Jim Robinson says the Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club is in its best shape in more than 20 years. Credit that to divine intervention, courtesy of the recently departed Dave Johnson, the Director of Golf Course Operations at Mission Hills for more than a quarter century.

“I guess he’s shining down on us,” Robinson, the Director of Golf at Mission Hills, said last week. “Just keeping us in line.”

Dave Johnson Johnson passed away suddenly on Feb. 19 at age 57 at his home in La Quinta, Calif., five weeks before he was to oversee the Tournament Course for the 30^th time during this week’s ANA Inspiration. Johnson oversaw all three 18-hole courses at Mission Hills. He also created grass tennis courts, bringing the 2006 Davis Cup to Mission Hills, and built a croquet court which has been the site of professional tournaments.

A 1985 Michigan State graduate in turf management, Johnson was an assistant superintendent at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, where Bob Tway famously holed out from a greenside bunker to beat Greg Norman at the 1986 PGA Championship, before moving west.

“He was a legend at Mission Hills,” Garret Kriske, the Mission Hills General Manager, said in February. “I’ve already heard from the commissioner (Mike Whan), which is nice. That says something.”

“I kind of feel like we grew up together in our respective jobs,” said LPGA Rules Official Jane Reynolds, who worked with Johnson at Mission Hills and other LPGA qualifying tournaments over 18 years. “He will definitely be missed.”

Affectionately called “Big Dave” by locals and LPGA players alike for his large presence and kind Midwestern demeanor, Johnson could often be found at the ANA Inspiration tooling around the course in his golf cart. He welcomed feedback from the Mission Hills membership during the year and from LPGA players during tournament week.

To memorialize his work, his golf cart will be stationed near the first tee this week, in addition to the re-naming of the putting course in his memory and placement of his bio in this week’s tournament program.

Filling his shoes this week will be David Hay, the Regional Agronomist for Club Corp and a superintendent at nearby Indian Wells when that course was one of the sites for the annual PGA Tour event. Jarred Taylor, Johnson’s assistant for the past year, will be sharing that role on the Tournament Course.

Robinson said he was mentored by Johnson on the finer touches of interacting with members, club leadership and the LPGA.

“It wasn’t only institutional knowledge, but the way he treated people, a warm guy who loved everybody,” Robinson said. “He meant the world to our staff and always had a way to reach everyone.”

Johnson had the same sensibilities about making the course special. On numerous occasions, the Tournament Course has been rated the best-conditioned track on the LPGA. He was continually pursuing better conditioning and tougher playing standards for the top women playing in the year’s first major championship. He was particularly attentive to making sure the rough was difficult enough to reach major championship standards.

“Dave’s impact was huge,” said John Miller, the LPGA’s Agronomist. “He was here so long he knew all the nuances of the tournament as well as the golf course. He was constantly trying to make the golf course better and make it more challenging for the players. Over those years as technology for the golfer changed, so did technology in golf course management. Dave used the technology on the maintenance side to try to help defend the golf course from players being able to hit the ball farther and spin the ball more. He was a perfectionist and really cared how the golf course showed on TV. He wanted the members to be proud of their golf course when they watched the broadcast.”

“Throughout the years, Dave and his team prepared the course as it should be – firm greens, fast fairways, and challenging rough,” said Marty Robinson, an LPGA Rules Official. “All the players knew what conditions to expect – conditions that rewarded a well-struck shot and penalized a poorly struck shot. As it should be.”

Sue Witters, the Vice President of Rules and Competition, tells the story of the 1999 ANA Inspiration when the rough was a tad too high.

“We told him he had to cut it a little bit as it was borderline unfair,” said Witters, who worked alongside Johnson for 20 years. “He reluctantly did trim it and that was the year Dottie Pepper went on to win and break the scoring record (19-under par, which still stands). Dave said the following year he was going to have the rough a foot long and there would be no more record- breaking scores.”

He even paid close attention to the maintenance of Poppy’s Pond, the water hazard within a larger hazard on the 18^th hole where the ANA Inspiration champion takes a leap after winning. He made sure it looked good and was clean in consultation with an outside lake maintenance company. The Mission Hills women’s club champion also gets to leap in weeks prior to the ANA Inspiration, offering that member-LPGA event carryover.

“That showed his ability to balance the demands that a tournament can put on you,” Jim Robinson said. “He was always attentive to putting a product out there that balanced the member expectations and also the quality course for a LPGA major. He was always trying to do the best for everyone.”

Johnson's Presence Still Felt at ANA Inspiration

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