Veriato relishes his Senior moment
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
KAHUKU — Steve Veriato thought he was a pretty good baseball player growing up in Hilo, especially after making youth all-star teams in PONY and Babe Ruth leagues.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Then, to his shock, he was cut after tryouts at St. Joseph School.
Steve Veriato says he feels less stress after winning for first time.
"I couldn't believe it," Veriato said yesterday. "But you know what? It's a good thing that happened, because it told me that I was a golfer, not a baseball player."
Veriato, 55, is not just any golfer. He is a Senior PGA Tour player just six weeks removed from his first career victory, at the Novell Utah Showdown. Veriato also has a good chance to finish in the Tour's top 31 on this year's money list, which would earn him a coveted exemption for 2002.
Now 33rd on the list, he will continue his pursuit of the top 31 in this weekend's inaugural Turtle Bay Championship, beginning tomorrow at The Palmer Course (formerly Links at Kuilima).
The senior tour's top three money leaders — Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher and Hale Irwin — also are in the 78-player field, as are 13 of the top 25. In addition to Veriato, Hawai'i will be represented by Lance Suzuki of Hau'ula, Kailua's Larry Stubblefield and former Maui resident Dick McClean. Walter Morgan, who once was stationed at Schofield Barracks and played his first round of golf in Hawai'i, also is the field.
But one of the Championship's best stories is Veriato, who went 25 years and 240 tournaments before notching his first pro tour victory Aug. 19 in Park City, Utah.
"I feel less stress now," Veriato said. "The doubt of winning gave me a lot of nervousness — sometimes there was doubt with every shot, every thought. Now I'm more relaxed, it's a different attitude."
Turtle Bay Director of Golf Dennis Rose, who played countless rounds with Veriato ("barefoot in the rain") as a youth at Hilo Country Club, shared in his friend's sense of triumph and relief.
"I think for all of us who followed him through all these years, it was a victory for all time," Rose said. "He worked very hard for a very long time, and I think he's going to win a lot more."
Veriato has played in four tournaments since winning, but was not in contention in any of them. Although he said he feels more comfortable knowing he already has won once, he knows that alone won't get him back to the winner's platform.
"I gotta settle down and get back in the mode of playing steady golf again," Veriato said.
Suzuki, a North Shore resident who turned 50 in June, quoted Lee Trevino in saying sometimes the toughest place to win is at home.
"It's a double-edged sword," Suzuki said. "I'll have a lot of people supporting me, and I feel like I'm playing for them. I don't want to let them down.
Suzuki has long been known as one of Hawai'i's top golfers, but this tournament presents an opportunity to see if a run at the Senior Tour in 2003 is possible.
"I've won a lot of tournaments, but not a big one like this," Suzuki said. "Now I'll be playing with the best guys in the world. I can hit a golf ball, I know what I'm capable of. But the key (this weekend) is I can gauge myself and see if I'm able to compete with these guys."
Veriato already knows he can, but he agrees with Suzuki that playing at home has its distractions. For Veriato, it's not only his mom, sister, brothers, aunties and uncles, but the food they bring.
"Oh man, I had Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice for breakfast this morning, and I'll be eating Portuguese bean soup later," said Veriato, pointing to a fairway condo in the distance. "Right now, I've got laulau waiting for me over there. My uncle's heating 'em up."
