D’AMATO GOES THE DISTANCE

SIMI VALLEY —  Al D’Amato calls himself a late bloomer. He has attempted to qualify for the U.S. Amateur golf championship so many times he lost count.

He wondered if he should continue trying. But he gave it one last shot last month at Valencia Country Club and, after 36 holes in one day, the 57-year-old Simi Valley resident qualified.

“At my age, 36 holes is a killer,” D’Amato said. “This was going to be the last time, I swear to God. My wife doesn’t like me to play in this tournament because she knows how devastating it is on my body. I’m down two or three days after this tournament. Just the walking alone, let alone the mental strain, knocks me out.”

Qualifying alone is a feat, but to do it at age 57 is even more amazing when you consider the youth movement in golf.

The winners of the first three professional majors this year are under 30. Tiger Woods, 21, has won the last three U.S. Amateur championships. Only two of the past 10 U.S. amateurs have been won by somebody over 30.

John Harris, a standout in the Walker Cup matches last week, won in 1993 at the age of 40 and Mitch Voges of Simi Valley was 41 when he won in 1991.

“This is a young man’s game you know, no question about it,” D’Amato said. “The qualifying is the most difficult thing. By the time the winner gets done he has played so much golf that it’s unbelievable.”

D’Amato gives most of the credit for his unlikely appearance at the U.S. Amateur to two people. The first is his caddie, 51-year-old Bob Davis, a frequent playing partner of D’Amato’s who has dubbed his partnership with D’Amato “Team Geritol.”

The second is a friend who D’Amato declined to identify. D’Amato and his friend had a falling out 10 months before the U.S. Amateur qualifier and did not speak the entire time. But several days before the qualifier, D’Amato sent a letter to his friend expressing his desire to renew the friendship and the reconciled.

“I was basically so full of resentment and anger it was hard for me to just walk around,” D’Amato said. “I told him I was sorry and that I didn’t want to take [the dispute] to the grave. When I put that stamp on that letter, I can tell you I was a brand new guy. I’ve never been this calm in my life, I’ve never been this relaxed.

“I’m not a religious fanatic by any means. But the reality is, that I’m not supposed to be here. I mean that’s just it. Guys my age don’t do that. I take none of the credit, its just a gift from God. That’s the way I’m looking at it.”

With Davis, a former PGA Tour player, on his bag, he intends to take full advantage.

The two rode to Los Angeles International Airport Friday morning in a stretch limousine, and plan on living it up in the Chicago-area while they are there.

“They’re going to be talking about Team Geritol for years to come,” Davis said.

D’Amato said his age does not make him feel out of place in a tournament loaded with college-aged players, but he dreads the attention that he’s sure he will get.

“It’s just very unusual,” D’Amato said. “Some of these kids are going to look at me and want to know if I’m somebody’s father.

“But I feel honored that I’m getting a chance to compete with these kids and I’m not going to be all that uncomfortable there because I played my way in. I think that I’m probably going to be the oldest guy there.”

Regardless of his age, D’Amato can play.

He is three-time club champion at Wood Ranch Country Club in Simi Valley, one of the area’s most difficult courses, and he qualified for the 1995 U.S. Senior Open.

“He’s a player,” said Roger Gunn of Lindero Country Club, D’Amato’s private coach. “Those kids out there are going to look at him and think they have a pushover match against an elder statesman, but he’s a tough competitor. They’re going to underestimate him.”

Davis said that while they plan to enjoy themselves at the tournament, the goal is clear.

“We’re not going just to make a good showing,” he said. “Al is a hell of a competitor. We play for the championship of the known universe every time we’re out there.”

Even so, D’Amato is planning to take the tournament one shot at a time.

“Bob keeps thinking that we’re going to go back there and kick off these kids,” D’Amato said. “I keep telling him that I don’t want to get any further than the first shot.

“About the only responsibility I have is to go out there and hit the first shot, go find that one and hit the second one. Till I get it in the hole and it’s over, that’s all I gotta do and that’s all I’m going to do.”

D’Amato admits his age puts him at a disadvantage, but cites some advantages that help compensate.

“I’ve got the mental side and I’ve got the faith and I’ve got the experience,” he said. “Not that I’m going to go out there and beat these kids, but they’ll know who I am. I know that they’re going to call me grandpa for sure, but I’m not going to be last, I know that.”

He paused, took a drag of his cigarette and knocked on the wooden edge of the table.

“Maybe I shouldn’t say that,” he added.