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College life at UC Irvine will be a bit different from the daily routine at Roosevelt.
Getting that opportunity to golf at the college level? Nobody would have believed it in 2002.
Kolbe Irei is too young to remember the struggle.
Paralysis on his right side. A tube feeding him through his stomach. When he was born, Irei wasn’t breathing due to “an accident during the delivery,” said Roy, his father. The resulting paralysis was powerful enough to make chewing food and swallowing an impossibility.
“On the day he was born, in the nursing room, when I was looking at him, something wasn’t normal. It seemed like he had some kind of seizure,” Roy Irei recalled. “That’s when the nurses transferred him to Kapiolani (Medical Center for Women and Children).”
Mom was equipped to handle the process. Avis Irei, a physical therapist, consistently challenged her baby boy’s strength. One day, Kolbe squeezed his mom’s thumb — with his right hand. He began to eat normally, so the tube became history. By the time he was 2, Kolbe was able to walk and explore his world.
“They said I was supposed to be in a wheelchair and not be able to eat for my entire life. My doctor (Dr. Lynn Yanagihara at Straub Clinic and Hospital) still tells me, ‘We’ve never seen anybody recover from this before,’ ” Kolbe said. “Whenever I go, they say, ‘You’re the miracle baby.’ ”
What he does remember is a strangely fascinating object, a golf club, and a little white ball. As a toddler, just 2, Kolbe was at the babysitter’s house, meandering in the backyard. He found a golf club and a putting green. He tried it. And tried it. And tried it. He was hooked for life. Kolbe played baseball, too, but golf was his first and only love.
“Every morning, he would get up and, rather than watching cartoons, he would turn the television set to the Golf Channel. That’s all he did. He’s focused on golf ever since,” Roy Irei said. “By 6 or 7 he started taking golf lessons. We took it day by day, never forced it on him.”
In mid-January Irei came home after a practice session and felt pain in his right shoulder. By the next day, he couldn’t lift the arm without pain. The injury should have kept him off the course for two months — essentially missing the bulk of the OIA regular season.
Mom went to work again, working on that shoulder. By late February, Irei was back in action and carded a 66 at Ala Wai Golf Course in the season opener. Last week, he carded a 69 to win the weekly at Hoakalei Golf Course, a site known to send shivers down the spines of many a veteran player. Irei rates the course a 7 on a scale of 0 to 10 in terms of difficulty.
“Hoakalei is really tough. They play the Sony Open qualifier there. I shot really bad over there,” he recalled.
On Monday, Irei overcame rain and wind — his faithful companions — and carded a 66 at Oahu Country Club to lead the OIA boys again.
Was the shoulder injury a blessing in disguise?
“I couldn’t even put on my clothes for a while, but now I have full range. I’m not swinging the club as fast as I was before, but I’m getting back to normal,” Irei said. “I was in a brace for two, three weeks. My mom helped a lot, but she wasn’t expecting me to come back this soon. She did cold laser all around my shoulder every day. That really helped.”
Rough Riders coach Joey Itagaki isn’t surprised by Irei’s success.
“I don’t know if he was overdoing it as far as practicing goes. I don’t think it changed his swing. Maybe he concentrated more on his short game,” Itagaki said. “His swing is more controlled. It’s not as explosive as some of the elite players, but when he misses, it’s not by much.”
On a wet day at Hoakalei, the conditions work in Irei’s favor.
“Hoakalei is more of a feat (than Ala Wai). A lot of bunkers and a lot of water hazards. It’s just an overall tougher course. That surprised me more than Ala Wai,” Itagaki said. “As long as you have good grip on the club, that’s the most important factor. When it’s off-and-on rain, the ball won’t roll as far. The putting gets a little slower.”
Dad and son have played on more than 20 courses together. Last year, Roy surprised Kolbe with a special birthday present: a day trip to Lanai to play a round at Manele Golf Course. They flew in and flew out, a memory for a lifetime. Trips in the summer have served as a reward.
“I told him, if he gets a 3.7 (GPA), he can travel in the summer,” Roy said.
“I like that course,” Kolbe said of Manele. “Every hole had an ocean view. There were a couple holes along the coast. It was really nice.”
Kobe fulfilled his end of the deal. Last summer, he spent six weeks on the road competing in tournaments from California to Florida.
“By the time he was in sixth grade, that’s when he was focused on getting to college to play golf,” Roy said. “I think golf helped him become a better student. It helped him to focus. Golf has helped him better himself.”
Irei has thrived in the postseason. He is the first Roosevelt golfer since Van Wright in 1994-95 to place second or higher in the OIA championships in consecutive years. Irei placed second as a freshman and again as a sophomore, then was fifth last year. He placed second in the state last year. Irei is the first Roosevelt golfer to medal three times at states. The only other Rough Riders to finish second at states: Ho Yun Kang (’92), MunChoi Kang (’89) and Lloyd Nakama (’66).
This year’s state tourney will be at Wailua Golf Course on Kauai.
“It can get windy over there. I’ve played there multiple times,” Irei said. “I feel like it’s an advantage for me because I play here (at OCC) every day.”
In a game for ladies and gentlemen, Irei has prospered.
“He started off pretty shy and quiet. Then over time he opened up a little bit,” Itagaki said. “Now, he’s pretty personable.”
KOLBE IREI
Roosevelt golf Senior
Favorites / Q&A
>> Favorite golf course: Oahu Country Club. “Because of the scenery and it can get very challenging because of the wind. I usually hit my 7-iron 160 yards, and a couple of times I didn’t hit it 100 yards here.”
>> GPA: 3.7
>> Athlete: Kobe Bryant. “I actually went to a game at Staples (Center) five years ago. We went up to the front to get a program. The guy said, ‘Hold on, hold on.’ And he was giving a bunch of other guys the programs and we’re wondering, why isn’t he giving us a program. And then he went under and grabbed one. At halftime, they said, ‘One lucky fan has Kobe Bryant’s autograph in the program.’ We looked at each other. Wait. What? And then we opened it and saw his autograph in it.”
>> Movie: “I like to watch all the Avengers movies. My favorite is ‘Captain America.’ “
>> TV show: “Impractical Jokers.” “They go up to strangers and they do crazy stuff.”
>> Video game: NBA2K. “My cousin Jarin (Kawada), we play a lot. My friend Nathaniel Sizemore is tough to beat. I don’t really play golf video games that much.”
>> Time machine “I would go in the past and meet the legends. Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. See how they practiced and what they think, watch them in tournaments. I’d want to go 30, 40, 50 years into the future, see how my life turns out.”
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