Hoshino's 'year off' spent prepping for shot at LPGA
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By Bill Kwon
Those survivor shows you've seen on television can't compare to professional golf's annual qualifying schools, whether it be for the PGA, LPGA or Senior PGA tours.
RIchard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Just ask Camie Hoshino, Christel Tomori and Summerset Lovett, who are among 162 golfers competing for 30 spots in the first of two LPGA sectional qualifiers this week at the Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Fla. An additional 30 spots will be determined in the second qualifier at the Landmark Golf Club in Indio, Calif., in two weeks.
Camie Hoshino is one of four Hawai'i golfers in this week's LPGA sectional qualifier in Venice, Fla.
That's just the first stage. There's still the real survival test, the final Q-school in October, when just 15 or so will attain full-exempt status to play on the 2003 tour. About 40 more qualifiers will receive nonexempt status, making them eligible for a pecking order to enter tournaments.
So, you can see, they aren't exactly playing dollar a side. They're playing for their lives, for their future. Such intense pressure makes the Q-schools the most heartbreaking tournament in any sport. There's no next week, only next year.
Even after earning a playing card, there's no lifetime guarantee attached. You get to keep it by only winning a tournament or earning enough money. Top 125 for the PGA, top 90 for the LPGA.
Pro golfers don't have long-term contracts or players' unions to help them keep their jobs. They have to do it the old-fashioned way. They have to earn it.
Still, to play on the tour is a golfer's ultimate quest. It is what keeps the desire burning for golfers such as Hoshino, who won the Hawai'i State Open in 1996 and 1997 before losing by one stroke to Tomori while trying to make it a three-peat in 1998.
"It's golf, golf, golf," said the 30-year-old Hilo native, who has put her personal life on hold until she tries for an LPGA playing card again.
"I think I'm a much better golfer, I think I'm better prepared this time," said Hoshino, who spent a month at home in Hilo for a little R&D before leaving for Florida. She has lived in Japan for the past four years, playing in several events on the JLPGA and Ladies Asian tours.
Hoshino found Japan's then year-long, five-stage qualifying process difficult, finally earning her card in her fourth year there. In her first year, she came close to getting her professional license but was disqualified for signing a wrong card, an error caused by her then limited knowledge of Japanese.
Her best showing was a runner-up finish in the 1999 Indonesian Ladies Open, shooting a 54-hole score of 209 to earn $6,125. She also had a top-10 finish in the Malaysian Ladies Open that year.
Hoshino didn't play competitive golf the past season. She spent the time at the Taiheyo Golf Academy, teaching English and acting as an interpreter in exchange for practice privileges at the facility.
"A lot of girls I hadn't seen for a long time all asked me if I took the year off," said Hoshino when she ran into them again this week in Florida.
"I don't consider that I took a year off. I've been practicing every day," said Hoshino, a familiar face in local golf since her days at Waiakea High School.
She still remembers her first attempt to qualify for the LPGA Tour in 1997, a year after graduating from the University of Southern California, where she was on a golf scholarship.
"It was OK, but I was nervous as hell. I remember playing this course five years ago," said Hoshino, who hopes local course knowledge, besides her improved game, will help this time around.
She's also enjoying the week because of the chance to hang out and practice with Tomori and Lovett, who are playing on the Futures Tour.
"We've been going out together every night," Hoshino said.
Hoshino's only appearance in an LPGA event, thanks to a sponsor's exemption, came in the inaugural LPGA Takefuji Classic at the Kona Country Club in 2000. She shot a 36-hole 155 and missed the cut.
She'd like nothing better than to earn her way into the LPGA Tour this time.
That Hoshino was willing to put up the $3,300 entry fee for the LPGA qualifying attempt shows her determination. The tab is pricey, but it includes a second chance in the California sectional qualifying Sept. 10 to 13 if she doesn't make it this week.
Having supportive parents in Winston and Judith Hoshino also helps, Hoshino said.
How supportive?
A flight attendant with United Airlines, Hoshino's dad flew with her on a stand-by basis from Honolulu to Tampa, with connecting stops in Los Angeles and Chicago, for Camie to secure the best flights and seats available.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net
