Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Hawaii’s Kimberly Kim ended up in the middle of the “Hell Bunker” as it’s called in St. Andrews on the Old Course. It was Day Two of the Curtis Cup. The U.S. team held a slim lead over the Great Britain and Ireland team.
On Day One, the day before, Kim had a good afternoon, winning the afternoon Fourball with teammate Mina Harigae. Now she’s with the same teammate, on the same course with the same clubs. But it’s golf. A bounce or two and there you are, in “Hell”.
You can’t let that get you down. So what if the wall you’re up against is twice as tall as you are. You got in, so you get yourself out!
Kim Kim did just that. She went in. She got out and she moved along.
Kim and Harigae repeated their first day performance with another victory on Day Two.
Yes, the 2008 Curtis Cup was played on the venerable Old Course at St. Andrews this year. Hawaii’s 16 year old Kimberly Kim, the youngest member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team, knew how to overcome one of her concerns – ask team Captain Carol Semple Thompson if she could tee off first on the final day so she wouldn’t have to go through “waiting”, not just waiting for your tee time but waiting for the players to finish the hole ahead of you.
I guess Kim isn’t one of the “slow play” problem players in the world of golf. (In fact, junior golf programs across the country are working on increasing the speed of play so there aren’t more of the players going so slow TV viewers are switching to NASCAR rather than the sleepy pace of TV golf. But I digress.)
One of the concerns Captain Semple Thompson expressed was the one most captains of these Ryder Cup style match play events. Can players who’ve been competing against one another, all of a sudden become team members and play with each other.
This picture of Kim and Harigae shows just how well these two played as teammates.
Kim wasn’t successful every time on the course. Day One, she didn’t play the first Foursome and the U.S team came out one point ahead. Kim played Fourball that afternoon, won and the U.S. ended the first day two points ahead.
On day two, Kim played the morning Foursomes with Jennie Lee. They didn’t win and neither did the team. It was a tie with each side losing one and halving one. During the afternoon Fourball, the U.S. team won two and we went into the third day with a one-point advantage and years of victories over Great Britain and Ireland to lift spirits.
It all came down to the final day, and the U.S. team came through in a very big way.
Great Britain & Ireland vs. United States of America
Great Britain & Ireland Pts Score Holes Score Pts United States of America
SINGLES
Breanne Loucks 17 3&1 1 Kimberly Kim
Jodi Ewart 17 2&1 1 Amanda Blumenherst
Elizabeth Bennett 16 3&2 1 Stacy Lewis
Carly Booth 13 6&5 1 Tiffany Joh
Michele Thomson ½ A/S 18 A/S ½ Jennie Lee
Florentyna Parker 1 6&4 14 Meghan Bolger
Krystle Caithness 1 2&1 17 Mina Harigae
Sally Watson 18 1 UP 1 Alison Walshe
Great Britain & Ireland 2½ 5½ United States of America
Earlier in the column, I mentioned Kimberly Kim actually asked Captain Semple Thompson to let her play first. She got her wish but not the first victory.
Tiffany Joh did that with her win over GB&I’s Elizabeth Bennett. But Kim came in next. As she put it, “It felt great because the rest of the team didn’t have to worry. We got the points up fast.”
USA Captain Carol Semple Thompson, who played in a record 12 Curtis Cups, was impressed by her team’s effort in the singles matches on a day that featured plenty of rain, wind and chilly temperatures. “I have a very strong team but I didn’t think they would play as well as they did today in the worst weather of the three days,” said Thompson, a seven-time USGA champion. “All credit to my players. They did a great job. They just stayed in there and finished strongly.”
From the USGA press room:
“Stacy Lewis and Alison Walshe went undefeated to lead the squad from the United States of America to a 13-7 victory over Great Britain and Ireland at the 2008 Curtis Cup Match.
It was the sixth consecutive win for the Americans in the Match, which features an eight-woman amateur squad from the USA against one representing England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Wales. The last GB&I win came in 1996.
Lewis, a 23-year-old from The Woodlands, Texas, went a perfect 5-0 for the USA, with two foursomes (alternate-shot) and two four-ball (best-ball) victories prior to Sunday’s 3-and-2 singles win over Scotland’s Liz Bennett that clinched the winning point.
