As the city prepares to release an audit on the financial operation of the Torrey Pines golf courses, the city golf manager has resigned.
Jim Allen, who oversaw the operation of the Torrey Pines, Balboa Park and Mission Bay golf courses, said yesterday he resigned Wednesday. He declined to comment further, on the advice of his attorney.
Deputy City Manager Bruce Herring would not comment on Allen, other than to confirm he had resigned. Herring said the city would immediately begin a national search for a new golf manager, whose job includes overseeing the Torrey Pines South Course, which will play host to the 2008 U.S. Open.
"At this point, we're just going to try to find the best possible candidate to replace Jim," Herring said. "It is important to have a new manager selected as soon as possible. But I will say that we're not going to neglect anything in the meantime."
Allen had been on administrative leave since early April, when city auditors began reviewing how cash, checks and credit cards from golfers have been handled.
At that time, two other city workers at the course were reassigned to other city positions. Herring declined to comment on the job status of the other workers.
According to the city's audit department, the Torrey Pines audit has been completed and is undergoing review before being released. Workers at the course said auditors had been on site the past several weeks collecting the course's financial records.
"I'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best," said City Councilman Jim Madaffer, who declined to give specifics on the focus of the audit. "Irrespective of what any individual has done, we obviously have a system of checks and balances . . . I think situations like this always teach us to increase accountability controls, and I'm all for that. If we have learned a lesson here, that is certainly it.
"I imagine through the city manager and the park and recreation director, they will implant greater controls that have a higher accountability standard than what we had before. That's crucial for Torrey Pines, and crucial for the city's image."
In Allen's absence, the city golf courses are being managed by an interim team that includes Balboa manager Pat Segawa, Mission Bay manager Walt Willows and Ted Medina, the chief deputy director of the Park and Recreation Department.
Herring said the major projects on which Allen was working are moving forward. Those include the renovation of Torrey Pines' North Course, which will begin after February's Buick Invitational, and the construction of a new clubhouse and office facility in 2006.
Allen replaced John Walters as city golf manager in March 2000, and in four years Allen oversaw the most significant developments in Torrey Pines' history. The South Course underwent a massive renovation by architect Rees Jones in the winter of 2001, and the U.S. Golf Association subsequently invited Torrey Pines to host the 2008 U.S. Open. It is only the second municipal golf course to receive such an honor.
Allen also was in charge of the preparation of both Torrey Pines courses for the annual Buick Invitational on the PGA Tour.
"He was an outstanding partner with the Century Club and the city," Madaffer said. "He should be given a lot of credit for what was done on Torrey South and for the way the course is maintained today. I know he had his detractors, but he did a magnificent job of taking that golf course to the next step."
Source: The San Diego Union - Tribune
