Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It used to be that the Player of the Year automatically got an exemption into the Sony Open in Hawaii field of 144 players, the first full field event of the PGA Tour season. But a little negotiating between the PGA of America and the PGA Tour eliminated several spots for members of the PGA of America in favor of PGA Tour players. So this year, the Player of the Year, Kevin Hayashi, had to go to the member only qualifying event held at the Waialae Country Club on Monday, December 17th. There the top professionals in Hawaii and the top amateurs fought it out hard for that one coveted Sony Open in Hawaii spot.
It was a battle and fitting that the Player of the Year also won the lone qualifying spot into the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Congratulations to Kevin Hayashi!
Hayashi won that coveted lone spot with a win on the second play-off hole with a bogey 4. Hayashi shot a one-over par 73 to tie with GolfTec Honolulu’s John Lynch. It was tough going with very wet conditions at the Waialae Country Club.
Heavy rain made it impossible for the course maintenance team to mow the roughs which had grown to 4-6 inches high. They would have been screaming on the PGA Tour!
17 year old Alex Ching won the lone amateur spot by beating 13-year old Lorens Chan on the 2nd hole of their play-off. Ching (37-38), Chan (3-39) and Taeksoo Kim (37-38) tied with 3 over par 75s. Kim bogied the 1st hole to drop out of the play-off. Ching parred the 2nd hole to win.
Last year Tadd Fujikawa, then 15, beat everybody with a 5-under-par 67. He went on to make history, becoming the youngest in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut and finishing 20th. Fujikawa has since turned pro and received an exemption into the 2008 Sony.
This year's amateur field included 40-something Manoa Cup champions (Brandan Kop and Jonathan Ota), the 2006 state high school champ who now lives in Arizona (Chan Kim) and a couple kids who make Fujikawa look old.
Lorens Chan, a 13-year-old Waialae member, reached the Manoa Cup semifinals this year, won his fourth state junior championship and was second at the Turtle Bay Amateur. Bradley Shigezawa, 15, won at Turtle Bay and was low amateur at the State Open, where he finished fourth overall.
MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIP
As you are reading this, the Mercedes Benz Championship will be underway at Kapalua on the Plantation course, the official beginning of the 2008 golf season underway and in full swing at the Sony Open in Hawaii the second week of this month. In fact from the beginning of January all the way through February, we’ve got the beginning of the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and the LPGA Tour happening right in our backyard plus with the Pearl Open at the Pearl Country Club in February it’s the official start of the 2008 Hawaii golf season.
On Saturday, the 5th, “The Golf Club” will be live from the Kapalua Plantation course clubhouse. I’ll be talking with PGA Tour officials and Kapalua representatives about the upcoming season, the changes being made in the Fed Ex Cup race and the things you have got to experience at Kapalua. I’ll have the most exciting experience to tell you about. No, not seeing Tiger Woods. I’ll have had the ride of a lifetime on the new Ziplines at Kapalua that literally sail you across Kapalua from ridgeline to ridgeline, a thrill ride like no other in Hawaii.. I can’t wait to tell you what that was like. Plus there is the $130 million dollar renovation to The Ritz-Carlton, the new Kapalua Adventure Center and Mountain Outpost.
When you go to Kapalua, you must go to the Kapalua Golf Academy. It’s on the ocean, makai, side of the highway from the Plantation Course entrance and the view at the driving range is absolutely gorgeous. Plus you need to take a lesson with Kapalua Golf Academy head professional Jerry King. He won the 2007 Professional Golfer of the Year award from the Aloha Section PGA and he is rated the #1 Teaching Professional in Hawaii by Golf Digest.
2007 LOCAL GOLF SEASON
Mauna Kea's Kevin Hayashi has won his third consecutive Aloha Section PGA Player of the Year award in 2007. That makes it a record 6 times for the devoted father and junior golf instructor from the Big Island. Hayashi says he is honored to have accomplished the record. We're proud of him!
It takes a lot of work to be a head professional at a world class golf course like the Mauna Kea, one of two Robert Trent Jones Sr. courses in Hawaii, and be committed to his group of 40 junior golfers he teaches and mentors. Hayashi regularly drives from the Hilo side of the Big Island to Kona to teach. He usually doesn't get home until very late on Friday night which is why he usually can't be on "The Golf Club" radio show with me Saturday morning at 7 AM.
The last time he managed to get up after a couple hours of sleep, he told me he didn't have as much time as he'd like to actually devote to his own game. Imagine that. Doesn’t have much time to practice his own game but on a Sunday night in December, 47 year old Hayashi accepted his 6th Player of the Year award at the ASPGA luncheon in the Hawaii Prince Hotel in Waikiki.
