Hawaii was shut out at the 111th U.S. Amateur this week at Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis.
Alex Ching, Bradley Shigezawa and Donny Hopoi all failed to advance to match play after stroke-play qualifying finished on Wednesday.
Ching, a Punahou graduate about to start his senior year at San Diego, shot 77 in Monday’s opening round at Erin Hills. He rallied with a 6-under-par 65 at Blue Mound in the rain-delayed second round, played Tuesday and Wednesday. Twenty finished at even-par 142 and played off for the final four spots.
Shigezawa, a Punahou graduate now at Northwestern, also rallied with a 10-shot improvement (78-68), but still tied for 131st. Kamehameha sophomore Donny Hopoi (78-72—150) finished tied for 216th in the field of 300-plus.
Summer goes out in style
Summer ends this weekend for the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association with the second annual Dave & Buster’s Jr. Classic at Waikele. The 36-hole tournament is open to members ages 13 through 18.
Eighty players tee off beginning at 11:45 a.m. Saturday. Girls competing in the 15-18 division include state high school champion Eimi Koga, Brittany Fan, Ciera Min, Margaret Min and eighth-grader Allisen Corpuz, who is playing up an age group. Mariel Galdiano, another eighth-grader, who qualified for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, is in the 13-14 division.
Boys in the field include John Oda, Seungjae Maeng and Skye Inakoshi.
Gray will defend at OCC
Jaye Gray, who won the low net title at the last Oahu Country Club Women’s Invitational in 2009, finally gets a chance to defend when the event returns Sept. 6 and 7.
Gray also won the women’s flight at last weekend’s third annual Kaanapali BMW Ultimate Golf Challenge. She advances to the BMW National Cup at Pinehurst, N.C., next month. Reed Kishinami (men’s A flight) and Chuck Bergson (men’s B flight) also will represent Hawaii.
The OCC tournament is still taking entries. Format is 36-hole Stableford scoring, with low net and low gross champions. Players must have a GHIN handicap index of 24.5 or less and be 15 or older. The entry fee is $175.
Among the prizes is two nights at the Four Seasons Koele, including airfare and four rounds of golf.
For more information, call OCC head pro Andrew Feldmann at 595-3256, ext. 2.
Notes
» Hapuna Golf Course is offering the “Kamaaina NFL Sunday Night Football Pick” contest this season. After playing a round during the week, golfers with a valid Hawaii driver’s license or Hawaii state ID can select the winner of the upcoming Sunday night NFL game. If they are right, they get a $35 greens fee rate for one round the following week. Contact Hapuna (808-880-3000) for more details.
» Registration is still open for the 33rd annual Hawaii Senior Women’s Championship, Sept. 26 at Hawaii Kai. The tournament is open to golfers 50 and older who are members of the Hawaii State Women’s Golf Association. Contact Kathy Ordway (262-2428 or kathyordway@me.com) for more information.
» Wednesday is the entry deadline for the 61st Korean Invitational, Sept. 10-11 at Pali Golf Course. The entry fee is $125. For more information, call Duke Chung (748-5601), Kerry Ahn (846-3395) or Wayne Yoshimura (779-1020).
» Kukio golf pro Eric Dugas, who has won his last three starts, will be the guest on Sunday’s Emily T. Gail Show. It will be broadcast at 6 p.m. on 790-AM.
» Garrett Okamura shot 73 to win the Open Division of the Maui Tour Series on Saturday at Wailea Gold. Kirk Nelson (68) captured the Senior Division and Dean Prince (68) Super Seniors.
