Todd Holland (December 11, 1968- ) |
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Listen to any country song and you'll get a feel for Todd Holland. Growing up in the sticks, racing cars, falling in love, driving trucks, having kids, working hard and loving mom -- he's done it all. Without ever yielding to fashion, his workman's ethic made him -- in his time -- the most successful surfer the East Coast had ever produced.
Michael Todd Holland was born in a log cabin in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Okay...he wasn't born in a log cabin, but he did live in one. The son of an electrical contractor father and a realtor mom, Todd and brother Dack grew up five miles from the nearest paved road, riding and rebuilding go-karts and hunting local vermin. The family relocated to Emerald Isle, North Carolina, a small beachy community where the local hotshots soon had the Holland brothers in the water on a board salvaged from a nearby junkyard. At age 11, another move landed them in Cocoa Beach, a booming hub of East Coast talent. Todd immediately took to competition, facing off against fellow Cocoa Beacher Sean Slater and reaching the finals of the ESA Championships back in Cape Hatteras. He returned to take the ESA Boys' title two years later, reveling in the most powerful surf he could find. In no time he was among the country's best, being chosen for the NSSA National Team five consecutive seasons. He finished third in the Juniors' Division of the 1984 World Amateur Championships and was the United States champion in 1986. By the time he graduated from Cocoa Beach High School, the 1987 ASP world tour was three events underway, so he was behind from the start. Backed by Ocean Pacific, Todd wasted no time in making a statement before his key sponsor. At the Op Pro in Huntington, he took down defending champion Mark Occhilupo to announce his presence on what he calls "the turr". By the time the "turr" wrapped up in Australia the following April, Holland had made the cut, finishing 27th. He had no problem in small surf, but to succeed, he had to do it in Hawaii. "You're from the East Coast, you gotta prove yourself," he acknowledges. In 1988, he was put on center stage, facing the ultimate Pipe master, Tom Carroll, who only needed to defeat Holland to reclaim the world title. Pipeline was 10 to 12 feet and heaving, but Todd charged like a confederate soldier into battle. He took some serious beatings but gained invaluable respect in the process. By way of a paddling interference, he ended Carroll's title hopes and nearly earned a spot in the Top 16. Holland peaked during the 1990-91 season, rising to eighth in the year-end ratings, the highest finish achieved by an East Coaster to that point. In the biggest media event of the season, the Op Pro, he rode the "giant killer" tag all the way to first place, taking down reigning world champ Martin Potter and points leader Tom Curren in the process. (It was an East Coast sweep as Frieda Zamba won the Womens' title and Danny Melhado took the Juniors'.) Despite his success, Holland's origins made him a perennial underdog. He worked hard for his sponsors but refused to adhere to the rock star mentality. He was true to his roots, a certified good old boy, and if anyone didn't like it, too bad. 1993 was a pivotal year. Todd had plummeted down the ratings, was having financial problems, and was expecting his first child, not to mention being heavily overshadowed by cross-town sensation and rookie world champion Kelly Slater. "I wanted to beat him so bad," remembers Todd. "It wasn't personal, but it was definitely a motivation. And so was my son." That spring in Australia -- equipped with a boldly hideous Colonel Sanders goatee -- he stormed to back-to-back wins in the Coke Classic at Narrabeen and The Pepsi Edge specialty event in Victoria. The $36,000 in prizemoney and major points got him back on track, but more trouble was ahead. In Brazil that fall, Todd needed one decent result to secure his world tour seed. He was again in financial distress, riding buses between events and landing on the losing end of many close heats. In one WQS heat that would have ensured his qualification, he was called for a paddling interference against a Brazilian surfer and resorted to hassling tactics the rest of the heat. "The Brazilian announcer got the crowd riled up and people were actually chasing me into the water," he recalls. "A guy jumped on my back and another hit me in the head. They cleared a little area and I was escorted away by armed police. I had death threats. I ended up qualifying that year, but I could never go back to Brazil." By 1995 -- underfunded and overworked -- he had seen enough, and he settled near his family in Cocoa Beach. He still competed on the WQS and could have regained his WCT seed if not for his banishment from the big points events in Brazil. He tried repping for a while but decided instead on working as a travel agent for his mother who owns and operates Surf Express (www.surfex.com), a local agency specializing in surf trips. Todd remarried in 1999, and he and wife Cheryl had a daughter Chalee the same year. While he still gets a rush out of big waves and big trucks, the family always comes first. -- Jason Borte, April 2001
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