It is the first time any player has gone 5-0 in any single Match. This was the first year the Curtis Cup was waged over three days, featuring foursomes and four-ball matches the first two days and all eight players competing in Sunday singles. The USA now holds a 26-6-3 all-time record in the Match.”
Wish we had a little of that luck this Ryder Cup!
WIE IS CONTENDING
It was the Ladies German Open at the Golfpark Gut Hausern. Over 17 thousand people showed up to watch Michelle Wie. The promoters of the Hypo Vereinsbank Ladies Germany Open credit Wie for attracting half of those people. This time Wie did not disappoint!
Wie finished the four day event with a 5-under-par 67 to place 6th with her first sub par tournament in nearly two years.
Wie told reporters “It’s been a really long time since I shot that score. So now I know what it feels like and can put in the memory bank. It feels like it’s coming along. It feels like I’m recovering, getting back on track and getting back to where I used to be.”
I am really proud of her. Watching the scores on the Internet that weekend, I couldn’t help but worry after she shot an over par round. She did so well and then ballooned a bit on Saturday. I was afraid she hadn’t built up the stamina yet for a full four day walking, shooting, and being scrutinized event. But she says “I feel a lot more confident about my game. With that being said, a person’s greed is always wanting more. I’m very happy with my score, but at the same time, I could have done better.”
She even sounds like she speaking from her heart instead of repeating what she has been coached to say. And from the looks of things, she is working with a caddy and he isn’t related to her.
As we continue watching the progress Michelle Wie is making, I’m convinced a lot of it had to do with the klieg lights and the microscope she was under. Once out from under them, without the scrutiny of her every move, she was able to relax, rehabilitate and recover. Under the kind of heat she was generating, no one can thrive.
Here is one headline, printed in the Williamsburg Virginian-Pilot by columnist Tom Robinson written just a few weeks before the German Ladies Open.
“Her Star Faded, Michelle Wie now faces Irrelevancy”. In the article, author Robinson points to what he calls the change from her “graceful, almost contortionists loop to mechanical, over rehearsed slash.”
Wie is not facing irrelevancy, as the crowds who wanted to see her testify to, and her swing looks more like the days of the “Big Wiesy”.
AND IT’S NO FLUKE
Happy to report Michelle Wie is showing some consistency as her game begins to return. In the Wegmans LPGA at the Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York, she came in tied for 24th. After making the cut with rounds of 71 71, Wie did disappoint herself with a 73 in the third round.
But for her final round, she dug deep and shot a 68.
U.S WOMEN OPEN
We’ve got three contenders in the U.S. Women’s Open this year. Kimberly Kim has an exemption after winning the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Michelle Wie qualified on the mainland and Cyd Okino qualified at Turtle Bay.
Okino, who is the youngest to win the Hawaii State Open (2006 and 2007) and the State Women’s Match Play Championship. For Okinos' coach and caddy, it didn’t surprise him at all. “She hit the ball really good. The last couple of years we’ve been working on her short game. I tell her ‘Get rid of the bogeys, get rid of the bogeys.’ Making birdies is just a matter of time, but you’ve got to get rid of the bogeys.” With a bogey free 67 in the afternoon of qualifying, it looks like she’s getting rid of them!
U.S. WOMENS AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS
Congratulations to Allisen Corpuz. She turned 10 in March. That made her about 10 years 3 months old when she become the youngest golfer to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin. Corpuz got there with the help from Okino.
Okino had qualified for the WAPL but when she won the U.S. Women’s Open qualifier, she automatically became qualified for all the USGA summer events, including the WAPL and that catapulted Corpuz, the alternate, into the spot and knocked Michelle Wie out of the record books. Wie was 10 years 7 months old in 2000 when she was the youngest ever to qualify. She is still the youngest ever to win the event when she did it at the age of 13.
In addition to Okino and Corpuz, Hawaii was represented by Mari Chun, Kristina Merkle, Xyra Suyetsugu, Kelcie Kawano, Kellie Nakashima and Stephanie Kono, who earned the exemption by reaching the quarterfinals of last year’s WAPL. Kimberly Kim was also exempt.
After stroke play, Okino, Suyetsugu, Corpuz and Kawano didn’t make the cut into match play.
And after the dust cleared from round 1 of match play, big upsets for some of the top ranked players in the U.S. coming from Hawaii including Kim and Chun.
