honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Stanford's Seki plays through back pain

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jim Seki's persona is the epitome of stoic.

Punahou grad Jim Seki of Stanford shot a 9-under 207 total last week.

David Gonzales • via Stanford University

Ask him how he competes at the highest level of intercollegiate golf when sharp pains stab his back without warning, and he answers, softly, "I just play through it."

Ask the 2002 Pac-10 champion to describe the back spasms that have gradually worsened for a little more than a year, and he responds, "They're not fun."

How is his game affected? "I have good days and bad days."

Last weekend was full of good days.

Seki shot successive sub-par rounds of 69-68-70 for a 9-under par total of 207 to tie for seventh in Arizona State's Thunderbird Invitational at Tempe, Ariz.

It was Seki's best score and best finish since last fall, when the Stanford senior from Salt Lake, a 1999 Punahou School graduate, shot par or better in 11 of 12 rounds and was ranked 16th in NCAA Division I.

"It looked like he had a great opportunity to be an All-American — maybe first team — but then the muscle spasms in his back started in January," coach Jeff Mitchell said.

They got so bad that Seki could not even play in the Oregon Duck Invitational last month and he endured his worst tournament finish April 7-8 — a tie for 52nd at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz. He shot rounds of 76 and 78, numbers that he hasn't seen on his scorecards since junior golf.

"Last weekend was a nice surprise," coach Mitchell said. "I didn't expect to be able to play him because of his back problems, but he beat some highly ranked players head to head, which is one of the top criteria for All-American.

"His fate is right in front of him," Mitchell added.

What that fate is may be unveiled in the next two weekends. Stanford will host the U.S. Intercollegiate Saturday and Sunday and Seki will defend his Pac-10 championship April 29-30 in Los Angeles.

"I had six putts inside 8 feet Saturday and I didn't make any, or my score (70) could have been really low," Seki said.

Seki holds the record for the lowest round by a freshman in the history of Stanford golf: a 65 at Pac-10s in 2000. Remember, this is the same college that Tiger Woods played for.

Seki says that to overcome the spasms, he uses pain killers, stretches, and keeps "trying to push the back thing out of my mind" during matches.

He will receive a bachelor's degree in economics in May and plans to enroll in Q-school (the qualifying platform of the PGA) this summer.



MORE GOLF

• West Coast Conference

Loyola Marymount's Chaz Inouye, a 2002 St. Anthony graduate, yesterday was chosen men's Freshman of the Year and two sophomores from Hawai'i made the women's all-conference team.

Inouye finished third in the WCC men's championships yesterday with a 1-under par total of 73-70-72 — 215 at the Riverbend Golf Club in Madera, Calif. His score tied the 15-year-old school record for the championship event.

Joan Mariko Shimozaki of San Francisco tied for third place and Pepperdine's Rachel Kyono was 12th yesterday in the WCC women's championship tournament. They both were named to the all-conference team.

Shimozaki (Seabury Hall '01 of Kihei) shot even-par 219 (72-75-72) over two days at Riverbend, where par is 73 for women.

Kyono (Kaua'i '01) shot 78-77-74 — 229 to help Pepperdine, ranked No. 2 nationally, capture its fifth conference title in six years.

Portland's Cecily Quinajon (Waiakea '99) finished 15th with 78-82-75 — 235 and Portland's Rie Ganir (Maui '02) was 16th at 77-79-81— 237.

Kyono's best showing this season was eighth place at the Arizona Invitational Feb. 24-26, when she finished with an 8-over 221 total.