The Colorado Section PGA recently awarded Mark Bacheldor ’08 the 2020 Professional Development Award for his outstanding contributions to the education of PGA Professionals.
Bacheldor has been teaching PGA curriculum for more than eight years in the UCCS PGA Golf Management Program. His improvements to course delivery and instruction resulted in a PGA exam pass rate increase from 74 percent to 90 percent over the past six years. The PGA exams assess a student’s eligibility for PGA Membership and his efforts have led to a significant increase of PGA Professionals in the UCCS cohort.
In 2019, Bacheldor earned the highest educational designation for a PGA member as a PGA Master Professional in Teaching and Coaching. The prestigious designation is held by only 400 PGA Professionals among a network of 27,500 PGA Members.
The 2020 award honorees are selected by the Colorado Section PGA Special Awards Committee, which is composed of several members of the board of directors and the previous year’s special award winners. In the Colorado PGA publication “The SUMMIT”, the Colorado PGA recognized the 2020 award winners as “true examples of the Section’s reputation as ‘The Experts in the Game and Business of Golf.’”
“My drive, ambition and passion has always been to mentor the next generation of PGA Professionals,” Bacheldor said. “This is not my job, it’s my mission; to encourage, instruct and support the students of the UCCS PGA Golf Management Program. It is the honor of this lifetime to be the director of this program, and my hope is that my efforts with each student pay dividends in their individual careers.”
Bacheldor graduated from the UCCS PGA Golf Management program in 2008 and has remained an integral member of the program’s staff for eight years. He became the program director in 2016. Bacheldor also serves on the Colorado Section PGA Board of Directors and the Colorado Section PGA Education Committee.
This is Bacheldor’s second time receiving this award. He was honored in 2016 with the Colorado PGA Section Professional Development Award, formally known as the Horton Smith Award.
“Mark Bacheldor is an extraordinary leader in the golf industry and under his direction, our PGA Golf Management program has seen excellent growth and development,” said Karen Markel, dean of the College of Business. “He is continually working to ensure the program meets our community needs and reflects the goals of the PGA. This recognition is well-deserved and we are very proud of Mark’s contributions to the PGA and the game of golf.”
About
The UCCS PGA Golf Management program was founded in 2003 and works directly with the PGA of America to deliver specialized curriculum to prepare students for careers in the golf industry. Students pass through a series of PGA courses and apply their knowledge directly to the industry through internship experience and training, culminating in eligibility for membership into the PGA of America as a PGA Golf Professional upon graduation. For more information, visit uccs.edu/pgm.
The UCCS College of Business was established in 1965 and has more than 1,300 undergraduates and 350 MBA students. The College of Business and Administration awards the Bachelor of Science in Business and Bachelor of Innovation degrees. The Graduate School of Business Administration awards the Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Accounting and Executive Doctor of Business Administration degrees. More than 10,000 alumni of the College of Business live and work around the world. For more information, visit uccs.edu/business.