Martin Adds Special Member to His Considerable Fan Club

By THOMAS BONK

March 7, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

AUSTIN, Texas — Kern Loest, 9, pulled down his white Nike cap, the one that Casey Martin signed on the bill and then gave to him.

“He was nice,” Kern said.

The third-grader from Green Valley Elementary School in North Richland Hills met Martin and shook hands with him, and now the youngster was standing on a cart path wearing black sneakers, a blue jacket and blue pants that covered the support stocking on his right leg, just like the one Martin wears.

They’re a lot alike, Casey Martin and Kern Loest, a 25-year-old disabled golfer from Oregon and a third-grader from Texas sharing the same circulatory ailment in their legs.

“He’s a great little kid, smart as he can be,” Martin said Friday after his second-round 69 in the Greater Austin Open left him three shots off the lead in the Nike Tour event.

Craig Loest and his wife Karen were able to put together a meeting between Kern and Martin after contacting a Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber support group.

Kern is the first person Martin has met with the same condition.

When Kern was born, he had a birthmark on his right leg that didn’t look right to the Loests. By the time he was a year old, they knew Kern had the rare circulatory problem.

Last summer, Kern had surgery on some tendons and muscles in his leg and was in a cast for a couple of months, but he is as active as his health allows. He plays miniature golf, builds helicopters out of Legos and enjoys drawing cartoons, specializing in animals and plants.

“I’ve got a lot of stuff in my head,” Kern said as he put a sugar cookie in his pocket for later.

The kids in Mrs. Reucke’s class just voted him Outstanding Citizen.

While waiting to meet Martin, Kern kept opening the front door of the clubhouse for everyone. The UPS delivery woman had the door held for her three times and tipped Kern $1 on the way out.

Martin was eating lunch in the clubhouse when he ran across Kern again. He tapped him on the bill of his cap and said “That’s a little bit big for you, buddy.” The T-shirt that Martin signed for Kern was a lot bigger, reaching almost to his ankles.

Karen Loest tucked it in so Kern could watch Martin play Friday’s second round.

While Martin rode his cart at the Hills Country Club, Kern had a nice view, riding atop his father’s shoulders.

The Loests said they are grateful for the chance to meet Martin.

“Until we found the support group, we thought we were alone,” Karen Loest said. “We don’t want to interfere with his golf at all.

“If there’s somebody he’s going to admire, at least it’s someone like Casey Martin.”

Kern takes pain medication four times a day, has regular doctors’ appointments, wears his support stocking and has physical therapy one day a week.

He’s also on a first-name basis with Martin, which sort of puts him in exclusive company.

“Now when some kid asks Kern what’s wrong with him, he can say it’s the same as Casey Martin,” Ken Loest said.

Martin’s second consecutive 69 kept him in contact with second-round co-leaders Chris Zambri and Brad Elder. Zambri is a former USC player who lives in Camarillo. Elder, the 1997 college player of the year from the University of Texas, is the only amateur in the field.

Martin began slowly with two bogeys early in his round. But he escaped potential disaster on No. 18, his ninth hole, when his drive went right and landed on a patch of grass in a creek bed.

A marshal found the ball after a search and Martin climbed down in the ditch to play his shot. He jumped over the creek and landed on his disabled right leg.

“Fortunately, it didn’t hurt,” said Martin, who plays with the knowledge his brittle leg could break. “But if I slipped, that’s bad. I’m glad it worked out.”

Martin had four birdies coming in and felt relieved he hadn’t let the circumstances of the poor start or the continuing attention from fans and media bother him.

“It’s tough when you get so many people watching you and you’ve got those cameras in your face and you make a couple of bogeys.

“I’m doing all right now. If I can just keep it going, I might have a chance.”

Maybe Kern can help. He can open the door for him.