Angela Stanford understands the challenge of following one great performance with another. While winning the LPGA Senior Championship for a second straight year, Stanford appreciated how the staff and volunteers staged her event the week after they hosted the fourth annual Epson Tour stop at Copper Rock Golf Course in Hurricane, Utah.
“Thank you for going back-to-back,” she said.
This doubleheader, conducted by Darcy Horman, Copper Rock’s director of operations, and Penny James-Garcia, the event coordinator, made southern Utah an epicenter of women’s golf in May. The convergence of the two tournaments, with two women in prime administrative roles and the Utah-based Women’s Leadership Institute as a nonprofit partner, undoubtedly places Copper Rock among the biggest boosters of women’s athletes and business professionals in pro golf in 2024.
The two-week run became “the experience of a lifetime,” said James-Garcia, who was responsible for staffing 875 volunteer slots. More than half of the volunteers worked both weeks; 40 percent were women.
Naturally, James-Garcia wondered what she was getting into. “You have your doubts,” she said. “I’m always exhausted after one week; can I do two? All those things for months and months have been going through my head. But I did not get tired. Even with three hours of sleep, I woke up full of energy, ready to go. It was just joyful.”
Having been a food service executive and property manager, dealing with diverse people and continually solving problems, James-Garcia said, “My whole life’s work helped me be prepared for this.”
Same with Horman, who’s a homegrown Utah success story with an unmatched professional profile. Her position with Henderson Hospitality Management places her in charge of a unique combination of businesses: hotels, a winery and an 18-hole golf facility.
“It’s just time for people to recognize that women have much to offer. They have these skills; they have the motivation and the drive to be professionals and do incredible things.” — Darcy Horman
Horman is not a self-promoting person. During the two events, she brought attention to herself only briefly during the awards presentations when she showcased the trophies in a style resembling “The Price Is Right.” All she really cares about is boosting Copper Rock and its cause of elevating women in golf and other pursuits.
She needs some prodding to talk about herself, hoping only that “maybe someone will read or see something and say, ‘Maybe I can do that too.’ ”
Her management style is to dig in and work. During the second round of the LPGA Senior Championship, an interviewer had to wait while she helped transfer dozens of bags of ice into a freezer.
“I’ve never worked for anyone, male or female, that when you need them the most, they are right there in the trenches with you,” James-Garcia said.
“I’ve been through my own challenges in my career,” Horman said, explaining her mission to help other women. “And it’s just time for people to recognize that women have much to offer. They have these skills; they have the motivation and the drive to be professionals and do incredible things.
“I think women need a voice,” Horman said. “I wish there would have been more voices for me, more mentors for me to look up to. … I think it’s an important message to bring to Utah, too, that there are powerful, intelligent women here, too, and we have things to say.”
The partnership with the Women’s Leadership Institute, whose mission is to “elevate the status and stature of women throughout Utah,” is the most obvious example of Copper Rock’s impact. Another is the GolfHer program that stemmed from the annual WLI luncheon and is breaking down barriers of bringing women into recreational golf.
The voices of Epson Tour administrator Kathy Lawrence and WLI executive Pat Jones resonated with Annie Simkins during the 2023 event. Only about five women among the hundreds in attendance raised their hands when asked if they played golf. And that was after Jones described golf as “the language of business.”
The disconnect struck Simkins, who realized, “We’re taking ourselves out of the conversation.”
Many women are relegated to organizing corporate and charity tournaments, or maybe driving a cart. To her credit, Simkins found that role insufficient. As the director of marketing and business development for a general contractor, she wanted to get into the game and bring other women with her.
That’s the origin story of GolfHer, which started with 14 participants and now has a waiting list of 200. Sponsorships and partnerships of the nonprofit organization have enabled women to enroll for free and become conversant and proficient enough to play in those tournaments.
Stories like that help motivate Horman and James-Garcia to keep building the Copper Rock Championship, which is booked as an Epson Tour stop through 2028. The LPGA Senior Championship is a year-to-year proposition. After winning in Indiana in 2023, Stanford would love to stage another title defense in Utah in 2025, telling the staff and volunteers, “I hope you get to do it again.”