Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
It's been a whirlwind beginning of summer for Hawaii's busy junior golfers. The 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur champion, Kimberly Kim, is breaking records along with Stephanie Kono. Kono knocked out the medalist at the 2007 USGA Women's Amateur Public Links in the first round after Kono barely made it out of stroke play into the match play rounds. It was the first time in five years the medalist didn't make it to the match play portion of the prestigious event. We had 8 Hawaii players in the field!
Earlier in June, with a seven shot lead heading into the final hole of the Thunderbird International Junior, Kim rolled in a beautiful 25-foot birdie putt on the 494-yard, par-5 18th to win the event. She finished 10-under-par for the 54 holes beating the previous record set by Belen Mozo in 2004 and Morgan Pressel in 2005. Honolulu's AyakaKaneko tied for 8th while Kono finished in a tie for 28th.
That was Kim's second win of the summer. The first was the ReBath Heather Farr Classic where Kono tied for second.
The only Hawaii boy in the ReBath Heather Farr Classic was Chan Kim, who, like Kim moved to Arizona to be closer to the top junior golf events. The former Kaimuki High student, Kim finished tied for 26th.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the eigth-annual Thunderbird International Junior was held on the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club. Golfers came from around the world, and 18 states to compete.
At the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, at the Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen Colorado June 12 to the 15th, Hawaii players battled with the top junior golfers in the U.S, Canada, Mexico and Japan. Jane Rah of Torrance California won with Hawaii players finishing in the top ten. Ayaka Kaneko of Honolulu took fourth. Kim finished tied for 5th. Kahului's Elyse Okada finished in a tie for 21st.
Among the other AJGA events just so far this summer, Okada finished tied for 18th at the Ping Junior at The Woodlands.
Kim finished third at the Wellstone Communities Junior at Craig Ranch and Aiea's Anna Jang finished 5th at the Junior All-Star at Lake Havasu.
Four Hawaii boys also played at the Junior All-Star at Lake Havasu. Honolulu's Paul Shoji finished tied for 24th, Honolulu's Bou-An Fujieki tied for 44 and Honolulu's Brett Komoto and Grant Natori finished tied for 58th.
Shoji, Komoto and Fujieki played in the Medicus Preseason Junior at Tapatio Springs. Shoji finished tied for 33rd and Komoto tied for 54t with Fujieki.
Waikoloa's Henry Park went to the Las Vegas Founders Junior Golf Championship presented by Meadow Gold Diary. Park finished tied for 34th.
Thank you to the American Junior Golf Association for the great photos.
Another month of controversy, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat in the world of golf but first, let's go over something from the "excellent news" department.
FRIENDS OF HAWAII CHARITIES
Friends of Hawaii Charities gave out a record amount of money to the needy and poor in Hawaii. Over 1 million dollars. The major fundraiser for the Friends is the Sony Open in Hawaii with a 50 percent matching funds donation from the Harry And Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
Friends of Hawaii Charities Tony Guerrero said the Friends have, "come a long way from our first distribution 9 years ago of 256 thousand dollars. For the first time, Friends of Hawaii Charities awarded two substantial grants. One is the first of a three year commitment to the Salvation Army for its new Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center and the other was to buy a new refrigerated van for the Hawaii Food Bank." Grants committee chair Corbett Kalama says Friends felt strongly about these projects and believed in the vision and commitment these organizations have to reach numerous families and individuals in the community.
One of the speakers at the grants distribution luncheon who wasn't scheduled to speak was very compelling. Joe McDonald is a volunteer for the Sony Open in Hawaii. He has been recognized nationally for his tireless work scheduling and coordinating the volunteers who make these huge golf events possible. He was wonderful in the way he pointed out that if the volunteers were to just earn minimum wage, it would cost a half million dollars just to pay the volunteers. There goes the entire 500 thousand dollars raised by the Sony Open plus the matching funds given by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The charities would lose out and eventually the volunteers would unionize and there goes the prize money.
If you take this just a little bit further, and it's not that farfetched considering the outsourcing that's become the norm, pretty soon all the events would be held in Third world countries where they'd have cheaper labor and could still pay the huge appearance fees to the top players.
