Young Gun

Surfers tend to measure their greatness in the eyes of their peers, always looking for the one huge maneuver that will awe their buds on the beach or make them a surf-video legend. But it’s the contest judges who award the scores and ultimately decide who will be world champion.

Many of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ elite learned this lesson the hard way.

Current No. 1 Sunny Garcia is a 14-year veteran from Hawaii who’s attempting to win his first title at age 30. Australian Mark Occhilupo won his first last year at 33. Second-ranked Luke Egan, 30, and No. 4 Shane Dorian, 28, are still hanging on and hoping.

So, since six-time world champion Kelly Slater seems content in retirement, the question arises: Who among surfing’s new wave has the talent, the versatility and the mental approach to become world champion?

There are a number of bona fide contenders and plenty of pretenders who are content to hang out in the top 44 and ride the planet’s best waves for fun and profit. But it takes a rare combination of talent and mind-set to emerge as No. 1 at season’s end.

So consider for a moment the words of Cory Lopez, a 23-year-old up-and-comer who splits time between San Clemente and hometown Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., when he’s not working on waves:

“You have to really put it on the line out there, but you can’t just be crazy. You have to be just a little conservative and pick your spots.

“You want to show how rad you are, but you have to be standing on your board at the end to get the score. So you always have to consider the consequences if you don’t pull [the big maneuver] off.”

Phrases like “a little bit conservative” and “considering the consequences” are not often part of the surfer lexicon, dude. But Lopez, who takes a No. 6 ranking into next week’s Billabong Pro World Championship Tour event at Lower Trestles, is a hot young surfer with a cool bearing.

“It’s always a battle within yourself to try and be relaxed and be patient enough to wait for the right waves,” Lopez said. “There’s a lot of luck involved with getting big scores. We’re all capable of getting a big score if we get the right wave, but you can’t get frustrated. You just have to keep your head, try to keep it close and then figure a way to move on to the next round.”

That unflappable approach mixed with a generous dash of slash-and-gouge power surfing have led to a consistency that has helped Lopez zoom up the rankings in this, his fourth year on the WCT. He advanced to the semifinals at the Quiksilver Pro in Fiji and the Bluetorch Pro in Huntington Beach and made it to the quarterfinals in the Gotcha Pro in Tahiti. His earliest departure from an event this year has been in the third round.

“He’s just so consistent,” said older brother Shea Lopez, who’s ranked No. 8, after losing a close quarterfinal heat to Cory at Huntington Beach. “He just keeps making the quarters and semis in almost every contest. This was another perfect example. He didn’t make any mistakes, did just what he had to do to advance.”

Shea Lopez, who bought a new house in San Clemente this spring, finished No. 14 in 1997 and No. 13 last year, but he’s now chasing his younger brother.

“They’re brothers but they’re chalk and cheese,” said surf event promoter Ian Cairns, a former world champion from Australia. “Cory is more of a new-age surfer. Don’t get me wrong, Shea is an awesome surfer, but Cory has a bit more of an edge. He can surf big waves, he can do the tricks, he’s really a special talent.

“I think Cory has the spark and if he can harness it, if he can learn to conform to the system and then be creative above that, he can win a world title.”

Shea Lopez would be the first to agree.

“Cory’s just a great all-around surfer and an exceptional tube-rider,” he said. “When the waves are heavy and hollow, Cory’s charging. And he’s probably the best guy on tour in one-foot surf.”

With the WCT tour currently shifting between remote reef breaks that produce powerful barrels and popular small-surf beach breaks, the ability to cross over is ever more important.

“For me, the jury is always out until I see a young guy surf a real wave,” Cairns said, “and at Pipeline two years ago, I saw Cory put on an incredible display of committed surfing, just really deep in the barrel.

“A lot of guys are really, really good in only one type of wave. As the tour evolves, people who can excel in waves like that and also go ballistic in beach-break waves, they have a huge advantage.”

Considering that the Lopez boys started surfing in the Gulf of Mexico on some of the sorriest slop in the world, it’s somewhat surprising that Cory has developed into one of the sport’s most-respected big-wave riders.

Watching a small, mushy swell crumble onto the shore at Huntington earlier this summer, he smiled and mused, “This would have been like one of the best days ever where we grew up.”

But the brothers’ skills soon surpassed the gulf’s wind chop and they took their act on the road. Cory was 12 when he made his first trip to Oahu’s North Shore. He soon developed an affinity for big waves. The first time he surfed Banzai Pipeline, he was 14 and the waves were 18 . . . feet, that is. He never hesitated before paddling into a three-story wall of water about to collapse onto a reef.

“You’ve been dreaming about doing this all your life,” he said, “so there’s absolutely no question about doing it.”

That pretty much sums up his approach in his quest to reach the pinnacle of the sport, but he’s also learning the power of patience.

“I think I’m getting better at using strategy all the time,” he said. “So I’m a lot more comfortable and a lot more confident this year.”

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Pro Surfing

* What: Billabong Pro, Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Championship Tour men’s event; Billabong Girls’ Pro, three-star ASP World Qualifying Series women’s contest; Billabong Junior Pro, WQS two-star men’s junior event.

* When: Tuesday-Oct. 1. Surfing starts at 8 a.m. daily.

* Where: WCT event at Lower Trestles, south of San Clemente, Tuesday-Sept. 30; women’s and junior contests at T-Street Beach, San Clemente, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

* Admission: Free

* Parking: For Trestles, exit Basilone Road off Interstate 5. Park in dirt lot and follow signs to beach. For T Street, free shuttle service will be available from San Clemente High School, 700 Avenida Pico, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1

* Information: (949) 753-7222