Joe McCleary finds fulfillment in diverse and accomplished career in Colorado golf; former CGA president retired this month after 7 years on association’s staff
By Gary Baines
In 2019, when Joe McCleary was just about to make the transition from a three-year run as volunteer president/co-president of the CGA to joining the staff of the association, executive director/CEO Ed Mate was asked what McCleary might bring to the table in his new role.
“Joe is kind of a Renaissance man of golf,” Mate said at the time. “He’s a certified golf course superintendent. He’s got an MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver, (and) he’s been a leader in every organization he’s been a part of, whether it’s the city of Aurora, the CGA, or the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association. We’re so very fortunate.”
Now, a little more than seven years later, Mate is reflecting on that good fortune as McCleary retired this month from the CGA — and from the full-time working world in general. After serving on the CGA board of directors in a voluntary role from 2004-19, McCleary — now a 60-year-old resident of Centennial — served on the CGA staff as chief business officer initially, then transitioned to chief sustainability officer and director of special projects.
Earlier in his career, McCleary was the first superintendent at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora — in fact, was on the team during the construction of the course — and was superintendent of stormwater operations for the city of Aurora.
“I am very flattered by being called a Renaissance man” of golf, McCleary said in a recent phone interview. “I don't know that I ever thought of myself that way. I took the time to look it up and it just says a well-rounded individual, gifted and skilled in many different areas. And I think that's true. I think I have a lot of different skills and that allows me to navigate a lot of different challenges and to just communicate with people.
“And so I'm appreciative of the fact that (Mate) considers me a Renaissance man. Maybe that's related to the fact that I have a passion for the environment. I have a passion for gardening, whether it be the rock gardening that I do or the cactus and succulent gardening, I've taken some painting classes and I enjoy that, and that's something that I'm going to spend more time doing. It's just an honor to be considered a Renaissance man.”
McCleary receives a retirement gift from CGA executive director Ed Mate. (Photo: CGA)
Mate has certainly been among those who have appreciated McCleary’s many contributions to Colorado golf — especially as the two have often been side by side serving as leaders of the CGA for more than two decades.
“Joe McCleary’s contributions to the CGA and to golf in Colorado are truly unique,” Mate said in an email this month. “Joe’s ability to see the game through a broader lens always set him apart. Joe taught me many things during his time as a golf course superintendent, association president and, most recently, as a member of the CGA staff. Joe reminded me that golf is entirely dependent on a plant! Without a healthy stand of grass, the game simply doesn’t work. That simple recognition leads to environmental stewardship and sustainability. The CGA was very fortunate to have Joe McCleary on our staff, and the game is fortunate to have Joe McCleary representing our industry.”
So why is McCleary calling it a career at this point?
As it turned out, he didn’t commit to retiring until just recently, and he informed Mate during a meeting early in March.
“A few things have happened in the past couple of years,” McCleary noted. “First, my mom passed. She was the last parent; my dad passed a couple of years prior. And I'll be perfectly honest with you: the passing of Dennis Lyon (the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and a former co-worker of McCleary in Aurora’s golf division) caused me to reflect on a lot of things because he was an incredible friend, an incredible mentor. I mean, the McCleary family and the Lyon family have lots of connections.
“When you have things like that happen, you just start thinking about stuff. And then Heather (Joe’s wife) and I went to South America on a trip for just a little over two weeks and I just kind of look at the people that are on trips and you realize that three weeks off, that's the longest vacation I ever had from work since I started work when I was 22 or whatever. So I think it was it was just time to do something different. And Heather's retired. And also, I've heard several times in the last few months: ‘You can always make more money, but you can't make more time.’ I think that sums it up right there.”
McCleary at Machu Picchu in Peru this year. (Photo: CGA)
McCleary has certainly been on the front lines when some very pivotal events came across the table for the CGA in the 21st century. Notably:
— He was on the CGA board when the association had its new golf course — CommonGround — constructed in Aurora. McCleary was among the many people who did important behind-the-scenes work regarding the new course.
— When flooding did considerable damage in Colorado in September of 2013, CommonGround was among the golf courses most damaged as 14 inches of rain fell there in six days. At one point, nearly half the course was under water, at some points 6 feet deep of it. It took nearly a month before the water drained off the course completely, and by then eight holes were damaged severely and the turf on five greens died. McCleary, the CGA’s vice president at the time, and then-CommonGround superintendent Bobby Martin were among those who played major roles in getting the course back on its feet.
