POIPU — Coach Dave Walker had a problem Sunday. With a patriotic theme governing the annual Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital Foundation golf tournament, he didn’t have anything red to wear. Then he found what he needed. Walker donned a red,
POIPU — Coach Dave Walker had a problem Sunday.
With a patriotic theme governing the annual Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital Foundation golf tournament, he didn’t have anything red to wear.
Then he found what he needed.
Walker donned a red, white and blue windbreaker given to him by Irving Mondschein, a 1948 Olympian and decathlon champion. It was perfect, too, for protection from the weather.
“He served on the same team with Bob Mathias,” Walker said. “Later, he married Momi Kokuro of Waimea whom he met during college.”
Walker was one of nearly 60 golfers who braved blustery conditions and ventured out onto the Poipu Bay Golf Course as a fundraiser for the KVMH Foundation.
“I gotta have my $120 cup of coffee,” one golfer said, bundled against the biting wind as he headed for his golf cart.
Steve Kline, KVMH Foundation golf tournament chair, was pleased with the turnout.
“This is very exciting,” Kline said of the 9th annual KVMH Charitable Foundation tournament. “One of the new events we’ve added to the tournament is the silent auction at the awards luncheon which was held at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa.”
Kline said there were prizes available for golfers, such as the Straightest Drive, Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin, and because this was the ninth tournament, the Grand Prize went the ninth-place finisher.
Alaska Airlines contributed two sets of tickets with no blackout dates to use as prizes, Kline said.
Proceeds will go toward new hospital equipment including an intubation camera, and bariatric beds and chairs.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
