by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
Mark McCumber sees the lure of the Champions Tour money but there’s a bigger lure - on this day, it was outside on the putting green.
McCumber was the speaker at last month’s Jacksonville Area Golf Association meeting and stood at the Hidden Hills podium. About 50 yards away, his 13-year-old son Tyler was practicing his putting.
“I asked him if he wanted to come here (to the meeting room) and hear my speech,” said McCumber, “and he looked at me like I was nuts. He saw that practice green and he wanted to work on his putting.”
While Tyler putted, his dad recalled his formative years in the game.
“As our family grew, we needed a bigger house so my father bought a place just off the 14th hole at Hyde Park,” said McCumber. “The owners were good to kids. If we picked the crabgrass, we could play free. We’d go under the fence and play the last four holes, over and over.
“If we had a school holiday, my mother would pack a lunch for me and we’d go out and play. We’d get in 54 holes, maybe more before she would blow a whistle for us to come for dinner.
“Tyler is like that.”
So, the Champions Tour?
“I’ll play a lot, but I’m not going out there and leave my family behind,” said McCumber.
Tyler is his only son - he has two older daughters - and it’s obvious that McCumber looks forward to following his future. Tyler has been an age group winner in area tournaments and may have the game to go higher.
“It takes work and every young player needs to realize that,” said McCumber. “My nephew, Josh, was an All-American at Florida but his game slipped a little. He asked me to help.
“I took him to Doral and we went to the practice tee. The tee was full and the guys had training aids to help line them up and teachers watching every stroke. They were hitting ball after ball.
“I said, ‘Josh, look who’s here. That guy won the Open last year. That guy won last week’s tournament. That guy won the Masters. And what do they have in common? They’re all out here in the sun, banging balls and working on their games.’
“It takes hard work to get to the top, and it’s just as hard to stay there.”
McCumber’s story is familiar. His dad was in the landscaping business and he has three brothers, all successful in business here. He led one of the city’s best-ever golf teams while at Lee High, went to college and went through an excruciating period trying to make the PGA Tour.
“I missed qualifying school five times,” he said. “I remember coming back one time and walked into this clubhouse. The bar overlooked the putting green and (the late PGA Tour player) Dan Sikes was sitting there.
“I was as low as you can get. Sikes looked at me and said, ‘Close the bridges! Looks like we have a jumper here!’ It was funny, everyone laughed. And I realized that my not making it wasn’t the end; I’d have another chance.”
McCumber finally made it and his career has been long and beneficial. Since joining the PGA Tour in 1978, he’s won over $6 million including wins at The Players Championship and the Tour Championship. He never won a major but he came close in all four.
He’s now a course owner (Westland) and heads a successful course design business.
He’s still bothered by a balky back, probably the result of his deep, divot-digging swing, but still manages to be more than respectable on the Champions Tour when he goes out to play: he’s won over $125,000 in nine events.
“I still have the passion. I’ve never lost that,” he said.