Mesa director tapped as U.S. Open groom

MESA - No one would nominate the Dobson Ranch municipal golf course as a potential site for the prestigious U.S. Open, but this year's national tournament still carries a distinctive Mesa flavor.

Mark Woodward and Don Flavell are reuniting again at the U.S. Open in San Diego after spending decades maintaining Dobson Ranch and Riverview golf courses.

After retiring from Mesa following a 31-year career, San Diego chose Woodward to supervise $8 million in renovations during the past two years at world-famous Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, one of the nation's most beautiful layouts.

Now, Woodward is counting on Flavell, once his right-hand man in grooming Dobson Ranch and Riverview, as one of 108 volunteer superintendents who will manicure every blade of grass and every grain of sand at Torrey Pines during the U.S. Open on June 9 through 15.

"You never want to forget where you came from," Woodward said. "They'll be doing everything you can think of when it comes to maintaining a golf course. It's pretty much overkill. It's getting people involved to experience the U.S. Open."

Even though Flavell likely would be raking traps or mowing grass, he considers it an honor after 26 years in municipal golf. In the eyes of both men, having the U.S Open at Torrey Pines is a vindication of municipal golf because it's a city-owned course, despite greens fees priced beyond many golfers.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to help out. It gets me inside the ropes," Flavell, 46, said. "Coming from the municipal sector, it's a great honor. It's thousands and thousands of hours from volunteers that make it (the U.S. Open) successful."

Flavell and Woodward have spent their careers in municipal golf, which allows the middle- or working-class golfer access to a game with an elitist reputation often characterized by prestige and exclusion.

Woodward takes pride in Torrey Pines' municipal status, even though greens fees range from $140 to $180. He said he helped to build the back nine at Dobson Ranch in 1974 as a 20-year-old and served as Dobson's first superintendent after graduating from Arizona State University.

His late grandfather, J.D Woodward, is credited with introducing bent-grass greens at higher-elevation courses in the Valley. Many other family members work at top courses.

"This is the people's open," he said. "It means a lot to me. I've spent all of my life in the municipal-golf business."