I’ve been teasing Hayashi on “The Golf Club” the past few months because the man has been so far out front in the points race again this season, he didn’t even have to show up for the season-ending Hawaii State Open!
Caveat. The Player of the Year award doesn’t carry as much “sparkle” as it used to. In years past, the Aloha Section’s top dog got a full exemption into the Sony Open in Hawaii. Not this year.
This year he had to battle it out with 24 other talented professional golfers trying to get that one exemption that Hayashi automatically won five times earlier with his POY accomplishment. ASPGA Members eligible for the qualifier are those PGA member-winners of the events that count toward Player of the Year, PGA members finishing in the Top 10 of the POY list and the Top 5 seniors on the ASPGA Senior POY list. The PGA Tour has also designated the 2nd and 3rd place finishers of Monday’s member only qualifier an exemption into the SOH Monday qualifier on January 7th.
So for a lot of our professional players, this could mean a lot of expensive trips to Oahu.
All of this because the PGA of America and the PGA Tour struck a deal earlier this year, on the mainland, reducing the number of spots open to PGA professionals at all PGA Tour events. That hurt more than just the Player of the Year in Hawaii.
For Hayashi, knowing that he wouldn’t automatically earn a spot in the Sony Open in Hawaii 2008, he put his heart into the junior golfers he teaches instead of playing Aloha Section events and making expensive trips to Oahu!
SONY OPEN ELITE QUALIFYING EVENT
The Aloha Section members only “elite” Monday qualifying are members who played in the events that count toward Player of the Year, members finishing in the top 10 on the final Player of the Year points list and the top five seniors. Last year Abe Mariano and David Chin won the pro qualifier spots, in a playoff over Ishii. Kevin Hayashi earned the third spot as Player of the Year.
Hayashi, also the 2007 Player of the Year, successfully qualified on that Monday in December at Waialae. He played in the final pro group with Kevin Carll and Kirk Nelson, who were second and third on the points list.
SONY OPEN “OPEN” QUALIFYING EVENT
Aloha Section will also run the Open Qualifier for the 2008 Sony Open. The pre-qualifier is Jan. 6 and open to all professionals and amateurs with a handicap of 2 or less. The top 50 and ties are eligible for the Monday Open Qualifier the following day. Both will be at Makaha Resort. Entries are available at aloha.pga.com or by calling 593-2230.
The 2008 Sony Open in Hawai'i will be Jan. 10 to 13, following the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua, Jan. 3 to 6.
ASPGA FOUNDATION/CASTLE RESORTS & HOTELS UH SCHOLARSHIP PRO/AM SERIES
Last year, the Aloha Section PGA and Castle Resorts held four events to help raise money for the University of Hawaii golf teams, both the men’s and women’s programs. The final event this year was held at the Pearl Country Club.
Makaha Resort won with a final score 119. Second place went to Castle Resorts team with a score of 123, headed by professional Kevin Carll and team members Yasu Ogawa, Raymond Noh, Carl Yamamoto and Kim Haley.
The winning professional was Golf Link Joe Phengsavath who carded a 66. Kop Distributors pro Regan Lee was second with a 68 followed by Paul Sugimoto’s team professional Ron Kiaaina Jr.
UH golf team men’s coach Ron Miyashiro thanked all of the folks who came out to play to help support the UH golf teams.
E-Z-GO/Golf Concepts Head Pro-Assistant Pro Championship
One of the final events of the season was for many the most fun…or challenging…depending on the pressure the assistant pro’s felt they were under. Many head professionals were the first to say that their assistant pro’s carried them through the event since most head professionals don’t get much personal playing time to practice. Not that assistant professionals get much either but maybe they’re just a little bit younger! Nah!
This was probably one of the most challenging events of the entire season, from a completely weather perspective. The 36-hole four-ball, stroke play, event was held at the Hualalai and Keolu courses at the Kaupulehu-Kona complex with 25 teams vying for the purse of $11,500. But first they had to overcome 40 mph swirling winds and occasional driving rain. Literally driving sideways blowing rain. The kind of rain you can’t protect yourself from. The kind of wind you can’t wait out.
Makena’s head professional Kirk Nelson and assistant professional Brian Sasada managed to win this event. When Nelson was on “The Golf Club” to talk about the win, the first thing out of his mouth was something to the effect “that wasn’t a round of golf!” After describing the weather, I asked him: “So how did you two pull it off?”
