Kevin Stadler, Ella McLaughlin voted into Colorado Golf Hall of Fame; Kevin will join dad Craig and Ella her husband ‘Mac’ as inductees; various honors will go to 7 others
By Gary Baines – 10/23/2025
For the third time in a history that dates back to 1973, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame will have a father and son as inductees. Also for the third time, there will be husband and wife inductees.
All in the family, indeed.
Following in the footsteps of Will Nicholson Sr., and Jr., and Skeeter and Jack Sommers, Craig and Kevin Stadler will join in the father-son fun as Kevin was voted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday by the CGHOF board of directors. Craig, the 1982 Masters champion and 13-time PGA Tour winner, was enshrined in 2016.
Joining Kevin Stadler in the Class of 2026 will be Ella McLaughlin, the late wife of M.A. (Mac) McLaughlin — the founding president of the Colorado Golf Association — who went into the Hall in 2003. Previous husbands-wives in the Hall are Jim and Marcia Bailey and Kent and Janet Moore.
Kevin Stadler, a Kent Denver graduate who still lives in Denver part time (along with Scottsdale, Ariz.), and Ella McLaughlin will become the 160th and 161st Colorado Golf Hall of Famers when they’re inducted next year at a site and date to be determined.
Kevin Stadler, a part-time Denver resident, has won a Colorado Open, two state amateurs, a state high school title and once on the PGA Tour.
Kevin Stadler, who captured the title at the 2014 Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, becomes the sixth CGHOF inductee who has won on the PGA Tour after spending at least several years of his adolescence as a Colorado resident. Others who fall into that category are Hale Irwin, Steve Jones, Wyndham Clark, Dale Douglass and Bob Byman.
Stadler, 45, has won on virtually all levels of golf — from the junior ranks through the PGA Tour. He prevailed in the 1997 boys state high school tournament while at Kent Denver, the 1997 Junior World Championships, two CGA Match Plays (1999 and 2002), the 2002 Colorado Open (his pro debut), four events on the Korn Ferry Tour, one on what is now known as the DP World Tour (the 2006 Johnnie Walker Classic) and one on the PGA Tour. In his breakthrough victory at the Phoenix Open, Stadler prevailed by one stroke over Bubba Watson, with the top-10 finishers also including Hideki Matsuyama, Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan, Ryan Moore, Hunter Mahan and Harris English.
In addition, Stadler was also a college standout at the University of Southern California, earning Pac-10 Conference Golfer of the Year honors and second-team All-American status in 2002. He also teamed with Craig to win the nationally televised Father-Son Championship that same year.
In all, Kevin Stadler has competed in 319 PGA Tour events, with one win, two runner-ups and eight top-5 finishes. He’s won almost $9.8 million on that circuit. In 2014, he and Craig became the first father and son to compete in the same Masters, with Kevin tying for eighth place. Until Wyndham Clark this year, Stadler in 2014 was the last Colorado high school graduate to make the cut at the Masters.
But just as he was near the peak of his career, Stadler broke his left hand in November 2014 at the HSBC Champions in China. Eventually, he underwent two surgeries on the hand to deal with the injury.
Ella McLaughlin (left) with husband Mac and sister Frances Moffat.
Ella Moffat McLaughlin was a very prominent figure in Colorado women’s golf in the early 20th century. Most notably, she was among the eight co-founders of the Colorado Women’s Golf Association, which was established in 1916. The organization celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016 and a couple of years later was integrated with the CGA.
Ella also was a formidable player, winning the first two women’s golf state championships, prevailing in the CWGA Match Play in 1916 at Colorado Springs Country Club and the next year at Denver Country Club. And, at a time when husband Mac was among the best male amateurs in Colorado, Ella made it three of the first six CWGA Match Plays when she captured the 1921 title at Denver CC. Her sister, Frances Moffat, won the 1918 tournament at Lakewood Country Club, defeating Ella in the final match that year. Ella and husband Mac were among the founding members at Lakewood CC — then known as Colorado Golf Club — in 1908.
“Ella was the ‘Martha Washington’ of organized golf in the state of Colorado,” longtime CGA executive director Ed Mate wrote in a letter supporting Ella’s Colorado Golf Hall of Fame nomination. “Just as her husband, M.A. ‘Mac’ McLaughlin, served as the founding president of the Colorado Golf Association in 1915, Ella did the same a year later for the Colorado Women’s Golf Association. Similarly, just as Mac won the first ‘official’ CGA State Championship in 1915, Ella did the same by winning the first Women’s State Amateur in 1916. Talk about a powerhouse family in Colorado golf history!”
Ella McLaughlin passed away at age 69 in 1939, a year after her husband.
