Winning Only Part of the Game for Golfer Todd Demsey : Golf: Torrey Pines grad keeps driving himself to excel.

It takes a lot to excite Todd Demsey these days. Two weeks ago, he won the California Amateur title at Pebble Beach--joining a list of former champions that includes Gene Littler, Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller and Mark O’Meara.

Although Demsey, an avid student of golf history, understood the significance of his accomplishment, the victory did not exactly set off a wild celebration of cartwheels or even a dip into the nearby Pacific Ocean. Demsey, a redshirt sophomore at Arizona State who was graduated from Torrey Pines High, celebrated by having a leisurely dinner with his caddie, Sachin Saste.

Last fall during an ASU qualifying tournament in Phoenix, Demsey had what Golf World called one of the greatest rounds in the history of the sport. He shot a 61 at the Desert Renegade Golf Course in Phoenix, rated by Golf World the toughest course in North America. But after Demsey’s record-breaking round--the previous course record was 65--he complained that he should have made the two birdie putts that would have given him a 59.

Bob Demsey said he is no longer surprised by son’s reaction to winning.

“As Todd reaches pinnacles, like winning the California Amateur, there is no celebration in him,” Bob Demsey said. “That is what he set out to do, so there’s not much surprise. He’s got a formula, and part of that is not to emote.”

Demsey has had a formula for success since he was 10 years old, and he has tampered with it about as often as he three-putts.

“When I was 10 years old, I knew what I wanted to do with my life,” Demsey said. “I wanted to be a professional golfer. I wasn’t always very good, but I enjoyed it so much. So that’s always been the plan.”

The plan is coming along quite nicely. At 20, Demsey appears poised to take the throne of the reigning superstar of amateur golf from his former ASU teammate Phil Mickelson. In just his first year as a collegiate player, Demsey had nine top-10 finishes in 16 tournaments and finished the season with the lowest stroke average (72.2) of any freshman in the nation.

Post-season honors included first team All-Pac 10 and second team All-American. He probably would have made first team had he won a tournament.

Carl Welty, Demsey’s coach of six years and also U.S. Open champion Tom Kite’s coach, said Demsey’s freshman year was no fluke.

“He’s not in the Mickelson category yet, but he’s getting there,” said Welty, director of the La Costa Golf School. “To be a great player, you have to have a tremendous amount of talent and know what you’re doing. Todd has both.”

Welty said Demsey has more drive than anyone he’s seen.

“He wants it more than anyone else,” Welty said. “Todd’s theory is, ‘If I can’t beat him with talent, I’ll outwork him.’ ”

Also working for Demsey is his family’s wealth, which enabled him to develop his skills and hone his game at four championship caliber golf courses in the San Diego area, La Costa, Fairbanks Ranch, Whispering Palms and Bernardo Heights, and one in Palm Springs, La Quinta--an advantage that few players enjoy.

But playing championship courses does not a champion make. And Demsey is confident that he would have succeeded playing anywhere. He feels that way, he says, because he has mastered the psychological approach to the game.

“I like to be as prepared as I possibly can,” he said. “Other people can play on just natural talent, and that’s great. But I believe I need more than just my own ability.”

A prime example of Demsey’s mental toughness occurred in the California Amateur finals. Demsey was matched with Arizona’s Dave Berganio, known for his gamesmanship. But Berganio, realizing Demsey is not easily intimidated, didn’t even bother with his usual tactics against Demsey.

“You have to be able to keep an even keel,” Demsey said. “I don’t let the little things get to me. When I get too emotional, I get too uptight and I can’t play.”

And even though his face might not show it, Demsey is as competitive as anyone. Whether he’s playing Ping-Pong with his father, fishing with his buddies or golfing against the best amateurs in the world, Demsey hates to lose.

“I take everything pretty seriously,” Demsey said. “If I’m playing pool, it’s the only thing that matters to me at that time. If I got skunked in high school while we were fishing, I’d be totally depressed.”

