126-, 127-, and 128-holes walking, 38 miles roughly in one day. That's a great memory primarily because my charity was related to my friend who had cancer. I’ve been very fortunate to have played with many great people at many great places, and it gives me joy.
KK: My last question is, if you had one piece of advice that you could give to either your younger self or younger generations, what would it be?
GA: That's kind of a timely question. I have this mantra that I actively think about when I play golf: Enjoy the day and try to make good swings. The point is that we should enjoy the day no matter what. We all want to play well, but all we can do is try. I think those few words really sum up the essence of the game to me.