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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 22, 2002

Lee hopes Arizona tour a gateway to success

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By Bill Kwon

An off week on The Gateway Tour couldn't have come at a more opportune time for Regan Lee. It gave the 27-year-old pro golfer a chance to come home from the Arizona mini-tour to see his wife, Wynne, receive her master's degree in secondary education during graduation ceremonies at the University of Hawai'i Sunday.

A break in The Gateway Tour in Arizona allowed Regan Lee to fly to Hawai'i and attend a graduation ceremony for wife, Wynne.

Lee family photo

Lee left yesterday for the final five events on the tour with hopes of improving his position in the money standings. He is currently sixth with $38,665 — not bad considering he missed the cut in the first three tournaments.

The pressure is off, too.

"I've covered my expenses," said Lee, who made the cut in the last seven tournaments. He has had two seconds, including a playoff loss in the latest event.

It cost Lee $17,500 to enter the 15-event developmental tour sponsored by Gateway — you know, the computer company featuring the cow that goes "Moo" on TV commercials — with an additional $13,000 for expenses.

"I think about 75 percent of the (166) golfers in the field will not meet expenses," said Lee, who feels his game is ready for the tour's final push.

The purses have been increased in the next four events and the top 50 on the money list will qualify for the Tour Championship at the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course. That winning purse pays $70,000.

The Gateway Tour Championship is scheduled for Sept. 23-26 and the date poses a tight travel schedule for Lee. He is the defending champion at the Waikoloa Open that begins Sept. 27.

Fortunately for Lee, the mini-tour schedules its events early in the week and the tour championship will end Thursday. Lee plans to leave Phoenix right after, get home that evening and catch the first flight to the Big Island the next morning in time to tee it up at the Waikoloa Village Course.

He just hopes they'll excuse the defending champion for missing Thursday's Pro-Am.

Lee, a two-time state amateur champion and grandson of Hawai'i golf legend Guinea Kop, turned pro two years ago and played in nine Canadian Tour events last summer without much success. But after winning at Waikoloa last year, he thought his game was at a breakthrough point.

A wire-to-wire victory in the Mid-Pacific Open gave him the incentive to try the well-received Arizona mini-tour. Another scheduling quirk — a tournament starting Tuesday instead of Monday — enabled Lee to hurry home after his second mini-tour event to win the Mililani Rainbow Open by four strokes.

"The Arizona tour has worked out pretty good for me," Lee said. "The money is a lot better. In Canada, you play for smaller purses with more expenses. Travel isn't much because all the courses we play are in the Phoenix area."

And the weather is more predictable, too. It is always hot and dry.

Lee shares a $2,000-a-month, four-bedroom house with three golfers and car rental is $650 a month.

An expected expense, according to Lee, is that the golfers have to pay for practice rounds — around $25 to $30, including carts. And, yes, the players can ride carts in tournament competition.

"I'd rather that we walk. But it's 100 degrees," said Lee, who stays in shape by working out. "And indoors, too. It's too hot to go running even at night."

Besides use of golf carts, the mini-tour allows another concession that is a PGA Tour no-no: Players can wear shorts because of the heat.

Lee draws the line there.

"I'm just used to wearing long pants," said Lee, adding that it "saves on sunscreen."

Besides the Waikoloa Open, Lee plans to play in the Williams Hawai'i State Open and the Gov. John Burns Challenge Cup, both in November.

As for the PGA Tour Qualifying School, also in November, Lee is thinking about it.

"If I can have a good finish (in Arizona)," he said.

The entry fee for the three-stage Q-School is $4,000, not counting expenses. Lee could use a sponsor. But you just feel that he is going to give it a shot.

"There's also the Asian Tour to fall back on. It starts in January and they take a break in May and June," Lee said.

That tour has a two-stage qualifying at a site yet to be determined.

Lee would like to take the next step up wherever it might be. After all, he is the next "somebody" in local golf, according to Kevin Hayashi, the Aloha Section PGA 2001 Player of the Year.

And someone who is obviously meticulous. Just ask his wife, an 'Aiea High School (1993) classmate. The two didn't date until their UH days. Lee told her they had to get married on a certain date — Jan. 1, 2001.

Why?

"01-01-01. It's easy for me to remember," Lee said.

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.