Lenore Muraoka Rittenhouse’s induction into the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame, and Bill Kwon receiving the Aloha Section PGA’s first Lifetime Achievement Award closed Saturday’s Hawaii Golf Ho‘olaule‘a Awards. Earlier in the night, representatives of all six Hawaii golf associations presented their annual awards.
Rittenhouse, who won the LPGA’s 1983 United Virginia Bank Classic, became the 68th member of the Hall of Fame. The Roosevelt graduate, now a nurse in North Carolina, came home for the induction. Kwon, now retired, wrote sports for more than 50 years for both Honolulu daily newspapers, and served as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin sports editor.
Matthew Ma and Nicole Sakamoto were honored as the amateur players of the year by the Hawaii State Golf and Hawaii State Women’s Golf Associations. Shigeru Matsui was senior amateur player of the year and Gary Haynie and Marcia Lee volunteers of the year.
The Aloha Section’s annual awards went to Kevin Carll (professional), Tommy Hines (teacher), Kevin Hayashi (player and senior player) and Chris Wright (sales representative).
The Hawaii State Junior Golf Association named its players of the year: Eimi Koga and Skye Inakoshi (15-18); Aiko Leong and Shawn Lu (13-14); Allysha Mae Mateo and Acey Yanagishita (11-12); and Millburn Ho and Jacob Torres (7-10).
The Hawaii Golf Course Superintendent of the Year is Scott Nair (Kukio Golf and Beach Club), with Robert Itamoto given a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Finally, First Tee of Hawaii named Colin Laszlo participant of the year, Kellan Anderson coach of the year and Avis Sekiya-Thomas volunteer of the year.
Henley had following afar
There was a taste of the tropics on Tuesday at Stratford Academy in Macon, Ga., where Sony Open in Hawaii champ Russell Henley went to school.
Henley, a 23-year-old rookie, won Sunday at Waialae Country Club in his debut as a PGA Tour member. On Tuesday, Stratford students and teachers at the high school and middle school levels wore Hawaiian shirts and a teacher handed out 350 plastic leis.
Ten of the tour’s past 13 winners are in their 20s. The No. 1 player in the world — Rory McIlroy — is also 23.
“It’s awesome,” said Hawaii’s Dean Wilson, who was 59th at Sony and won $12,096. “I’m looking at those scores and that’s incredible golf. Obviously everybody is getting a lot better. The talent is getting up there, they’re more experienced, playing professional golf all over the world. … It’s fun to watch.”
Wilson turned 43 last month after winning the Hawaii State Open. He knocked in an eagle from the fairway on his final hole Friday to make his first tour cut in 16 months. He won the 2006 International and has earned more than $9 million in his tour career, which is winding down.
“If I get in one tournament a month I’ll be really happy with that, it seems good,” he said. “I’ve been doing it a little while now — 20 years of golf equates to about 14 years in a hotel room. That’s a long time. Thinking of going to a tournament and packing and getting a hotel room and going out to restaurants doesn’t seem as appealing now. But I think I could get back in the swing of things.”
King is rookie of the year
Maui’s Jerry King was named “Rookie of the Year” and received the “Rising Star” award from TaylorMade Golf. In his first full year, King, whose markets are Hawaii, Guam and Saipan, had the top sales performance out of 57 sales representatives. King also oversees Jerry King Golf, a “teaching, coaching and comprehensive golf instruction company.” He was named one of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers for 2013-14.
