March 7 was a busy day for me in Borrego Springs. We had an Anza-Borrego Foundation board meeting in the morning and I announced that evening that the 2026 ABF Desert Warrior Award was to the late Nicholas Clapp, former trustee and renowned documentary film-maker.
I presented the award to his widow, Bonnie Clapp, at the beginning of that evening’s performance of Jimmy Smith’s Outrageous Front Porch Revue, an ABF fundraiser, at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center. The revue, in its ninth year, offers a great evening of Americana music performed by current and former residents of Borrego Springs. Jimmy Smith is a former long-time trustee of ABF and board president.
In between the board meeting and performance, I had the opportunity to get out into the desert. ABF board vice president Tim Mielcarek led a group on a three-mile hike (1.5 miles out-and-back) to Henderson Canyon wash. The group included members of the families of board member Elizabeth Latham and of ABF Education Director Samantha Young. Kids hiked and infants were carried.
The hike originated in a section of Galleta Meadows, a privately-owned but publicly-accessible parcel off Henderson Canyon Road, that features several sculptures by the distinctive sculptor Ricardo Breceda.
Heading out.Gold miner and mule
The desert bloom was a bit past peak, but there were many blooms along the way, including the distinctive and fragrant Desert Lily.
I wish I had done a better job photographing this Desert Lily.Cactus blossoms
The objective was the Henderson Canyon wash and, after what seemed farther than a mile-and-a-half, we got there. I should not complain: the terrain was pretty flat and the weather was very pleasant. High temperature around 70, not particularly dry (I even sweat a little).
The wash.Early-arriving hikers in the wash.
As I somewhat trudged on the way back, I marveled at the kids running and leaping among rocks. Ah, youth.
Justin Rose dominated the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open. Taking the lead on the first round, he never lost it. He finished with a record score of 23 under par and a near-record seven-stroke victory. His wire-to-wire win was the first since Tommy Bolt’s victory in 1955 and, at age 45, Rose is the oldest to win the Torrey Pines tournament.
Not bad.
From a volunteer’s standpoint, the best part of the tournament this year was the weather. In contrast to last year, when strong Santa Ana winds both made conditions uncomfortable and contributed to the spread of several wildfires in the county, temperatures were pleasant, winds were light, and skies were clear. Seasoned veterans said it may have been the best four straight days of tournament weather in memory.
This was also the first tournament in several years to take place on the previously normal Thursday-Sunday schedule. With the NFL adding a 17th regular schedule game in 2021, that placed the Farmers Insurance Open final round on the same Sunday as the NFL conference championship games. CBS, which would broadcast one of those games, wasn’t going to show a golf tournament instead. So golf at Torrey was moved to Wednesday-Saturday. Losing a weekend day had a dramatic effect on overall attendance and television viewership.
This year, the tournament moved to later in January to accommodate the changed NFL schedule. Indeed, the final round was played on February 1.
San Diegan Xander Schauffle tees off at 3S in the pro-am.Justin Rose tees off at 3S in the final round.
Another factor with a major influence on the tournament this year was uncertainty . . . about the future of the tournament itself. This was the last year Farmers Insurance Company would be sponsor, and no new sponsor had been announced.
Chatting with a few young men who were curious about volunteering at the tournament, I described the costs, but also the benefits and they expressed enthusiasm at the prospect. Then I realized, and told them, there was no guarantee any of that would be accurate in the future.
The PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) established a “Future Competition Committee,” chaired by Tiger Woods, last year. Their task is to establish a new competition structure, including schedule and locations. The committee’s recommendations may not be known until summer.
TV graphic showing the drop from tee to green at 3S.
Back to this year, the volunteer crew at 3 South was little changed from previous years. When one of the crew was asked why they were willing to keep volunteering to work with me as hole captain, he said, “Well, we all knew Bill could use a lot of help.”
Got that right.
Blimp view of the northern half of Torrey Pines. 3 South is at the lower left.
The Competition Support team assigned to 3S was new to us. These are the folk whose job is to specify the location of teeshots that land off the green, providing ShotLink the information that allows them to convey the length of the shot off the tee, distance from the hole, etc. And that information makes for winners and losers who had bet on such info.
We had one interesting volunteer pairing. Debbie Dominick headed up the Competition Support Team and her husband, Tom, joined us in Gallery Management for the weekend, moving from 3 North, where he had worked the first two rounds.
They provided a “small world” moment. I mentioned to Debbie that the first house I bought was in Franklin, Mass. Gasp! That was the town in which Tom had grown up. So a little bit of reminiscing about that community, a marathon-distance southwest of Boston.
Here’s a shot of both teams at 3 South. We figured it was a no-brainer to take the picture at the Farmers Insurance sign, cuz it ain’t gonna be there anymore.
Stay tuned for how we get together again . . . if we do.
