Wahine taking steps toward changing a trend

There were three teams ranked in the top 50 in this week’s 24th annual Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational at Kaneohe Klipper. There are five from the top 20 in the Anuenue Spring Break Classic, March 26-27 at Kapalua’s Bay Course.

The Wahine, whose tournament titles remain elusive, might be best known for their invitational, which is named after the woman who started Wahine athletics.

Thompson’s namesake tournament started as a six-team event in 1986. Hawaii was co-champion that first year with Arizona, which went on to win five more times — twice behind medalist Annika Sorenstam.

Wahine Bobbi Kokx, who would later coach the team and become one of the state’s finest amateurs, was the inaugural medalist. There have been none from UH since. Hawaii has only won one other tournament, the blustery Lady Bronc Golf Classic in Texas, in 1996. A year earlier the team, which included Julie Miyagi and Dawn Kaneshiro, made its only NCAA appearance.

This season the Wahine anchor has been junior Ka‘ili Britos. The Kamehameha graduate led the team in its first six tournaments, collecting two top-20 finishes. The only seniors are Erika Lundberg, from Sweden, and Megan Inouye, from California. Lundberg was UH’s top finisher in Wednesday’s final round of the invitational, taking 13th.

Lundberg came to UH for its broad variety of majors and ideal golf climate. She graduates in May and calls the last four years her “most exciting journey.”

“I have developed as a person, learned how to take responsibility, and how to solve problems on my own … ,” Lundberg said. “Education-wise, I will receive a major in sociology and at the same time I have been able to do what I love the most for four years — play golf almost every day.”

She came here looking for a “good team to grow with” and an enthusiastic coach. Her sociology major is a backup if her dream of playing on the Ladies European Tour does not pan out. But first, Lundberg and her team are focused on winning their final Western Athletic Conference tournament, and earning another NCAA bid.

Coach Lori Castillo, who won a national championship while playing for Tulsa, figures her players are “1.5 strokes per player per day” away from another goal — finishing in the top third at tournaments.

The WAC championship, April 23-25 at Mesa, Ariz., is their only tournament after the Spring Break Classic.

“The plan is to stay healthy and play to our potential,” Castillo says, “and see what we can do against some of the best teams in the country.”

Workshop between tournaments

In between the Rainbow Wahine’s big-time golf tournaments is a workshop to help Hawaii kids reach the big time. The Hawaii State Junior Golf Association’s annual college workshop is free for prospective athletes — not just golfers — and parents on the morning of March 24 at Lahaina Civic Center.

The panel is made up of college parents, coaches and HSJGA alumnae like Kauai’s Miki Ueoka, the first player from Santa Clara to qualify for the NCAA championship. The narrator will be Wailea teaching pro Cathy Torchiana, who is on the HSJGA board and in the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

When Torchiana graduated from USC in 1974, there were two women’s teams — a track club and swim club. John McKay hired Barbara Hedges two years later and, after Torchiana turned pro, managed the men’s swim team and coached at Cal State Fullerton, she returned to USC as the women’s golf coach in 1980. Her teams finished in the top five nationally five times, coming within three shots of a title.

She was in early on collegiate women’s sports — too early to play. She wants next weekend’s workshop to encourage kids to pursue a collegiate athletic career as early as possible. The workshop will begin by simply telling the kids and parents how to get started.

“Over the years of doing workshops we realized a lot of people wait almost until graduation,” Torchiana said. “Then they go, ‘Oh yeah, I want to play in college’ and by then the scholarships are almost gone. We want to advance the process and get them on coaches’ radar.

“We’re going to have kids 10 years old there. They need to start thinking about it. It sounds high-pressure, but it’s just a matter of getting organized — keeping your scores, working on your grades. The better grades you have the more opportunity you have. Kids can choose a better path if they are more prepared.”