2009 KAHILI MAUI OPEN

The weather was perfect for the 2009 Kahili Maui Open the first weekend in June. It was hot but at least the tradewinds were blowing to 25 mph. The field was excellent, considering the cost of traveling these days. The professional and top amateur players all showed the folks at the Kamehameha Golf Club and the Kalihi course how much they appreciate the effort it takes to put on a quality event.


2009 Kahili Maui Open
1st - Tadd Fujikawa – 73-69- 142 - $3000
2nd - Andrew Feldmann - 73-72-145 - $2000
3rd - Ron Castillo, Jr. - 72-74-146 - $1275
4th - David Ishii - 75-72-147 - $1000
Low Amateur – David Saka - 75-73-148 - $750 Merchandise Certificates
 

Thank you for the excellent course conditions Kahili Golf Course superintendent and the greens keepers.

MAKENA DEMO DAY

We’ll be broadcasting “The Golf Club” from Makena Golf Club on Maui on August 1, 2009. That’s the first Saturday in August. Makena is hosting a demo day and I’m looking forward to checking out all of the new equipment, the beautiful Maui Prince Hotel and the exquisite Hakone sushi bar and the Molokini Bar and Grill.
Stop by at Makena for the demo day.

101st MANOA CUP

It was a riveting 101st Manoa Cup, with the battle coming down to two Kauai players, TJ Kua and Layne Morita.
Kua came out on top after Morita gave him quite a run at the finish just when Kua thought he had it in the bag.  Thanks to Kua’s caddie Travis Toyama.

U.S OPEN AT BETHPAGE BLACK – BOOKIE BUSTER BOB BUBKA

Congratulations to Lucas Glover who defied the odds and won the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black where the sign reads: “WARNING: Even Tiger Woods can’t walk on our water”.

Glover was given odds of 171 to 1. And Bob Bukba made it tough on the bookmakers in Ireland when he made his regular appearance on one of the Irish radio shows.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0623/breaking43.html

“Glover’s win should have been a dream result for the bookies but Paddy Power says his win ended up costing them €1.2m after veteran golf pundit Bob Bubka advised listeners to the station’s ‘Off The Ball’ sports programme to have an each-way punt on the qualifier. 

Paddy Power’s said the recommendation instantly triggered “a betting frenzy” in support of the South Carolina native which saw his odds tumbling from 175/1 before the tournament started last Thursday to 11/8 at the start of the final day of play when he was joint leader.” Irish Times

The story lines were endless. First there was the rain, the mud, the endless delays. An acquaintance of mine said it was akin to being held hostage.

Phil Mickleson, runner up now 5 times at the U.S Open, was the fan favorite. His wife recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickleson is taking time away from the game. With his wife starting her breast cancer treatments this month, Mickleson said he said he just wanted to do something “normal” before the treatments begin. Mickleson admitted he has never felt so vulnerable as he does since his wife was diagnosed. He finds himself crying, sometimes when he is alone, driving. Mickleson was so close during the final round on the 13th hole. But it just didn’t go that way.

David Duval, who came from ranked in the 700’s, is now ranked in the top 150 in the world. Coming out of obscurity, eight years since his #1 World Ranking, Duval finished tied for 2nd.

Ricky Barnes, who set records during the U.S Open at Bethpage, watched as his 6 stroke lead vanished and he had to settle for a tie for 2nd.

And Tiger Woods, who couldn’t make a putt drop to save his life, still managed to finish in the Top 10, in 6th place.  Considering how far back he was, 6th was pretty good. Woods was feeling pretty good about his chances after winning at the Memorial, particularly since he was in much better physical condition.

The last man standing, 29 year old Lucas Glover. Glover, who hasn’t made the cut in 3 past U.S Open’s, walked away with the trophy, a terrific jump in the standings and a trip to Kapalua Maui for the SBS Championship in January.

World Golf Radio’s Bob Bubka caught up with Gary Planos, senior vice president of Resort Operations, where Kapalua Resort has put its finishing major upgrades and the Kapalua Spa opened on July 1st and the Kapalua Bay Course is ready to go.

U.S WOMENS PUBLIC LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP – THE WAPL


Stephanie Kono shot a 68 on the first day during stroke play qualifying to finish at 6 under and capture medalist honors at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.


