He’s an Old Pro at 16 : David Eggers Gets to Live Out Childhood Dreams as Youngest Surfer on Tour

David Eggers grew up attending most major surfing events in the San Diego area, watching as the pros maneuvered with seemingly little effort over waves he only dreamed of riding.

Eggers, 16, now rides the same kind of waves his heroes conquered in the past, with the knowledge that it isn’t quite as easy as the professionals make it look.

He’s also learning that life as the youngest professional surfer ever on the international circuit is no game.

Eggers, ranked 20th in the world by the Assn. of Surfing Professionals (ASP), is home this week to compete in the $28,000 Stubbies Pro Surfing Tournament at Oceanside Harbor Beach. He was eliminated in the qualifying rounds Wednesday, the first time in his nine professional events that he has lost in the trials.

Being on the tour means constant pressure to do better than the last tournament, in order to please the handful of sponsors who pay most of a professional surfer’s salary. And being the youngest touring surfer means a fair amount of needling from the competition.

“They accept me now, but, of course, they try to make me go through a lot,” Eggers said. “Sometimes they get jealous because I’m a young guy doing so well.

“So far, it seems like it’s me against the world, because no one wants to see me do well because I am so young. They want to see me pay my dues.”

Said Pattie Eggers, David’s mother: “When he first began traveling, I could see that he was the average 16-year-old who was afraid, because those guys (the other professionals on the tour) aren’t out there to be your friends, it’s their job. . . . But he’s getting used to it.”

Life on the road can be lonely, but Eggers says there are always people to “hang around with.”

“I have friends all over the world,” he said. “But I don’t really have any ‘best friends’ because I’m always traveling around. But I try to meet as many people as I can.”

Eggers turned professional in May. It became clear that he couldn’t be on the professional tour and keep up with his classes at La Jolla High. Something had to go.

“I was hoping he would finish school,” Patti Eggers said. “But ever since he was 7 years old, all he has wanted is to be the top pro in the world.”

She added that most of her son’s grades were A’s and Bs before he dropped out, but she now believes David is getting an equally good education traveling the world. Eggers has surfed in South Africa, Great Britain, France, Brazil and Hawaii.

“I wasn’t much into high school (activities) because I was always hanging out with my brother and all of his friends,” Eggers said. “So when I went to high school, I really felt out of place.”

Eggers has won $3,425 in prize money since turning professional. Tom Curren, the current ASP money leader, has earned $17,500 in winnings in 1986. Patti Eggers estimates that her son will earn nearly $40,000 this year from prize money and salaries from his three sponsors.

“I figure I’ve got 20 more years as a professional surfer,” Eggers said. “By the time I’m 36, I should have enough money to do whatever I want, like traveling.”