HSGA provides links to the game

When it comes to the basics for amateur golfers here, nearly everything can be traced back to the Hawaii State Golf Association.

Basic does not mean boring. Think efficiency and, especially in a time when playing numbers are down and courses are closing, encouragement.

If you want to find a course to play, on any Hawaii island or a military base in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea or the Marshall Islands, the HSGA website (HSGA.golf) is for you. With its USGA-trained Course and Slope rating team, it is also responsible for letting you know each layout’s degree of difficulty and what your handicap is there.

If you want to find a club, there is a link for that. The 260 active clubs range from Ace Holers to Whiffers, and everything in between, including Pukalani Ladies, Aiea Post Office and Opala.

If you are male or female, young or old, the HSGA can help you find a way to get into the game. Its close connection to the Aloha Section PGA can help you find a PGA professional, if you want one-on-one instruction.

The primary focus of the non-profit HSGA is “to provide a reliable and accurate handicapping system for every golfer in the state of Hawaii.” It began in 1984 — 90 years after the USGA was founded and a year before the USGA’s GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network) handicap system started. GHIN is tied to USGA course rating and the HSGA oversees both here.

A year earlier, Richard Ho brought together people from different areas of the game. The plan was to form a statewide organization similar to those on the mainland that could help unify “a bunch of loose-knit organizations doing a super job in their own little interests,” according to Hal Okita, who represented the military in that group.

Ho would become the first HSGA president and Okita the next. First Hawaiian Bank offered free office space in Kaimuki. When the organization could finally afford staff, Okita was one of its executive directors.

“We all felt at that time that we needed to unify all the different clubs and get us all to form an organization that would think of the future of golf in Hawaii and more closely associate with the USGA,” Okita says. “Band together and bring all the different interests of the various groups together to move ahead with some unity developing golf programs and tournaments. Get closer with the USGA by having a state association and doing things like qualifiers for tournaments on the mainland.”

GHIN fees are now the foundation of the HSGA budget and there is a staff of three, plus USGA P.J. Boatwright intern Bryan Kaneshiro this year. They help the HSGA publicize the state’s most comprehensive tournament schedule. Its own tournaments have a long history and the schedule has multiplied the past few years.

Manoa Cup — celebrating its 110th year next month – the Hawaii State Amateur, Francis Brown Four-Ball and Mayors Cup have gone on a combined 266 years. Newest tournaments are the Kauai, Maui and — this year — Big Island amateurs.

Competition for golfers of all ages and genders was the goal even before the HSGA became one of 59 USGA Allied Golf Associations this year. The new Alliance intends to “help grow and improve the long-term health of the game.”

With that Alliance, the HSGA is now in charge of all 13 Hawaii USGA qualifiers, with assistance from the Hawaii Women’s and Junior Golf Associations. Next is a U.S. Senior Open qualifier June 4 at Waialae Country Club. The field of 31 includes four Hawaii Golf Hall of Famers and players from Japan, Taiwan, Australia and five states.

“Regional golf associations are the lifeblood of the golf community and the USGA,” USGA CEO Mike Davis said when the Alliance was announced in January. “We felt that now was the best time to formalize this new alliance, in the spirit of working together on grassroots programs, improving how we serve golfers and providing a healthy foundation from which the entire golf community can grow.”

Another primary emphasis for HSGA is running events, including training and securing officials, providing help with tournament management and offering workshops.

“There is a lot of work involved with informing and training people on handicapping, USGA Course Ratings, tournament program use and running fair tournaments,” HSGA Executive Director Paul Ogawa says. “Anyone can run a ‘tournament,’ but unless you have educated rules officials and tournament organizers, many things are done improperly.

“We provide tournaments that must follow the Rules of Golf and basically mimic USGA Championship operations as much as possible.”

Something must be working. In 2003 and ’04, HSGA won the GHIN Award for Best Growth for a Small Association. In 2010, it got Best Growth for a Medium Association and four years ago it won another award for Best GHIN Services.

This year Ogawa, a PGA member, was named winner of the Aloha Section’s Horton Smith Educator Award.

“It’s given to a PGA member who has a passion for the game and shares in educating his fellow peers and players …,” says ASPGA Executive Director Wes Wailehua, who regularly meets with Ogawa and HSJGA ED Matt Rollins. “Paul’s leadership and service to the HSGA continues to make a profound impact to the game. He carries forward the responsibility of some of the game’s greatest attributes — honesty, integrity and sportsmanship. As a model educator, those are the qualities you need to share with all golfers.”