West to defend Barbers Point title
Advertiser Staff
Mark West will defend his title at the Barbers Point Invitational, which starts Saturday. The 54-hole amateur event ends Monday. The field will be cut in half after Sunday's second round.
West finished at 5-under-par 211 last year and won by two shots over Steven Pleas and Brandan Kop. Last month, West captured The Amatour's Coral Creek Classic.
Michelle Wie is also in the Championship Flight. She missed the cut last year as an 11-year-old. The field also includes Kop, Del-Marc Fujita, who ousted Wie in the second round of the Manoa Cup this year, and Kurt Nino, who reached the Manoa Cup semifinals at age 14.
Former Manoa Cup champion Randy Shibuya is also playing, as is former U.S. Public Links champion Guy Yamamoto.
Players tee off at 7 each morning, with the leaders going out at about 8 Monday. There are Championship, A, B and Senior divisions.
• Free junior clinic: Casey Nakama will present a free junior clinic Sunday at Waikele Golf Club. Nakama's students include Michelle Wie, Bradley Shigezawa and Ayumi Hori.
The 90-minute clinic begins at 9 a.m. on the driving range. There is no pre-registration. Several of Nakama's juniors will serve as clinicians.
Call the Waikele pro shop (676-9000) or Nakama (259-7712) for more information.
• OJGA honors: Jonah Fonacier and Ryan Casuga earned Rookie of the Year honors Sunday at the O'ahu Junior Golf Association Awards Banquet.
The OJGA is more than 30 years old. Travis Toyama, an OJGA member, became the youngest Manoa Cup champion this year, at age 15.
Fonacier won Rookie honors for the younger age division (7-12) and Casuga for the older (13-17) golfers. Fonacier also won a Junior's Choice Award for his 7-8 age group. Those awards are voted on by the juniors and given to players who are "excellent role models."
Other Junior's Choice Awards went to Cyd Okino (7-8), Hee Sue Condry and Ryne Jackson Mizushima (9-10), Brittany Isobe and Chandler Mato (11-12), Britney Choy, Randi Ono and Bronson Maluenda (13-14), and Tiffany Takao and Toyama (15-17).
Most Improved Golfers were Paul Shoji (11-12), and Brandon Nahale and Daniel Zane (13-17).
The OJGA awarded $1,000 scholarships to Kamehameha Schools graduate Christian Akau and Iolani graduate Steven Nguyen. Akau is headed for Idaho University and Nguyen will go to Regis.
