2018 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR LES ZIMMERMAN
PLAYING IT FORWARD
Les Zimmerman is a champion who has never forgotten to give back.
Whether at Hunter Golf Course, where he’s the mayor, or at CSGA events,
Les’ mantra is: “Hey, that’s done, what else can I do for you guys?”
V
olunteer of the Year Les
Zimmerman brings a player’s
perspective to volunteering.
“I think that helps,” says
Zimmerman, a 5-time Hunter Golf Club
champion and record 12-time Meriden
City Open champ. “I guess I sort of
know when to say something and when
not to. I’m not a rules official but I’m
pretty familiar with the rules. And some-
times I can save players from making
mistakes.”
Then he stops for a second. “Now
please don’t make that sound like I think
I’m better than other volunteers, ‘cause
that’s not the case. I just love to compete,
that’s all.”
Which is Les Zimmerman in a nut-
shell. A quiet champion, a humble
member of the team. For Les, who
played soccer at Southern Connecticut
State, and spent a career as an elementary
school physical education teacher, athlet-
ics, his career and saving people from
mistakes go hand in hand. As a teacher
he helped introduce kids in Berlin to
sports. Among them: professionals like
Tim Petrovic, Kyle Gallo, and the Paladi-
nos, Brent and Cody.
“I loved my job, the chance to have
an influence on kids early and introduce
them to fitness and sports and hopefully
help them make healthy decisions. It was
very satisfying.”
“Sports is my life,” says Zimmerman,
69. “And when I retired after 31 years
teaching, it’s difficult to put into words,
but I wanted to give something back.
It’s a wonderful game, different from
all the others. It’s good to give back to
something you feel passionate about. I’m
humbled to be honored this way.”
Les worked his first tournament for
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CSGA after retiring from teaching in
2002. By any estimate, he has worked
more than 200 events.
“All of our volunteers are great, but I’d
love to have 100 more exactly like Les,”
says CSGA Director of Competitions
Ryan Hoffman. “I always give Les the
toughest assignment and never have to
worry about the outcome. His enthusi-
asm and demeanor make him an excel-
lent representative of the CSGA, and
most deserving of this award.”
The CSGA not the first to honor him.
thing. He’s just a great champion.”
Sometimes that willingness to help can
get him in trouble. Zimmerman led the
Men’s Club’s Divot Night in June, when
club members repair divots on all 18
holes. He was moving 5-gallon buckets
of seed sand when he herniated a disk
and had his golf season wiped out. He’s
confident recent surgery will have him
back soon. “But those guys can move
their own buckets next year.”
With the same patience and even-
keeled temperament that make him a
great volunteer, Les has introduced his
“All of our volunteers are
great, but I’d love to add
100 more just like Les
Zimmerman,” says the
CSGA’s Ryan Hoffman.
In 2016 Les was named one of Meriden’s
Sportsmen of Distinction. Besides his
dozen Meriden City titles, Zimmerman
has won five Hunter Men’s Club cham-
pionships and four New England Public
Links championships as either a Senior
or a Legend. When Hunter head pro Bob
Tiedemann presented Les with his 12th
city title last year, his comment under-
scored the connection between Les the
athlete and Les the volunteer.
“Les cares,” Tiedmann told the Me-
riden Record Journal. “He does every-
thing around the course and is always
donating time to [Hunter]. He does the
flowers and takes the plates and puts
names on the trophies. He does every-
two sons, Brett and Kyle to the game and
both are accomplished players. Les
and Kyle won the Connecticut Father
Son Championship in 2008. Les and
Brett were runners-up in 2001, 2007
and 2017 (when they lost in a playoff at
Madison Country Club.) He’s proud that
last year Brett, 42, defeated him in the
Hunter Men’s Club Championship. “I’m
losing distance,” says Zimmerman. “But
when I tell my boys that they say, ‘You
never had any distance to lose!”
Says Brett: “The problem with playing
against him is that you’re playing against
someone you want to win. It can make it
harder.” Nevertheless, in that corner of
the Hunter clubhouse seemingly owned
by Zimmerman champions, they’ll add
one more award this year.
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12/19/18 4:25 PM