Bob Johnson of Chardonnay Golf Club takes game to new level
AMERICAN CANYON — It was about five years ago when Bob Johnson went to Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards in Napa County and headed to the driving range. He started out hitting golf balls — one after another, as often as his schedule would permit. He went through his bag, hitting all types of shots, as he looked to try and assess the overall status of his game.
Johnson came to a conclusion: he wanted to go in a new direction, testing and elevating his game by playing in tournaments.
“I thought, ‘I wonder what it would be like to try and compete again?’ I think I’ll try to qualify for something,” Johnson said recently. “I thought, ‘OK, I’ll give it a shot.’ ”
Johnson played junior golf in Santa Barbara. He played for Santa Barbara High School. He played two years for Fresno City College.
He has now taken his game to another level.
Johnson plays in Northern California Golf Association events, as well as other tournaments, throughout the year.
He qualified and played in the 63rd U.S. Senior Amateur, a U.S. Golf Association event, at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minn., in 2017. Johnson, a Vacaville resident and a member at Chardonnay, shot 74–78–8-over 152 in stroke play qualifying and got into a 12-man playoff to determine the last seven spots into match play competition. Johnson advanced after making par on the first hole and was eliminated with a double bogey on the second hole of the playoff.
“Competitive golf is totally different than playing with your buddies,” he said. “The nerves, obviously, are different. The courses are usually set up differently. And so by competing, you do have to get back in that mindset.”
Johnson plays a tournament schedule. He also spends a lot of time working on his game at the range.
“The practice facility here at Chardonnay I think is the best one in the area,” he said. “Depending on the wind, you can go practice and play different types of shots.”
Background in golf
Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Johnson and his family moved to Santa Barbara when he was very young. He was introduced to the game when he was 10 years old by his dad, Bill Johnson, an “accomplished player,” according to Bob.
“When we were younger, he taught my brothers and I how to swing. He allowed us to come out when he went out to hit balls. My brothers and I would each have our own baskets and we would whack away at it,” Bob Johnson said.
Johnson learned a lot of things about golf from his dad: keeping the ball in play by hitting it straight, limiting mistakes, respecting the game with the correct etiquette.
“That’s where it starts for a lot of people, is when a family member introduces you to the game. And then from there, he supported us in the junior golf, driving us to tournaments.”
Thanks to the Santa Barbara Junior Golf Association, Bob Johnson and so many other juniors were able to practice and play golf and also enter tournaments in the area. Youths ages 10–19 are currently able to play in the Santa Barbara Junior Golf Tour. Now in its 45th year, it’s a summer league that features tournaments.
“Their junior golf program allowed us to play and allowed for reduced rates,” he said. “They’ve had some great programs. They were very supportive of junior golf.
“The parents volunteered their time for us and allowed a lot of players to have the opportunity to play junior golf. Without that, there’s no way in the world I would have developed the love of the game that I have, because it probably would have been cost-prohibitive.”
A program, started by Monte Sanders at Santa Barbara Municipal Golf Course, enabled local students and juniors in the community to play golf all day for just $1 per day during the summertime.
“My mom would drop my brothers and me off at the golf course a few times a week in the morning. She picked us up at dark and we’d be out there all day long, just being able to play,” Johnson recalled.
A tournament series allowed the juniors to play such courses as Sandpiper Golf Club in Santa Barbara, Valley Club Of Montecito, Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara, and Birnam Wood Golf Club of Santa Barbara. The entry fee was $15 for the entire summer.
The juniors were treated to a week-long clinic by Buddy Allin, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, who played college golf at BYU and got his start in the game by caddying as a youth at Santa Barbara Municipal Golf Course.
Johnson was named as the Athlete of the Week by the Santa Barbara News-Press for his performance for Santa Barbara High, as he set a Channel League scoring record, shooting a 2-under-par 142 total in a 36-hole California Interscholastic Federation qualifier at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai Valley, Calif., in 1976 as a junior.
He also received the Al Geiberger Award. Geiberger won the PGA Championship in 1966 and was an 11-time winner on the PGA Tour. He played on two Ryder Cup teams and won 10 events on the PGA Tour Champions.
