Stroke play champ trying to get back in the swing

By Bill Kwon

There will be no repeat of the Kevin & Kevin Show in the Aloha Section AT&T Stroke Play Championship next week at the Mauna Kea Golf Course.

Kevin Hayashi, who will defend his Aloha Section AT&T Stroke Play Championship, said, "I don't have time to practice and it's showing." Advertiser library photo

Too bad.

The two put on quite a show in the final round of last year's tournament by trading two-shot swings on four of the last seven holes before Hayashi posted a two-stroke victory with a 54-hole total of 216.

What would have made a return match between the two even more interesting is that both have since joined the Pearl Country Club staff.

Hayashi, the head professional at Pearl CC since Feb. 27, won last year while still the head pro at Hilo Municipal. Carll, now one of Hayashi's assistants, made a run at the stroke-play title as an assistant pro at the Hapuna Golf Course.

"I miss the Big Island," says Hayashi, who had been at the Hilo Muni for 10 years. However, he's enjoying his new do-all duties at Pearl. He admits his new job is cutting into on his practice time.

"I don't have time to practice and it's showing. My scores haven't been very good," said the 2001 Aloha Section PGA player of the year.

Last year, Hayashi won five individual tournaments, including the Hawai'i State Open for the third straight year. So far in 2002, Hayashi has yet to win a tournament except for two team events.

Mauna Kea's a good place to start, according to Hayashi, who loves the Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course on the Big Island. That's where he won his other stroke-play title in 1998.

"For the section, the stroke-play championship is the biggest tournament, the biggest point-getter," said Hayashi. "Of all the section tournaments, that's the one I'd like to win the most."

A victory in the event is worth 300 points leading toward player-of-the-year honors. At the moment, Makena assistant pro Brian Sasada is the point leader with 495, while Hayashi is second at 320, Hapuna's Ron Castillo Jr. third at 315 and Koele's Brendan Moynahan fourth at 300.

"I'm way back," Hayashi says.

Not really as far as Sasada is concern.

Larry Stubblefield, who shot a 219 last year, will be defending his title in the senior division as the 54-hole event starts play Monday morning.

Carll, meanwhile, will be preparing to take the team of reigning Manoa Cup champion Travis Toyama, Iolani School junior Pomaikai Shishido, Bert Bonk of the Big Island and Maui's Moses Kahalekulu to Portland, where they will compete in the 36-hole Hogan's Cup on Aug. 10-11.

It will be a team competition with all four scores counting each day.


A familiar face

Talk about an appropriate Aloha Section PGA Stroke Play segue: I had a chance to meet with former Mauna Kea director of golf, Joe Root, during a Bay Area stopover.

Root, a two-time stroke-play champion and 1997 Aloha Section player of the year, is now the general manager at the recently opened CordeValle Golf Course about 90 minutes south of San Francisco. It's a high-end golf retreat geared to Silicon Valley clientele.

"The facility is kind of a hybrid between a resort and a private club," said Root, who left Mauna Kea on a "leap of faith" to oversee CordeValle from the very beginning — from its concept to its realization.

"It was interesting to see how it took shape. The owners not only had a vision, they had the staying power."

Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. — whose Hawai'i golf courses include Princeville, Po'ipu Bay Resort, Wailea Gold and Emerald — CordeValle is nestled in a scenic valley that was once a vineyard. Jones apparently had a lot of land (1,700 acres) and a lot of sand (there are 63 bunkers) to work with.

It's ranked among the top 20 golf courses in California, according to Root.

The course record is held by LPGA's Annika Sorenstam, who shot a 63.

Senior PGA Tour's George Archer, who grew up in nearby Gilroy and hunted in the hills around CordeValle, shot a 65 from the championship black tees. So it's a friendly course, says Root.

His executive chef at the lodge's 5-star dining room is Patrick Heymann, who used to be at the Hilton Waikoloa. No wonder when Allan Ikawa, president of Big Island Candies, visited CordeValle he was able to get loco moco for breakfast.

Root and his wife, Toshie, miss Hawai'i.

"I definitely would like to get back, but it might be a while," Root said.

Honoring Paul Kendall

The second Kendall Golf Cup for the media attending the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament next Wednesday at the Kona Country Club should be a poignant one.

The golf outing honors the late Paul Kendall, who played a huge role in helping HIBT founder Peter Fithian to turn the Kailua, Kona event from its humble beginnings in 1959 to one of the most famous fishing tournaments in the world.

As a former public relations guy with Pan American, Kendall made sure that the HIBT got the attention of the international press corps. Kendall, who died at the age of 84 last December, always wore a red shirt so that he could be easily spotted by the media to answer any questions they might have. In his honor, all the golfers participating in this year's Kendall Cup will be wearing red.

I had the opportunity of playing with HIBT's Peter and Paul at last year's inaugural Kendall Cup.

"I am very glad that Paul was able to participate in last year's golf tournament and see it named in his honor," Fithian said. "Paul was deeply moved by the gesture."

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net