If you've been to Maui, you've probably at least driven through Sam Cyr's hometown of Makawao. It's in the “up country,” on the road to the Haleakala Crater and the national park. You might even have seen some
paniolos, Hawaiian cowboys, on the street.
EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune
Point Loma Nazarine University's Sam Cyr was rewarded for his hard work and dedication with an NAIA national championship last season.
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In the tight-knit, family-friendly community of about 6,000, Cyr was born and raised, and he'd be the first to say it was a mostly magical place. But paradise can have its drawbacks, and in Cyr's case, it was as if he'd been lassoed for most of his junior golf career.
His family was of modest means, his dad was an accountant who also was raising a special-needs adopted child, and rarely could Cyr afford to reach the mainland for top-level tournaments. On the few occasions he did, it seemed he could never adjust to the mainland's grasses, and Cyr said he never played very well.
It all added up to little interest from prospective college coaches. So Cyr had to take a leap of faith, in every sense of the word.
As a junior last May, Cyr became the third Sea Lion in school history to win a national golf championship when he shot 8-under for 72 holes to capture the NAIA title in Plymouth, Ind., by five shots.
Cyr (pronounced SEAR) won the Arnold Palmer Award as the NAIA champion and was named to the inaugural All-Jack Nicklaus team that honors golfers at all levels of college golf. Cyr and the other players were hosted by Nicklaus at the legend's Memorial Tournament last spring.
The championship has provided him with numerous other opportunities. Over the summer, Cyr competed for the winning U.S. team in the U.S.-Japan Collegiate Cup in Tokyo, and he was among the American contingent in the World University Games in South Africa.
Maybe now there are college coaches who are wondering, “What if?”
“There are a lot of good players that coaches don't know about, and they get a lot better,” Cyr said. “I know that I was a no-name, and I try to be humble in that.”
“I think you can look at it a couple of different ways,” said Ben Foster, PLNU's coach of 35 years. “Sam wanted to be in a certain kind of environment, a Christian environment, and those kind of feelings carry over to your golf experience. Maybe he has excelled because of the environment of this golf program. I feel like he's been in the right place.
“But I also have no question that he has the skills to have played at a higher level. At this point, he could play for just about anybody in the country.”
As Cyr, 22, enters his senior season at PLNU, he does so as the most accomplished golfer among the five collegiate men's programs in San Diego County. He has won six times in three years, and his school-record stroke average last season, 71.66, was better than any other player in the area.
“He's one of the best ball-strikers I have ever seen,” Foster said.
Cyr also is fiercely competitive and a tireless worker. In his sophomore year, he led the NAIA finals through three rounds, but he faltered with a fourth-round 74 and lost by three shots. It ate at him for weeks.
“Oh man, it bothered me,” Cyr said. “I thought about every shot I had and every putt I missed. I worked really hard over the summer because I didn't want to blow it again.”
Cyr experienced several near-wins in the regular golf season, and then he broke through with his first victory of '08 in the Region II tournament. At nationals, he was incredibly steady, shooting 69-70-71-70.
“It was really gratifying to finally get it done,” Cyr said.
Cyr's success has had a considerable impact on the PLNU program. Foster intentionally scheduled the Sea Lions for this month's NAIA Preview Invitational so that Cyr could get a look at the TPC Deere Run course in Silvis, Ill., where the NAIA finals will be held in May. In November, PLNU will play for the first time in a Turtle Bay, Hawaii, tournament contested mostly by Division I teams.
After all Cyr has accomplished, and with his aspirations to reach the PGA Tour, Foster feels a sense of duty to give Cyr all of the top-level exposure he can. He's hoping that, among other things, some prospective future backers might take notice.
Maybe someone else should now take that leap of faith.
“Sam knows what it takes to compete and win, and we hope and pray he gets the opportunity to do that at the next level,” Foster said. “We trust that he will.”
Tod Leonard: (619) 293-1858; tod.leonard@uniontrib.com