But now about the only time Demsey’s game face disappears is when he’s got a fishing rod in his hand. His favorite fishing holes used to be lakes at Fairbanks Ranch and Whispering Palms country clubs where he caught large-mouth bass, but his new hot spot is at Ocotillo Country Club in Phoenix.

After his victory at the California Amateur, Demsey took a two-day fishing trip to Blackfoot River Montana with his Arizona State teammate Larry Barber, son of Miller Barber.

“Fishing is therapy,” he said. “Sometimes I get so wound up in golf, I need to relax for awhile.”

Demsey said he gets his competitiveness from his father, who played collegiately at Wake Forest and was his first golf coach. But once Todd turned 14, Bob Demsey let Welty take over his son’s career.

“You see parents who are trying to live their life through their kids,” said Bob Demsey, president and founder of Health Examinetics, a mobile health testing service. “I vowed, whatever my kids are doing it would be their idea. I very readily stepped aside and gave Carl control.”

And even though he realized early on that his son had an opportunity to be something special, Bob Demsey said he always tried to keep golf in perspective for Todd.

“I made a point of introducing Todd to my former teammates at Wake Forest who were very good college golfers but never made it on the pro tour,” Bob Demsey said. “I wanted to make sure Todd got his education and didn’t depend solely on golf.”

When it came time for Demsey to choose a college, he could have easily followed his father to Wake Forest. But Demsey didn’t want any appearance of favoritism, so he chose ASU, a budding golfing power that was close enough to his home in Rancho Santa Fe.

Initially, Demsey wondered if he had made the right choice. ASU golf coach Steve Loy chose to redshirt Demsey as a freshman even though he was qualifying to play in most of the tournaments.

“It was frustrating,” Demsey said. “I wanted to play. I wasn’t told that I was going to be redshirted going in. I wasn’t too happy, but it turned out to be a good decision. It got me so hungry to play and play well.”

Said Bob Demsey: “I know it was tough for him. But my feeling was I knew it was going to be a learning year for him anyway. And I think you need a little adversity to grow.”

Playing with Mickelson, a three-time NCAA champion and U.S. Amateur champion in 1990, hasn’t stunted Demsey’s growth either.

“His confidence is contagious,” Demsey said. “He has such an air of confidence that I think I’ve developed a little more confidence in myself. He’s supported me and gone beyond the call of duty for treating a freshman.”

Welty said Mickelson has helped Demsey with the one area of his game that needed it--his short game.

“He’s given Todd an appreciation for the wedge and putting,” Welty said. “Mickelson’s a genius at wedge play and putting. For Todd to be exposed to that is tremendous.”

But outside of his short game, Demsey has needed little help with anything else lately. Welty said Demsey now does much of the teaching during lessons. He realized during Demsey’s junior year in high school that Demsey was more advanced that his average student.

“I was in the middle of a lesson with (PGA players) Mike Donald and Bill Britton,” Welty said,” and were analyzing swings on a TV screen. I had to go somewhere for a while and I told Todd to take over jokingly. After an hour I came back and those guys were dumbfounded. Mike Donald told me, ‘I’ve learned more in the last hour than I’ve learned in the last 14 years. Where did this kid learn all this stuff.’ It’s funny how they both won tournaments not more than a month after that.”

With ability to analyze his own swing on videotape, Demsey has become the new age golfer. When his game is struggling, Demsey simply goes to the videotape and figures out where his mechanics were flawed that particular day.

But Welty said the mechanics of Demsey, a wiry 6-3, are rarely flawed. He said the smoothness and power of Demsey’s swing is something to behold. Welty said Davis Love, Fred Couples and Greg Norman have three of the quickest swings in the game at 125, 123 and 121 miles an hour with a 1-wood. But Demsey at 116, is not far behind.

“Everybody that has dominated golf has been a big hitter--Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus,” Welty said.

Todd Demsey?

“I definitely have higher goals than being a second-team All-American,” Demsey said. “I’ve got a lot of work to get to where I want to be. A top, top college player. Then I want to turn pro and see how far I can go.”

And how far might that be?

“My dream would be to play four tournaments in a row, then take a break and fish a little,” he said. “Then keep doing that for the rest of my life.”