Deffenbaugh’s Life Revolves Around Surf, Sand and Son

Jeff Deffenbaugh admits he’s a little paranoid sometimes when he goes surfing.

On his way to the water, he’ll glance over his shoulder and see if he’s being followed . . . by his 18-month-old son, Justin.

“He follows me out there all the time,” said Deffenbaugh, who was baby-sitting his son at the Op Pro championships two weeks ago. “Sometimes, I’ll take him out with me and lay him on the board when I paddle. He digs it.”

Deffenbaugh, a Huntington Beach native now living in Newport Beach, thinks the same of fatherhood.

When Justin arrived as a surprise 1 1/2 years ago, Deffenbaugh and his girlfriend, Susie, decided to share the responsibility of raising their son. When Susie’s off at school, Jeff takes Justin to the beach.

“I’m pretty young to be a dad,” said Deffenbaugh, 20, “but I think taking care of Justin gives me more of a direction with what I’m doing. I enjoy being a dad, it’s another plus in my life.”

Juggling parenthood and competing on the U.S. tour hasn’t been easy for Deffenbaugh. Late-night feedings and diaper changes don’t usually agree with a guy who goes surfing at 6 a.m.

“It’s tough because Justin keeps us so busy,” Deffenbaugh said. “He’s learning how to unlock doors and open them. He can pick up a tennis racket and hit balls. He’s pretty amazing for his age.”

So was Deffenbaugh, who is one of the top amateur surfers to come out of tradition-rich Huntington Beach High. He won the Sunset League individual championship and led the Oilers to a 10-0 record in 1991.

He turned pro after a second-place finish at the 1991 Op Junior amateur contest, and joined the U.S. tour full time in 1992, his senior year.

In April, he won his first professional contest, beating former world-tour star Kirk Tice and U.S. tour standout Donovan Frankenreiter in the finals of the $20,000 Katin Team Challenge at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Deffenbaugh currently is ranked sixth on the U.S. tour and 51st in the world qualifying series ratings.

He has finished seventh in three of the past five Bud Pro Surfing tour contests and just missed making the finals last month at Oceanside, finishing fifth. He hopes to improve those finishes at the Body Glove Open, which starts Thursday at Malibu.

Deffenbaugh’s surfing style has impressed other surfers as well as the judges. Some surfers have compared him to Australia’s Damien Hardman, the current world-tour leader.

Like Hardman, Deffenbaugh has solid skills in any wave-size conditions, and reacts particularly well to spontaneous moves that arise on beach breaks such as Huntington Beach’s. Although he rarely goes for the eye-popping, high-scoring moves, Deffenbaugh turns in solid scores on nearly every wave he surfs. For him, consistent scores mean more money.

Surfing has become a full-time job for Deffenbaugh. He’s making ends meet through prize money, help from his sponsors and his family.

“Susie supports me in this totally,” he said.

And so does Justin, at least as far as he lets his father know.

“Justin has absolutely no fear of the water,” Deffenbaugh said. “He loves to go swimming. He’ll probably be a surfer.”

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Add surfing: Current Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ world tour rankings (after two events):

1. Damien Hardman (Australia), 1,732 points; 2. Todd Holland (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 1,600; 3. Barton Lynch (Australia), 1,592; 4. Vetea David (Tahiti), 1,532; 5. Flavio Padaratz (Brazil) and Gary Elkerton (Australia), 1,330; 7. Dave Macaulay (Australia), 1,278; 8. Luke Egan (Australia), 1,232; 9. Sunny Garcia (Hawaii), 1,210; 10. Matt Hoy (Australia), 1,116; 11. Derek Ho (Hawaii), 1,100; 12. Shane Herring (Australia) and Shane Powell (Australia), 1,090; 14. Mike Rommelse (Australia), Ross Clarke-Jones (Australia), Stuart Bedford-Brown (Australia) and Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach), 1,000; 18. Fabio Gouveia (Brazil) and Shane Beschen (San Clemente), 980; 20. Chris Brown (Santa Barbara), 972.