Stadler and McLaughlin being honored as the two Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductees in 2026 comes after a record-tying six people were enshrined in 2024 and five this year.
Meanwhile, the organization will also present a number of awards at next year’s dinner:
— Golf Person of the Year: Russ Miller. As the longtime PGA director of golf at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Miller has played pivotal roles in the resort hosting four USGA championships in the 21st century — a U.S. Women’s Open and three U.S. Senior Opens. That notably includes the 2025 U.S. Senior Open, which was won by three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and which was a big hit on multiple levels. “For the state of Colorado, it’s a plus-plus,” noted World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin, the 2025 U.S. Senior Open’s honorary chairman. “For The Broadmoor, it was over the top. All the players were really impressed by the hospitality. They were impressed, I think, by the golf course.” Largely because of the success of USGA championships held at The Broadmoor in the last two decades, the USGA announced in June that the resort will host the 2031 and ’37 U.S. Senior Opens. Miller has also been instrumental in helping make the new Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Museum at The Broadmoor a big attraction at the resort.
— Distinguished Service: John and Amy Lee. The Lees have become very generous supporters of Colorado golf in the years since their son, Michael Lee, the 2011 CGA Match Play champion, passed away in December 2020 after battling Covid-19. They were instrumental — along with the city of Greeley — in gaining funding to build a short SNAG (Starting New At Golf) course at Boomerang Golf Links, which opened in August. It’s been named the Mike Lee 9, in honor of their late son, who graduated and played golf at Greeley Central High School. The Lees established the Michael Ray Lee Foundation in 2021 and since then it has raised and distributed a significant amount of money to numerous golf-related causes in Colorado. That includes college scholarships for select high school senior athletes in the Greeley/Weld County area; financial support for the Colorado Junior America’s Cup team, for Team Colorado (part of the USGA national development program) and for the Colorado School of Mines golf team; and by purchasing SNAG kits for use in P.E. classes by Greeley-area schools, to promote junior golf development.
— Lifetime Achievement: Dan Melchior. Melchior — who’s enjoyed a long career as general manager at L.L. Johnson Distributing Company, which specializes in turf equipment, irrigation and landscape supply — has been a steadfast supporter of Colorado golf, including the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association for more than 50 years. Among other things, with Melchior’s backing, L.L. Johnson has served as the primary sponsor for the superintendent’s annual conference. Melchior has sponsored many RMGCSA members to participate in Toro’s Professionals Club where superintendents and Toro engineers participate in focus groups after being introduced to new products for their review. In 2023, Melchior was presented the RMGCSA’s Distinguish Service Award.
— Future Famer (Male): Nicholas Brooks of Parker. This year, Brooks not only won the AJGA Colorado Springs Junior, but his 54-hole total for the event was the third-best score in AJGA history. He went bogey-free for the entire tournament and won by seven. Brooks qualified for the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur and became the first Coloradan since 2017 to advance to match play in that championship. Then this month, Brooks won the Class 3A state high school individual title, finishing at 10 under par and prevailing by seven strokes. The left-handed senior from Lutheran High School plans to play his college golf at Butler University.
— Future Famer (Male): Brayden Forte of Aurora: Forte had an impressive 2025 season, which included winning arguably the state’s top junior championship, the CGA State Junior, and competing in his second straight U.S. Junior Amateur. The senior at Cherokee Trail High School shot a 64 at TPC Colorado to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour event held this summer at the course, The Ascendant presented by Blue. Forte finished third in the Class 5A boys state high school tournament after closing with a 64. He also placed fifth individually in the boys Junior America’s Cup. A member of the inaugural Team Colorado junior elite squad — part of the USGA national development program — Forte has committed to play collegiately at San Diego State starting next year.
— Future Famer (Female): Ella Scott of Castle Rock. Scotthas had a breakout year as a competitive golfer in 2025. A member of the inaugural Team Colorado junior elite squad — part of the USGA national development program — the then-Valor Christian sophomore won the Class 5A girls state high school individual title in May and helped Valor also claim the team championship. A month later, she earned the girls title at the CGA State Junior, which features a stroke play/match play format — like the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Speaking of which, Scott competed in the U.S. Girls’ Junior, narrowly missing advancing to match play, falling in a playoff. She won the girls 16-18 Colorado regional qualifying final for the Notah Begay III junior golf championships. Scott posted two top-5 girls finishes in Colorado-based AJGA events — second at the AJGA Colorado Springs Junior and fourth at the Wyndham Clark presented by the CGA — and recorded an eighth-place showing at an out-of-state AJGA tournament in early May. The USGA Instagram account recently featured a picture of Scott with a quote about how proud she’s been to represent Colorado as part of the USGA national development program.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com