Mark Woodward looks back now and admits he might have been a little naive. When he took the job as San Diego's golf operations manager three years ago, he was coming off working 31 years for the city of Mesa, Ariz. There, he managed two golf courses, spring training ballparks and a cemetery.
None of it prepared him enough for the cauldron that is the Torrey Pines golf complex.
“I thought I was a grizzled vet after 31 years in Mesa, but you don't know the magnitude of this job until you sit in the seat,” Woodward said. “I learned more in three years here than in the previous 31.”
Now he's getting off the hot seat. On July 1, only 16 days after the conclusion of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Woodward officially becomes the chief executive officer of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, based in Lawrence, Kan. He said it was a difficult decision for him to leave the weather and the beauty of Torrey Pines, but he never had planned to spend the rest of his career here.
“I knew deep in my heart that I wasn't going to be here 15 to 20 years,” Woodward said. “When I was hired, I told (then-Park and Recreation Director) Ellie Oppenheim that I'd get the city through the U.S. Open and work on some projects. It was pretty clear it wasn't going to be a long-term thing.”
Woodward lived some managers' lifetimes in three years.
Much of his first 18 months were spent crunching numbers and facing withering criticism of a five-year golf business plan that will raise the green fees for locals at Torrey by as much as 69 percent by 2011. The plan was eventually taken over by Mayor Jerry Sanders, who added his own tweaks, and it was finally approved in May 2006, nearly a year after it was due.
“There were some tough times, but I tried not to make it personal,” Woodward said. “I'm proud of the fact that we kept it on a professional level. I think we took the high road on everything we did.”
Over the past 18 months, Woodward has overseen myriad changes at Torrey Pines: the critical improvement of the South greens, a renovation of the outdated maintenance facilities, a new parking lot, a cosmetic face-lift of the clubhouse, the addition and rerouting of cart paths on the South, extensive work on several holes of the South to prepare for the Open, the conversion of the South's grass to kikuyu at the request of the USGA, the building of a driving range pad on the North for the Open, and now the final preparation of the North Course for Open hospitality and the South Course for the first major San Diego has hosted.
“I feel pretty strongly that we've made some positive improvements,” Woodward, 55, said. “Our hearts were definitely in the right place. From a business standpoint, I think we've brought it up to where it needed to be. I hope the city allows whoever takes my place to keep on with the good work we've done. The residents have a good value for golf out there, and I hope (the city) keeps it at a higher standard, and doesn't let it go downhill each year after the Buick.”
Woodward said he still believes Torrey Pines needs a new clubhouse, a plan for which was shelved by the mayor's office until at least 2009. He also doesn't think residents should worry about Torrey being overrun with out-of-towners once the Open raises it profile even more.
“I'm pretty confident the systems are in place to prevent them from happening,” he said of the 70 percent-to-30 percent ratio of residents to visitors mandated by the mayor's plan.
Rumors have been swirling lately that the day-to-day operation of Torrey Pines would be soon taken over by an outside management company.
“That is strictly a rumor,” Woodward said. “The city is not going to lose control of this golf course. We are going to maintain control of this facility and who gets tee times.”
Woodward's successor?
Park and Recreation Director
Stacey LoMedico said she hopes to have a replacement for Woodward hired by the time he departs. She said she has yet to interview candidates.
One obvious in-house candidate is Jon Maddern, who became Woodward's assistant manager in November. Like Woodward, Maddern, 49, is a former president of the Golf Course Superintendents. He arrived from FarmLinks Golf Club in Sylacuaga, Ala., after spending most of his career in his native Michigan.
Maddern declined to discuss the job opening, and LoMedico would only say Maddern “has not been ruled out.”
North open longer
Woodward said the nine holes currently being played on the Torrey North Course will stay open longer than originally anticipated, though May 11, because work on the Open hospitality villages has gone so well.
“We jumped at that chance because it means more revenue and more access,” Woodward said.
Woodward said the fairway grass on the North's fourth hole had been taken up for a corporate village and will have to be replaced when the Open is over. All of the other villages have been put down over the existing grass, Woodward said. He said Open parking on the North will be limited to the rough areas at Nos. 14 and 15.
Wonderful Alice
The amazing
Alice Harcourt keeps going. The Fallbrook resident recently won the Pala Mesa women's club championship three weeks after capturing the Temeku Hills title. That gives her a combined 35 club championships at Pala Mesa, Temeku, SCGA Club, Torrey Pines and Industry Hills.
Harcourt, 64, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2004 and given 18 months to live. She has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments since then, and though she said doctors discovered a tumor in her stomach six weeks ago, she is optimistic about a new treatment.
After these latest wins, Harcourt said she is giving up competitive golf.
“It's time for others to have their day in the sun and for me to watch and applaud their glory,” she said.
Simpson to speak
Poway's
Scott Simpson, winner of the 1987 U.S. Open, will speak at the San Diego Hall of Champions' Sports at Lunch event on May 8. Tickets are $25 for members and $30 for non-members. For reservations, call the Hall of Champions at (619) 699-2309.
Tod Leonard: (619) 293-1858; tod.leonard@uniontrib.com
