Remembering Don Johnson

It came as a shock to all when the news broke that former Western Golf Association executive director/president Don Johnson had died on May 24. He was 77 but seemed so young, and was always young at heart.

Johnson, who took control of the financially shaky WGA in 1988 and built a $45 million endowment by the time of his 2009 retirement, died in his Lake Bluff home.

In his 21 years, he turned the WGA from a group that lived from hand to mouth and often needed to borrow money to meet the scholarship obilgations for the Evans Scholars program to one that, as he said, "could survive a complete rainout" of a Western Open (now titled the BMW Championship) and not need to reduce the number of scholars.

That, as much or more than the memories of the golf championships the WGA conducted in his tenure – and it's hard to get the vision of Tiger Woods coming down the 18th fairway of Cog Hill's Dubsdread course, followed by hundreds of his fans, out of one's mind – will be Don Johnson's legacy.

“Don’s leadership skills were vital to our organization’s success for more than two decades,” successor John Kaczkowski said. “His leadership resulted in the presentation of world-class championships that were admired and respected throughout the golf world."

A caddie in his youth and a lawyer by trade, Johnson active first in the Wisconsin State Golf Association, and was a WGA director for five years before replacing the retiring Marshall Dann.

He exuded cool when cool wasn't necessarily part of the equation for an executive in the often stuffy world of golf. Maybe it was the full head of white hair. Maybe it was the plus-fours he habitually wore at tournament sites. It was probably both, but Johnson was also a fine leader. He said more than once, "I've got the finest staff in golf," but he built it, hiring almost everyone in the office in Golf – only educational director Jim Moore preceded him among the key personnel – in his tenure.

He is survived by his wife, Jane; a son, Benjamin, at home; two daughters, Mindy Carter, Madison, Wis., and Tally Nathan, Paradise Valley, Ariz.; four grandchildren, Nikki Nametz, Brittany Klutsky, Max Nathan and Brenner Nathan; and one sister, Lisa Hillyer, Colorado Springs, Colo. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Pamela Helfrich.

Memorials in the name of Don Johnson may be made to the Evans Scholars Foundation, 1 Briar Rd., Golf, IL 60029, or online at www.wgaesf.org.

– Tim Cronin