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Cavin McCall has been to the Torrey Pines Golf Course hundreds of times, but never like this — inside the ropes teeing it up alongside some of the best golfers in the world for the Farmers Insurance Open.
McCall, an assistant pro at The Santaluz Club in North County, joined the field as a local PGA sponsor exemption.
“I’ve had nerves before, but not like I had today,” said McCall, describing the chills that accompanied hearing his name announced with playing partners Trevor Cone and Steven Fisk at the North’s No. 1 tee on Wednesday. “It was just, ‘Take a deep breath, slow down, just chip it, just make moves you know your subconscious can make.’ Lo and behold, I hit a good tee shot down the middle.”
A gallery numbering nearly five dozen, one of the largest on the course, was filled with family, friends and Santaluz golf members cheering McCall on. Among them was McCall’s mom, Sonia Miro, who traveled west from Idaho for the occasion.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” she said. “I kept waking up thinking I had missed my alarm. I was a wreck.”
She hid her nerves in order to provide a calming presence for those moments when McCall looked her way along the rope line.
“It has been so invigorating,” Miro said. “I’m such a proud mom. This is a lifelong dream of his to play in a PGA Tour event. He’s worked so hard. I’m just beaming.”
McCall had a par on the first hole, but bogeyed the next two holes. He steadied himself with a pair of birdies and was 1-over through 12 holes. A bogey and three double bogies over his final six holes left him with an 8-over 80, however.
“My swing felt OK,” McCall said. “I was 1 over, then I made a bad decision, made a bad swing. It happens, right? The numbers can creep up on you real quickly out here if you’re out of position. That’s what happened to finish out the round.
“But it was fun, really fun. I wish I would have played better, but at the end of the day, so what?”
The experience was priceless. And he gets to do it all over again in Thursday’s second round.
His expectation?
“Nothing,” McCall said. “Have fun. Who cares? Am I going to shoot 59 and make the cut? No, of course not. So just enjoy the South. Enjoy some real length, make some good swings, put the ball in play.”
And take in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“You can talk all day long about making the field smaller and making it more about the tour guys,” McCall said, “but you’re going to make a lot of guys’ dreams come true putting us (PGA pros) in the field. It’s pretty cool.”
McCall actually earned an exemption last fall for the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas. Coronado’s Mark Geddes qualified for the Farmers.
Geddes contacted McCall in September, and said he and his wife were expecting a baby the week of the Farmers.
Question: Could McCall switch tournaments?
McCall’s immediate response: “Absofreakinglutely.”
“So here I am playing in my backyard PGA Tour event on a course that I’ve played a few hundred times,” McCall said. “I’m just honored and stoked and grateful and excited and ecstatic and nervous and you name it.”
There was a time when McCall, 37, hoped this would be his life. He came to golf late, turning to the sport as a teenager at Christian High School when an arm injury curtailed his baseball career.
“As close as you feel like you are, as good as you know you could be, when it hasn’t happened, you’ve got to look at reality,” McCall said. “Could I keep chasing the mini-tours and Q schools? Sure. Then I’d still be living in the guest house at my dad’s place.”
He chose another path a few years ago, becoming a club professional.
“You’re in your mid-20s and you’ve got to start making a living,” McCall said. “It’s one thing if you were having a lot of success and making some serious money and getting some sponsorship backing and you could afford to stay out there. You have to make an income at some point.
“You’ve got to be an adult and take care of what you know you can do. I know I can be a good club professional. If this opportunity is a once only in my lifetime, I’m going to cherish it and love the week as much as I can.”
McCall tees off for Thursday’s second round at 11:02 a.m., starting on the 10th hole of the more challenging South Course.
That means he will be making the turn after touring Torrey’s iconic 570-yard, par 5 18th hole.
“I don’t think I have the firepower to reach the green in two,” McCall said, “so I’ll just try to lay up to a good number and see if I can get a wedge close and give the people in the stands something fun and local to cheer about.”
Locals watch
San Diegan Charley Hoffman was in the first group on the North for his 27th appearance in the tournament. He shot a two-under 70.
Fellow San Diegans Norman Xiong and Michael Kim shot 68 and 77, respectively, on the South. Xiong began with two bogeys on his first three holes, but made six birdies the rest of the way to card one of the best rounds on the South.
USD graduate Charlie Reiter, who secured a spot in Monday’s qualifier, shot 73 on the South. Two groups ahead of Reiter was San Diego State alum J.J. Spaun, who also shot 73.
North vs. South
Cumulative score to par comparison during the first round: North Course 139 under, South Course 37 over. There were 56 players under par on the North and 30 under par on the South.
Compared to last year’s opening round: North Course 179 under, South Course 3 under. There were 58 players under par on the North and 31 players under par on the South.
Scoring averages on each course: North 70.22, South 72.49.
Dog day afternoon
Cost for a hot dog at the tournament is $12 (with a bag of chips). That’s $2 less than the everyday rate for a hot dog at the South’s Halfway House concession stand.
Woo hoo.
Still, one must wonder how Costco can charge $1.50 for a dog and include a soda in the bargain (with a free refill).
Originally Published:
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