Five-time CGA Player of the Year, Three-time CGA Mid-Am Champion, One-time CGA Four-Ball Champion, and All-time loving husband and father of two.
KK: Can you tell me just a bit about you? Where did you grow up? How did you get involved in golf? What is your home club now?
CT: I grew up in Richmond, VA, and I got into the game of golf when I was about 13. It was kind of just a fun thing to do and I had a good buddy that I competed against, and then we started competing in other tournaments. I got the itch for that and enjoyed it. I played other sports growing up, but just gravitated towards golf. Then, I did well in high school and got recruited for college and played at Northwestern University just outside Chicago, IL. I played there for four years and then hung it up a bit. After living in Chicago for a bit, I moved to Denver in 2012 to play more competitive golf and enjoy the outdoors. I consider CommonGround my home club. I play golf with focus, but it's not the only thing that I do. I got married, and we have two kids now, ages 2 and 5, and we live in Golden. I am very grateful for my two great kids and amazing wife. They are so supportive, and I couldn’t do everything I do without them.
KK: How did you get involved with the CGA Board?
CT: Bill Fowler and Robert Polk, who were both board members at the time, invited me to join the CGA tournament committee around 2015. I joined the committee meetings where we discuss events, player feedback, and various issues, with the intent to make Colorado tournament golf as good as it can be through helpful input to the staff who do all the hard work!
KK: What is one of the most significant implementations you have made for the CGA?
CT: Around 2018, the committee identified that our points tables needed some help. The point tables serve the purpose of tracking player performance for things like Player of the Year voting, the Colorado Cup, and Colorado Open exemptions. The previous points list did not accurately reflect how people had played, so I worked with a few other committee members to run the points through different scenarios to better capture top performers. One problem we tried to solve was how many points you should get if you go up an age division - For instance, if you’re a senior player, but finish 2nd in the mid-amateur division, how much is that worth? In the end, we came up with a solution that was approved by the entire committee and is still the basis of the points system today.
KK: What an accomplishment! What is your main role on the Board now?
CT: The major way I serve on the board now is to lead the eleven-person tournament committee. We discuss changes in tournaments, player feedback, tournament sites, exemptions – Basically, how do we ensure that Colorado tournament golf is as good as it can be to ensure people have a great time playing in our tournaments.
KK: You were saying that you have a financial background, what do you do for work now?
CT: I work for Pursuit, a hospitality and attractions company that operates near national parks. We have about 50 hotels and attractions: everything from a gondola or boat ride to a 150-room hotel. The bulk of my career has been in Corporate Finance, but I’ve recently switched to guiding strategy on our Revenue team. We want to make sure that we're offering a full suite of products to the right guests at the right time. It's mostly critical thinking and numbers, but a lot of listening to people and coming to the best conclusion as a team.
KK: That sounds fun! What is your favorite CGA tournament, and why?
CT: The CGA Four-Ball as our season kickoff is probably my favorite. You get to choose a partner, and it's always super competitive. It's a tough tournament to win because there's always a few teams that get really hot. Recently, we were able to expand the field from 54 teams to 108 and compete on two courses. We’re very thankful for the support of the golf courses around Denver that continue to want to host championship golf. The CGA Four-Ball is a testament to the growing popularity of championship golf in Denver.
KK: What is your favorite golf story?
CT: Last year at the Rocky Mountain Open in Grand Junction, I hit my ball right of the green on a par 3, and we never found it. There wasn’t a hazard in the general area. It wasn't long, it wasn't short, it should have been right there. After declaring a lost ball, I went back to the tee and I knocked it in the hole for par! Then, as we were walking off the green, we found my first ball 40 yards from where we were looking. It had hit a tree root or a sprinkler head right off the green and ricocheted so low and so hard that we never saw it.
KK: Wow! What has been your biggest golf accomplishment?
CT: Winning the Virginia Junior State Championship in 1997 was special. I was 17 years old, and it changed the course of my golf career. It changed the teams that recruited me. It changed my confidence in myself. It was validation of knowing I could play this game.
KK: What a huge accomplishment at such a young age! Last question: if you had one piece of advice that you could give to your younger self or younger generations, what would it be?
CT: In the context of golf: Patience. I've been playing the game for 30 years, and I'm still figuring things out today like how to play different shots, reading greens, or applying the rules correctly. You're constantly learning things. For example, my swing changes generally take two to three years. That takes patience.
KK: What do you do for work?
SR: I was recruited about five years ago by a family to run their family office and private trust company. They were looking for someone to replace thei