Furuichi, Aoshima win at Poipu Bay

Furuichi, Aoshima win at Poipu Bay

Hana Furuichi and Kengo Aoshima won the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association’s Mixed Team Championship Sunday at Poipu Bay. Furuichi and Aoshima had a two-day total of 139 — three shots better than Aiko Leong and Shawn Lu and seven ahead of Ciera Min and Tyler Munetake.

The first-round format was Four-Ball Stroke Play and the second was Foursome Stroke Play.The tournament helps prepare the Hawaii team for the sixth annual Asia Pacific Junior Cup, Nov. 1-3 at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course.

The Hawaii team will be announced next week. Japan won the Ryder Cup format last year, 23.5-8.5.

Quinn, Abernathy honored for Sony work

Stephanie Quinn and Gene Abernathy, two of the 1,700-plus volunteers who keep the Sony Open in Hawaii going, were honored with awards recently.

Quinn is the inaugural Chester Kahapea Chair of the Year. She began volunteering at age 12, started directing cars at Hunakai Park three years later, then helped valet park pros’ cars. Now she co-chairs the Pro Transportation Committee with her father, Jim. They oversee 100 volunteers during tournament week, who park cars, shuttle pros and their families and squeeze 100-plus cars into a 50-space parking lot.

The award is named after the longtime volunteer chair and will be given annually to an "outstanding chairperson who has demonstrated leadership, aloha and contributed substantially to the success of the tournament." There were more than 40 volunteer committees at this year’s Sony.

Abernathy received the Chester Kahapea Volunteer of the Year Award. Abernathy, a retired U.S. Naval officer, is an integral member of the ropes and stakes crew who helps set up Waialae Country Club to PGA Tour and Golf Channel specifications. More than 25,000 feet of rope and 2,000 stakes are utilized.

The 2013 Sony Open is Jan. 10-13. Tickets are on sale at friendsofhawaii.org and will also be available at Oahu First Hawaiian Bank branches in December.

Hawaii golfers hunting for LPGA membership

Roosevelt graduate Xyra Suyetsugu shot an even-par 72 in Wednesday’s second round of the Stage II LPGA Qualifying School, in Venice, Fla. Suyetsugu is tied for 89th at 147. Leilehua graduate Britney Choy (75) is another shot back halfway through the qualifier.

Maui’s Shayna Miyajima also shot 72 but is 150th after opening with 82. The top 70 and ties Friday advance into the final Qualifying Tournament, a 90-hole event in Daytona Beach, Fla. next month. The top finishers there — number to be determined — earn 2013 LPGA membership. All others who make the cut get status on the Symetra Tour, where the three Hawaii golfers have played the past few years.

Honolulu’s Stephanie Kono and Ayaka Kaneko, who are LPGA members this year, will return to the final stage of qualifying to try to get their status back. Kaneko earned $15,851 in her 14 starts, putting her 137th on the money list. Kono did not make a cut.

The LPGA still has six more invitational events. The next four are in Asia, followed by the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara and the CME Group Titleholders in Florida.

This week is the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur Country Club, a no-cut event with 72 players, including Honolulu’s Michelle Wie.

NOTES

» Kauai High senior Pono Tokioka improved eight shots in Wednesday’s second round of the ninth World Deaf Golf Championships, at Tsu Country Club in Japan. Tokioka, the youngest in history on the six-man U.S. team, leads his team at the halfway point after shooting 86-78. Former Punahou coach Gerald Isobe is on the U.S. senior team and shot rounds of 87-86.

» Honolulu’s Torin Dezzani shot 77-78 to tie for third in the Boys 9 division of last weekend’s U.S. Kids Golf PGA Golf Club Invitational, at Port St. Lucie, Fla. Torin’s brother Ethan (80-78) took 10th in Boys 11’s.

» Friday is the deadline to enter the ninth annual Women Drivers Golf Tournament, which will be at Mid-Pacific Country Club Oct. 22. Cost is $600 for a four-person team or $150 for individuals. The tournament benefits Women’s Fund of Hawaii, which supports "innovative grassroots programs that benefit women and girls in Hawaii." Call 954-9653 for more information.