— Several years later, when the USGA opted to only recognize just one state and regional golf association within given a given area, McCleary, along with Mate, then-CWGA president Juliet Miner and then-CWGA executive director Laura Robinson spearheaded the work to integrate the CGA and the CWGA. McCleary and Miner, who had served as presidents of their respective organizations for two years (2016 and '17), both agreed to be co-presidents of the CGA in 2018, the first year following integration.
When McCleary is asked the career accomplishments of which he’s most proud, some of the aforementioned definitely merit some consideration — along with others.
“The construction of Saddle Rock Golf Course” is one of McCleary’s picks. “Not too many people get the opportunity to build a golf course. I'm really proud of that because Dennis (Lyon, who at the time directed Aurora’s golf division) had the confidence in me. I was working at Meadows Hills at the time (as an irrigation technician), and I just indicated to him that if the city built a golf course, I wanted to be involved in the project. I never expected to be involved at the level that I was, but I was involved in all the planning activities, conversations with (architect) Dick Phelps and the developers, everything before the golf course was constructed. And then the management of the golf course during construction and then afterwards. That's a really important event when I reflect.
“Another thing that was really important to me is the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association. We supported a bunch of individuals that went down to New Orleans to support recovery efforts down there after Hurricane Katrina. And we realized that the superintendents needed to really be in control of kind of their own destiny. And so I worked really hard with several people to establish what is now known as the Rocky Mountain Environmental Golf Institute. I did all the 501(c)(3) paperwork, I had the important conversations with people, but now the superintendents have a platform to raise their own money and to support educational scholarships for appropriate people, and then also to support turf research. Just having control of that type of funding source for those philanthropic activities is critically important.
“And lastly, when you reflect on things, being president of the CGA when the CWGA and the CGA merged, I think that's really one of those efforts that I'll look back on fondly, because you don't get to do that very often, and it was a significant challenge to bring those two organizations together. But working with Juliet Miner and many other people on that project (was fulfilling). Juliet and I worked really closely on that project, and then when the two associations merged and the CWGA became part of the Colorado Golf Association, Juliet and I decided that we needed to be co-presidents for the first year after that merger. That was one of the best decisions ever made because there was no way we could have transferred the conversations and the information that the two of us had developed over a period of two-plus years. And it sent the right message to everybody involved that there was going to be a female that was co-president and a male co-president moving forward.”
Indeed, regarding that last point, McCleary points to a flight from Kansas City to Denver that he was boarding following golf-related meetings. He passed down the aisle and a seat next to Miner was unoccupied as he was approaching.
“I knew right then that I had to sit down in that seat so that we could have a conversation and we could move the (integration) efforts forward,” McCleary recalls. “And Juliet will tell you that right then, she developed a level of respect and appreciation for me just because I had the guts to sit down and continue those conversations regarding something was pretty difficult. I think (the merger has been) pretty incredibly successful. And I'm so glad that we were co-presidents and everything's come together as well it has.”
McCleary during a training session for the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course. (Photo: CGA)
It certainly wasn’t pre-ordained that McCleary’s career would be so intertwined with golf.
“My dad was a college professor and agriculture never was on the radar,” said McCleary, who nevertheless graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in agriculture, along with a minor in business.
But a gentleman named Dick Stuntz, who started as a superintendent and went on to become a course owner, helped set McCleary on a golf-related career path.
“Dennis (Lyon) was incredibly important, but probably the first guy that got me started in the golf business was a guy named Dick Stuntz,” McCleary said. “He recognized that I really enjoyed what I was doing at the (Alvamar Golf and Country Club, now known as the Jayhawk Club in Lawrence, Kan.) He shared with me that I could go to college and study horticulture/agriculture and become a golf course superintendent as a living. That never had crossed my mind. And it's just kind of people like that are important in a person's career.
“Dick was a really good amateur golfer, so he was a good role model for me. He really showed me the importance of having a really good understanding of the game and having the ability to play the game at a reasonable level, because then you could explain to people, you could partake in golfing events, and you weren't just a superintendent. You were somebody who understood the game. And so that to me was incredibly valuable.”
And, like Stuntz and Lyon were important mentors for McCleary, he’s made it a point to try to serve that same role for others over the years.
Just before and after graduating from KSU — as Mate noted, he later earned an MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver — McCleary had jobs in Colorado at Meadow Hills and South Suburban golf courses. He later worked at Lone Tree and Meadow Hills again before getting his big opportunity at Saddle Rock, where he was on the ground floor of developing that course.
