WAILUA — Casey Watabu fired an even-par 72 Sunday to win the championship flight of the Fourth annual Hawai‘i State Golf Association Kaua‘i Amateur Tournament at Wailua Golf Course that opened with consideration for the prevailing COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
Watabu opened the 54-hole tournament Friday by firing a five-under-par 67 that included an eagle and many birdies to go with a couple bogies, and held off the field that saw just just two other golfers — Joshua Hayashida with a one-under 71 Saturday and Thayne Costa with a two-under 70 Saturday — fire under-par rounds during the tournament that wrapped up Sunday with the final 18 holes being played in sunny-if-not-humid conditions.
His par round Sunday gave the 37-year-old golfer a three-day total of 212 (67-73-72), nine strokes better than Hayashida, who finished in the runnerup position with a three-day total of 221 (77-71-73).
Sonny Chang captured the A Flight, 10 strokes ahead of Alan Tada with a three-round total of 249 (84-81-84), and Thomas Shigemoto topped the B Flight, two strokes ahead of Keith Yamamoto with a two-round total of 161 (79-82).
George Mackertich topped the Senior Gross play after breaking a tie with Guy Yamamoto using a U.S. Golf Association tiebreaker. Mackertich finished the final round at five-over 77 over Yamamoto’s six-over 78.
Clesson Pang topped the Senior Net play in similar fashion after finishing tied with Rich Ragland on a two-day 148, both golfers carding identical scores on round two.
Results
Championship
1. Casey Watabu (67-73-72—212); 2. Joshua Hayashida (77-71-73—221); 3. Chad Yadao (77-74-76—227); 4. Keegan Loo (77-76-75—228); 5. Layne Morita (81-73-74—228); 6. Thayne Costa (80-70-79—229); 7. Shannon Sibayan (73-79-78—230); 8. Pono Tokioka (80-73-78—230); 9. Juston Thomas (74-77-81—232); 10. Marshall Kim (75-73-84—232).
A Flight
1. Sonny Ching (84-81-84—249); 2. Alan Tada (84-86-89—259); 3. Pom-Jin Pak (88-89-82—259); 4. Mike Garcia (85-88-88—261); 5. Travis Akasaki (95-85-82—262); 6. Bryan Meredith (89-89-90—268); 7. Paul Pomroy (84-95-92—271).
B Flight
1. Thomas Shigemoto (79-82—161); 2. Keith Yamamoto (80-83—163); 3. Katsunori Shintani (82-87—169); 4. Antolin Apalla (86-85—171); 5. Juan Carlos Gonzales (87-86—173); 6. Winston Ogata (89-87—176); 7. Sean Hiranaka (89-88—177); 8. Greg Harvey (92-94—186); 9. Krista Wylder (91-105—196); 10. Samson Mokuahi (99-97—196).
Senior Gross
1. George Mackertich (80-77—157); 2. Guy Yamamoto (79-78—157); 3. Clesson Pang (78-80—158); 4. Michael Oride (81-80—161); 5. Jeff Mueller (84-79—163); 6. Steve Crago (78-87—165); 7. Eric Shibuya (89-84—173); 8. Thaddeus Latay (92-84—176); 9. Rich Ragland (87-89—176); 10. Owen Ota (99-92—191).
Senior Net
1. Pang (73-75—148); 2. Ragland (73-75—148); 3. Yamamoto (76-75—151); 4. Shibuya (79-74—153); 5. Ota (80-73—153); 6. Mackertich (78-75—153); 7. Crago (72-81—153); 8. Meuller (80-75—155); 9. Rawls (79-79—158); 10. Latay (83-75—158); 11. Oride (80-79—159).
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