The bottom line: Joe McDonald asked the leaders of the charities at the luncheon to look within their own organizations to find people willing to put some time in to help make the events happen. There are so many events in Hawaii within a two-month period, the core group of people who respond to the call for volunteers can easily burn out. We've also seen many of those who used to volunteer leave the country, our military men and women who have been deployed to war zones.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Quote of the month: "No, NO, hell no." Tiger Woods when asked if he'd run for President of the United States.
Youngest Player to be inducted in the Golf Hall of Fame: Se Ri Pak. At the ripe old age of 29, she'll become a member this November. She says she is thrilled.
U.S. WOMENS PUBLIC LINKS AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
From the cut line to the front line, Hawaii's Stephanie Kono made it to the match play portion of the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. The morning of her first match, Kono had to play for an 8 to five spot playoff to determine the last positions in match play. 4th extra hole, she make a 9 foot birdie putt for her first win of the day. Hours later, Kono eliminated the stroke play medalist Tiffany Lua. It's the first time in five years the medalist failed to make it out of the first round.
In second place in the stroke play portion of the U.S. Amateur Public Links, Hawaii's Kimberly Kim. She moved on to the second round of 32 with Kono and Pearl City's Mari Chun.
She played in the McDonalds LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock in Harve de Grace, Maryland. She played well but didn't make the cut by 2 strokes.
There were four other players from Hawaii who didn't move out of the first round of match play. They were Honolulu's Xyra Suyetsugu, Honolulu's Kristina Merkle, Lihue's Miki Ueoka and Wahiawa's Britney Choy. Hilo's Summer Mizusawa and Kahului's Kyung Kim failed to make the cut.
I am so proud to have seen 8 Hawaii players in this prestigious United States Golf Association event.
In the second round, Kono won her match 2 and 1. Kim went down 3 and 2. Chun went 20 hard fought holes before her defeat. Unfortunately, after being 2 up in her quarterfinal match, Kono lost to Mina Harigae 3 and 2. Harigae is ranked 2nd in the Golfweek Sagarin Performance Index Junior Rankings. Kono is ranked 6th and Kim ranks 6th.
After her stroke play qualifying, Kim said she thought the pressure of being the reigning Women's Amateur champion raised other people's expectations. "Yeah because people just expect me to do good and I don't think they should. It makes me feel not so great because people expect something. I just want to play more consistently. If I lose my first match and I know I played well, then that's fine."
That's the way to play this game mentally.
MICHELLE WIE
Nicole Castrale is the woman who beat Lorena Ochoa in a playoff at the Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika Sorenstam, just in case you didn't know who won in all the ruckus over Michelle Wie and the "Wie Camp".
Castrale is a first time winner and had lots of class at the press conference before the McDonald Championship got underway. She said the Michelle Wie controversy was "unfortunate" but that's all she'd like to say about that, except, it wasn't very nice of Wie to WD on Thursday and be practicing at the next event on a Saturday without at least apologizing to Sorenstam.
You see, LPGA members are not allowed to practice at an event site before 5 PM Sunday before the event. Wie was granted a sponsor exemption to the Ginn Tribute but earned her way into the McDonalds with her fabulous finish last year. Many say she should have been gracious after withdrawing in mid tournament toSorenstam, the host, who serves as the representative for the sponsors she got the exemption through. The "many voices on the LPGA" added that it was particularly egregious for her to take advantage of her non-member status to be practicing when others couldn't….etc, etc, etc.
Annika Sorenstam, who never says anything bad about anybody, said it wasn't a very classy thing to do. In fact, Sorenstam said she knows about being injured and she was told not to even touch a club much less starting "grinding" as Wie's possible schedule implied. She had accepted the invite to the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic held on one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour schedule. Since then, just about a week before the U.S Women's Open where Wie will play, she announced she was withdrawing from the John Deere. Wie said it wasn't prudent for her to play against the top PGA professionals until she is completely healed and back on her game.
THE GINN TRIBUTE HOSTED BY ANNIKA SORENSTAM PRO AM
The people who pay for the privilege paired with Wie in the Pro Am at the Ginn Tribute also reportedly filed an official complaint against Wie. No one will say exactly what happened but we do know this. If a complaint is filed against an LPGA member and the complaint is substantiated, the Pro Am players are refunded their money. But that doesn't apply to non-members.
Meantime, Wie says she has nothing to apologize for, not to Sorenstam or to the Pro AM people who she said were making up stories about her and "that's not fair because she has more important things to worry about, like her injury and her game and her housing application at Stanford.
LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens did weigh in, on exactly what she wouldn't say, and was seen in an intense discussion with B.J. Wie. He was seen waving his finger in Biven's face and supposedly chastising her about which of the LPGA rules ought to apply to his daughter.
EDITORIAL
Before I write one more word about what I think about the state of Michelle Wie's professional career in golf, I want you to know that I have nothing but the deepest respect for the hard work Michelle has put into her game and the way she has handled herself under the incredibly intense spotlight that shines on her. That spotlight is a blessing and a curse.
I don't think many of us have ever felt "under the gun to perform" as she must. She has accepted the million dollar contracts. But she isn't 18 yet. That technically puts the onus on her parents. I'm sure they made the decision as a family but, and this is huge, her parents must have known, far better than Michelle, what the sponsors would expect for the money.
For this early entry into the professional world of sports, and Michelle's stated desire to continue her education, it should have been made very clear to all parties involved that the sponsors would not be in any position to pressure her into making impossible scheduling decisions. She wouldn't be their "full time" touring professional representative.
Keeping the scheduling decisions in the Wie camp, without outside sponsor pressure, should have been a deal breaker. That is my humble opinion, looking only at what I am allowed to see. If handled correctly, it could have made the sponsors look good, adding value to their products.
But as far as I'm concerned, it looks like the sponsors are pushing for her presence regardless of the consequence to her health or her confidence. If I am correct in my assumption that Michelle Wie is being farmed out to as many events as possible to keep the "handlers" happy, then her parents need to get them to back off.
When I interviewed Michelle for the first time, she was an 11 year old who was about to win the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational at Mid Pacific Country Club. I asked her how much time she spent practicing. Without a whimper or glance at her mother, she happily told me five hours a day on the weekend and three hours a day on the week days. She said she enjoyed practicing her drive the most but knew her short game was important so she spent considerable time on the putting greens.
Michelle Wie hurt one wrist last year and her other wrist shortly after the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year. The exact nature of the injuries, or exactly how they happened, has never been discussed in any detail. We were told she hurt one hitting off a cart path and the other falling while running. I've heard she was running backwards on a treadmill when the second wrist was injured but nothing definitive and nothing about the extent of the damage done. At least not to the extent we are told about the injuries top players like Phil Mickleson or Ernie Els divulge.
The day after Mickleson withdrew from the Memorial at Muirfield, an announcement was made that the MRI showed no break. That he would have cortizone injections and rest until the U.S. Open.
Els' management team went through great lengths to explain what exactly had hurt his knee, not just the parts of his knee damaged but how it happened while sailing.
Why is that important? For one it generates good will for fans who really do care about her. It's nice for fans to be able to relate to trials of rehabilitation and healing. People pray or send out good thoughts to their "hero" who is suffering just like the mere mortals they are.
The other is simple economics. She is a professional, taking money charged to "advertising and marketing" that gets passed on to us in the form of higher prices for products we buy.
Either Michelle Wie is handled with her best interests at heart, her long term interests, giving her plenty of time to physically recover and then practice back into form, plus taking what she wants to do, where she wants to play, as the priority and not where the sponsors want her, or she'll be just another burnt out teenage phenom tragedy.
For all of us who enjoy the game, watching her play and seeing how much she used to enjoy it, I hope the former and not the latter will be the case.
THE U.S. OPEN AT OAKMONT
Just like Jack Nicklaus said, the world of golf is getting smaller and the U.S. better be ready for a lot more competition. Angel Leopoldo Cabrera won the U.S open, the fourth international player in a row to win the top U.S. event. And somewhere in Argentina, there's a youngster now imagining the possibilities. Golf is going to be cool in Argentina, just like Tiger Woods made golf cool in the U.S.
Not only did Cabrera take down the beast called Oakmont, he held off the "Tiger" on the course, Woods.
Cabrera, and Edward Romero who sponsored Cabrera when he ventured to the international stage from Argentina, now run a program in Argentina that's a lot like the First Tee.
We finally have a First Tee program in Hawaii thanks to the perseverance of a few. There are several programs on Oahu and the plan calls for it to expand to our neighbor islands soon. Right now there are First Tee programs for junior golfers at the Hawaii Country Club, Homelani-Salvation Army Camp in Waialua, and the Ala Wai Driving Range. Check out http://www.thefirstteeoahu.org/.
