Golf Icon John Ashworth Tees Up O’side Local Life

Nearly a decade ago, driving through O’side, golf icon John Ashworth knew he’d found the spiritual home for Linksoul, his break-the-rules golf apparel brand. Now, the Linksoul HQ on South Coast Highway is both the brand’s nerve center MORE (with a retail store for scoring its surfwear-influenced threads), and a gallery space where the O’side art gallery Hill Street Country Club curates shows in collaboration with John’s artist/nephew/business partner (and O’side resident), Geoff Cunningham. After opening Linksoul together, John and Geoff championed Goat Hill Park, saving the beloved public course and O’side icon from development. Today, it’s a local landmark; one of the most popular courses to play in golf-loving O’side; and a hub for junior golfers, with a Saturday junior golf clinic, a 3-hole dedicated kid’s course opening in 2018, and a brand new disc-golf course. From golfers in flip-flops to the craft brew on tap, the Goat Hill vibe is pure O’side. Experience it during the Mandatory Friday Golf Skins game. Chances are you’ll be playing against John. So be sure to say hello afterwards, when you’re unwinding fireside, sipping a pint with this O’riginal O’sider.

Renegade Chef Davin Waite is an O’side Tastemaker

Want to know where to eat in O’side? Chef Davin Waite can draw you a map, complete with old-school breakfast joints and new-school eateries, MORE farmers markets, chef hangouts, and the coffee shops that will keep you going during an all-day eating tour. His own South O’ restaurants, Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub and The Whet Noodle, epitomize the farm-to-table ethos that first put O’side dining on the map. Hang out, and you’ll meet local fishermen and O’side farmers like Luke Girling of Cyclops Farms, dropping by with fresh fish and produce. The restaurants are family affairs, with Davin’s wife Jessica running the front-of-the-house and the couple’s young sons in and out of the kitchen. Like their dad, the boys have surfed and skated almost as long as they’ve been able to walk, and they’re as train smitten as Davin, too. If you see a lanky, tattooed guy hanging out with his family, skateboarding and trainspotting along the Coastal Rail Trail, odds are it’s Davin, O’riginal O’sider.

Maker Maven Julie Rais Ellis has O’side Style in the Bag

Oceanside has become a bit of a style destination, leaving its own unique mark on the map for shopping small thanks to entrepreneurs like maker maven Julie Rais Ellis of Rais Case. As an extension of the blossoming community, quality and well-being based retail in downtown Oceanside, Julie’s recent venture The Rising Co. is a hub for all things creative small business. MORE The former high school art teacher and her long-term shop collaborator, Shem Gott of Mr. B’s Necessities, share The Rising Co. building with creators such as Soul Shapers, an e-conscious shop with giving back at the forefront; Wild Habit, specializing in beautiful decor from wilderness; Mar y Lana, providing handmade traditional textiles; and ADOBE, featuring travel-inspired home goods. Heavily influenced by O’side street style, Julie captures the scene on her popular Instagram accounts, hosts bustling DIY walk up windows, works with other local artisans on original textiles for her bags, and even names new bag styles after O’side landmarks (Cassidy is a top seller). Cool, kind and creative, she’s an O’riginal O’sider.