Kim looking forward to another run at titles

By Bill Kwon

Bev Kim admittedly says she has gone through a senior moment or two during a round of golf. But it has been a blast from the past for the 56-year-old grandmother, who again is making headlines in local women's golf — just as she did more than 30 years ago.

"I had gotten pretty complacent about golf for a while. There wasn't a real urge to win. Now, I want to do it again. There's that resurgence," says Bev Kim, who has won titles in the previous four decades. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kim is the defending champion in the Pua Melia Invitational ending tomorrow at the Olomana Golf Links and is looking forward to the Waialae Women's Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

She would like nothing better than to win at Waialae. After all, Kim won low-gross honors in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. She would like to add a fifth winning decade to her resume.

And she has got game once again, as witness her ride through to the semifinals against much younger competition in the Hawai'i State Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship last month.

With her kids, Tyler and Heidi, now 20-something, all grown up and her company business with husband Randy well established, Kim is devoting more time to competitive golf again.

There is some catching up to do because she has won more tournaments as Beverly Kong than as Bev Kim.

Her first major victory came in 1971 when she won the HSWGA match play title, successfully defending the title the next year when she won the HSWGA Stroke Play Championship as well. She won the match play title again, 24 years and two children later in 1996, and was a finalist in 2000 against Anna Umemura.

Winning the Jennie K. Invitational, one of the local women's majors, in 1981 was a thrill, according to Kim. But a bigger satisfaction was winning the HSWGA match-play crown in 1996 "when I turned 50."

"I had gotten pretty complacent about golf for a while. There wasn't a real urge to win," Kim said. "I don't want to say it, but it was sort of, been there, done that.

"Now, I want to do it again. There's that resurgence."

Especially during the last few years, Kim said. It is because she has been playing a lot of golf with Lily Yao, an executive with First Hawaiian Bank.

"She's very serious about her game. She's so gung ho," said Kim, pointing out that Yao's enthusiasm has definitely rubbed off on her.

"My peak was in the 1970s, then I got married. I'm looking forward to another peak," Kim said.

The second peak might be more difficult to attain. Not so much because of her age, but because of the many young guns in women's golf today. Kim has played with many of them, including Michelle Wie, Stephanie Kono and Amanda Wilson.

"(Wie) outdrives me 45 yards on average, one yard for every year," Kim told Golf Week, which profiled her as one of Hawai'i's local legends in its May 4 issue.

"I think the lady (from Golf Week) who called wanted to talk more about Michelle Wie," said Kim, pleasantly surprised by the article about her.

Wie is not the only 12-year-old with a potentially awesome future, according to Kim.

"There's this girl from Wahiawa, Brittany Choi. She's nearly as tall as Michelle and hits the ball as far," Kim said.

Junior golf programs, technological advances in equipment and first-rate coaching have all played significant roles in improving the caliber of play of today's youngsters, Kim said. But the biggest difference is that they're now exposed to so many more tournaments on the Mainland.

"There wasn't that kind of money for kids back in my time. If you couldn't afford to go to the Mainland, you didn't," Kim said.

There was no junior golf program in Wahiawa for Kim, who first took up golf on a "fool-around" basis at the age of 11. She grew up playing at the old Kunia Golf Course after her parents bought a $600 charter membership when Kunia, now called the Hawai'i Country Club, unsuccessfully attempted to start a members-only club.

One of her youthful playing partners back then was Larry Ordonio, a Leilehua High School classmate who is now the golf pro at Kalakaua.

Kim credits Guinea Kop, the pro at the Ala Wai Golf Course in the 1960s, for teaching her the finer parts of the game. "Guinea, Hope Yee and Bea Luke were the most influential persons for me," Kim said.

There was no women's golf team when Kim attended the University of Oregon, but she represented the school as an individual in two national intercollegiate tournaments in 1967 and 1968.

The game of golf was fun then and Kim is rediscovering that elation.

As for her April 1 birthday, she has heard all the jokes.

"That's lived with me from the beginning," said Kim, well aware that April 1, 1946, wasn't a day for jokes of any kind. That was when a devastating tsunami hit Hilo. Still, her sister, Natalie, often reminds her about the significant date of birth.

"My sister said I was the debris that washed in that day," Kim said.

If that Hilo tidal wave was one for the ages, then so is Bev Kim.

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