Henry Stetina has a wonderful job helping run the New Mexico State University PGA Golf Management University Program as he mentors students seeking a career in the golf industry.
But it’s his side job – “a hobby, really,” he says – that helped earn him the 2026 PGA of America Youth Player Development Award. He is the founder of Mesilla Valley Golf Academy (MVGA), which operates out of Red Hawk Golf Club and Sonoma Ranch Golf Course in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and offers free golf instruction to juniors.
This is not your normal setting. While home to New Mexico State University, much of Las Cruces is a low-income Hispanic community where most of the children – and their parents – have never been exposed to golf or seen a golf club. Think the background setting of “Breaking Bad,” the hit TV series that was filmed nearby in Albuquerque.
Most of these kids don’t feel at home on the practice range because, well, a few don’t even have homes. Yet, Stetina has built the program from six kids when he took over in 2018 to more than 200.
“I feel more blessed and grateful than proud,” he says. “I’m blessed to have this opportunity.”
Growing up in nearby Santa Fe, Stetina was the only kid in his school who played golf. The sport has never been very popular or accessible in the region, but that made him more determined to open doors and let others experience the joy of playing golf and learning life lessons.
It’s not easy. In addition to homelessness, his students include one who has autism and others who have serious financial problems at home. He has helped by providing PGA REACH Scholarships and donation drives to provide essentials such as clubs and balls.
“When I hear that one story of a kid who is succeeding in life because of golf, that makes me realize this is all worth it,” Stetina explains. “I know I’m doing something that’s meaningful. We’re here to develop people, not swings.”
The connection between Stetina’s two passions are the students he teaches at the PGA Golf Management University Program, who assist him with the kids at the MVGA. He’s busy serving as chairperson of the national PGA Jr. League Committee, a member of the Sun Country Golf Foundation, a Sun Country PGA Section Board of Director and Section Chair of the Growth of the Game Committee.
“I was very honored when (PGA President) Don Rea asked me to chair the PGA Jr. League Committee,” says Stetina. “I know my program is one of the more unique ones, but everyone else’s is, too. We have to make decisions that help all programs. I’m comfortable speaking my mind on junior golf because I’m doing it for the right reasons.”
Stetina also is comfortable talking about his recovery from alcohol addiction. On Nov. 2, 2019 – a year after he started the MVGA – Stetina was hospitalized after an alcohol incident. He celebrated his six-year anniversary of sobriety by running the New York City Marathon with the PGA REACH Foundation team last November.
His openness about his addiction has served as another teaching tool for the kids and their parents. Everyone makes mistakes in life; the key is to not continue to make them.
“Life extends beyond the scorecard,” he says. “Quitting alcohol has been the most valuable change of my life. I feel like a different person.”
His recovery led to a relationship with noted instructor Billy Harmon – son of 1948 Masters champion Claude Harmon and one of three brothers of Butch Harmon – who started his recovery in 1992. Harmon volunteered to come to New Mexico last year to do a two-day clinic for Stetina’s juniors. The experience left a tremendous impact on Stetina, as well as the children.
“I could tell how much it meant to the kids because they all stuck around afterward for photos and autographs with Billy. How cool was that?”
Almost as cool as winning a national PGA of America award, an honor Stetina is still trying to grasp. “It’s been a surreal experience,” he says. “It’s an amazing career moment.” —Craig Dolch
