‘Mr. Golf’ earned reputation as a master on the links

Hawaii’s first truly great golfer was Francis Hyde I’i Brown. During the 1920s and 1930s, he was to golf what Duke Kahanamoku was to swimming and surfing.

Brown won the Manoa Cup amateur golf tournament nine times, captured titles around the world and set course records at Pebble Beach, Calif., and St. Andrew’s in Scotland.

In a practice round before the 1924 British Amateur tournament, Brown shot a 10-under-par 62, a record that stood for many years.

Born in 1892 to one of Hawaii’s most important alii families, Brown’s ancestors included John Papa I’i, who was associate justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court. Brown owned three lavish homes and had a fleet of 14 cars.

His only job was held for a brief three days. His mother had gotten him a job with Castle & Cooke in the mailroom. "The first day on the job, Francis arrived in a shiny new Simplex sports car," his nephew, the late Zadoc Brown Sr., said in a 1979 interview.

In today’s dollars the car would have cost more than $100,000.

"Mr. Tenney, the vice president of the company, took him aside and told him he didn’t think it was proper for Francis to be driving a car that was more impressive than the president’s. Well, Francis decided he didn’t like working there anyway and quit. And so, getting in his car, he departed for the Oahu Country Club where he took up golf."

Within two years he won his first Manoa Cup in 1920. He then went on to win it the following three years and then five of the next 10 years.

His last win was the most memorable. In February 1933, Brown was thrown 15 feet from his car in a head-on collision in Waikiki. He fractured his pelvis and ended up with a left leg 2 inches shorter than his right. His weight dropped to under 100 pounds and his doctors advised him to stop playing golf.

He sat out the 1933 championship but entered in 1934. In a close contest he beat the Hawaiian star, George Nahele. Honolulu Advertiser sports writer Rod McQueen said the best efforts of golf’s greatest figures "couldn’t compare with Brown’s golf of yesterday." Brown was affectionately called "Mr. Golf."

During his lifetime he had 14 holes-in-one. He owned a Big Island estate, where the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel is today. The two courses there are named for him.

Brown died in 1976 and is buried at the family plot in Oahu Cemetery. He was a frequent player at the Waialae Country club, which has some of his trophies and many photographs on display.

Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@yahoo.com.