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Keith Hansen jokes that his induction into the Utah Golf Hall of Fame will lower the membership's level of playing ability. Then again, the group's collective knowledge of the Rules of Golf will increase just as much.
The Class of 2015 is heavily weighted toward administration of the game, and that's fine. Between the Utah Section PGA and the Utah Golf Association, the game is managed well in this state. Among the group of Jeff Beaudry, Jimmy Blair, Mike Malaska, Mark Passey and Hansen, only Blair would qualify on his golf skills alone. And even he is being recognized as an entrepreneur as well as a player.
Saturday's dinner and induction ceremony will recognize a fivesome with deep roots in Utah golf, all products of high schools in the state — including two from Cyprus in Magna. The Utah Golf Hall of Fame, founded in 1991, will have 38 members.
Beaudry will always have the distinction of being the first executive director of the Utah Section PGA, and his impact extends nationally and internationally now that he works for the PGA of America. Beyond that, his administrative style is so admired that having the section's "Gentleman Jeff" award named for him speaks for itself.
A graduate of Cyprus High School and the University of Utah, Beaudry worked as an assistant pro at Mountain View Golf Course and head pro and general manager of the Copper Club. He joined the Utah Section PGA in its founding, after being part of the Rocky Mountain Section. The section office actually was his house in those early years.
When the PGA Tour launched what is now known as the Web.com Tour, various PGA sections were asked to stage the events. Beaudry was heavily involved in that effort, with the Utah Classic held at Provo's Riverside Country Club from 1990-96. In the process, he helped make golf an official sport in Special Olympics International. That development stemmed from a clinic involving Special Olympics Utah athletes at Riverside, and the section's involvement with the organization has continued to evolve, with athletes serving as volunteers for the Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open. That relationship goes far beyond the usual tournament-charity affiliation.
As Beaudry once said, "It went from us just wanting to write a check to actually making a difference in people's lives and changing perceptions."
Describing himself as "so incredibly happy" working for the Utah Section PGA, Beaudry moved to the PGA of America in 1998. He was named the western director of PGA employment services in 2013.
Beaudry received the UGA's Gold Club Award in 2002, among other honors from the PGA and Special Olympics.
Members of the Utah Golf Hall of Fame are not selected to fill particular categories. If they were, Blair would qualify for multiple honors. He's a player, first and foremost, and also has built credentials as an entrepreneur and operator of golf facilities.
Much like 2011 inductee Jay Don Blake, Blair thinks of himself as an active player and is taken aback by receiving the award at this stage of his career. Yet he already has done enough to merit selection.
An alumnus of Ogden High School and BYU, Blair won the 1973 State Amateur and the 1981 Utah Open, giving him a rare distinction in Utah golf history. In between, he was part of the 1976 BYU team that finished second in the NCAA Championships and sent six players to the PGA Tour.
Blair, 60, has thrived on the club professional level in Intermountain area tournaments, with four Wyoming Open victories among his achievements. He was named the Utah Section PGA Player of the Year in 1987 and 2000 and is a three-time Senior Player of the Year.
He has competed in six PGA Championships and has performed well in limited access to high-level senior events, including the Senior PGA Championship and the Senior British Open.
As a businessman, Blair was ahead of his time. The golf industry has recognized that the traditional approach to attracting players needs an overhaul. Blair made that discovery long ago, incorporating family activities into his Mulligan's Golf & Games facilities in Ogden and South Jordan. His current focus is managing SunRiver Golf Club in St. George, which he finds fulfilling.
Blair considers the rise of his son, Zac, in becoming an established PGA Tour player the "culmination" of his life in golf, with more to come.
Hansen, a graduate of Logan High School and Utah State, is considered the consummate volunteer, on both the UGA and United States Golf Association levels. He'll contribute wherever he's needed, from a junior golf event to the U.S. Open.
Hansen received the USGA's Ike Grainger Award in 2013 for 25 years of service and was the UGA's Gold Club Award winner in 2009.
His credentials include having worked for more than 1,000 days (the equivalent of nearly three years) in local events and officiating in more than 70 national championships.
"I've had some great things happen to me in my life, by doing what I love," Hansen said.
He believes he has been well rewarded for service, because of his experiences in golf, and encourages others to volunteer for the same reason. He quoted the advice of longtime USGA administrator Ron Read, who always said it is amazing what can happen "if you just show up."
Hansen has been showing up early and staying late at golf events for a long time. Encouraged by fellow Utah Golf Hall of Fame members George Marks and Mark Passey, Hansen pursued his interest in the Rules of Golf and becoming a USGA committee member and UGA president.
Malaska's victory in the 1974 Utah Open was good for him and the entire Utah golf community.
Winning that tournament in the middle of his Weber State tenure gave him the evidence he needed to pursue a golf career, and he never forgot its impact. The Granite High School alumnus has come home to play in the event nearly every year since then, even while living in Japan.
That degree of loyalty to the state is among the reasons Malaska appreciates his selection to the Utah Golf Hall of Fame, just as much as his 2011 national teacher of the year award. The induction represents "so much of my history and so much that I owe to that whole community," he said. "It's honoring those people, too."
Malaska is the director of instruction at Superstition Mountain and Las Sendas Golf Courses in the Phoenix area and the worldwide director of instruction at Nicklaus Golf Academies. Having become an established teaching pro in Salt Lake City, he made a career advancement in 1991 by working with Jim Flick in the Nicklaus/Flick Golf Schools.
Malaska's ability to combine physical fitness with the golf swing helped him create a niche in the teaching industry, making him a fixture on multiple lists of the country's top teachers. He has produced a book and instructional DVD and been featured on Golf Channel and in magazines. His teaching style is based on his students' physical abilities, rather than asking them to do something they're not capable of doing. Malaska was inducted into Weber State's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
A graduate of Cyprus High School and Utah State, Passey served as the UGA's executive director in the late 1980s before moving to the United States Golf Association, where he has enjoyed a successful quarter-century tenure.
"Getting up every morning and doing what I love is exciting and fun," said Passey, who labels himself "a bit of an impostor" in the golf industry, even after all of these years.
The former grocer from Logan has come a long way in the game. Passey, who now lives in Colorado, is the USGA's Central Region director, with Utah as part of his territory. He was instrumental in helping the Utah golf community land the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Soldier Hollow, the state's first USGA event. Passey downplayed his role, but it was a proud moment for him.
"I have an emotional attachment to golf in our state," he said at the time. "I was so glad to finally see it happen."
Passey is involved in staging several of the USGA's annual championships. His most visible role over the years has been maintaining the handwritten scoreboard outside the clubhouse of the U.S. Open venue. That's fitting duty, because Passey's artistic ability became his avenue into the golf business. Dean Candland, the former Logan Golf & Country Club pro, admired Passey's grocery store artwork on produce signs enough to have him do the scoreboards at the club, including the 1980 Utah Open. That led to more scoreboard opportunities, and eventually to the UGA and then the USGA.
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