April 11, 2005

Jim Seimas, Golf Scene:
Local goes for fame on Golf Channel show

The DeLaveaga Golf Course assistant superintendent, looking like he just strolled out of Studio 54, talked a big game during his April 2 interview to be a contestant on the golf reality show.

Pacheco talked big, walked big and played big in a brief skills test.

"When I walked out of there, I didn’t think ‘Oh, I could have said this or I could’ve done that,’" Pacheco said of his audition at Moorpark Country Club in Southern California. "I did and said everything I wanted."

The audition was one of four held on U.S. soil. Two will be held in Europe later this month. Pacheco will find out in late May or early June if he made the cut.

"The Big Break IV" will be filmed for two weeks in Europe later this year with the winner given exemptions for the European PGA Tour.

Pacheco was one of 30 finalists at the Moorpark audition site, but the only one to wear a button-up, bright orange shirt with black and yellow stripes.

He even showed them what was under it, exposing three tattoos: Mighty Mouse holding a driver flying over a golf course on his right arm, his son Cole’s infant footprint and birth date on his left arm, and his daughter Courtney’s childhood hand print and birth date on his back.

Pacheco got feedback too. Interviewers liked his shirt. All the other finalists were dressed in collared golf shirts. The producers also liked the questionnaire Pacheco turned in.

One of the questions asked for your inspiration. Unlike many finalists, Pacheco didn’t give the name of a famous golf professional, but his children.

It was Courtney, 13, and Cole, 4, that kept him from completely falling apart during his recent divorce, he said.

"I meant it," Pacheco said. "They’re my inspiration."

He told interviewers about his life as a golf journeyman, bouncing around from course to course trying to climb the ladder and playing on several mini tours.

He told them about the times he slept in his car before landing a job at Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club. And the time he mooched range balls from a friend working at Torrey Pines in San Diego, while he was working as a valet for the Marriott Marina Hotel in the early ’90s.

He mentioned the time he played nine holes with basketball icons Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Cotton Fitzsimmons at Newport Beach Country Club in the late ’80s, and how he sank the winning putt while playing with actor director Clint Eastwood in a local amateur tournament two summers ago.

"I’m not a country club kid," Pacheco said. "I did it the hard way. I’m self taught. I’m 41 and I don’t have a lot of big breaks left, so I’ve got to give it all I’ve got."

That said, one would think Pacheco is practicing nonstop with the possibility of making the show.

Actually, Pacheco says he has played twice since taking second place to phenom Eddie Olson at the Santa Cruz City Amateur last summer.

There was dust on his clubs, Pacheco said, when he packed his bag for "The Big Break IV" skills test.

Don’t worry, said friend Scott Bedell, Pacheco is sharp. "I have no doubt he’ll not only be on the show, but he’ll win it. I haven’t seen anyone on that show that has the game he does."

During the skills test, Pacheco was asked to shot shape (straight, fade and draw) with three balls on three different clubs (5-iron, 9-iron and driver), calling the shot before each swing. Pacheco was right on each time.

He also had three balls to hit a wedge to a green about 115 yards away. He put all three of his shots within six feet, and his last shot hit the pin and dropped to an inch of the hole.

"I just wanted to stand out," Pacheco said. "I’m not you’re typical guy who is going to be quiet and courteous, I mean I know how to do both, but I’m the guy who says, ‘If you like golf, you’re going to love this shot’ before I hit it."

Contact Jim Seimas at jseimas@santacruzsentinel.com.