They came in with a 68 on the first day and a 73 on the second, one shot better than second place Turtle Bay’s Kevin Carll and Kellan Anderson and 5 strokes ahead of third place Hilo Muni’s Rodney Acia and Lance Taketa.
Nelson said “One shot at a time.” Nelson said since there was nothing they could do about the weather, “All we could do was accept it, try to stay in the moment, take our best shot and move it one stroke closer.”
GOVERNOR JOHN A. BURNS CHALLENGE CUP
The Amateurs got the Cup back! This is the 35th year the Challenge Cup has been played, this year at the Mid Pacific Country Club, and this is their 11th victory. The last time Hawaii’s top Amateur team won was 2002. The score this year was 13.5 to 10.5 On the first day, the Amateur team finished two points ahead of the Professionals. Casey Nakama beat Chan Kim 3-2. Shane Abe beat Ryan Perez 2-1. Joe Phengsavath beat Jonathan Ota 2-1. Kirk Nelson beat Taeksoo Kim. But that was it. Paul Kimura beat Brad Bowen. Alex Ching beat Lance Taketa. Alex Chu beat Matt Pakkala. Henry Park beat Andrew Feldmann. Bradley Shigezawa beat Regan Lee. Lorens Chan beat Ron Castillo Junior. The matches between Brandan Kop and Kevin Carll and Pono Calip and John Lynch ended all square.
Kirk Nelson says he was very impressed with the all of the amateur players but particularly the way the junior golfers handled themselves under pressure.
POLO GOLF JUNIOR CLASSIC
At the AJGA Invitational at the end of last month, #1 seed Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Florida won her third consecutive AJGA Invitational title with a 3 & 2 victory over Kimberly Kim of Pahoa, Hawaii.
The Polo Golf Junior Classic was a 160 player invitation only field made up of boys and girls ages 12 to 18 from 29 states and 11 foreign countries. Former champions include Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Grace Park and Morgan Pressel.
The Girls Division pitted the top two players against one another in the final but first Hurst had to get through the third ranked player, Punahou’s Stephanie Kono.
Their match was postponed by darkness and once they began their 23rd hole the next morning, they traded pars until Hurst won on the 28th hole, which made the match the longest in AJGA history.
Hurst said it was a great match, “Stephanie and I were talking and laughing and just happy to be there.”
ULUPALAKUA RANCH TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
The Emerald Course at Wailea, par 72, hosted the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association’s Ulupalakua Ranch Tournament of Champions. Testing the skills of 44 top junior golfers, the top player in each age division earned an automatic place in next year’s event.
The winners? All of the kids who play junior golf!
10 and under boys: 1 Philip Delisi of Kapolei 140
2 Donny Hopoi of Aiea 141
10 and under girls: 1 Alllisen Corpuz of Honolulu 155
2 Mariel Galdiano of Kapolei 159
11-12 Boys: 1 Rudy Cabalar of Ewa Beach 150
2 Jameson Keiley of Haiku 151
11-12 Girls: 1 Eimi Koga of Honolulu 147
2 Alexander Kaui of Kapolei 153
13-14 Boys 1 Lorens Chan of Honolulu 137
2 Justin Keiley of Haiku 150
13-14 Girls 1 Cassy Isagawa of Wailuku 149
2 Kelli Oride of Lihue 151
15-18 Boys 1 Alex Ching of Honolulu 137
2 TJ Kua of Lihue 144
15-18 Girls 1 Kristina Merkle of Honolulu 141
2 Elyse Okada of Kahului 146
13-18 Girls 1 Kristina Merkle of Honolulu 141
2 Elyse Okada 146
3 Cassy Isagawa 149
Anna Jang 149
2007 INAUGURAL WAHINE O’HAWAII KAI OPEN
You wouldn’t know it by this beautiful picture of the Hawaii Kai Championship course, but the winds and the rain were relentless the week of December 4th when the first Wahine O’Hawaii Kai Open was played. The puddled fairways and the drowned bunkers didn’t put off this spirited group of women.
Braving those daunting conditions, here are your winners:
Championship Flight
Sanae Vierra in the second playoff hole with a bogey.
Vierra and Mira Han finished with a 164.
3rd place: Bev Kim 165
4th place: Lily Yao 164
Bev Kim won by matching card from #10. Bev made 5 on hole #11.
A Flight
1st Aline Batungbacal 176
2nd Tamiko Takebayashi 179
3rd Shin Ja Lee 179
B Flight
Low Gross
1st place Carol Jung 185
2nd place Karen Nakagawa 191
3rd place Joan Machado 195
We hope you’ll sigh up for next year’s event!