In its early years, with McCleary as the superintendent, Saddle Rock hosted the Colorado Open three times (1998-2000). He went on to serve a president of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association in 2005 and helped establish the RMGCSA foundation. In the early 2000s, he received a national Environmental Steward award from the GCSAA, earned an excellence in government relations honor from the GCSAA, and the GCSAA President’s Award for Environmental leadership in Colorado golf. Later, as head of stormwater operations for the city of Aurora, McCleary managed a staff of 30 people and an annual budget that exceeded $3 million.
Also when he worked for the city of Aurora, McCleary had a big hand in putting together the 2002 economic and environmental impact study of golf in the state of Colorado during a period of drought in the state. That proved a key document for the golf industry in Colorado for a couple of decades until an updated version was published in 2021.
“I don't think there's too many superintendents that you can talk to that have dealt with a flood and also a drought,” McCleary said. “I also started working at Alvamar golf course because they had a winter ice storm (in the 1980s). So I've covered the spectrum. I started one spring break cleaning up the smaller branches that were left over from that ice storm. So we go from ice to drought to flood. I mean, it's pretty interesting when you think about it.”
McCleary, known as a free spirit in many respects, has long been keenly interested in the environment in and around golf courses. In recent years, he spearheaded efforts for the CGA to partner with the Denver Botanic Gardens to enhance urban biodiversity and conservation. He’s also an active member of a birding organization at CommonGround.
“That's really become a passion of mine,” McCleary said of birding. “Since July of 2023, we've had monthly and sometimes twice-monthly birding events during the migration season at CommonGround. There are over 141 species of birds on the golf course.
“And you know what the great thing about that is? You get to introduce people to the golf course that have never been on the golf course, and they can see the value that a property like CommonGround brings to the community. Because it’s 350-plus acres — the largest contiguous open space parcel between the three major highways — that's just really important. And then another aspect of that is the partnership is that the CGA and CommonGround have with the Denver Botanic Gardens. I think that's the only partnership of its kind in the United States, and so there's continuing conversations about how we share that with other botanic gardens around the country and that's happened, and that will continue to happen. And I've had conversations with Dr. Becky Hufft (from the DBG) about how those efforts would continue.”
Just in general, McCleary feels fortunate to have capped off his career at the CGA, where he utilized much of the experience he gained throughout his professional career.
“They had had some retirements at the CGA, and so Ed and I had conversations and it was just an incredible opportunity for me to work with a lot of really great people that I'd gotten to know as a volunteer,” McCleary said. “It allowed me to continue the efforts that I'd been a part of related to CommonGround Golf Course. It allowed me to incorporate some of my educational background — a Master's in Business Administration from CU-Denver — and to apply those experiences. Then also the knowledge that I gained at the city of Aurora. So I think it allowed me to continue some things, to develop new relationships, and provided the foundation for other important relationships and partnerships, one of those being the partnership with the Denver Botanic Gardens.”
McCleary at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. (Photo: CGA)
Even though some aspects of McCleary’s jobs over the year haven’t been entirely linked to golf, he’s always had a significant connection to the game for all of his adulthood.
“I realized that I've been involved in golf in Colorado since February of 1988 when I moved here after I graduated the previous December from Kansas State University,” he said. “Because while I was working for the water utility for the city of Aurora in the stormwater operation, I was still a volunteer at the CGA. There was never a disconnection from golf during the almost seven years that I worked for the water utility because everything overlaps. I was part of the 2013 flood recovery at the golf course and also for the city of Aurora because of my responsibilities for stormwater. I was part of the CGA integration while I was a part of the Aurora water team, There's not a gap in my participation in golf-related activities during that 38 years.”
But now that retirement has officially kicked in — there’s a get-together in McCleary’s honor that’s set for Friday (April 24) — he does have some ideas of what he’ll do without a regular job with which to deal. That started last week with a road trip to Kansas to visit some friends.
“The last time I retired, I retired from the city of Aurora, and I retired for two days,” he noted. “So I retired on a Friday and started work at the CGA on Monday. So that's not going to happen this time.
“I enjoy road trips. I think I'm going to travel a little more — and it might be significant traveling, it might be insignificant travel; you know, just road trips. I think I'll spend more time on biking. I'm thrilled that a couple members of the CommonGround birding group said, ‘Well, Joe, this is great, because now you'll have time to join us on for the weekday birding events.’ So I just want to enjoy the time. I'm going to spend time with my family — Heather, and I have two wonderful daughters, Evan and Sydney. I love spending time with them when we play golf together.
So I'm going to do a lot more of that. And Evan is here in town and Sydney is in Atlanta, so maybe there will be a trip to Atlanta, and maybe I should have gone to the Masters this year, but there will be time for that in the future.”
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