The 19-year-old Kono, from Honolulu, edged 14-year-old Annie Park of Levittown, N.Y., by one stroke. Park shot a 69 to finish at 5-under 139 for the two rounds of stroke play. The top 64 players advanced to match play, which starts Wednesday. All of Hawaii’s players advanced to match play but only two emerged from the firsts round. Hawaii’s Mari Chun (T 19th ) , Kristina Merkle (T 19th) and Miki Ueoka (51st) lost their first round matches.

Kono (1st) and Hawaii’s Kimberly Kim (T 25th) advanced.

There were 5 other Hawaii golfers who went through the first two rounds of stroke play in their attempt to make it into match play and one of them stayed to caddie for Kimberly Kim. Honolulu’s Cyd Okino (78th), Honolulu’s Reiko Fujii (86th), Wailuku’s Kalea Heu (139th), and Wailuku’s Shannon Abarra (145th) got the invaluable experience of national competition.

Okino stayed in Levittown to do some more learning with KimKim. You can see how in this photo.


US WAPL FINAL MATCH PITS JENNIFER SONG AGAINST KIMBERLY KIM


19-year-old Jennifer Song couldn’t have put it better. “Today I was super hot. I can’t believe I made a bunch of birdies, and some of the putts were really hard. The speed was really crucial and I didn’t expect to make them. I just said, “Jen, get the speed right, and I’ll be happy.’ They just dropped in and I’m so grateful.” Not only were her putts dropping, Song was nine under par for the 30 holes of the scheduled 36-hole match. She was hitting tee shots in the 250-yard range, she never missed a fairway and hit 25 of 30 greens in regulation.


You could say, Hilo’s 17-year-old Kimberly Kim ran into one tough foe in Saturday’s WAPL final. Song said it was the best golf she’s played in competition and the margin of victory showed it. It was the largest in the 33-year history of the WAPL, 7 & 6.


Kim in 2006 became the youngest winner of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the age of 14. In that final match she was five holes down after the morning 18 to Katharina Schallenberg, the same margin by which she was down after 18 holes in Saturday’s WAPL final. But this time, Kim could not rally. “I really tried hard to focus on my game, because she was having such a hot day,” said Kim, who also was the runner-up to Tiffany Joh in the 2006 WAPL final.

This is Song’s first national championship. She was runner-up in the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship and runner-up to Joh in this championship last year. She will next play at the U.S. Women’s Open, which begins July 9 at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.

Jennifer Song, , La Cañada, Calif. (143) def. Kimberly Kim, Hilo, Hawaii (147), 7 and 6

WAPL SEMI FINAL

Kimberly Kim defeated Joanna Coe, 19, of Mays Landing, N.J., in the semifinal, 4 and 3. Jennifer Song advanced by defeating Jisoo Park, 14, of Korea, 2 and 1. In the quarterfinals Friday morning, Kim defeated 17-year-old Sun Gyoung Park of Vail, Ariz., 6 and 5, while Song ousted Casie Cathrea of Livermore, Calif., 4 and 3.

Kimberly Kim reached the WAPL final for the second time in three years. (John Mummert/USGA)

“I’m in a state of shock,” said Kim after winning her semifinal match. “I can’t believe it. I never thought I’d make it to the final ever again.”

Song eliminated the two youngest remaining players in the field. “Both of them had great games,” Song said. “I didn’t expect them to falter. Playing them was really tough.”

Song was thrilled to be given a chance in yet another final. “I’m really hungry for it,” she said. “I think it’s really great. I love it.”

Song and Kim met previously in a quarterfinal match in the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur, with Kim winning on the 21st hole, but Song wasn’t intimidated by her opponent’s superior record. “That doesn’t really get in the way but I know she’s going to come out with a great game tomorrow,” said Song. “We’ll have fun out there.”


PARK OUSTS MEDALIST KONO; PAST WOMEN'S AM CHAMP KIM ADVANCES

Jisoo Park, 14, of Korea eliminated stroke-play medalist Stephanie Kono, 19, of Honolulu, Hawaii, 1 up, Thursday in the third round of the 2009 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the 6,267-yard, par-72 Red Tail Golf Club.


Kimberly Kim, 17, the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Hilo, Hawaii, also advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals with one of her strongest performances this year. Kim defeated Sara-Maude Juneau of Canada, 2 and 1.


Jennifer Song, 19, of La Cañada, Calif., runner-up in this championship last year, sent local favorite Brittany Altomare, 18, of Shrewsbury, Mass., to the sidelines, 1 up.

