SUMMIT COUNTY - Ann Brewster is a golfer who loves to garden, which is why she jumped at the chance to enroll in the Raven Golf Club's second-year volunteer program.

"It's a nice opportunity to make the course more flowered and friendly to birds," said Brewster, who earns a free round for every eight hours she works at the Raven. "It's great to get credit for something I love."

Raven general manager Dan Guinle said the Silverthorne club was already considering launching a volunteer program when some interested parties came knocking last year.

"We have people that repair divot marks, pick up broken tees and make the course look as beautiful as they can," Guinle said. "If people have a special interest like flowers or trees, we kind of let them go with it. We provide them with a canvas to do their artwork on."

Brewster, a master gardener who has spent many of her volunteer hours transplanting flowers from her soon-to-be-bulldozed yard in Silverthorne into beds and pots at the golf course, is one of six current volunteers, according to program director Brent Smith.

"We let them work on a flexible schedule," Smith said. "We are shorthanded, so whatever they do to help is appreciated. Even if they put in a half hour."

Smith, the course's assistant superintendent, said the volunteer program is full for this year.

Between time spent on the course and credit accrued for her flowers, Brewster estimates she's banked in excess of 50 hours.

"I haven't played on any of my hours yet," said Brewster, who works part time for Precision Sports and Copper Mountain and serves on the board of trustees for the National Repertory Orchestra. "But once it gets closer to the Blue River Trout Golf Tourney, I'll be out there practicing a lot."

<b>Volunteering at Copper</b>

Anyone who's teed off at the Copper Creek Golf Club has probably encountered a member or two of the course's volunteer staff.

Copper's tournament director and volunteer coordinator Jeff Ogren oversees a crew of about 16 people, who generally work two shifts a week as greeters.

In exchange for their efforts, they are considered golf club members.

"Most of them work in the ambassador program during the winter," Ogren said. "Those people are tops, they're the face of Copper Creek and they make people feel welcome when they drive up."

Out on the course, superintendent Dave Balerud said he has two volunteers who work on rudimentary tasks a few times a month in exchange for rounds of golf.

Like Smith, he's not looking for any more at this point.

Many Copper employees played a free round of golf on June 1, the eve of Copper's opening day. Participants spent the morning tidying up the course and the afternoon playing on it.

<b>Beyond county lines</b>

Although Keystone and Breckenridge aren't currently in the business of trading volunteer hours for rounds of golf, the Mt. Massive Golf Course in Leadville is.

"Our pass costs $280," said Massive's operations manager Bob Johnson. "I figure it wouldn't take too long to work that off. There's always stuff to do out there."

Johnson, who said the course has cut back on its tournaments due to a lack of readily available volunteers, is occasionally aided by court-ordered workers as well.

Because the course is a non-profit organization situated on Lake County land, it's a community service option for those assigned through the legal system.

"Last week we had a guy come out and dig up an irrigation pipe that was broken," Johnson said. "The ground was pretty hard Ð he never did come back to work."

For more info, call the Raven (970) 262-3636, Copper Creek (970) 968-3333 or Mt. Massive (719) 486-2176.



Adam Boffey can be contacted at (970) 668-4634 or at aboffey@summitdaily.com.