Johnson had a summer job when he was younger, working with juniors as a counselor and instructor at the Billy Casper Golf Academy in San Diego. Casper, who is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, was a 51-time winner on the PGA Tour and had nine victories, including the Transamerica Senior Golf Championship in 1989 at Napa’s Silverado Resort and Spa, on the PGA Tour Champions.
Johnson continued with golf, playing two years on the men’s team at Fresno City.
“I enjoyed playing at a different level,” he said. “After that, I pretty much gave up the game.”
Returning to the game
Johnson played only a few times a year since his days in college. He and his wife, Cindy Johnson, have four daughters: Stephanie Austin, Kaytlyn Johnson, Chelsie Fonseca and Amanda Johnson.
“It wasn’t until we got our youngest daughter into college that I thought, ‘OK, now I have some more time,’ ” he said.
Johnson is a three-time club champion at Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards, a par-72 championship course which plays 6,948 yards from the Sovereign tees. He won his first title in 2017 and went back-to-back, claiming titles in 2019 and 2020.
He had four birdies and shot a bogey-free 68 in the first round of this year’s event. He shot 71 in the second and final round.
“The second day I didn’t strike it as well, but I was making all of my short putts, and that allowed me to stay in it when I wasn’t hitting it as well,” he said.
“I’m a pretty good driver of the ball, meaning I hit it straight. I have a game that I count on my putter. I don’t hit it as far as everybody else. I just try to limit the mistakes.”
He won the senior division of last year’s Fairfield City Amateur Championship, which is played at Rancho Solano Golf Course and Paradise Valley Golf Course.
In late June, Johnson placed 17th in the Northern California Golf Association Public Links Championship. Playing in the scratch division, he shot 74 at Pacific Grove Golf Links and had a 74 at Poppy Hills Golf Course at Pebble Beach.
Johnson played in the NCGA Senior Match Play Championship in August. He advanced to match play after shooting 78 and tying for 16th place in stroke play qualifying at Poppy Hills. Johnson lost in Round 1 of match play, 5 and 4 to John Mack of Alta Loma.
Last year, he finished in a tie for 26th place at the NCGA Senior Championship at Poppy Hills. He had rounds of 78, 74 and 76.
Johnson was 10th in the NCGA Senior Valley Amateur Championship last year, shooting 78–76–154 at Oakdale Golf and Country Club.
“The NCGA has a wonderful reputation in California, at putting on some very good events, supporting all the different clubs and courses around Northern California with the tournaments that they have,” he said.
He was 32nd in the NCGA Senior Championship in 2018 at Poppy Hills. Johnson had rounds of 80, 79 and 84.
He finished ninth at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento during a qualifier for the NCGA Senior Championship on Aug. 19. Johnson was one of 23 players to advance after shooting a 1-over 73 at the Alister MacKenzie Golf Course. He will play in the NCGA event Sept. 23–25 at Poppy Hills. It’s the “association’s premier event for players aged 55 and over,” according to the NCGA website, ncga.org.
At the driving range, on the course
Johnson said he doesn’t have the time to play as much, due to his responsibilities at work. But he finds the time to practice, by hitting shots at the range, after work and sometimes on his lunch break.
“I would certainly love to be able to play more,” he said.
He works in sales for HomeGuard Incorporated, a home warranty company. His region is Northern California.
Having a solid short game is a key to scoring at Chardonnay, which has very challenging green complexes with slope and undulations.
“You have to put the ball in the right place,” said Johnson. “The fairways are pretty wide open. There are some risk-reward shots, but for me, I’m not going to take some of those risks. I think that by having the multiple tees, this golf course changes. You can’t get bored playing Chardonnay.”
Johnson’s wife, Cindy, will caddie sometimes. She did that during the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Bob qualified by shooting 1-over 73 at Diablo Country Club in the East Bay.
“A bucket list item was to be able to play in a USGA event. It was wonderful, all that the USGA does for you and how special they make you feel in an event like that,” Bob Johnson, 61, said. “The experience was just absolutely wonderful.
“In amateur golf, that’s kind of the pinnacle. When you check in, you get your photo taken so they can post it on the website. They have ropes set out for the galleries that would show up. They have a range attendant who puts your name where you warm up. If anybody happens to be watching, they’ll know who you are.
“My wife was fortunate enough to caddie. You really felt like, ‘Wow, I’m playing in an event here.’ You are announced when you tee off. It was a heck of an experience.”