Current ASP world qualifying series standings (after 26th event, the Op Pro): 1. Rob Machado (Cardiff), 6,490; 2. Brown, 5,810; 3. Taylor Knox (Carlsbad), 5,415; 4. Lynch, 5,300; 5. Booth, 4,945; 6. Richie Collins (Newport Beach), 4,815; 7. Shane Dorian (Hawaii), 4,720; 8. Mike Parsons (San Clemente), 4,300; 9. Renan Rocha (Brazil), 4,285; 10. Ross Williams (Hawaii), 4,250; 11. Richard Marsh (Australia), 4,200; 12. Rommelse, 4,100; 13. Mark Bannister (Australia) and Dino Andino (San Clemente), 4,090; 15. Michael Barry (Australia), 4,050; 16. Marty Thomas (Seal Beach), 4,010; 17. Tadeu Pereira (Brazil), 3,910; 18. Ho, 3,900; 19. Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii), 3,890; 20. Victor Ribas (Brazil), 3,880.

ASP women’s standings: 1. Pam Burridge (Australia), 3,232; 2. Pauline Menczer (Australia), 2,980; 3. Neridah Falconer (Australia), 2,932; 4. Vanessa Osborne (Australia), 2,826; 5. Layne Beachley (Australia), 2,810; 6. Kylie Webb (Australia), 2,762; 7. Wendy Botha (Australia), 2,745; 8. Jodie Cooper (Australia), 2,397; 9. Lisa Andersen (Florida), 2,320; 10. Sandie Ryan (Australia), 2,176.

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Beach volleyball: San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes of Pacific Palisades, who have won 10 of 15 Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ tournaments so far this season, are running away with the $500,000 Miller Lite bonus pool.

The standings: 1. Kiraly and Steffes, 110.25 points ($184,437 in prize money); 3. Randy Stoklos, 55.125 ($56,863); 4. Adam Johnson, 52 ($50,572); 5. Mike Dodd, 49.625 ($56,563). AVP women’s standings: 1. Nancy Reno, 28 points; 2. Angela Rock and Holly McPeak, 26; 4. Cammy Ciarelli and Linda Carrillo, 23. Women’s champion receives $65,000 at the end of the season, second gets $55,000, third $50,000, fourth $40,000 and fifth $33,000.

After a week break, the tour resumes this weekend at Cape Cod, Mass.

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Surf report: It can’t get any better than last weekend, when eight-foot and higher sets blessed Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Salt Creek and Trestles, to name a few.

Although waves have dropped off throughout the week, Surfline-Wavetrak’s forecast predicts a storm off Tahiti and New Zealand should boost waves throughout the weekend and into the beginning of next week.

Swimmers and surfers should be forewarned that the strong southerly currents and rips will accompany the larger waves. Be careful.

Beach calendar

Entries are still available for the Southern California Edison longboard competition scheduled for Aug. 7-8 at the Huntington Beach Pier. The contest offers several amateur age-group divisions as well as men’s and women’s pro divisions. Entry fees vary according to divisions. The contest is a qualifying event for the world championships. A children’s surfing and bodyboarding division is scheduled for Aug. 6 at the pier. Entry fee is $15. For more information, contact Lea Murray at (818) 302-1471.

Pro beach volleyball stars Sinjin Smith and Bruk Vandeweghe will conduct a free clinic from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at UC Irvine’s grass volleyball courts behind Crawford Hall. . . . The Sideout six-player team challenge, a grass-court tournament, is scheduled for July 21-25 at UC Irvine’s athletic fields. The tournament features 12 age-group, co-ed and corporate divisions to be played on 75 courts. All proceeds from the tournament go to UC Irvine men’s volleyball scholarships.

The $150,000 Miller Lite Seal Beach Open is scheduled for Aug. 13-15 at the north side of the Seal Beach Pier. . . . The $250,000 Miller Lite U.S. Championships are Aug. 27-29 at Hermosa Beach. . . . The Laguna Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has scheduled beach cleanup at Aliso Beach in South Laguna todayfrom 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. For information, call (714) 494-0606.