HANALEI – Call it a little taste of what life might be like if golf was a full-time job. For the 24 participants in the Kaua’i Jr. Golf fund-raiser, 99 holes plus 1, Tuesday at the Princeville Golf Club, the
HANALEI – Call it a little taste of what life might be like if golf was a
full-time job.
For the 24 participants in the Kaua’i Jr. Golf fund-raiser,
99 holes plus 1, Tuesday at the Princeville Golf Club, the goal was to stay
focused.
How else could 100 holes be played in 11 hours.
In an effort
to raise money for the island’s young golfing contingent, fund-raiser
participants, along with 20 volunteers, rose at dawn. They teed off at 6:30
a.m., charged with finishing 100 holes of golf.
“All of the people out here
were asked to bring, through fund-raising, $500,” said Event Chairman Art
Fujita. “Of course if people were able to bring more, great. If they brought
less, that was okay, too.”
The total goal: $25,000.
“I am pretty sure
we’re going to get that,” Fujita said. “Last year we had just 12 golfers and we
managed to reach our goal of $20,000.”
In an effort to draw a more
substantial crowd, and to add a recognized face to the card, Fujita procured
the golf game of Channel 9 sport reporter Dave Vinton. Though he downplayed his
golf game, Vinton admitted the sport was only secondary.
“If there are
things I can come out here and do to help Kaua’i’s kids,” Vinton said, “I’m all
for it.
“What’s more, this island is notorious for putting out good
players, so I definitely wanted to be part of this.”
Vinton said that while
some would say “it’s part of the job to do these kind of events,” he would
happily participate anyway.
“I might be out here for entertainment value,”
Vinton said. “But the people are great, and I’m golfing instead of sitting in
the office.
“You can’t beat that.”
Just as it would be hard to beat the
kind of boost this fund-raiser gives the Kaua’i Jr. Golf program. The junior
golfers, according to Fujita, number in excess of 200.
“We have sent more
than one quality golfer from this program to bigger events,” Fujita said.
“We’ve had kids go to national tournaments, and amateur public links
championships.”
Not that Tuesday’s event participants played aimless golf.
The 24 were divided into teams of three for the best-ball tournament. And,
though undisclosed, prizes were awarded for the top finishers.
“Those
prizes really aren’t important,” Fujita said. “The prize for these guys is to
come out here and play for a good cause.”
As for how his body might respond
to such a lengthy day of golf, Vinton was noncommittal.
“What are we at,
hole number 50?” he asked.
When the respondent answered, “not quite,”
Vinton sighed and winced a little.
“Ask me how I feel after 50 more of
these. Whew.”
Those who participated include, in the first pairing: Art
Fujita, Dave Vinton and Michael Torres. The second pairing consisted of
Creighton Fusii, June Takekawa and Sam Arashiro. The third group: Bruce Laymon,
Eric Yama and Freddie Levinthal. The fourth pairing included Glen Tamagawa,
Peter Yukimura and Bob Ahana. Group five consisted of Sam Pratt, Bob Sasoki and
Russell Shimazu. The sixth group included Dave Hamamuro, Nolan Ahn and Wade
Lord. The seventh pairing included Winston Ogata, Gaylord Fukumoto and Tom
Shigemoto. The final group of three consisted of Jason Napolean, Dennis
Nakahura and Tony Ricci.
Photos by Dennis Fujimoto, Staff
