LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | At the U.S. Open last June, Jon Rahm and his father, Edorta, were walking along the fourth fairway at Torrey Pines’ South Course as the paragliders floated above the nearby cliffs that tumble into the Pacific Ocean 300 feet below.
The paragliders are a part of the Torrey Pines scenery, taking off from the gliderport just beyond the 12th green on the South Course and skimming their way up and down the craggy coastline, pilots hanging beneath their multi-colored wings, riding the wind like birds.
They tend to hang out alongside the long par-4 fourth hole on good days, sometimes five or six at a time, creating a pathway in the sky just above the ocean.
Edorta Rahm was once a paraglider in Spain.
“I don’t know how he had the guts to take off running and jump off a cliff,” his son, Jon, the world’s top-ranked golfer, said this week back at Torrey Pines where he got engaged and won the 2021 U.S. Open.
As Rahm and his dad watched the paragliders, the inevitable question was asked.
“I asked him, ‘Would you be able to do it?’” Rahm said.
“He hasn’t done it in 20-plus years. I said, ‘Would you be able to do it?’ I’m sure the technology has changed. And obviously, what is he going to say but, ‘Obviously, no problem.’”
It’s a mesmerizing visual, watching a person (sometimes two if it’s a tandem flight) cruising along like a seagull. They’re silent, the antithesis of the fighter jets from nearby Miramar that scream over Torrey Pines on a regular basis and the throaty thump, thump, thump of the military choppers flying just above the water’s surface less than a mile from the beach.
The Torrey Pines Gliderport was in place long before the adjacent North and South courses opened in 1957. People and their contraptions have been launching themselves off the top of the cliff since the 1920s when sailplanes arrived there.
Three years after becoming the first person to make a solo, non-stop transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh took flight from the gliderport on Feb. 24, 1930, and set a gliding record, flying 22 miles from Mt. Soledad to Del Mar.
This week, part of the gliderport’s gravel parking lot has been co-opted for overflow parking for the Farmers Insurance Open. It’s also a spot where people can access the beach below, trekking down a steep winding path only to have to walk back up later.
The gliderport building is a long, low-slung blue facility, as unpretentious as it is exposed to the wind blowing off the water.
Glued to one of the blue walls is a ragged sheet of paper that reads: “For once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. – Leonard di Vinci.”
There is a snack bar that sells the familiar fare – burgers, tacos, etc. – and a collection of picnic tables outside offering a view that few high-end restaurants can offer. There are coffee mugs and sweatshirts and trinkets for sale inside.
It’s what is outside that matters. The fliers launch themselves from a grassy area that slopes gently toward the cliff and away they go.
J.C. Perren, 53, has been paragliding at Torrey Pines for 15 years and skydiving longer than that. Growing up in Venezuela, Perren remembers seeing the Olympics on television and being fascinated by the skydivers who were part of the opening ceremony.
“I said, ‘That’s what I’m going to do,’” Perren said.
Eventually, he wound up near California’s southern edge, taking others for rides (prices range from $175 to $225 to hitch a ride) when he’s not flying by himself.
“It’s an interesting feeling,” Perren said. “It’s quiet. You get all the energy from the wind or the thermals.
“Some people describe it like floating or flying through a picture. It’s one of the most amazing things you can do.”
Perren has taken passengers as old as 93 along with him, cruising the coastline. Ideally, the wind comes from the west or southwest but there have been times when the conditions have changed and Perren – and others – have been forced to land on the beach below.
During tournament week, Perren keeps his distance even as players watch the paragliders float past. He has never landed on the golf course but he has dipped low enough to high-five golfers playing the South Course.
“In the tournament, we try to respect the game,” Perren said.
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The perspective from the air – without an engine – is the reason for gliding.
“It’s really quiet. You hear the wind,” Perren said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s like sitting on your sofa watching TV. It’s that easy.”
Rahm said his father broke an elbow once on a rough landing, which helped his family convince him to find a different outlet. He found golf and now his son sits atop the world rankings.
But Jon Rahm doesn’t want to sit in a paraglider.
“I have no interest in doing it, but it does look really cool,” Rahm said.