SPECIALS AT MAKALEI
Makalei Golf Club announced an e-Club Membership Program that provides special amenities, discounts and activities for members throughout the year. Benefits for the $50 annual membership include discounts at the golf shop and restaurant and for lessons, special events and golf rates.
For more information, call 325-6625 or see www.makalei.com.
2007 ALII CUP, PRESENTED BY HONSADOR
Tandy Kualii of Kona was crowned Honsador Alii Cup champion with a 2&1 victory over Jim Sullivan Sunday afternoon at the Kona Country Club. Kona resident Willy Wilton defeated Hilo’s Randy Pak 3&2 to capture Senior flight honors. Steve Kimes held off Jim Sheeley 3&2 to win the Golden Senior flight.
CASIO WORLD OPEN 2007
Professional Tadd Fujikawa traveled to Japan to play in the Casio World Open 2007. He missed the cut shooting a 78 and 74, 8 over par with the cut at 4 over.
Hawaii’s Gregory Meyer made the cut. It was close with a 72 and a 74 but today Meyer shot a 4 under par 68 lifting him up to a tie for 17th going into the final round Sunday. On Sunday, Meyer shot a 70 for a total 284 and a tied for 16th.
Meyer has been on the Japan Golf Tour for many years now. Meyer is loved by his fans in Japan. They call him “Gorigori”
TOP CLUBMAKER
Mike Moynahan, golf club maker and owner of Kama'aina Clubmakers in Kamuela, was named one of the Top 10 Clubmakers for 2007-2008 by the Golf Clubmakers Association. It is the second straight year Moynahan has been honored. A panel made up of GCA officials and other golf clubmaking experts selected winners from each state (U.S.), province (Canada) and country (International), who "exemplified the overall best qualities of golf club repair, club fitting and community work."
ANYBODY SEEN RORY SABBATINI IN HAWAII?
Seems at one time or another we all have our nemesis. One person you just can’t seem to get along with no matter what you do.
Rory Sabbatini seems to be that person for Tiger Woods.
Woods won the Target World Challenge this past December. It’s an event he created to raises money for his Tiger Woods Learning Centre in California.
It was a “by invitation only” event. That is you had to be one of the top players in the world and available. It also guaranteed an income for event the player who came in last, as long as that person was in play into the weekend.
In a move that left just about every one shaking their heads, Sabbatini withdrew from the final round because of “personal reasons” making him the first person to leave the event early in it’s nine-year history. But he still was walking away with $170,000 dollars despite being in last place and 28 shots behind.
A locker room attendant told one reporter anonymously Sabbatini cleaned out his locker on Saturday afternoon and gave away sweaters and shoes. Sabbatini reportedly said he was headed to Hawaii, where he spends his Christmas vacation.
His agent, Bud Martin, said Sabbatini told him he withdrew because of shin splints that wouldn’t improve despite working with his trainer. Tournament director Greg McLaughlin wasn't informed until 8:30 a.m., although he had a hunch Sabbatini was leaving when he was checking out of the hotel and overheard the concierge trying unsuccessfully to book Sabbatini a limo for eight to get to the airport.
By Sunday afternoon, McLaughlin still could not locate Sabbatini's courtesy car. Paul Casey said he saw the South African loading up the car in the hotel parking lot.
Fred Couples said, shaking his head. ``He's messing with the wrong guy.''
Woods, the tournament host, also shook his head when asked about Sabbatini. ``I've heard he had shin splints,'' Woods said. ``I heard he pulled out for personal reasons. He packed his locker up at 3 o'clock yesterday, I think headed to Hawaii. A lot of different things going on. And I'd like to try and get to the bottom of it when I'm done here, and we'll see what happens.'' Later, he was asked if he minded that Sabbatini left, and a cold stare spoke volumes.
This year Sabbatini will probably be remembered for a couple of reasons.
Sabbatini and Woods played in the final round at the Wachovia Championship, where Woods overcame a one-shot deficit to win. Sabbatini, who had said he wanted Woods in the final group at Quail Hollow, said the following week that Woods looked as ``beatable as ever.''
"I've seen Tiger when he hits the ball well,'' Sabbatini said. "I've seen him when he figures it out. It's scary. I don't want to see that anymore. I like the new Tiger.''
Woods responded by saying the "new Tiger'' had three victories in 2007 at that point, ``the same amount he's won in his career.'' Woods finished the season with seven victories.
Woods and Sabbatini were paired again in the final round at the Bridgestone Invitational. Sabbatini said it would be a deciding match. Woods beat him at Wachovia, but Sabbatini said he outscored him in the final round of the 1996 U.S. college championship, where Woods had an eight-shot lead going into the last round and won the title by three shots.