Park trailed in her match with Kono until the 15th hole, where she made a 15-foot birdie putt to square the match. She won the 16th with a par to go 1 up and the players halved No. 17. Kono needed to win the 18th hole to force extra holes, but her birdie putt rolled over the edge and Park safely two-putted for the win.

All eight quarterfinalists are now fully exempt into the 2010 WAPL.

KIM KIM – GONE MISSING?


Kimberly Kim wasn’t depressed, or off her game, she just didn’t like golf so much any more. That was after she became the 14-year-old victor of the U.S Women’s Amateur in 2006 and won the Robert Cox Cup, adding her name to the list that includes Patty Berg, Babe Zaharias, Beth Daniel, and Juli Inkster. Just a couple weeks before, Kim was the runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Before that, she was the youngest to make the cut in the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open. There was also that 62 she hit in the 2007 U.S. Girls’ Junior stroke-play qualifying. And then, after her 2008 USA Curtis Cup team play at St. Andrews in England, Kim Kim dropped out.

USGA’s Rhonda Glenn, manager of communications, wrote this terrific piece about where Kim went. Or rather, what she decided to do instead of play golf. Here is the excerpt:

“She still played, but not as intensely. She still competed, but not as well. Look for her name in most tournaments and you’d have to look from the bottom up, instead of from the top down.

After the trophies were presented, after the cheering stopped and the media went home, Kim was left feeling a little hollow.

“Three years ago, golf was my life and everything revolved around golf,” said Kim, now 17. “More people that I didn’t even know would try to be my friends. My old friends treated me the same way. No difference really, but I think it was that people’s expectations really got to me. And my parents and I didn’t really agree about things.”

The little girl who used to beat balls by the hour quit practicing. In 2008 she didn’t practice at all. Kimberly, who had been home-schooled “just because of golf,” she says, went to a regular high school, Xavier Prep in Phoenix.

“I went to school and my swing went down the tank,” she says now. “I didn’t practice for a whole year, although I played on my high school golf team. Before I was home-schooled I was a straight-A student. Then I went back to school and I really had to work hard.”

Kim also wanted to experience life beyond the golf course. She wanted to do some of the things she felt she’d missed.

“Before, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the prom or graduation,” she said. “So I did that and I went out with my friends on weekends. I enjoyed that.”

Now the Hilo, Hawaii, native is preparing to go to college in September. She’ll attend the University of Denver, a school known for strong academics as well as its nationally ranked women’s golf team.

“I’ll be living in a dorm, but I’m not concerned,” said Kim, whose older sister, Christina, attends the University of Colorado in Boulder. “Our parents taught us well, to clean up after ourselves, wash the dishes. And traveling to tournaments you learn to be independent.”

Issues with her parents have been settled because, Kim says, they’ve seen stories about other young athletes in other sports.

“My parents are very cool now,” she said. “They read about one guy who was doing super well, then he was in a car accident and his career was over.”

She’s determined to do well in school. Studying will be her first priority, so she’ll have something to fall back on, and golf will be in second place. She seems ambivalent about golf. Reminded that in the 2006 Women’s Amateur her caddie, Frank Nau, told her to play “smash-mouth golf,” she said, “I don’t even know what that means. I don’t know what he was saying. He just told me, hit it here, hit it there, putt it there.”

They’re Facebook buddies now.

Kimberly is struggling a bit on the golf course. She’s trying to remember course management and how to get the ball up and down for a par. But there are signs that she’s on her way back. She recently won the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, a major on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, at Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.) Golf Club.

In this week’s championship, she shot 77 in the first stroke-play qualifying round and was in danger of missing the cut. Kim came roaring in with a 2-under-par 70, and then won her first-round match.

The other day she was packing, basically cleaning out her whole bedroom. “I was cleaning out my closet and saw my medals,” Kim said, “and I thought, ‘I wish I had more medals.’”

The following week in Santa Cruz, Calif., Kim played in sectional qualifying for the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open. She fired 73-70—143 at Pasatiempo and led the field. By two strokes. She got two medals, one for being the low scorer and another for being low amateur.

“I like competing,” Kim said.”

Reported and Written by Rhonda Glenn, communications manager, USGA

US  GIRLS JUNIOR AMATEUR QUALIFYING


The winds were kicking up at Mauna Lani’s North Course where some of Hawaii’s top junior golfers played to qualify for the US Girls Junior Amateur National championship at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminister, New Jersey.
Punahou’s Alina Ching won medalist with her top score 3-over-par 75. Wailuku’s Cassy Isagawa had a 78 and Japan’s Serena Aoki shot an 80. All three are on their way to the Championship. Honolulu’s Allisen Corpuz is first alternate. Hilo’s Britney Yada is second alternate.


