Guy Yamamoto and Jim Burns got game, but when Hawaii honors them at Saturday’s annual Golf Ho‘olaulea it will be more about what they have given than what they have taken away.
Yamamoto will be the 68th inducted into the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame. He beat three future PGA Tour champions to win the 1994 U.S. Amateur Public Links, played the 1995 Masters and is one of just seven to win the State Match Play (Manoa Cup) and Stroke Play titles.
Now Yamamoto, 52, and wife Terry have two sons. Dad plays a lot less golf, but has remained in the game as general manager, currently at Mililani, and as one of the most gracious and giving guys in the sport.
"He is an extremely nice guy and very humble …," said Burns, a retired judge who will receive the second Aloha Section PGA Lifetime Achievement Award. "He’s accomplished a great deal, he’s a great golfer, but you never hear him waving his own flag. He’s been a really faithful supporter of golf events, including the Governor’s Cup. Whenever you need him, he’s always there.
"He doesn’t seem to have any flaws. He’s just one of the really nice guys who is a great golfer. I enjoy being around him."
Burns started in golf as a caddie for his father — three-term Hawaii governor John Burns — at Mid-Pacific Country Club. The bag was bigger than Jim, who "learned the game backwards" — from the short game out — when kids’ clubs were not an option.
Despite his "old caddie swing" and a bout with the "yips," he learned to love golf and understand why his father felt it could be such a force for Hawaii.
Sunday, Jim flipped the remote between the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, played in idyllic Kapalua conditions over a stunning blue and green backdrop, and the NFL playoff game in sub-zero conditions on Green Bay’s brown grass.
"Look at that," he said, laughing. "I bet the difference is 100 degrees."
His father, he recalled, "had an idea that golf would be very important to Hawaii."
"I think it still is," Jim said. "I think we should promote the hell out of it. Like today … how much is it worth to us for people to see this?
"Hawaii can be the golf capital of the world for those who don’t want to play in junk weather. People come here to play golf and we have great courses. Golf is important to Hawaii. I also think it’s important for kids. It’s perfect for kids. They are outside, they can always go to the driving range and play a par-3 and it doesn’t have to be expensive."
He calls the 1964 Canada Cup, Hawaii’s first international golf event, the "opening bell" in Hawaii golf promotion. His father helped organize the team event — won by the U.S. team of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer — at Ka‘anapali, the state’s first master-planned resort.
His family founded the John A. Burns Intercollegiate tournament hosted by the University of Hawaii and the Governor John A. Burns Challenge Cup, a team event matching the best Hawaii pros and amateurs. The goal was to grow the game here.
Yamamoto has played on nine Governor’s Cup amateur teams. Those amateurs play off for a place in the Sony Open in Hawaii every year, a remarkable opportunity Jim Burns has been instrumental in keeping.
Yamamoto, who has won that slot twice, is immensely thankful to the Burns family for the opportunity and the family’s relentless "dedication to sports in Hawaii."
"The amateur team is forever grateful for the opportunity to compete not only in the Governor’s Cup but also for the spot in the Sony Open," Yamamoto said. "It gives the yearlong competition between the amateurs even further meaning. You’re not going to just play a couple tournaments. You know you want to make the Governor’s Gup team. If you win Manoa Cup or Stroke Play you are automatically in. If not, you’ve got to accrue points. It gives amateurs a target to shoot at for a whole year.
"The younger kids need to be reminded how special that opportunity is. They have events like the Governor’s Cup in other states, but when you tell them we have the opportunity to qualify for the Sony Open, other kids are like, ‘Wow, we’ve got nothing like that.’"
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HO’OLAULEA AWARDS
Aloha Section PGA
Golf Pro of the Year: Ed Kageyama (Ka‘anapali)
Assistant Pro of the Year: Kevin Shimomura (Ko Olina)
Bill Strausbaugh Award: Michael Jones (Kapalua)
Horton Smith Award: Greg Nichols (Ko Olina)
Junior Golf Leader: Ben Hongo (Kapalua Golf Academy)
Teacher of the Year: Dave Havens (Ka‘anapali)
Merchandisers of the Year: Private—Brian Paul (Kukui‘ula), Public—Matt Torry (Kiahuna), Resort—Greg Nichols (Ko Olina).
Sales Representative of the Year: Jay Hinazumi (Golf Concepts)
Player of the Year: Garrett Okamura (Dunes at Maui Lani)
Senior Player of the Year: Kirk Nelson (Elleair)
Hawaii State Junior Golf Association
Players of the Year
7-10: Jacob Torres and Minny Byun
11-12: AJ Teraoka and Millburn Ho
13-14: Remington Hirano and Alanis Sakuma
15-18: Tyler Munetake and Zoey Akagi-Bustin
Dr. Richard Ho Spirit of the Game Award: John Oda
Hawaii State Golf Association
Volunteer of the Year: Danny Lau
Amateur Player of the Year: Jared Sawada
Senior Amateur Player of the Year: Phil Anamizu
Hawaii State Women’s Golf Association
Volunteer of the Year: Grace Wilson
Golfer of the Year: Nicole Sakamoto
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Lifetime Achievement Award: Russell Dooge
Superintendent of the Year: Robert Medeiros
First Tee of Hawaii
Participant of the Year: Justin Williamson
Coach of the Year: Jennifer Monnich
