NAWILIWILI — Does this club count? Ron Harashko wanted to know Sunday. The club was a modified battery-powered weed whacker disguised to look like a golf driver with an over-sized head and volunteers at the check-in desk had to take
NAWILIWILI — Does this club count? Ron Harashko wanted to know Sunday.
The club was a modified battery-powered weed whacker disguised to look like a golf driver with an over-sized head and volunteers at the check-in desk had to take a second look.
Harashko’s gesture was keeping in line with the theme of “Just for Fun, Just for Kaua‘i” golf tournament benefiting the Kaua‘i United Way, Sunday, at the Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Club.
Lynette Medrano-Stine, campaign manager of KUW, said the tournament was sold out prior to the weekend, but sponsorships and prizes were still being welcomed, Sunday morning when the field of golfers descended on the Kaua‘i Lagoons parking lot for the shotgun start of the 11th Annual Kaua‘i United Way tournament.
“We had to get this tournament off before July 25 because Big Save is one of our sponsors and they turn everything over on the 25th,” Medrano-Stine said, indicating the large prize contribution provided by the Big Save stores.
Tyson Moises was announced the winner of the grand prize of a Las Vegas trip, repeating the win for the Moises family when brother Justin won the trip in 2007.
Lori Almarza, the KUW office manager, said 152 golfers registered to form 38 teams at the 11th annual tournament where the Friends of Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union captured Low Net honors with a 49.2 score.
“They’re called the ‘sandbaggers,’” Almarza said, adding to the element of fun. “Taylor Shigemoto, Owen Nishihira, Ata Chow and Randell Bolosan made up that team.”
Top golf honors went to the Grove Farm, one of two Silver Sponsors for the tournament, after the three-way tie for 11th Net (representing the 11th annual) had to be broken with a deck of cards. The team’s net score was 51.
Team members include Ian Costa, Evan Costa, Ray Gue and Tommy Aiu.
Another three-way tie for the 22nd Net also was broken with the deck of cards, the Tomco Corp. team of Harold Tomomitsu, Gaylord Fukumoto, Nyles Muramoto and David Wada taking the prize on a score of 54.2.
Earthworks Pacific emerged from a two-way tie for the 33rd Net following the deck of cards tie-breaker, the team of Keith Ebinger, Keiji Haraguchi, Jeff Lawrence and Alex Pascual getting the honor on a score of 56.6.
Longest Drive honors went to Dale Cua in the Men’s division, Amy Stewart for the Women and Tom Blackwell for the Seniors, each of the drivers getting a premium of $50 for their efforts.
Mike Ferguson, pocketing a $50 premium for being Closest to the Hole on the Mauka 8 (5 feet, 9 inches), added another $100 for topping the Hit the Green contest sponsored by Mokihana Insurance.
Mark Kennett was Closest to the Hole on the Mauka 5, his ball settling at 5 feet, 11 inches. Glenn Tamagawa was closest on the Moana 5 at 7 feet, 4.25 inches and Anthony Chung was closest on the Moana 8 at 3 feet, 10.5 inches.
Kaua‘i United Way is an independent, non-profit organization which has been dedicated to serving the social service needs of Kaua‘i since 1943 with all funds raised on Kaua‘i, staying on Kaua‘i.
Some of the participating agencies under the KUW umbrella include the American Red Cross, Kaua‘i Branch, the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hawai“i-Kaua‘i, Catholic Charities, Child and Family Service, Easter Seals Hawai‘i, Friends of the Children’s Justice Center, Friends of the Kaua‘i Drug Court, Friendship Club, The Girl Scout Council of Hawai‘i, Hale Kipa, Hale ‘Opio, Hawai‘i Center for Independent Living-Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i Childrens Theatre, Hina Mauka, Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity, Homeless and Mediation programs, Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity, Kaua‘i Hospice, Leadership Kaua‘i, Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i-Kaua‘i, Life’s Bridges, Malama Pono, Mental Health Kokua, PATCH, The Salvation Army of Kaua‘i, YMCA of Kaua‘i and the YWCA of Kaua‘i.
Visit www.kauaiunitedway.org for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
