By Jondi Gumz
Mark Holcomb did not grow up in Aptos but he put Aptos on the map.
Three close friends shared memories with the Aptos Times about his impact on the community.
Mark Holcomb enjoys playing golf with his team at the Anchovy Open, a tournament he started in Aptos to benefit Special Olympics.
Jeff Hogan, who lives in Oakland, was Mark’s roommate at San Diego State University, living off-campus when Mark had an idea.
“He said we should purchase the house we were living in,” Hogan recalled.
When Mark began working with his father doing development, Hogan was an investor from the start, pitching in on eight or so projects.
“He had a vision how to handle finances,” Hogan said.
With the two of them sitting on the beach in Aptos, Mark shared another idea: “I want to try to develop a resort and conference center on these bluffs.”
Hogan’s first response was “Are you kidding?” but he bought into Mark’s vision.
“That beach is so beautiful,” he said. “I had confidence he understood the marketplace. He understood the business.”
And Mark accomplished what he set out to do, building Seascape Resort.
“He took this sleepy town of Aptos and created a destination,” Hogan said.
Hogan was one of the two dozen college friends participating in the initial Anchovy Open, a golf tournament that grew over 30 years to include 160 golfers, with proceeds going to Special Olympics, meeting a need in the community.
“Every Memorial Day, friends would look forward to that gathering,” Hogan said. “Mark was the catalyst.”
The field was competitive and Mark was a competitor, Hogan said, recalling how Mark sank a long put on the 17th green for his team win.
Inspiring The Next Generation
Mark Schortman, whose wife Tracy is the younger sister of Mark’s wife Kay, last saw Mark in September. They got takeout at Palapas, the Seascape restaurant.
Mark Holcomb and his family: From left, daughters Kyla and Keri and wife Kay Holcomb.
Mark and Tracy wish they could be in Aptos.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, they are staying in Dallas, where he’s president and CEO of Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages. He’s a limited partner in Seascape Resort.
The two couples have been friends for 40 years. After Mark and Kay bought a home in LaQuinta, Schortman and his wife bought one a few doors away. They would golf, take hikes in the desert and go on drives with Mark, looking at new developments.
When Mark was building Seascape, the Schortmans would drive down to Aptos from their home in Walnut Creek.
“We’d would walk around and hear what he had in mind, his drive for success, he was happy to share that,” Schortman said. “He had a big heart, a big passion for friends, his family and his business, and what he was doing next.”
When their daughter Lindsey got engaged, the party was at Seascape, and their son Matt proposed to his now-wife Katie that weekend.
Their son Matt has left his Coca-Cola career after 15 years to pursue his passion, development, like his uncle Mark.
Quiet Generosity
Paul Bailey, co-owner of Bailey Properties in Aptos, another longtime friend, admires Mark’s gumption.
“He was a young man — mid30s —when he took the risk of locking up and buying all that ground,” Bailey said. “He saw the value of the potential outcome.”
The county’s vision was housing and Mark’s vision was a resort.
They clashed, and Mark was sued.
Mark persevered, and the result was a negotiated settlement that paved the way for the Seascape Resort, the shopping center, the Uplands, and neighborhoods nearby.
“He was one of the founding fathers of the current edition of Aptos,” Bailey said. “He was brave. He was a visionary.”
Not only that, he found many ways to give back to the community.
Bailey, who created the Aptos Sports Foundation to support Aptos High School athletics, recalled how Mark would donate a room and food at the resort for year-end parties for sports teams, with parents invited as well.
He was one of the biggest sponsors for the Aptos Sports Foundation, providing gift certificates and restaurant reservations.
“Nobody know how generous he was,” said Bailey.
Once, when the two men were at a high school swimming meet in Carmel, watching their daughters, Mark inquired about the latest sports foundation project.
Bailey said he needed to find concrete blocks for the baseball dugout and a wall for the backstop.
Mark’s answer: “Let me send somebody out.”
The next week, everything needed showed up on a truck, delivered, piled and stacked.
Bailey was thrilled — and grateful — but Mark didn’t have a big ego.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it, Paul,” he said.
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View his Obituary here: tpgonlinedaily.com/mark-phillip-holcomb/