If nothing else, Kaua'i's Casey Watabu, the reigning U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links champion, will have quite a fan base rooting for him in the Masters next week.

Watabu's entourage will even include a personal chef — Norman Asao, who's the chef at the Mid-Pacific Country Club.

"Uncle Norman will be cooking for us," says Watabu in a telephone interview from Georgia.

The "us" are his parents, Victor and Iris; brother Kellen; uncles Vincent, Vernon and Vance; Iris' father, Nobu Sakamoto; family friend and USGA official Art Fujita; Asao and his son, Norman-Ganin, who is director of golf at Olomana Golf Links.

Also, Nevada golf teammate John Cassidy, who caddied for Watabu when he won the national publinx in Bremerton, Wash., last summer. Cassidy will be toting the bag for Watabu starting with Thursday's first round.

They're all staying at a three-bedroom house owned by Russell Figueroa, president of R.M.Towill Corporation, in Greensboro, Ga., about a 75-minute drive from the Augusta National Golf Club.

"He's been kind to lend us his house," said Watabu, who has been there with his mom for more than two weeks. They brought along a rice cooker. The rest of the gang will arrive over the weekend.

Watabu has gotten in as many practice rounds as possible at Augusta National. considered by many as "the cathedral of golf." Before he's through, Watabu thinks he'll play the course around 10 times. That's even before the tournament starts.

"It's exciting, it's an unbelievable thrill. The first time I played it, it was hard for me to concentrate on my golf," said Watabu, who grew up watching the Masters "all the time" when it's on television.

And Augusta National is everything he thought it would be, especially "Amen Corner" — holes 11, 12 and 13.

"Eleven is tough, 12 is a good par 3 and 13 is a short, risk-reward par-5," Watabu said. "And the course is very hilly. It's like what Guy (Yamamoto) told me, 'it's like playing the 14th at Wailua every hole.' "

Yamamoto won the 1995 public links title and played in the Masters the following year.

"I talked to Guy about his experiences," Watabu said. "He's been helping us out. Not too much about the golf course, but the day-to-day stuff."

Watabu also hopes to hook up with Dean Wilson, a PGA Tour member making his first Masters appearance. It marks the first time that two golfers from Hawai'i are playing in the Masters the same year.

Watabu and Wilson will be joining a limited group — they're only the fourth and fifth from here to play in the Masters.

Besides Yamamoto, the other two are David Ishii, after he won the 1990 United Airlines Hawaiian Open, and Stan Souza, who got in after reaching the semifinals of the 1976 U.S. Amateur when he was a junior at Brigham Young University.

Watabu and Wilson both have an opportunity to make it an even more elite group by being the first from here to make the cut in the Masters.

"I hope they do," said Pardee Erdman, owner of Ulupalakua Ranch, who is the only member of the Augusta National Golf Club from Hawai'i. Erdman, who's involved in local junior golf and USGA events, will be there, cheering on Watabu and Wilson.

"Mr. Erdman has been very helpful. He called me to see how I'm doing. He gave me a couple of names of caddies, including his own caddie," Watabu said. Players are required to use Augusta National caddies for practice rounds, according to Watabu.

So the long wait will be over for Watabu, a University of Nevada graduate with a degree in biology. He didn't turn pro and give up his amateur status because it meant a coveted invitation to the Masters.

"Mary Bea (Porter-King) is trying to get me to stay amateur because I have a good chance of making the Walker Cup in September in Ireland," Watabu said.

"I think I'm in the top 10 in points for the team and I'm going to play in as many amateur tournaments as I can. Especially now since I'm getting invitations to all the big amateur events this summer."

That's the one advantage of remaining as an amateur, Watabu said, noting in that way he can defend his public links title and can also automatically go straight to the sectional qualifying of the U.S. Open.

"I have a schedule to play (as an amateur). Turning pro would make the schedule more iffy. If I don't have any sponsor's exemptions, no sense turning pro. But I'm not in a rush. I'm young yet," added Watabu, who's 23. "Any final decision will be made after the Masters. But how I play in the Masters is not going to determine what I'm going to do."

Watabu said he needed the buzz of playing in the Masters to get motivated again in golf after a long layoff. He only played in the Hawai'i Pearl Open and the Hawai'i State Amateur Championship, besides trying to qualify for the Sony Open in Hawai'i.

"In college you've got to practice every single day. Now, everything is on my own. It's different knowing that I don't have to be on the golf course every single day. Sometimes, I've got to drag myself to the course, just to practice."

Practicing every day at Augusta National? Now that's a totally different story.