Back To His Roots

Dave Waymire has come full circle, and everyone at Mission Trails couldn’t be more excited. Humbly, he gives his crew all the credit for the turn around in the course condition, but his leadership has been instrumental in saving this golf course.

It was not a difficult decision for Waymire when he found out that the superintendent job was available at Mission Trails in the fall of 1998. He started his career as an assistant professional at Mission Trails (Navajo Canyon in 1972). His father, Claude Waymire, head professional at Tecolote Canyon at the time, told his young son, “ If you want to make a decent living in the golf business, be a superintendent, grow grass.” Waymire took his father’s advice and started working on the course instead of in the pro shop. Waymire was hired to be the superintendent at a course in Riverside. He spent six years there before accepting the superintendent’s job at Warner Springs in 1990. By November of 1998 he was the General Manager of that facility. “I spent a couple of years as the Director of Golf, and a couple years later I found I was the General Manager of the entire facility. Returning to Mission Trails, and being back in San Diego was part of the reason he jumped at the opportunity, but it was also the pull of “growing grass” again. “I missed the city and I missed being outside. The decision to return to Mission Trails was really a no-brainer. Due to the poor condition of the course, no matter what I did I would be the hero.”

Now that the initial transformation has taken place (grass on the greens and fairways), Waymire admits that they still have challenges, and it won’t be easy to improve the condition in a dramatic manner. “When I first got here I had to set the priorities. The course condition on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being excellent, was a 2. Now it is about a 4.5 or 5. My goal is to raise it to 7. My first priorities were greens and bunkers. Bunkers we could fix immediately, provided we had the financial resources, but greens would take seasons before we could see improvement. I arrived in November and with Bermuda greens in winter, it wasn’t an overnight success. It was summer of 1999 before we could see any visible differences,” Waymire explains.

Waymire wanted to see modifications and improvements in two specific areas. First, were the cultural practices such as airifying, spiking and irrigation control. The second was traffic control because even in its’ worst shape Mission Trails was getting 50,000 – 60,000 rounds per year. This year they are on pace for upwards of 90,000 rounds. Waymire’s third priority was tree trimming. “We desperately needed to cut back trees. The trees needed to be trimmed and shaped so that the mowers could go under and around them. This would also make the sprinkler system work more efficiently”, said Waymire.

Currently, like most other Southern California courses, many Eucalyptus trees are being damaged by the Lerps Psyllid insects. Waymire is hoping a certain mosquito, which is the natural predator of the Lerps Psyllid, will quickly multiply so hundreds of the beautiful Eucalyptus trees on Mission Trails will survive. Recently, a hundred of the specific mosquitoes were released into this area to combat the Lerps Psyllid insects.

Waymire’s next project for Mission Trails is to rebuild the tee boxes. Waymire pointed out, “With poor maintenance over the years, the tee boxes tend to lose level playing surface.” Next on the wish list is a new irrigation system, but he does not see that happening any time soon.

Waymire is not only the superintendent for Misson Trails, but he is also the Regional Superintendent for American Golf, which basically means he helps the superintendents at four other properties in the San Diego area. He visits Tecolote, National City, Eastlake, and Chula Vista, at least twice every month and is responsible for hiring the superintendents at these facilities. “I get all the credit and my guys do all the work. I have a great crew and I have a great support staff in the golf shop. Walt Willows, the Head Professional, Todd Garwood, the General Manager, and Jim Svoboda, my assistant at Mission Trails are an awesome team. It is definitely a group effort at this facility”, applauds Waymire.

Dave Waymire has adopted a philosophy over the years – one that has obviously served him well. “Everything that’s right with the course is because of my crew. The bad stuff is my fault – I take full responsibility. I must not have done my job communicating what needed to be done.”

Jacqui Nicoletti McSorley is co-author to the book Golf Guide for Parents and Players (Mansion Grove House), along with Johnny Gonzales. Additionally, Jacqui played professionally on the Japan LGPA Tour, and is currently a sought-after LPGA Teacher and started an LPGA-USGA Girls Golf site in northern San Diego county.