2007 WAl-MART FIRST TEE OPEN
We just found out that the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association has received on of the 8 sponsor exemptions to the 2007 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach in late August, an official Champions Tour event. One junior golfer gets to play with one Tour player. One HSJGA member in good standing will be with those 67 other kids, based on the official HSJGA point list as of August 5, 2007, using the 15-18 list for boys and the 13-18 list for girls.
I hope the Play Golf America campaign by the PGA of America is having the effect the "Free Golf Coaching" campaign run by the English Golf Union and the English Ladies' Golf Association is proving to have on the number of people staying in the game. The campaign introduces thousands of beginners to golf each year - in 2006 over 7,600 people took part - and they are invited to take part in online research six, 12, 18 and 24 months after their initial taster session. The results show 18 months after their introduction to the sport through Free Golf Coaching, 67 per cent of respondents are still playing golf. Of those, 84 per cent are visiting driving ranges and 45 percent are actively booking golf lessons.
WRISTS AND ROUGH
Wrist injuries are being reported in larger numbers, or at least it seems that way. 16 year old Richard Lee withdrew from the U.S Open in the middle of the second round after injuring his wrist trying to get out of the rough. He was on the par 4 11th. Lee said "I had a chip shot, probably 20 feet, it caught my wrist. It hurt a lot." He went so far as to say that the U.S.G.A rough at Oakmont was "dangerous" for the player's health. That's just the beginning.
The rough at the U.S. Open at Oakmont will be talked for a long time. The U.S. Golf Association is being criticized for making the rough, too rough. The U.S.G.A. always takes criticism for its apparent delight in making the contestants work hard just to make par on their set up.
Oakmont is already one of the most difficult courses in the United States. Cutting down 5 thousand trees brought the course back to its original architectural set up. But the rough was exaggerated. 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said, "There should be rough, but more like the kind they have at Royal Melbourne where you can make a shot out of it. I don't like the automatic one shot penalty." Instead of letting Oakmont use it's own defenses, including it's undulating greens, the U.S.G.A. had to inject added dangers. But Charles Howell doesn't think the U.S.G.A. would do it any other way. "They enjoy it w as too much. There was a smile on every one of their faces when the leader went over par."
New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell refused to suffer in silence after being humbled. The 2005 US Open champion walked away from Oakmont Country Club highly critical of a course that delivered a stroke average of 75.72. Campbell said the venue made some players "look like fools". He fears golf fans are being cheated of final-day excitement as major championship organizers set about deliberately toughening courses, resulting in competitors battling to record bogeys and pars when birdies and eagles are usually the norm. "It is on the edge of embarrassing some of the guys," Campbell said. "It wasn't much fun out there, put it that way." Campbell said fighting for pars and bogeys is not only painful for the player but it's boring for the TV viewer. "It is making us look like fools really. It is not very enjoyable at all. I think today the course won against me. I snapped out there, you could say."
Speaking of rough, a golfer's attempt to get out of the rough and back on the fairway in Neno Nevada is said to have started a grass fire in mid June. The golfer knocked his ball the dry grass beyond the course. When he tried to play back to the fairway, his club struck something that created a spark. About 50 firefighters responded to the fire that burned about 20 acres. "He was totally honest about it," said Reno Battalion Chief Curtis Johnson.
IT'S A GIRL
Looks like Tiger Woods may have been rushing to get off the course on Sunday, subconsciously, which isn't a good thing when you are trying to focus. Less than 24 hours after finishing the U.S. Open on Father's Day, Woods announced the birth of his daughter Sam Alexis Woods. She was born early Monday morning.
On his website, Woods wrote: "Both Elin and Sam are doing well and resting peacefully. We want to thank our doctors and the hospital staff for all their dedicated and hard work. This is truly a special time in our lives and we look forward to introducing Sam to our family and friends over the next few weeks. We thank everyone for their well wishes and continued respect of our privacy."