On the same day, the boys were playing for the same opportunity, except its called the USGA Junior Championship which will also be played at the Trump National Golf Club. Mikiya Akutsu (from Japan, shot a 2nd round 70 for a two-day total of 144. Hawaii’s Lorens Chan (right), Honolulu, fired a 2nd round 75 to finish at 147 to claim the 2nd qualifying position.

MORE USGA

In the 2009 Hilo Sectional Qualifying for the USGA Amateur Public Links held at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course, Sean Maekawa, of Paauilo, shot rounds of 70-71 (141) to claim medalist honors and represent the Big Island at the USGA APL National Championship in Norman, OK.


Nainoa Calip (73-70) and Daniel Koge (71-72) tied for second place with 143 totals. Calip birdied the first playoff hole to capture the 1st alternate position.

2009 ALOHA SECTION PGA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Alika Bell of Kaneohe, HI and Britney Yada, of Hilo, HI won the 2009 Aloha Section Junior PGA Championship, June 25-26, 2009 at the Waikoloa Beach & Golf Resort.


By winning the boys' and girls' divisions respectively, Bell and Yada qualified for the 34th Junior PGA Championship, July 28-31, 2009, at TPC River's Bend in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Bell represented the Aloha Section last year as well.  
 
The 13 - 18 divisions played on the Waikoloa Beach Course, Par 70.  Bell, 17 posted a final round 69 for a two-day total of 137 for a three-stroke victory over Justin Keiley 16 (Haiku, HI).  Yada, 17, shot a final round 69 for a two-day total of 147 and a one-stroke victory over 1st round leader Alina Ching, 15 (Honolulu, HI), Cassy Isagawa, 15 (Wailuku, HI) and Eimi Koga, 13 (Honolulu, HI).  The winners of the individual age divisions were as follows: Boys 13-15 Scott Yamashita of Kapolei, HI (143 - won scorecard playoff), Girls 13-15 Isagawa (148 - won scorecard playoff), Boys 16-18 Alika Bell (137), and Girls 16-18 Britney Yada (147).
 
The 12 & Under divisions played on the Waikoloa Kings' Course, Par 72.  Ages 9 and up played 18 holes per day while 8 and under played 9 holes per day.  The winners are as follows: Boys 7-8 Christian Yanagi of Hilo, HI (84), Girls 7-8 Millburn Ho of Pukalani, HI (104), Boys 9-10 Shon Katahira of Hilo, HI (142), Girls 9-10 Kristin Miyagi of Honolulu, HI (196), Boys 11-12 Jino Sohn, of Honolulu, HI (153), and Girls 11-12 Rose Huang of Laie, HI (163).  
 
The Junior PGA Championship is open to one boy and one girl champion from each of the 41 PGA Sections, winners of select national junior tournaments conducted throughout the year and special invitees who have not reached their 19th birthdays and who have not started college.
 
2009 OAHU COUNTRY CLUB WOMEN’S INVITATIONAL


Lisa Okazaki captured the 2009 OCC Women’s Invitational accumulating 59 gross stableford points. Lisa a junior at the University of Portland accumulated 29 point during the final round beating her nearest competitor Lily Yao by nine points.

With all the junior golfers excelling in the sport, you wouldn’t think a golf tournament would be phased out. That’s exactly what happened to the Oahu Country Club Women’s Invitational ten years ago. This year, the women brought it back to life.  And a “junior” golfer came out on top.  Lisa Okazaki’s score was a 59 after two days.  Not possible?

You’ll understand once you get to know the format the women used.

HOW THE STABLEFORD SCORING SYSTEM WORKS

It’s called the Stableford scoring system. Stableford scoring systems are stroke-play formats in which the high total wins, not the low.

That's because in Stableford, your final score is not your stroke total, but rather the total points you have earned for your scores on each individual hole. For example, a par might be worth 1 point, a birdie 2. If you par the first hole and birdie the second, you've accrued 3 points. As a format for club tournaments, Stableford formats are more popular in the U.K. than in the U.S.


