Passion Play: Homewood Native Ward Has Come Full Circle on the Golf Course

You could look at Homewood resident David Ward and say he has had a lot of good luck fall his way during his career.

Or you could say Homewood, Flossmoor and the surrounding communities have had been lucky to have him in charge of some of the top golf courses in this area for the last 30 years.

Ward is currently the superintendent of golf at the H-F Park District's Coyote Run Golf Course in Flossmoor. This turf expert has come full circle in his life and has no plans on ending his run anytime soon.

“I love doing what I do,” Ward said.  “I do not really consider it work as far as I am concerned.”

Ward always has had a passion for golf. Even at an early age, his creativity was prevalent.

“I used to live five blocks west of where Coyote Run sits right now,” he said. “When I was 6 years old, I would find golf balls that were hit outside of the course and sell them to golfers out on the course.”

When Ward was 13, he started caddying at Idlewild Golf Course in Flossmoor. After doing that for two years, he started working on the grounds crew at Idlewild as he finished high school and headed off to college.

After graduating from H-F in 1970, Ward attended Illinois State University for three years where he majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. As Ward neared the end of college and tried to figure out what to do for a career, he wavered a little bit.

“I really didn’t know if I should teach or go to medical school,” he said. “The Vietnam War was going on, so a lot of people were just staying in school.”

In the middle of his junior year, Ward switched his major and transferred to the University of Illinois. He graduated with a degree in agricultural sciences with a focus in horticulture.

During the summer before his senior year of college, Ward worked at Olympia Fields Country Club. After graduating from Illinois in 1974, he continued to work at Idlewild before becoming the assistant superintendent in Oak Park for three years.

Brief Trip North: Ward No Cheesehead

Ward then headed to Kenosha, Wis., where he became the superintendent of a golf course and thought his days in the H-F area were done.

“I had no intentions of ever coming back to this area,” he said. “But after a bizarre set of circumstances, I came back.”

In 1981, Ward was trying to get a job at Butler National in Oak Brook. While preparing to attend an interview, he ran into a consultant who helped people find golf course jobs.

Though Ward interviewed at Butler National, he found out quickly that they already had filled the position. A few weeks after the interview, he received a random call from the consultant he met and was asked if he was interested in the Ravisloe Country Club superintendent position in Homewood.

“I told him I was and during my interview he offered me the job,” Ward said.

He returned to the area for good in 1981 and for the next 10 years led Ravisloe Country Club.

“I loved it there,” Ward said. “I never thought I would end up at Olympia Fields.”

In 1991, Ward made the move over to Olympia Fields Country Club.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make in my career," he said. "I really loved it there."

From there, Ward spent the next 14 years heading one of the top courses in the country. He also had the task of hosting two prestigious tournaments.

First, there was the 1997 U.S. Senior Open and then the 2003 U.S. Open. “Those were both very cool opportunities but also a lot of stress,” Ward said.

Hosting an event the size of the U.S. Open required countless hours of work. “We worked seven days a week, sunrise-to-sunset, leading up to the tournament,” Ward said.

He and his crew were in charge of rebuilding the bunkers, moving tee boxes and holes and sodding. “We did a lot of finish work and fine-tuning,” he said.

As much work as Ward and his crew did, they could not control the weather and it had an effect on the scores and led to criticism from the media during the first two days of the tournament.

“Olympia Fields had not hosted an event like that since 1928, so outside of the local media there was a lot of doubt if we could handle the tournament,” Ward said.

A record cold spring caused major problems for the course.

“The grass was dormant a week before the tournament,” Ward said.  “We couldn’t control the speed of the greens. Some of the things we did to prepare for the tournament did not have the effect you would expect because it was so cold.”

This presented Ward with his greatest challenge to date.

“If you have a soft golf course tee-to-green with professionals who can make the ball stay on the green like they do, we had no chance," he said.

The low scores resulted in many calling the course too easy.

“Obviously, the members wanted them to shoot really high scores at their course,” Ward said. “But the USGA (United States Golf Association) guys were really happy. They liked the way the course was playing and they felt it was fair.”

The last two days of the tournament brought sun and dried the course, making it much more difficult, and very few players cracked par. As Ward’s contract was due to expire in the spring of 2004, he made the decision to step down.

“I was burned out,” he said. “Fourteen years is a really long time to be at a high-profile golf course.”

Ward Catches on With H-F Park District

While Ward’s job at Olympia Fields was nearing the end, he had no intentions of ending his career. As luck would have it, the H-F Park District was in the process of buying the old Cherry Hills Golf Course and rebuilding it.

Ward had a high interest in helping restore that course, but he was also offered a job to head a course on the North Shore.

“I felt like I was talking to the Olympia Fields board when I interviewed at North Shore,” Ward said. “So, I took this job for half the salary and have loved every minute of it.”

Right after Ward left Olympia Fields Country Club in April of 2004, he went to Coyote Run. He was responsible for selecting the grasses and had a little input in the design of the new course.

Coyote Run opened at the beginning of June in 2005 and has been doing well since.

“I have more freedom here,” Ward said. “The people that play here aren’t my bosses. I have one boss now, and she doesn’t play golf, which is nice. As long as I do a good job, she is not going to come over and micro-manage, which is really nice.”

As Ward approaches 60, he has no intentions of slowing down.

“I would like to do this until I don’t feel good, and right now I feel healthy," he said. "I am not the retiring type. As long as they are happy with what I am doing and I feel good, I will keep doing this.  This is not a job to me, just kind of a passion.”

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