At Firestone, Woods turned a one-shot deficit into a seven-shot lead at the turn and won by eight.
And now he walks out in the middle of the tournament Woods is the host of.
I keep thinking of that cold stare Woods gave the reporter who asked if he minded that Sabbatini left. What was that Couples said? You’re messing with the wrong guy. Yea.
TIGER WOODS LEARNING CENTRE
The Tiger Woods Foundation was created with Woods’ father Earl shortly after turning professional in 1996, paving the way for the first Tiger Woods Learning Centre where children can develop life skills.
Around 16,000 students have gone through the Centre since it opened in Anaheim, California in February 2006 and Woods plans to open a second one in the Washington D.C. area within the next five years. "Golf is something I do selfishly for myself," the American world number one told Reuters in an interview. "I have a competitive side and that's how I express it.
"But, as far as my tombstone is concerned, hopefully it will read something more of what I am trying to do for kids. That would be so much more ultimate than winning any golf tournament.
"The joy I get from winning a major championship doesn't even compare to the feeling I get when a kid writes a letter saying: 'Thank you so much. You have changed my life.
"Or: 'I have turned my life around because of you. I was in a gang and now I'm not in a gang and now I'm going to college. No one in my family has ever gone to a college and now I'm the first one to do it.' That, to me, is what it's all about."
ANNIKA!
She went out on a win this 2007 season. Annika Sorenstam, winless through the year on the LPGA Tour finished the year by defending her Dubai Ladies Masters title at the Emirates Golf Club. What is Sorenstams plan for 2008? Regain her world No 1 ranking from Lorena Ochoa.
NOT SO FAST, SHARK
Greg Norman has been advised not to remarry quickly by his ex-wife after news that the former world golf number one had proposed to his girlfriend Chris Evert, the former world number one ranked tennis player. Norman, 52, and Evert, 53, announced their engagement on Saturday at a news conference to announce Evert would be building a tennis centre at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates, where Norman was competing in the South African Open.
Asked whether there were any marriage plans between her and Norman, the American, sporting a large diamond on her left ring finger, replied: "Well, it is an engagement ring. We were engaged on Sunday night coming over here, en route to South Africa.
Evert, the winner of 18 grand slam singles titles, jokingly asked Norman: "Why don't you say something to them (the media)? Gee, you're a big chicken!"
JACK NICHOLSON’S RULES OF GOLF
In case you have a golfer in your group who just doesn’t play by the rules of golf you adhere to, think about playing with Jack Nicholson. Here are his “local rules”:
WHOOPS…THEY’VE DONE IT AGAIN
Here is a nice little snippet a friend sent to me, made by someone in Germany. If you ever fell nervous or ill at ease about playing golf, watch this and you’ll feel like maybe you really do belong!
REVEALING SECRETS
Now for all the lovely people who have asked me where I get my look for television when they see me on KHNL News 8 doing the traffic reports in the morning and the afternoon on the KHNL News at 5 PM and in the morning from 5 AM to 8 AM.
First off, I get a lot of my jewelry from Avon. They have fabulous prices for pieces that are unusual and well made. My Avon representative is Laureen and you can always reach her at 800 238 8974.
I count on my make up from Gigi at Permanent Elegance. I can’t tell you what a difference it has made in my morning after a little time with Gigi and her specialty plus her make up line is fabulous and great for all skin types and skin tones. Her number is 808 722 7981,
Now for something I’ve just discovered and it has made a tremendous difference in my overall look, with and without makeup.
It’s the Galvanic Spa.
Instead of going in to a dermatologist for expensive treatments or having someone inject you with all kinds of the latest and greatest fillers and muscle deactivators, get the take the Galvanic Spa home with you.
I was offered a free facial by Mimi and Cobey at 808 845 0007. I was skeptical because I expected them to get me on the table and start some intense sell about how my skin needs this salve and that cream…or else!
Nope. That’s not what happened. They asked me to let them do one side of my face first just so I could see the difference after just one treatment. It was amazing.
Do this for yourself. Get a free facial at 808 845 0007. And this is for the guys too, okay. You can even use it on your body to help with stretch marks. It’s the same treatment Sophia Loren uses, only she can afford to have it done in the clinic. With the new technology, it’s a hand held unit that does remarkably wonderful things for your cells.
Just like a golf club, you’ve got to try it before you buy it.
Until Saturday, thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time.
Aloha,
Danielle
Host and Producer of “The Golf Club” radio show.
Saturday 7 AM KUMU AM 1500, KONI FM 104.7, KTOH FM 99.9 and KPUA AM 650.
