Pro-scratch tournament is a quick sell

Professional Garrett Okamura and Royden Heirakuji birdied the last two holes to win the Bridgestone Golf Pro-Scratch by a shot Tuesday. For all the numbers that involves, the most compelling are 31 and 48.

As in 31 minutes, 48 seconds — the time the tournament took to sell out.

The Aloha Section PGA watched credit card charges clear the first day golfers could enter, starting at 5 p.m. Sponsor and founder Del-Marc Fujita wanted to limit the field at Pearl Country Club to 40 teams. Right before 5:32, three charges cleared within seconds of each other.

Fujita had 44 teams. He let the last four slide in.

His event teams one pro and one scratch (no handicap) golfer in a first-round scramble and final-round best-ball format. His inspiration came from a spontaneous junior golf fundraiser 20 years ago, where he paired pros and amateurs who gave him $10 each at the Kauai Open.

"It was so awesome," recalls Fujita, whose father Art is in the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame. "From there you could just see guys wanted to be part of the excitement. I had guys calling up asking me to find them a partner so they can donate money. And they weren’t even playing with the guy, just matching cards."

By 2001, Fujita thought he had figured a fair format, with the scramble giving everybody a good shot the first day and best ball bringing out the best team the final day. The response was overwhelming. He has had a waiting list since the third year.

Two pros actually won last year — Phil Chun (golf) and Kala Ka‘aihue (baseball). Cousins Regan Lee and Brandan Kop took the 2007 title. Travis Toyama won as an amateur in 2008 and a pro a year later.

This year, TJ Kua and dad Stan took second. Brothers Brandon and Chad Nahale, Ken and Joe Nakano, and Spencer and Pomaikai Shishido played together. Jeff Ferry and former student Tommy Yamashita earned a share of fourth at 130. Dave Eichelberger, 71, was another shot back after he and amateur EJ MacNaughton fired 64 — Tuesday’s low round.

Lance Suzuki, one of three Hall of Famers in the field with Guy Yamamoto and Kop, got in his annual game with son Nathan. They were also in the money, tying for 11th with Chun and Ka‘aihue, and University of Hawaii assistant coach Shawn McCauley and Nainoa Calip — the Manoa Cup champ and former Rainbow.

Pro Scratch makes for intriguing teams. The Suzukis have played since the start, missing just two when Nathan, an HPD motor patrol officer, had to work. His father won with Norman-Ganin Asao in 2002.

"I enjoy this tournament with him," Nathan says of his dad. "How many can say they can participate in a sport with their father. It’s something I’m going to look back on, memories I’m going to take with me the rest of my life. I can tell my kids and grandkids later on that I played with your great grandfather.

"That’s why I tell Del I appreciate him putting on this tournament because there’s no other tournament I can play with my dad as a team."

Fujita saw the limitless potential — for family, friends and business buddies — immediately. His pro partner is usually Casey Nakama. He will be the next to enter the Hall of Fame (in February) and runs the golf development program where Lance Suzuki now instructs juniors.

Suzuki, 63, has won more than 40 times in Hawaii, including four State Opens. For the last 10 years he has made the transition to coach, with Nicole Sakamoto his most notable student. After winning every women’s major in Hawaii, and three college titles, she is now playing a Florida mini-tour and living with the sister of Waianae’s Alvin Okada, also playing Florida mini-tours.

Suzuki is still a competitor. Just ask his son, who watches him closely on the course.

"The way he focuses on every shot …," Nathan says. "I know he’s a competitor so he gets mad, but his focus is the main thing I try to emulate. You need that in golf."

Along with as much confidence as that little white ball will allow.

"To me, the greatest thing a coach can do is get them to believe in themselves and think they are good," Lance Suzuki says. "The greatest accomplishment in coaching is confidence and that’s hard to do. In this game, your confidence is there and all of a sudden you hit a bad shot and you’re like, ‘What happened?’ You have to have a positive outlook, you’ve got to be confident. Once you are on a negative slide, you are not going to be as good a golfer as you could be."

Okamura, head pro at Maui Dunes, also won the Aloha Section’s Stroke Play Championship last month. That qualifies him for the Sony Open in Hawaii in January and the 48th PGA Professional National Championship next summer in Philadelphia.

Okamura and Heirakuji took a two-shot advantage into the final round after combining on a 13-under-par 59 Monday. They shot 66 Tuesday to beat Stan and TJ Kua by one. The Kuas closed with a 65, as did the third-place team of Kyle Hayashi and Isaac Jaffurs, which shot 128.

Okamura won $2,000 and Heirakuji, a 49-year-old mechanic, received a $700 Pearl Country Club gift certificate.

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