LOS ANGELES, California (Thursday, September 3, 2009) – The Golden State is currently harboring five ASP Dream Tour hopefuls sitting within the top 15 on the gruelling ASP WQS, all of whom could potentially qualify for the big leagues next year. With a list including Patrick Gudauskas, 23, Brett Simpson, 24, Tanner Gudauskas, 21, Austin Ware, 28, and Nathan Yeomans, 28, California’s coastline is surely holding it down for mainland American surfers on a global scale. ESPN.com caugh up with the Southern Californian natives to see what they had to say. This…is their story…

The Golden State is currently harboring five ASP Dream Tour hopefuls sitting within the top 15 on the gruelling ASP WQS, all of whom could potentially qualify for the big leagues next year.

In the midst of what’s proving to be a “transformational” year for the ASP, somehow California’s stable of World Tour hopefuls are thriving. Brett Simpson, Pat and Tanner Gudauskas, Austin Ware, and Nate Yeomans are all making the biggest pushes of their careers, and it seems to be paying off. About three quarters of the way through the ’09 ’QS slog and they all stand very realistic chances of making the cut for the 2010 Tour.

“Seems like the California boys really got a fire lit under them,” says Pat, who’s been in this position before and is more driven than ever to finally graduate. “It’s been fun traveling with everyone and surfing hard, but I think to qualify it takes a lot of factors coming together in a season: Luck, health, equipment, just being good, and your overall mind state. It’s a hell of a long year and a lot can happen within those 12 months. The view from the outside is often times a lot different than the view from the inside.”

For the full California feature follow the link below:

www.espn.go.com/action/surfing/blog

To check out the surfer’s profiles mentioned above, log on to www.aspnorthamerica.org