Bev Kim took the net title in the “Championship Flight” accumulating 65 points

Jaye Gray captured the over-all net title in a sudden death play-off against Estra
Quilausing. Jaye pared the first play-off hole to take the title. Both Jaye and Estra accumulated 76 net stableford points.


Estra Quilausing was tops in the “A Flight” with 76 net stableford points.


Jo Ann Chun took the “B Flight” accumulating 71 net stableford points.


Marty Drew accumulated 73 net stableford points to take the “C Flight”.

Maud Chang emerged victorious in the “D Flight” accumulating 68 net stableford points.


LPGA FINAL MCDONALDS SPONSORED MAJOR AFTER 29 YEARS


Even though Michelle Wie never made a run at winning the LPGA Championship, she certainly gave her sizable galleries reason to cheer this week. Wie opened with a 2-under 70 on her first day, hit a hole-in-one Saturday and started her final round Sunday with an eagle on the par-4, 358-yard hole.
Honolulu's Michelle Wie closed with an up-and-down 70 to finish at 1-under 287 at the last McDonald's LPGA Championship held at the Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.
She tied for 23rd, 14 shots behind the winner, who is also an LPGA tour rookie, Anna Nordqvist. Wie earned $18,105 to run her season total to $326,331, good enough for 16th on the money list.

It was hardly your every-day closing round as Wie opened with an eagle at the par-4 first by holing out from the fairway. That was the good news. The bad news was Wie also had a double bogey at the par-4 fifth and another double at the par-3 12th that kept her from mounting any final-day comeback.

The Punahou School graduate also managed five birdies, including back-to-back efforts to close her opening nine in 34. She turned the trick again on the back nine at Nos. 15 and 16. It was part of a stretch where Wie had three birdies on four holes. She closed with a costly bogey at the 18th.

Wie improved markedly on the tee box, hitting 46 of 56 fairways for an average of 272.5 yards. Her iron game was erratic at times, finding only 46 of 72 greens in regulation. Wie averaged 30 putts a round for the tournament.


For the week, Wie had three double bogeys, eight bogeys, 11 birdies and two unusual eagles — the one today at No. 1 and the hole-in-one she carded yesterday at the par-3 seventh.

THE SPIRIT OF GOLF ACADEMY IN “GOLF MAGAZINE”

Check out this months “Golf Magazine”. Big Island author Darrin Gee is featured in the magazine, with a look at his book “The Seven Personalities of Golf: Discover Your Inner Golfer to Play Your Best Game”. Gee is also the owner of the Spirit of Golf Academy on the Big Island and a mental golf coach.

ALOHASECTION PGA FOUNDATION/CASTLE RESORTS&HOTELS UH PRO-AM

It was another great gathering of professionals, amateurs and recreational golfers at the Castle Resorts Uh Pro Am Series. It’s all about raising money for the UH golf teams and thanks to Castle Resorts and Hotels, there are two being held this year to raise money for scholarships. In the past two years, $50 thousand has been raised but this year there are only two events. So make plans to be at the next one. It’s being held on October 10th at the Waikele Golf Course. The format is fun: a five-person team (one ASPGA Golf Professional and four amateurs) one net, one gross best ball per hole. All amateurs must have a USGA GHIN handicap. To register, <http://www.aloha.pga.com/> or contact the Aloha Section PGA Office for more information at (808) 593-2230.


At the first event this year, held at Kapolei Golf Course, The Olomana Golf Links team led by professional Norman-Ganin Asao and his team of amateurs: Darren Akiyama, Derek Toyama, Sean Yamashita and Kellen-Floyd Asao captured the title at the first event of the 2009 Aloha Section PGA Foundation / Castle Resorts & Hotels Pro-Am Series benefitting the University of Hawaii Golf program with a team score of 124.  The Kaanapali Golf Resort team led by Ed Kageyama and his team of amateurs: Melissa Ludwig, Brittany Isobe, Alina Ching and Michelle Condry came in second place with a team score of 130.  Taking third place in a scorecard playoff was the team of Glazer’s Union led by professional Travis Toyama and his team of amateurs: Richard Tagere, John Matyas, Ken Moniz and Paul Kawaguchi.

2009 KONA OPEN


Amateur David Saka is having a very good year. In the Kona Open, he had his first low amateur win. He followed with the low amateur score at Kahili.

