Club in June 1980, and that became Cal golf ’s first fund-raiser under Desimone. The event generated more than $5,000, driven in part by prizes including a 25-pound bag of iced-down produce—lettuce, broc- coli, cauliflower—donated by Bud Antle Inc., an agricultural company and family business of then-Cal golfer Rob Goodwin. “Thirty-seven years later, we’re still laughing about that,” Desimone says. “It was insane. But everyone loved it, because it was creative. We needed to scratch every cent we could to prove we
his retirement from coaching in May. Thus ended one of college golf ’s most remarkable runs, an adventure that included one NCAA championship (2004) and maybe the most dominant team ever (2013). Desimone, a two-time national
coach of the year, was an endur- ing presence atop the Golden Bears program, gregarious and upbeat and always quick with those stories— occasionally embellished but invari- ably entertaining. Desimone’s personable nature helps explain his longevity, in many
convinced him the “rookie” had to room with Desimone. Chun was wor- ried, in part, because he had heard all about Desimone’s prodigious snoring. Desimone naturally played along.
So when Chun showed up at the hotel room, he found a rollaway cot waiting for him. He and Desimone talked for a while, until Desimone finally smiled and said, “Walter, get the hell out of here.” “He loved being part of the joke,”
Chun says. “And he’s still like that. He still has that jovial attitude, and I think that shows why he’s been so successful at recruiting and fund-raising.” Most of Desimone’s interactions
with players carry this light-hearted flavor, but he also occasionally showed his tough side. He and James Hahn didn’t see eye-to-eye, cutting short Hahn’s time on the team. Hahn now is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour and Cal’s most successful alum in the professional ranks. Desimone also relentlessly rode
Max Homa to control his temper as a college player. Homa, a member of the school’s record-setting 2012-13 team who now plays on the
Web.com Tour, often reacted angrily to bad shots, leading to bad rounds. Finally, in the fall of 2010, another
2004 NCAA championship team “
He loved being part of the joke,” [Cal assistant coach Walter] Chun says. “And he’s still like that. He still has that jovial attitude, and I think that shows why he’s been so successful at recruiting and fund-raising.”
could find a way to fund the program.” Desimone can laugh now, as he slides into retirement all these years later. He lifted the onetime club program to varsity status and later national prominence, all while doggedly pursuing the financing necessary to keep Cal golf afloat. Finally, at age 67, he announced
ways. Cal assistant coach Walter Chun recalled one of his early glimpses, when he played for the Bears. Chun didn’t travel his first two years but broke into the lineup as a redshirt sophomore in 1999. His first trip was to a tournament
in Nebraska—and Chun’s nervous- ness only soared when two teammates
Homa meltdown led him to Memo- rial Stadium in Berkeley—where, under Desimone’s watchful eye, Homa ran the stadium stairs. “I didn’t look forward to seeing Des when I was getting in trouble all the time,” Homa says. “People all my life had been telling me to calm down—then I’d birdie the next hole and everything would be fine. “Des stayed on me even if I played
well. I didn’t agree when I was 18 or 19, but now I realize it’s a slippery slope. He didn’t want that to become a habit. He knew from experience, and his own intuition, that eventually it would snowball into something worse.” Homa eventually learned to har- ness his emotions. So when he won the Pac-12 and NCAA individual championships in the spring of 2013, he found deep satisfaction in Desim- one’s response. Homa especially
SUMMER 2016 /
NCGA.ORG / 35
TIM COWIE
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