Tyler McCumber embraces adventurous side off the golf course

The tectonic plates of Iceland, the culture of Switzerland, the food of Italy and the rocky mountains of Canada may be a life-long bucket list for some.

For Tyler McCumber, it was his month off.

McCumber, who topped the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada money list in 2018 after three victories, was fully exempt for this year’s Web.com Tour season. So once things wrapped up in Canada last summer, he took some time to fuel his adventurous side.

A lifelong surfer and adrenaline junky, the 27-year-old has a history of visiting some off-the-beaten path type places. But he says it’s all part of his journey to get better on the golf course.

“Taking two or three trips a year is huge,” he says. “They don’t all have to be extravagant, but if, at least, I can turn off my brain and play zero golf – since I’m totally distracted and I’m feeding that more adventurous/explorative/adrenaline side – I know when I come back I can re-focus and get back to it. And when I’m playing I know I’ll have a trip coming up. For me, it’s been big.”

McCumber, the son of 10-time PGA TOUR winner Mark McCumber may not have a typical off-season training regiment – you would be hard-pressed to find another Web.com Tour member who spent most of their winter in another state, let alone three other countries – but there’s no arguing in its effectiveness.

Despite not missing a cut and playing some steady golf so far, he says there is no secret to his good play.

“My body feels really good, I’ve been putting a lot of work into that. When I’m home, I’ve got a lot of mobility and I’m working on that. To be honest it’s everything. I’m checking on all the little boxes,” he says. “My recipe to prepare, execute, rest, and do it all over again is real in tact. That’s the difference. I know how to play, how to prep and get my mind right, and I know how to rest and come back … I’ve found a good balance for that.”

McCumber got a sponsor exemption into the Safeway Open on the PGA TOUR last fall – he finished T-25 while spending the week in a camper van, and then did a surf trip down the coast all the way to San Diego, camping in the van at night and surfing during the day, before he left for Europe – and then spent 27 days overseas before returning for his Web.com Tour prep to begin.

So far so good for McCumber. After starting the year with a T-37 at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, McCumber knocked off three straight top-10’s before adding a T-14 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic.

But before he looks head to the rest of the year, he spent a few minutes with PGA TOUR Digital looking back on the winter-that-was, and the trips of a lifetime – or at least until his next one.

I went to Iceland, Switzerland, and Italy this winter. I’ve been to Europe to play – I played the Irish Open, caddied The Open Championship in Scotland, I’ve been to London (England) but I’ve never been there for fun and to backpack around. I had two months off, which it was nice because I didn’t have to go to Q-School. I only needed 3-4 weeks to get prepared for the Web.com Tour again, so I knew I had a month to take off of golf and I decided to just go to Europe.

Normally I’d take a surf trip, but I wanted to do something I hadn’t done. I packed a pair of chords, a pair of jeans, four shirts, and a jacket and like, nothing – maybe 15 items of clothing in a backpack. I was in my best friend’s wedding and then flew from Atlanta to Iceland and spent 27 days in Europe.

I was in Iceland for a week, then Interlaken (Switzerland). It’s a smaller city I’ve heard a lot about; known for its extreme sports and its young and youthful on-the-edge culture, and I wanted to experience it. It’s everything it’s been talked up to be and more. It was killer. Every day you’re in this valley and there are people just jumping – they’re paragliding and parasailing off this cliff and people are BASE jumping … it was just insane. It was like Queenstown, New Zealand, or Whistler/Banff. Everyone just had this killer attitude and I loved that. I loved surrounding myself with that. To see it in a new country was something I really wanted to do. We did a bunch of really cool hikes there. I stayed downtown and immersed myself in the culture. We ate some fondue since they’re known for it there. I didn’t do any of the jumping - in Whistler last year I did the bungee jump and the zip-line, so I didn’t really need to do it again – but going back with more time, I would schedule it in. I would like to get certified jumping out of planes … that would be pretty sweet.

