On August 21, 1915, an article appeared in The Denver Post announcing the creation of a new state golf association. The headline of the article read: “M’Laughlin Heads Golf Association.” The article went on to explain that M.A. McLauglin had been elected president of the newly created Colorado Golf Association (CGA)—an organization that would be responsible for the organization and control for the state tournaments. The association would “award the cups” to the winner of such events who would be the recognized champion of the association and state.
Roughly a century later the Colorado Golf Association continues to “award the cups” for state championships as well as perform many other important functions to promote and serve golf in Colorado. M.A. McLaughlin was the founding president of the CGA in 1915 and made many other significant contributions to the game of golf in the early 1900s.
Not only was McLaughin the founding president of the CGA, he was also a founding member of the Lakewood Country Club, the founding president of the Colorado Senior Golf Association in 1935 and a two-time CGA Match Play Champion in 1915 and 1919.
The man known as “Mac” provided the only formidable competition to the dominant player of the era, Dr. Larry Bromfield. In the 11 years between 1912 and 1922, Bromfield only lost the state amateur four times—and three of those were at the hands of McLauglin.
In the days before “lasered” sprinkler heads McLauglin used his local knowledge of Lakewood Country Club to his advantage. Mac was playing his best golf in 1919 when he defeated fellow Lakewood member Sandy Palmer in the finals. In the afternoon round of his match, McLauglin set a Lakewood course record for the front nine, going out in just 33 strokes. With a new 18-hole course record of 70 well in his grasp, Mac declined to play the last two holes, feeling that he had “golfed enough for one week.”
McLaughlin’s induction into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame punctuates a lifetime of contributions to one of the true pioneers of golf in our state.