There was only one Hawaii player left to go into round 2, the round of 32. Stephanie Kono. And then to the round of 16.
Kono played beautifully going all the way to the semi final match but lost to South Koreas’ Jennifer Song.
U.S. MENS AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS
The field was large for the Big Island United States Golf Association Amateur Public Links Sectional qualifier held at the Hilo municipal golf course. Sean Maekawa, of Paauilo, a freshman at the University of Oregon, came out on top. He finished the day even par, 142, shooting rounds of 70 and 72.
Kamehameha School-Hawaii Campus Pono Calip was second, 6 shots back at 148, with rounds of 75 and 73. Calip is the alternate, a position he won after making birdie in the first playoff hole to beat Waiakea High School golfer Matt Kitamori.
Twenty-five golfers participated Saturday in the grueling 36-hole walk around the Hilo Municipal Golf Course. This is Maekawas fourth trip to the national championship.
Maekawa joins Kapaa resident Kellen Watabu, who edged out veteran amateur Jonathan Ota by one-stroke during Kauai’s Sectional last week at the Wailua Municipal Golf Course.
100TH MANOA CUP
It was a good day for 18 year old Alex Ching. His opponent in the final 36 holes of play for the 100th Manoa Cup championship, 46 year old 2006 champion Jonathan Ota wasn’t having his best day.
It was all square after 4 holes Saturday morning. Ching went 1 up after 5 and just kept hitting those birdies. Ota just couldn’t get anything going. Or should we say, Ching could do no wrong.
However you want to phrase it, the final went only 29 holes. The score was 8 and 7, Ching. That means Ching had 8 wins with only 7 more holes to play, and Ota had ran out of course to catch.
Chings’ Dad and caddie, Steve, just wanted to thank all of Alexs’ Aunties and Uncles for all of their support. The Oahu Country Club was happy to see a member win. The players were happy to dump Ching into the pool. Probably the most anxious moment of the day for Ching!
TADD FUJIKAWA PLAYS TWO
Tadd Fujikawa will be playing two tournaments coming up at the end of July and the beginning of August. He’ll play the Nagasima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup at North Country Golf Club in Hokkaido July 24 to July 27 and the following week he has an exemption to play in the Sun Chlorella Classic at the Otaru Country Club in Hokkaido.
I hope to find pictures for you.
58th JENNIE K. AT MID PACIFIC COUNTRY CLUB
It was a really beautiful May weekend. Maybe there was a touch too much vog in the air. We all seemed to be suffering from oxygen deprivation that week. Drivers seemed disoriented. Maybe they just couldn’t see the landmarks they normally use to get to where they are going. We could barely make out the Koolau Range from the Mid Pacific Country Club “club house”.
Saturday morning Anna Jang was at the top of the leaderboard. Jang joined us on the air while broadcasting “The Golf Club” from the Mid Pacific Country Club clubhouse. Jang said she enjoys playing against the top players, like two time defending champion Kristina Merkle, because it keeps her focused. She says the challenge helps her game. Jang has been playing for about five years. Her coaches include, among others, Casey Nakama and Kevin Rabolvsky. She says she likes to learn as much as she can from one person and then learn from another.
The turnout was terrific. The 58th Jennie K. Wilson Invitational at Mid Pacific Country Club is back on track. There is a waiting list to get into the field.
And there’s a new defending champion, Xrya Suyetsuga. It was very close. Kristina Merkle fell one stroke short of forcing a playoff to win the Invitational three years in a row. But Xyra Suyetsugu had a secret weapon. Her caddie.
Honolulu Starbulletin reporter Brian McInnis got a chance to talk with Suyetsugus’ caddie Corie Hou after Suyetsugu won the Jennie K.
UH golf teammate and first-time caddie, Hou, came up with the strategy she decided would work after getting to know Suyetsugu for two seasons on the UH team.
"I kind of know her thought process and what gets her nervous or anxious," said Hou, a sophomore from Sydney, Australia. "So, when we made the turn the scoreboard was up there and I said, 'Don't look at it.' She was trying to take a sneak peak, but I told her, 'If you look at the scoreboard, I'm going to have to slap you, and you're going to have to carry your bag.'"
Hou wouldn't let her look at the large board as they approached the 18th green, either. It displayed Suyetsugu clinging to a one-stroke lead.
