Kono makes history
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
If there was any doubt about the depth of 11-year-old Stephanie Kono's golf talent, she blew it away yesterday at O'ahu Country Club. It was Desiree Ting's bad luck to be blown away with it.
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With her precocious game blossoming before astonished eyes, Kono became the youngest winner of the Hawai'i State Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship. She defeated Ting, 6 and 5, with a spectacular close that left Kono in shock — "I can't think anymore," the shy Punahou sixth-grader said — and everyone else in awe.
Stephanie Kono closed out her match against Desiree Ting on the 13th hole, winning with a par for a 6 and 5 victory in the HSWGA's match play final.
Her remarkable rush into history began with a hole-in-one on the par-4 ninth. Kono never saw the ball. She heard a cry and applause from the green and looked at Kevin Ralbovsky, her caddy/coach. He told her it went in.
Kono looked as if she was going to cry. All the nervousness left her 99-pound body, she would say later.
"After the hole-in-one I got more confident and then everything started going my way," Kono said. "And that was good."
It had gone her way earlier. After Ting went 1-up on the third hole, Kono won four in a row. But at that point, Ting's short-game struggles were the story of the match. When Ting drained a seven-footer to win the eighth hole, she still had hope.
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Then Kono grabbed her driver.
Stephanie Kono gets the traditional toss into the pool after winning the HSWGA’s Match Play championship.
"I hit driver there every day," said Kono, who had never before aced a hole, let alone a par-4. "Yesterday, I hit it to the front of the green, but the pin was in the back so I thought it would be perfect today."
Dead solid perfect. Ting lowered her head and whispered, "Wow."
"I thought the match was turning my way," Ting said. "It lasted for maybe 30 seconds. Stephanie played really great today. She's awesome. She's going to win a lot more tournaments."
Kono one-putted the next four greens, which turned out to be the last four. She played the final five holes in four under, with four putts — three streaking downhill, a brilliant chip on the final hole, and absolutely no fear.
"She has the mentality for this game," Ting said. "Eleven ... I don't think I was even ... I'm not even close to her yet. She has something she is dedicated to. She's disciplined. She has committed herself. She works hard on it."
Kono has worked very hard since coming to Ralbovsky in December. He anxiously made six major swing changes. Kono took to the alterations so well — within a month — he now uses her image for a PGA teaching seminar. The "before" is unorthodox. The "after" is a swing so pure and fluid the ball flies 240 yards dead center so often that Kono rarely bothers to look up.
"Basically, because she had such a good rhythm, I thought she could handle power swing characteristics," Ralbovsky said. "Stephanie's tempo is so good that she can handle a big turn and a little bit of a long swing. That enables her to hit it long."
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Kono finished eighth in last month's Jennie K. Invitational — her first open event — despite getting up and down for par just once in 54 holes. Ralbovsky said her short game is all that's holding her back.
TING: Her momentum ended after Kono’s ace.
Yesterday, nothing held her back, inviting comparisons to Michelle Wie, the 11-year-old who won the Jennie K. going away. Wie didn't play this week because she qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in Illinois.
Wie is eight inches taller than the 5-foot-1 Kono, but after yesterday there appear to be few other dramatic differences. Both were born here, six weeks apart, and are bilingual (Kono speaks Japanese and Wie Korean). Their golf games spoke for themselves as they swept the first two of the three women's majors in Hawai'i.
"It's very rare to have two 11-year-olds like that," Ralbovsky said. "I recognized right away that Stephanie was special.
"Not many 11-year-olds have the combination of technique and composure and work ethic. Of course, Michelle Wie is even at another level, probably. Stephanie is not far behind. Michelle has a power advantage now, but that will equal out in time as Stephanie gets bigger."
SHORT PUTTS: Stephanie Kono's next tournament will be Junior Worlds in San Diego. She finished third there last year, and has moved up an age division. ... Desiree Ting and Ryan Koshi, who won the Manoa Cup at OCC earlier this month, both graduated from Baldwin High School in 1996. ... Until yesterday, Nicole Horner was the youngest HSWGA match play champion. She was 15 when she won in 1987.
