AROUND THE GREENS
Phengsavath switches sport, remains winner

By Bill Kwon

Joe Phengsavath won the Hawai'i State Amateur Stroke Play Championship and the Francis Brown Four-Ball Championship, with partner Phi Anamizu, this year. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

It was a humbling experience for someone who won consecutive national championships in racquetball in 1989 and 1990.

"The first time I had my hands on a golf club, I knew this was the sport I wanted to play," said Phengsavath, urged by some of his buddies to take up the sport.

Still, it grated him that he couldn't hit a golf ball that was just sitting there, waiting to be hit, while he had no difficulty returning a racquetball coming from all angles at dizzying speed.

"I mean, the ball just stays still," Phengsavath said. "To me, this should be more easy than racquetball. There's a lot of the same hand-and-eye coordination."

Well, Phengsavath, who turns 27 next Monday, is creating a buzz in local amateur golf circles.

Yesterday, he lost in the third round of the Manoa Cup, 3 and 2, to Brandan Kop at the O'ahu Country Club.

In March, Phengsavath won the Hawai'i State Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Three weeks ago, he teamed with Phil Anamizu to win the Francis Brown Four-Ball Championship.

A native of Thailand who moved to Hawai'i at the age of 6, Phengsavath has taken up golf with as much gusto as he did racquetball when he was a teenager. He won national titles in Florida even before graduating from McKinley High School in 1993.

"I learned racquetball from Norman Akau, who was the state champion," said Phengsavath, who later became a three-time state champion.

Phengsavath wanted the challenge of another sport. He discovered it in golf.

"I found this sport to be more challenging," he said. "It's a lot more mental. You can never perfect the game." But he's trying like heck to do so.

Phengsavath started taking lessons this year from Olomana pro Casey Nakama, and was a willing listener when playing in tournaments with some of the leading amateur players. His breakthrough victory in the 2000 OCC Invitational proved a harbinger of things to come.

His performances in the past three state amateur stroke play championships reflect how far his game has progressed. He finished sixth in 2000 and fifth in 2001 before winning it this year.

"He's a really good player for just having played a few years," said Kop, who happens to be not only Phengsavath's boss but also his idol.

"When he starts to handle the mental aspect of the game, he's going to be a lot better."

"Every year I'm getting better. Maybe working with Brandan has helped me," said Phengsavath, who does delivery and warehouse prep for Kop Distributors.

Joe P., as he is known, would like nothing better than to win the Manoa Cup one of these years.

"I would change the state amateur stroke-play title for this (the Manoa Cup)," he said.

"Brandan was always my idol. I like to be like him. I see him every time on the news when it comes to the Manoa Cup," Phengsavath added.

Not surprising, considering Kop has won the prestigious event four times.

No one, though, has ever won both the state amateur stroke-play and match-play titles in the same calendar year. Randy Shibuya has come the closest, taking the stroke-play crown the year after winning the 2000 Manoa Cup.

Over the Rainbow

Amateur Parker McLachlin won't be defending his title because he's graduating from UCLA next weekend, but the Mililani Rainbow Open will have one of the strongest fields in its 29-year history.

Brian Sasada, who won the Maui Open last week with a record 54-hole score of 208, is entered along with Beau Yokomoto and Dean Prince, who were tied for second at 216 at the Makena South Course.

Others in the event, which will pay $5,000 to the winning professional, include former champions Kevin Hayashi, Casey Nakama, Keith Kollmeyer, Larry Stubblefield, Philip Chun, Chuck Davis, Jerry Mullen and amateurs Brandan Kop and Clayton Gomi.

Regan Lee, the reigning Mid-Pacific Open champion, also is in the field.

Joe Phengsavath and 2001 Manoa Cup champion Ryan Koshi will be in Japan next week to compete in the Hochi Shimbun All-Japan Amateur Club Championship.

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net