Suyetsugu, a 2004 Roosevelt graduate, who elected to walk the course, appreciated Hous' insight into her mental game.
"(Corie) kept me composed," Suyetsugu said. "I wasn't really thinking about shots. She told me, think out loud, tell me everything you're thinking about.' Because if thinking to myself, it confuses things. She was a huge help."
In the end, Suyetsugu stopped two time defending champion Merkle by one stroke. Suyetsugu finished with a 1-over 73 (1-under 215 overall). But Suyetsugu had no idea how much was on the line.
After Suyetsugu putted a 25-foot fringe ball within 6 inches and a par to end her round, Merkles’ tying putt meandered just to the right.
"I knew we were neck and neck," said Suyetsugu, a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection, who finished tied for 11th at the league championships. "I wasn't too sure where I stood, if I was ahead or not (to that point)."
Last year, Merkle easily defended her title. She won by 13 strokes. After her loss this year, she was the gracious young lady who knows how to win, "I was just trying to catch up and play my game," Merkle said. "It's really heartbreaking, but I'm really happy that Xyra won, too."
As for Mid Pacific Country Club superintendent Jason Amoy, who is notorious for his difficult course set up at Mid Pacific, Merkle said, "It was a lot tougher, they tucked the pins behind the bunkers and the corners and stuff but it’s a really nice golf course I had fun. Yeah, I'm gonna be back. Definitely gonna be back."
It was Suyetsugus' first victory since August, when she won the Hawaii State Women's Stroke Play Championship. Merkle had just won the HHSAA girls individual championship. Kalani senior Nicole Sakamoto shot a solid 73 to move into third place at 220, ahead of Punahou junior Anna Jang at 222.
The beauty of the Jennie K. is the field. There are flights for every golfer with a GHIN handicap and ready for a little, or a lot, of competition.
Long time golfer, and Hawaii State Women Golf Association member Sally Harper said it’s not how good you are playing; it’s about playing the game and having a good time doing it. Make it a goal for next year!
HAWAII STATE JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION –ADAMS GOLF QUALIFIER
Congratulations to David Fink, Kristina Merkle, Aaron Kunitomo and Marissa Chow for winning the Adams Golf Qualifier. They earned a spot in the Tour Championship on August 4-5, 2008 at the Forest Akers Golf Course in Michigan. They played the Turtle Bay Golf – Arnold Palmer Course on June 10th.
CALLAWAY JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER
The 40th Callaway Junior World Championship will be held in San Diego this month with 44 kids from Hawaii ages 7 to 18 representing the Hawaiian Islands. The qualifier was held at the Kaanapali golf courses the weekend of the U.S. Open. When they tee it up in San Diego, they will be playing against kids from 45 countries and all 50 states.
Age 7-8 Hometown Scores (2-day) Total
Boys: Kane Rogers Honolulu 69/67 136
Girls: Jaelin Ishikawa Pukalani 93/89 182
Age 10 & Under
Boys: Kyle Suppa Honolulu 67/65 132
Girls: Mariel Galdiano Kapolei 65/74 139
Age 11-12
Boys: Richard Hattori Honolulu 69/65 134
Girls: Ciera Min Hilo 71/72 143
Age 13-14
Boys: Lorens Chan Honolulu 71/70 141
Girls: Cassy Isagawa Wailuku 69/73 142
Age 15-17
Boys: Corey Kozuma Kaneohe 71/72 143
Girls: Summer Mizusawa Hilo 75/75 150
Note: Age groups 7-8, Ka’anapali Kai Par 58; Age 10 & Under, Ka’anapali Kai Par 62; Age 11-12 Ka’anapali Kai 70, Age 13-17 Royal Ka’anapali Par 71
“It’s great to see so many junior golfers from across the state here at Ka’anapali,” comments Ed Kageyama, Ka’anapali’s PGA general manager. “We are proud to sponsor this event and provide access to these juniors to compete at our facility – a facility that has tested some of golf’s legends for over 45 years,” Kageyama added.
2008 KAHILI MAUI OPEN
It’s been a long time for Brian Sasada. He’s been the Maui Open defending champion for 4 years, waiting for someone for the contenders to come back to Maui. Actually, it was more like finding the people, the course and the sponsors willing to take the time to put on a top caliber golf tournament. Rick Castillo, the Director of Golf at the King Kamehameha Golf Club and his head professional Brad Bowen at the Kahili Course did just that. They found 18 sponsors, one per hole, willing to make the commitment to revive the Maui Open. But Sasada wasn’t able to hold on to that trophy.
