Influential VP, CEO back home for final tournament with TOUR

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Not even quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2008 could keep Henry Hughes down for long.

But after more than 30 years serving the PGA TOUR, as well as its long-running event in Connecticut, Hughes has decided it's time that he and his wife do some things they've wanted to do for years.

"Patty and I have woke up the last few days in Connecticut saying it's funny that we don't have a schedule," said Hughes, who will split time with his wife at their homes in Glastonbury, Conn., and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. "We don't have to be some place. I don't have to speak at a dinner...

"Our kids are in great shape; everybody is healthy and working and has nice jobs, so we just felt it was time... There's a new group, so it's somebody else's turn now."

When Hughes' pending retirement was announced on Sept. 10, 2009, PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem lauded his right-hand man.

"Henry has had a remarkable career with the PGA TOUR, including having a major role in elevating THE PLAYERS to the stature it enjoys today and helping establish The Presidents Cup in essentially six months," Finchem said. "As the TOUR's first chief of operations, Henry laid a lot of the groundwork for things that are standard procedure today."

Even Hughes sees the irony of his final tournament as a high-profile PGA TOUR official being in Connecticut -- and not just because Hughes is a native of Wethersfield, Conn. His retirement from the TOUR becomes official June 30, two days after the end of the tournament that he co-chaired in 1975 and was instrumental in keeping alive earlier this decade.

"It's just kind of an interesting quirk the way it worked out," Hughes said. "I started my career here, and the last event I attend in the last week that I work for the TOUR is back in Hartford, so it is kind of ironic. I certainly didn't think of it or plan it that way, but I guess the golf gods did. It's back to your roots."

Travelers Championship officials will recognize Hughes Wednesday at noon on the first tee at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell before defending champion Kenny Perry tees off in the Celebrity Pro-Am. On Saturday night, Hughes will receive the Ralph A. Hart Award for commitment, integrity and service during the Past Chairman's Association dinner.

"It's kind of nice when you're honored by your roots or your peers, people that you've been involved with for so many years," Hughes said. "The commissioner has always made the comment that he doesn't have to worry about Hartford because he knows over in the corner, with everything else that I'm doing, that Hartford has got a special place. It's home."

Hughes grew up in Wethersfield "always playing some sport" before focusing on golf and baseball at Wethersfield High School. He attended Manchester Community College for one year before he was drafted into the Army in 1968. He taught an advanced program at an underwater school in Key West, Fla.

"I always tell people that I'm proud to say I was there for the better part of 2 1/2 to three years, and there was never an invasion in Key West," Hughes said, laughing again. "It was safe because I was there."

Hughes was a Greater Hartford Jaycees volunteer for years before being named co-chairman of the 1975 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open. Hughes worked on various tournament committees until he joined the PGA TOUR on Jan. 1, 1984 as director of marketing for TPC Connecticut, which had been the Edgewood Golf Club and later became TPC River Highlands.

In 1986, Hughes relocated to TOUR headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, to become director of marketing. Former PGA TOUR commissioner Deane Beman then chose Hughes as executive director of THE PLAYERS in July 1987, basically bringing oversight of the championship in house.

In January 1999, Finchem named Hughes senior vice president and chief of operations for the PGA TOUR, and six years later, he was promoted to executive vice president. Hughes' responsibilities broadened to include oversight of the PGA TOUR's new Championship Management division, which grew to operate 13 tournaments, including The Presidents Cup and World Golf Championships, introducing the logistical challenge of managing tournaments overseas.

"We had a lot of business things happen during that time like losing Payne Stewart (in 1999), 9/11 (in 2001), focusing on pace of play and going through the golf club issues," Hughes said. "Golf was always evolving, like it is today with all the new, young stars. I enjoyed that because we were kind of trailblazing a little, creating the TOUR business affairs division, which works the tournaments, had to create a security team and constantly worked on the competitions and all the different aspects that are involved in operating the TOUR. I was honored to have the responsibility to do that."

Hughes' multiple duties and constant travel were put on hold over the Christmas holidays in 2007. On Dec. 18, Hughes went to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., for his annual physical, and it was determined he had had a heart attack 10 days earlier and didn't know it.

"I asked the doctor, 'Shouldn't I know that? How the heck can I have had a heart attack?' " Hughes said. "But they said I had had what they call 'a silent heart attack' that has been fairly significant. But the great news was they did a quadruple bypass and fixed the valve. Now I tell people I feel better than I have in 20 years.

"But I got very, very lucky. ... We had the right doctors with the right skills, and the timing was such that they caught me. Who knows what might have happened? In August, the family was in Alaska hiking on a glacier. It was my 60th birthday present, and my wife and the kids went to Alaska for two weeks. Then three months later, I find out I've got this blockade in my heart. I said, 'My God, do you know how lucky we are to be sitting in the Mayo Clinic instead of the middle of a glacier?' I could have been toast."

Hughes then paused, chuckled and added, "One of the players, who shall go nameless, told me he couldn't believe I could have had a heart attack because I didn't even realize you had a heart."

Now, after more than a quarter-century with the PGA TOUR, Hughes figured it was time to say goodbye. He'll consult for the PGA TOUR for a while and do some projects in golf, but it's time for him and Patty to do other things.

"I'm most proud of the relationship I've developed through the game and my contributions to the PGA TOUR as we know it today," Hughes said. "I've always enjoyed the challenge of doing something new and becoming involved in startup situations. I've felt it was my job to look out for the game, the players, the tournaments of the PGA TOUR, the commissioner and the staff. I've really loved it, but it's time to move on."