Professional Eric Dugas fired rounds of 69-69 (138) to finish at 6-under par and a 1-stroke victory over 2007 Kona Open champion Jarett Hamamoto and amateur David Saka. Dugas takes home $4,000 of the $15,000 purse. Hamamoto had the best round of the day—shooting 66 and almost climbed to the top of the leader board. His opening round 73 had him in a tie for 16th heading in today’s final round.
Saka finished with a 1-under par 71 (139) and took home low amateur honors as well as a brand new set of irons.Professionals David Gerken took solo 4th with a 69 (140), while Kevin Hayashi (72) and Michael Monaghan (69) finished at 142.
In the A-Flt, Garrett Komatsu held off a charging Ron Abran to win the division. Komatsu had rounds of 77-81 (158), while Abran shot 82-77 (159).

TURTLE BAY BOYS ARE SERIOUS CONTENDERS

Turtle Bay Resort now has four touring professionals. LPGA’s Dorothy Delasin, Champions Tour Kiyoshi Murota and the Finau brothers, 19-year-old Tony and 18-year-old Gipper.



Gipper got into golf at 6 and Tony followed. Since then they have won. Two years ago Gipper became the youngest player to make the cut on the Nationwide Tour. In his pro debut, Tony competed in the Ultimate Golf Game at Wynn Las Vegas. He walked away with a $100,000.

Coming from Salt Lake City, Utah, the boys are very happy to be close to their Hawaii Polynesian community. They are Tongan/Samoan, potentially the first Polynesian golfers on the PGA Tour if you don’t count Vijay Singh from Fiji.


They’re first stop, after a summer long of endless golf at Turtle Bay Resort, is the first stage of  PGA Qualifying in Texas.

Who do they admire on the PGA Tour? Gipper’s choice is Tiger Woods. Tony likes Ernie Els.

FRIENDS OF HAWAII CHARITIES, INC

Another $1 million dollars was divvied up between more than 130 Hawaii not-for-profit organizations who serve Hawaii’s children, women, elderly and those in need. The money was raised by the Friends of Hawaii Charities, Inc. through its main fund-raising event, the Sony Open in Hawaii PGA Tour golf tournament held at the Waialae Country Club. Some of the money also came from funds raised through the LPGA’s SBS Open at Turtle Bay. Then the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc. matched the money raised, in effect doubling it. Over the past ten years, Friends of Hawaii Charities, Inc., has raised and distributed more than $9,000,000 to over 350 not-for-profit organizations.

TRAGEDY ON THE PGA TOURS

Champions Tour golfer Ken Green, who was injured in a recreational vehicle crash in Mississippi that killed his brother and girlfriend, had his lower right leg amputated. His agent, Kevin Richardson, says Green is struggling with the “double whammy” of the deaths and his own injuries.
"Initially they were hoping to save the leg, but as the days went on it became apparent there was too much structural damage," Richardson said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
Richardson said doctors will remove his leg below the knee Monday after determining it would take two years of surgery to repair a limb that wouldn't function well before Green could walk again.
Green was a five-time winner on the PGA Tour with $3.7 million in career winnings and 44 top 10 finishes when mental problems left him helpless on the golf course. He has talked openly of critical children's voices in his head that scuttled his concentration and left him contemplating suicide as he struggled to stay on the tour.
He joined the Champions Tour for players 50 and older last year and has played well. He's 54th on the money list with $123,906 in 11 appearances this year.
Green is using a goal to return to competitive golf with the help of a prosthetic limb to get through the ordeal, Richardson said.
"That is his primary, if not his single goal right now — to get back out and play golf, and God willing at a competitive level," Richardson said. "He would be the first."

NEW MEXICO GOLF SHOOTOUT IS 3 MILES DOWN A MOUNTAIN



That’s got to mean a lot of you since after that you have to endure the hot sun, winds and rocky terrain as you try to smash that ball toward a 50-foot circle chalked in the desert dirt. And then there’s the rattlesnakes, mountain lion, and the cactus.
 
At least you get to tee your ball on every shot!

I hope you’ll check out “The Golf Club” radio show on KUMU AM 1500 on Oahu, KONI FM 104.7 on Maui and Lanai and parts of the Big Island, KPUA AM 670 in Hilo and KTOH FM 99.9.

You can also listen online live or archived at: http://www.radiogolfclub.com

We give away a dozen CALLAWAY golf balls each Saturday morning between 7 and 8:30 AM HT.

Thank you to my friends at Avance on Kapiolani Blvd and Permanent Elegance on University Avenue.

Until next time, thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time.

Aloha,

Danielle

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