Special Awards Feature
Thayer’s Positive, Half-Full Attitude Earned Him the Resort Merchandiser of the Year Award C
ontinually changing and finding new ways to be successful is the mantra of Kenny Thayer, PGA, Director of Golf at Beaver Creek Golf Club and 2019 Colorado Resort Merchandiser of the Year. “Thank you for selecting me as the winner of the Resort Merchandiser Award. I feel very fortunate to be where I am today,” begins Thayer. “I love what I do and where I do it. I love the opportunities I have here. It’s pretty special to see and understand the ways I can affect the lives of the people who work for me.” Thayer played golf with his dad as a kid and played on the high school team for a couple years in Colorado before moving to Mammoth Lakes, California. After college, he returned to Mammoth Lakes as a ski instructor, which, in turn, took him to Aspen to teach skiing. Doing the golf-ski thing, he caddied at Maroon Creek in the summer where he once again picked-up his clubs after a six-to-seven year hiatus. It was during his first real golf job at River Valley Ranch Golf Course in Carbondale Colorado that he got hooked on being in the golf industry year-round. And what better place to do that then by taking a job in Hawaii on the island of Maui at the Kapalua Plantation Course. After spending 6-years working at Kapalua, he realized skiing was still in his blood and he wanted skiing to be an option for his then 6-month old daughter. In 2007, Thayer accepted an Assistant Professional position at Beaver Creek Golf Club. He moved into the Head Professional role a year later and in 2015, accepted the year-round position of Director of Golf. Since becoming the Director of Golf, Thayer has made it his challenge to keep things fresh at the course. From upgrading the level of merchandise in the golf shop and tailoring a new menu to meet the feel of the operation to constructing new bridges and reshaping holes on the golf course, Thayer strives to always keep
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things new. What’s next … adding a ping pong table, a putting green and corn-hole, to name just a few. “Coming up with fun, new ideas and not keeping with what we did last year is always a goal,” admits Thayer. “My team and I are motived to try to top our accomplishments from the previous year and keep the environment here at Beaver Creek fresh and exciting.” Thayer is married to his wife, Sony, and they are the proud parents of two daughters, age 10 and 12. The Resort Merchandiser of the Year Award recognizes a Colorado PGA member who has demonstrated superior skills as merchandisers in the promotion of golf at a resort facility. Beaver Creek is an 8-time winner. What does it mean to you to receive this award? This means a ton to me for the simple fact that I’ve been blowing-up everything that we used to do here. It’s really rewarding that my staff and I are being recognized for what we are doing, not for what was done in the past. I would remiss if I didn’t recognize and thank my merchandiser, Jordan Prochaska. She’s a Rock Star and without her this would not have happened. Merchandising is something new for Jordan, as well, but she has an incredible work ethic and really want to and does a great job. We also have a lot of fun together creating a positive buzz around the shop. One of the things we first did when I became responsible for merchandising was to identify who our clients are. Knowing we have a very high-end clientele, we adjusted our inventory to match their wants and needs by carrying higher value products. We also know that 90 percent of our members and guests are skiers as well as golfers, so we capitalized on Beaver Creek and the world class ski resort that we have in our back yard by tying the theme of much of our golf supplies
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