Not many sports wait until you are 53 to give you your "last" shot at the big time. Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer Kevin Hayashi, after three years of wondering "what if," is not waiting any longer.
Hayashi is on his way to the Champions Tour Regional Qualifying next week at The Country Club at Soboba Springs, in San Jacinto, Calif.
"If I don’t do it now," says Hayashi, "I’ll never do it already. … This is basically my last chance. I’m 53. I only have so many more years."
He has won nearly 50 times in Hawaii, including three state opens and two Hawaii Pearl Opens. Hayashi has been the Aloha Section PGA Player of the Year eight times.
There have been 10 Hawaiian Open/Sony Open in Hawaii appearances. Making the cut in 2010 was memorable, but overwhelmed would best describe his much-needed protection of 14-year-old Michelle Wie when they were grouped together at the wild and crazy 2004 Sony.
That earned him the "Uncle Kevin" nickname that lasts to this day, as did a flood of successful junior students who flowed out of Hilo after working with the 2010 ASPGA Teacher of the Year.
But it was members he befriended while teaching at Nanea Golf Club the past few years that finally convinced him to give the Champions Tour a shot.
Nanea was built for Charles Schwab and Safeway’s George Roberts. Membership is by invitation only. Two members sat Hayashi down and asked him where he saw himself over the next few years.
"They said if you want to do it, just do it," Hayashi recalls. "That’s how it came about."
The members offered financial aid for an expensive two-stage qualifier that offers audacious odds.
Of the 176 at last year’s three regionals, including former Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, 29 moved on to the final stage, which will be Dec. 1-4 this year.
From that final field, which includes many exempt from regional qualifying, only five earn exempt status on next year’s Champions Tour.
"I think they just want the ‘name’ players," Hayashi shrugs. "People want to watch the ‘name’ guys so they make it hard for regular guys to get in."
The next 25 at the final stage get some prize money and the right to skip pre-qualifying for the tour’s Monday qualifier. Hayashi has experience with pre-qualifiers on the mainland, where more than 100 often show up to compete for five tee times the next day.
It is ridiculously difficult, but the payoff is almost beyond belief: a tour that played for more than $50 million this year, with 25 events that rarely had a cut.
Success stories are memorable because they are so rare.
Allen Doyle went from highly successful amateur driving range owner to Champions Tour fame. Winners of Hawaii’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship — the season-opening tournament f champions — include John Jacobs and Dana Quigley (twice), who managed a combined 17 Top 10s in their unheralded PGA Tour careers.
Last year, New Jersey club pro Frank Esposito won the National Qualifying Tournament.
He finished 70th on this year’s money list with $148,000, just ahead of former Sony Open champ Brad Faxon.
Jeff Coston birdied the last two holes to finish among the fortunate five at last year’s qualifying.
He won more than $82,000 this year and was 86th on the money list. Two years ago, the Washington teaching pro was low senior at the Hawaii State Open.
When Hayashi turned 50 he was settling in at Nanea. The senior tour had been on his mind many years, but he was so happy at Nanea he began to feel it was "just my calling."
And then a few friends convinced him it wasn’t.
"What’s kind of cool now is a bunch of guys Casey (Nakama) and I played with in Asia are actually on the senior tour now," Hayashi says. "They traveled with us then — Jeff Maggert, Esteban Toledo, Michael Allen … they actually won on that tour.
"So we can go up to a guy like Michael Allen and talk. It’s fun. The Champions Tour, what I enjoy is there is no chip on their shoulder. They’re really nice. It’s just comfortable. To me, they are all nicer (than PGA Tour members). You can actually feel it in the atmosphere."
Now, all he has to do is get there. Hayashi is coming off a T21 finish at the 27th Senior PGA Professional Championship, which got him into next year’s 77th Senior PGA Championship. He was injured then, so he found it encouraging.
"I didn’t get a chance to practice too much and I actually hit the ball really well," he said. "I lipped out a bunch of putts, but it’s OK.
"When I was up there my game was pretty good. I could control the ball and nothing was really weak so it was good."
It has to be great over the next month. After all the years playing and coaching, Hayashi is just working at being comfortable now, and playing as much as possible.
"It can be done," he says. "I’m not saying it can’t. For me, I just have to play more, have to do the same routine. You can’t change your routine just because it’s a big tournament."
Or long odds.