INTERNATIONALS MOVING AHEAD
The international world of golf got a boost earlier this month with the victory of Kyoung-Ju Choi at the Memorial presented by Morgan Stanley at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, the home that Jack built. Choi said "I can only think it was meant to be," after his victory, saving par on four of the five holes, closing with a 65, tying the record for the low round shot on the final day of a Memorial. I'm sure Choi didn't figure he'd win at Muirfield all those years ago when his physical education teacher gave him a translated copy of Jack Nicklaus' "Golf My Way". The teacher told Choi he could succeed as a professional golfer if he studied Nicklaus' swing.
Choi left the Memorial with a check for over a million dollars and sitting in 8th place in the FedEx Cup points race, up for 36th. "It's hard to describe how meaningful it is. I just feel very honored and very happy to be living in the same age, the same period, same time as Jack is living." K.J. Choi.
International team captain Gary Player has the advantage over Jack Nicklaus's defending champion United States team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal in Canada for the first time this Sept. 25-30. Nicklaus has been quick to point out that the international players are catching up on the U.S players. With the number of Australians and South
Africans regularly atop PGA Tour leader boards this season, he said the International team has a sizeable edge over the U.S. heading into the Presidents Cup.
One of the most fascinating experiences I've had the pleasure to watch on television was the part of the show showing Arnold Palmer and Gary Player choosing players to go up against each other in one UBS Cup event. The obvious strategy with which Palmer and Player "matched" up the opposition was like watching a chess match.
The Professional Caddies Association is accepting nominees for those deserving induction into the 2007 PCA Worldwide Caddie Hall of Fame. Requirements for nomination: a person must have served for 10 years as a caddie, shown support for the game of golf, worked to help improve their life and that of the caddies or who has had an important positive impact on golf, youth and the caddying profession.
We could nominate U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera. HE started his career as a caddie.
Nominations can be made online at the World Caddie Headquarters-PCA website: http://www.pcafhq.org/.
You can also mail a nomination to 23 Mala Compra Road, Palm Coast, Fla., 32137 USA. The induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the 2008 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando and the British Open Championship.
There are several categories for induction, including:
1. The Best Male and Female Caddie (living or deceased)
2. Oldest Working Caddie (Male and Female, living or deceased)
3. The Best Caddie Manager/Master
4. Notable People who started as Caddies and have a life changing story to tell
5. Caddie/Coach for the challenged golfers with special needs.
6. Lynda Barco Award (A person or company) who has been an angel to PCA
7. The Reynolds Medal to an outstanding caddie
"We want more people around the world to know about the Caddie Hall of Fame," said Dennis Cone, TCF (PCA Worldwide Caddie Foundation) president. "We're really getting the public, along with the golfing world and industry, involved in what we are doing. It's a process over time. As people find out about it (the Caddie Hall of Fame and PCA) they say, 'This guy or lady should be in.' We want to have a caddie from every country in the world represented and sharing their start in golf someday."
Based on the nominations submitted and the information gathered, the 10 members of the nominating committee, made up of PGA TOUR & LPGA golfers, professional caddies, golf writers and other dignitaries, will cast their votes.
Inducted in 2005 were Gene Sarazen, Old Tom Morris and Willie Park Sr. The first "Gene Sarazen Spirit Award " was given to Lance Barrow (CBS Producer) at Pebble Beach in 2007 for being a notable person in the game of golf who got his start as a caddie.
GIVING BACK
The Hapuna Golf Course at Mauna Kea Resort is donating 20 thousand dollars to Hawaii's junior golf programs. General Manager Ted McAneeley and Head Professional Brad Baptist say the money will be giving to several organizations including Hawaii State Junior Golf, Big Island Junior Golf, Kohala High School, Honokaa High School and the 6-hole Golf Course in North Kohala's Kamehameha Park.
Mililani Golf Club will hold a hole-in-one contest on Fridays starting June 15 through the end of the year until the first player gets an ace. The winner gets $5,000 or $10,000 if he, or she, is a current AIG insurance policy holder or has received an insurance quote from co-sponsor AIG Hawaii within the last six months. The contest is open to Hawai'i residents 18 and older and also active-duty military personnel. Some restrictions apply. Entry fee is $1. For more details, call Mililani Golf Club at 623-222.
There is so much more I'd like to tell you about, but time is running tight.
Hope you can tune in to "The Golf Club" radio show to join in the clubhouse fun Saturday mornings.
You might be the 18th caller to win one dozen Titleist Pro V1x golf balls.
Until next time, thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time!
Aloha,
Danielle
