In recent years, water ski tournament activity in West Michigan has seen a significant increase with the Thursday evening ski league tournaments at Summerwood and Billy’s Puddle, several Saturday tournaments each season, and the Meijer State Games. In fact, the 2018 Michigan State Water Ski Championship will be hosted by the West Shore Water Ski Club (WSWSC) at their Conklin site. While this may seem like breaking news, the history of West Shore Water Ski Club and its president, Doug Johnson, spans decades and set the foundations for the very active water ski community we see today.
Doug began skiing when he was six years old and first saw a slalom course at age 23. According to Doug, competitive skiing in West Michigan began in the late 60s or early 70s when George Whitfield moved to Michigan from Florida. This provided the opportunity for Doug’s first tournament, in 1971, and he became hooked after completing 2 buoys. Afterward, he sought a place to practice and, while searching, spent as much time as possible free skiing and barefooting.
Doug initially formed a ski club called the West Michigan Ski Club with Tom Terbeek around 1978. The club still exists today, but as a show ski club. Soon after the formation of the club, they received permission from the city of Grand Rapids, purchased a slalom course, and held a tournament on the Grand River with over 150 skiers. The club used the substantial proceeds from the tournament to build a jump ramp and continued to seek out more suitable sites, as the restrictions from the city made it difficult to maintain a regular presence at the original river location.
The club attracted many skiers who dreamed of having a jump and slalom course on the west side of the state. Members of that first club who collaborated with and were influenced by Doug have later become prominent officials and competitors, such as Ron Pattyn, Dan Vandyk, Terry Roer, Mark Boender, Mary Clark, and Katie Mawby. Doug skied in quite a few tournaments, competing in slalom and jump. Doug’s tournament participation waned in the early 80s as he spent weekend time with his family, including 4 daughters, all skiing at his father’s cottage and enjoying family time. Doug led the original West Michigan Ski Club until 1985.
The West Shore Water Ski Club was the successor to the original club and it was formed in the late 80s by Jerry Brouwer, with Doug arranging for the incorporation in 1989 of both clubs, pro bono, through attorney and skier George Whitfield. Jerry had located the slalom course in a gravel pit near Riverside Park that was essentially an adjacent, isolated section of the Grand River known as Max Lake. Doug joined the new club and a new jump ramp was built, as the old jump ramp remained with the original club. While skiing with the club there in the early 90s, Doug and Ron Pattyn discovered a secluded gravel pit within the Bass River Recreation Area. Fully detached from the Grand River, it was known as Buddy’s Pond. After some measuring and depth checks, they concluded the weed–infested pond was suitable as a private ski site. Doug and Ron worked with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to obtain permission to install an anchored course and, after much trial and error and hard work, were able to successfully begin WSWSC operations at the Buddy’s Pond location. After Jerry Brouwer became occupied with his commitments to Action Water Sports, Doug became president of the club and has been ever since.
Many tournaments, including Michigan State Water Ski Championships, were held at the Buddy’s Pond location. WSWSC created a Tuesday night ski league, which was essentially a tournament competition with some relaxed rules, for its members. While the site provided excellent conditions and privacy, its location within a public park prevented the club from purchasing and docking a club boat there. This, to Doug, was a key capability to which he believed the club should aspire, as he envisioned those amenities to be the pinnacle of what a water ski club should be.
In 2011, the DNR changed its policies concerning the Buddys’ Pond location and required daily removal of the slalom buoys. Also, in later discussions, the DNR began to suggest restrictions to the number of times WSWSC could install the buoys at all. This, in essence, forced WSWSC to abandon that site and secure another option. The club leased a private lake near West Olive in 2012, but left after a season, due to some conditions requiring expensive dredging to correct. WSWSC obtained a lease at Placid Waters in 2013 and skied there through the 2015 season. They hosted the 2015 Michigan State Water Ski Championships at Placid Waters, along with several other tournaments.
After the 2015 season, Placid Waters embarked on a project to reconfigure the lakes and, due to the elimination of the slalom lakes, WSWSC evaluated many sites in the Grand Rapids area. Ultimately, the club obtained a lease for a private gravel pit in Conklin and moved operations to that location. For the first time, the club had a long term arrangement at a fully private site and plans could be made to provide an on-site boat lift and club boat. The club installed an anchored course, upgraded the side curtains on the jump ramp, and held the Meijer State Games at the site in June, 2017.
Like many dedicated skiers who place priority on the pursuit of the sport, Doug heeded the advice of other tournament competitors who told him he needed to have his own inboard ski boat to improve. At the tournament, a Correct Craft was used. In 1972 at age 24, he traveled to the Correct Craft distributor in Indiana (he didn’t know of any dealer) and bought a Correct Craft Mustang, which may have been the first inboard boat available to the skiers in West Michigan until the clubs were formed. Over the years, he has owned 2 Ski Nautiques, 2 Ski Supremes, 3 MasterCrafts and his current 1998 Malibu. But, his lifelong goal was to have a water ski club on a private site with a club boat readily available. In 2017, Doug achieved that goal when the WSWSC worked with Action Water Sports, purchased a 2015 MasterCraft Prostar club boat, and placed it at their Conklin site.
Doug’s tournament record includes some podium finishes and he has continued to ski in the WSWSC Tuesday ski league, as he enjoys just being able to ski the course and working hard to achieve the best he can. Illness and injuries have interrupted his participation at a few points over the years, but he has returned to ski and lead the clubs as a testament to his passion for the sport. In September of 2017, this author pulled Doug at the Conklin site cold off the dock and right up the rope to complete all his passes through 4 buoys at 28 off at 32 mph. At age 70, Doug is looking forward to sharing his love of water skiing with his grandchildren and continuing to promote the sport to younger 3 event skiers through WSWSC via clinics, partnership with Action Water Sports, tournaments, and a strong, dedicated club membership.