by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Mark McCumber has made a living off the earth. Whether it was during a 27-year career on the PGA Tour or moving dirt while designing golf courses, McCumber has found himself outside, surrounded by the elements, totally in his element.
“Since McCumber Landscaping was started in the late 1960s, I have worked with the earth,” said McCumber during the Monique Burr Foundation tournament recently at Osprey Cove, a course that he designed.
McCumber is a true local who grew up on a public course and grew up playing public golf. His backyard overlooked No. 14 at Hyde Park, and that’s where McCumber honed his game, one that eventually got good enough to join the Tour in 1978. Over his career, McCumber has made over $5 million playing golf and his signature win is the 1988 Players Championship.
Yet, for all he’s made on the course as a golfer and all he and his company are making designing and renovating courses, McCumber doesn’t spend his free time at home watching TV or avoiding golf and its related activities as much as possible. No, McCumber often finds himself in his yard, mowing his own grass, edging his driveway and pulling weeds.
“I truly like working with my hands,” he said. “Working on a golf course is just a big version of what I love doing.”
McCumber’s other passion these days is his son Tyler, a pretty good golfer himself. The years on the Tour full-time meant a nice living for his family, but McCumber also found himself on the road a lot. Now that he is playing mostly on the Champions Tour and, as he put it, “the bare minimum to keep my exemption” on the PGA Tour, McCumber has plenty of time to play golf with Tyler and follow him around the course.
Outside of playing 15 events a year, watching Tyler grow up and tending to his own yard, McCumber still finds plenty of time to work in the family business — brother Jim is chairman and CEO, nephew Josh is in the business development side and brother Tim is a golf course shaper.
“It’s a passion for me,” he said. “Jim and I do work at a fever pace. We do a couple of courses a year. The last 28 years, we have done about 50-something courses.”
Most of them are in the South and many around the First Coast area. Marsh Creek in St. Augustine, the Ravines, the Golf Club of Amelia Island and Queen’s Harbour are all local courses McCumber has renovated or redesigned.
The company has also worked on Sea Pines Ocean Course in Hilton Head, S.C. as well as The Vineyards of Naples/North Course in Naples. McCumber & Associates were also named as a finalist for the 2005 Best Development of the Year in the over $5 million category by Golf Inc. Magazine for its work on Tunica National in Tunica, Miss.
Despite the side job and semi-retirement, McCumber still plays 14 Champions Tour events a year.
He said that while perception is the Champions Tour is more laid back than the regular Tour and one in which pros seem to enjoy playing the game again, it’s not always fun and games, especially for golfers who may have struggled on the PGA tour and are really working to make a living.
“Take Dana Quigley. He did not make much money before. Now he is playing every week with a passion,” said McCumber of Quigley, whose best finish on the PGA Tour was a sixth at the 1980 Greater Milwaukee Open. He also only won $92, 298 over his 24-year career. In 1997 Quigley joined the Champions Tour and has since racked up over $10 million in earnings.
One day McCumber will hang up competitive golf completely, but he won’t ever quit playing the game or spending time in the great outdoors. There are too many rounds with Tyler on his agenda and a yard and rose bushes to attend to.