Morgan Creek Missing A Familiar Face As Wayne Vollmer Retires
Wayne Vollmer Accepts A Plaque In Recognition Of His Club's Hosting The 2017 BC Amateur From Past President David Atkinson - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
After a long and accomplished career in the golf business, Wayne Vollmer acknowledges that retirement feels a little different. “It’s been a couple of weeks now and I am trying to get over the overwhelming feeling of not going into work every day,” Vollmer says with a chuckle.
Vollmer, 75, had been director of golf and head professional at Morgan Creek Golf Course since the Surrey club opened in 1995. But his golf career stretches back much farther than that.
Vollmer won the Canadian Junior Boys Championship in 1962, attended Arizona State University on a golf scholarship and turned pro after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
He played the PGA TOUR for four years starting in 1969 and will never forget his first tournament as an official tour member. “It was the third round of the Los Angeles Open and I was paired with a young man called Arnold Palmer,” Vollmer says. “So that was quite an introduction.
“I had never played in front of so many people in my life. The first hole was lined several deep from the tee to the green and he was such a fantastic person. Right away, he tried to make the two of us playing with him feel very comfortable. He was very friendly to both of us, so that started the tour off pretty well.”
Before joining the PGA TOUR, Vollmer performed well on the old Peter Jackson Tour in Canada. His wins included the 1968 Alberta Open, where he beat Moe Norman and Bob Wiley in a playoff. Another notable win for Vollmer was the 1971 B.C. Open at Marine Drive Golf Club.
After calling it quits as a touring pro, Vollmer spent 12 years at Point Grey Golf Club. He worked for a year opening Quail Ridge in Kelowna (now Okanagan Golf Club) before being lured back to the Metro Vancouver area to run Morgan Creek.
He is especially proud of the work he and his team did at Morgan Creek the past quarter-century. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of Morgan Creek, the team, the ownership,” Vollmer says. “It has been a great, great trip. I have great memories. It just seems like it was yesterday when I started this journey.”
Vollmer left Morgan Creek at the end of February and plans to work on his fitness, spend some more time with his family and, of course, play lots of golf. Asked how his wife Susan is adjusting to having him at home full-time, Vollmer laughed and said, “She actually paid me a compliment the other day. She said 'it’s quite nice having you around.'”