Todd Holland
Todd Holland’s earliest years didn’t exactly suggest a future of surf stardom. He was born in landlocked Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and grew up in a log cabin five miles back from the nearest paved road. Lucky for Holland, however, his parents soon moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida — and that’s where his illustrious surfing career took root.
By the early 80s, Holland was taking trophies in Eastern Surfing Association Championships against ultra-talented competitor like Sean Slater. Holland soon found himself on the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s National Team, which rocketed him to a third place finish in the Juniors division at the 1984 World Amateur Championship in Huntington Beach, CA. Two years later, he was U.S. Champion.
The ASP World Tour was the obvious next step — and what a decisive step that was. He was instantly recognized on tour for his workhorse ethic and his compact, aggressive footwork in the water — always a blazing flash of neon on the most critical parts of the wave. In the 1987 Op Pro in Huntington Beach, Holland stomped the defending champ, Australian Mark Occhilupo. The following season, he ended Tom Carroll’s world title hopes in pumping 10-12 foot surf at Pipeline. In the 1990-91 season, Holland once again found himself up against goliaths at the Op Pro — this time the unlucky surfers were Martin Potter and Tom Curren. He ended that season at a career-best eighth in the world.
In 1995, Holland retired from the tour and moved to Cocoa Beach, back to where it all began. In 1999, he married his wife Cheryl and their daughter Chalee was born later that year.
Photos by Erik Aeder, James Cassius, Donald Cresitello, Jeff Divine, Tom Dugan, Ray Hallgreen, Jeff Hornbaker, Dick “Mez” Meseroll, Chris Van Lennup, Bruce Walker, and courtesy ESM, Surfer Magazine, and Todd Holland