Bowen says the wind conditions were mild, the greens were fast and the rough was 2 inches. Seems like perfect conditions!
But it was last years Mid Pac Open champion Darren Summers who claimed the trophy, and the $3000, with a one stroke win over David Gerken, John Hearn and Patrick Finigan.
5th place was another three way tie, and a check for $800 each to Eliot Gouveia, TJ Figueroa and Johan Galarita.
Kirk Nelson was 8th. Defending champion Brian Sasada was 9th. And the top Amateur Doug Williams came in 10th. Robert Greenleaf was the second Amateur in the field.
KUMA CONTRACTING KONA OPEN
Another terrific weekend on the Big Island for the folks who put on the Kona Open. It had gone the way of so many local golf tournaments, dormant, until Kuma Contracting stepped up with the Kona Country Country Club to revive it. As it grows, more folks are willing to step up and support it, like Shell Vacations. Good for business and good for the game.
At this Open, a young amateur walked away with the top score and one of Hawaii’s top pro’s got low score
Thank you to Lee Hardy for the photos.
KO OLINA GOLF CLUB PGA’S MCGLADREY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Here’s the Ko Olina Golf Club PGA McGladrey Team headed to the Hawaii Sectional on August 10 at the Turtle Bay Resort. For the past several months, golf courses across the state have been putting together McGladrey teams. That’s three friends, family or acquaintances who come out to play, like these three guys did at Ko Olina Golf Club and won with a birdie on the second hole of a dramatic (aren’t they always!) sudden death playoff with the team of Fred Denault, Allan Kua’aina and Paul Ichimura.
11 three-person teams participated in the stroke-play qualifying tournament. 11 local military personnel participated as markers, accompanying the teams to keep score. All participants received a tee gift and lunch. The winning team will be joined by a Ko Olina Golf Club PGA professional at Turtle Bay on August 10, 2008 for the sectional qualifying tournament. The winning team at the sectional advances to the National Championship scheduled for October 20-22 at the world-renowned Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.
TIGER WOUNDED KNEE
When I write this column, I don’t put anything in order of importance. This could be, from the golf industry point of view, the most important story of this year or longer. In fact this last story on golf is about the most influential person in golf today, and maybe one day we’ll say, in the history of the game.
Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines against Rocco Mediate. It was in an 18-hole Monday playoff that went into sudden death.
Mediate fought Woods all the way to the final hole.
Mediate is in his 40’s. He suffered a ruptured disk in his back many years ago and is only now playing some of his best golf ever. But the fact that he managed to come back and play is pretty amazing. And then to take on the world’s best golfer, well that’s incredible.
At least until you find out that Woods won this U.S. Open on a very long golf course with a blown out ACL and two stress fractures in his tibia, or shin bone. Playing under those conditions is miraculous.
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Rocco Mediate talk about his loss to Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines |
I know the entire global golf industry in hoping he wants to.
2009 MERCEDES BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP
The World Golf voice Bob Bubka had a chance to talk with Kapalua Plantations’ Gary Planos before they knew who was going to be the winner and the extent of Tigers injuries.
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Kapaluas' Gary Planos talk about the 2009 Mercedez-Benz Championship with Bob Bubka from the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines |
Coming up later this summer, The Mayor’s Challenge Cup is scheduled to continue with teams from Oahu and Kauai vying for top honors. With the passing of Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste, the mood may be much less jubilant but I’m sure he would want it to go on. He loved his people and sports. He will be missed.
If you’re heading out for a round of golf in the near future, please use sunscreen. In Golf Digest magazine, their headline reads: “If you play golf, there’s a good chance you’ll get skin cancer.”
I keep my skin healthy with the help of a good sunscreen and the excellent mineral makeup from Avi P. Cosmetics. Not only is the makeup great for your skin, it has sun screen agents. Check out Permanent Elegance for the Galvanic Spa.
Hope you’ll visit with us in “The Golf Club” house every Saturday morning, statewide. The site is http://www.radiogolfclub.com/ for the stations on each island.
In the meantime, thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time!
Aloha,
Danielle