The attraction of going over there? I wanted to see some old (stuff). I hadn’t seen anything old. I’m from the U.S. and a couple hundred years is the extent of our historical run. So I said, ‘you know what – I’m going to go to Europe.’ There’s stuff from a thousand years ago. It was pretty neat to see that. I probably won’t go back and do it again, to that extent, because it was a one-and-done deal. I’d love to go back for a golf tournament. But, I was able to make it fun. We stayed in hostels so it wasn’t going to be a luxurious trip. We were drinking cheap beer, and we weren’t getting all fancy. The best pasta dishes are like $5. It’s not super ritzy, so from that aspect we kept it rugged. We went to local spots, and put more energy into finding really good restaurants and making sure I sought out the locals and asked them what their favourite pizza place was – not where everyone goes. I was able to keep it edgy in a way and kept it really authentic … but it’s hard to eat pizza now.

I was by myself in Iceland and in Switzerland. I’d get the recommendations of where to go. I was staying at a hostel (in Switzerland), which was really cool, and my sister went there 20 years ago, it was the exact same one. It’s called Balmers Hostel and it’s a pretty famous one in Europe. I went there myself and I went to a couple coffee shops, restaurants, and bars, and within two days I met like eight people and we had so much in common. They’d say, ‘hey, let’s go on a hike’ or ‘hey let’s grab a beer here’ or ‘I know this great adventure to go on.’ It’s very like-minded. Everyone is there for the same reason. They love the outdoors, they love the culture, it’s exciting to be new and young and thrive off each other. We all love to travel; we love whatever it is – hiking, bungee jumping, and jumping out of planes whatever it is. The last thing they’re going to ask me is what do I do for a living. It doesn’t matter to them. They’re just having a good time. That’s something I love about the culture of travelling and the backpackers … these parts of the world attract a certain type of person and I think that’s why I like going there. Queenstown, Whistler, Interlaken, they’re very similar … everyone is there to push the limits, get a good healthy rush, live life to the fullest … that’s the thing that you’re going to find the most.

In Iceland, I did do the (hot springs) bath, but it was very touristy. They’ve done a lot of filming of Game of Thrones there and I don’t watch the show but I did look into it, and there is this beautiful scenery. There’s a spot where you can technically stand on the European and North American continent on the same time, because it’s where they overlapped each other. There’s this little hill where (the tectonic meeting place) of the two spots would be. Iceland is one country but on the North American and European continent. But that’s some serious touristy stuff.

I actually just went to Whistler too, for seven days. I went back! I’ve been there like 4-5 times in the summer but I had never been in the winter. I was like, ‘this place is so rad … I have to go in the winter. I have to see what Whistler looks like with snow on it.’ Sure enough, the day before I got there, there was a massive snowstorm and it was minus-five degrees Fahrenheit. It was freezing. The coldest temperatures I had ever been in. I was asking the guy at the rental car, ‘hey man, does this have winter tires?’ And he was like, ‘yeah dude, there are winter tires’ (laughs). I was totally out of my comfort zone with the coldness, being prepared for the cold … I had to get layers of clothing. We ended up doing some really badass 7-8 hour snowshoe treks through the mountains to these abandoned logging towns. We did some cross-country skiing. We went to the gun range and shot nine different guns. I was the only guy who hadn’t shot a gun – and I’m the one from Florida! It was my first time shooting a gun, which was pretty wild. I can’t believe I came to Canada to shoot a gun for the first time. Whistler in the winter is a magical place, it caters to the snow sports, which I’m not particularly savvy at, but it is beautiful. It was truly humbling when you are snowshoeing over a frozen lake that seven months ago you were swimming in. It was pretty crazy. I was in this frozen water seven months ago, and that’s not something a Florida boy has ever experienced. That’s next level, man.

I just booked another trip with my buddies. We’re going on a surfing boat charter in Indonesia. We’re going September 5, two days after the Web.com Tour Championship. We go to L.A., Japan, Bali and then you take a boat ride to an island that takes you to the next boat. It’s a full two days to get there. We’re on this boat and this is pretty cool. We’re on the boat for 10 days with nine of our best friends and taking us to different surf breaks around the Mentawai island surfing perfect waves. It is the dream trip for surfers … it’s like going to play Augusta the week after the Masters if you’re a fan of golfing. It’s as good as it gets. This is a trip of a lifetime for surfers and I’m really pumped about that.