Loss of tournaments big blow to area pros
By Bill Kwon
Hawai'i's golf professionals who aren't members of the Aloha Section PGA ran into back-to-back bogeys with the news that this year's Maui Open and the Mililani Rainbow Open have been canceled, leaving a gaping hole in the summer calendar.
"It's unfortunate, a big disappointment. There already aren't enough tournaments for ATP (approved tournament players) pros like me," said Regan Lee, who will have no Mililani Rainbow Open title to defend.
Brian Sasada, who won the Maui Open for the fourth time last year, added: "It's not just not being able to defend your title. There are no tournaments for some guys 'til the Waikoloa Open in September."
Sasada is an assistant professional at the Makena Resort and is eligible to compete in section events.
It's not the same for ATP pros such as Lance Suzuki, Casey Nakama, Jerry Mullen and Philip Chun.
"Now, they've got to look for some place else to play, maybe the Mainland," Lee said.
As his schedule turns out, Lee wouldn't have been able to defend his Rainbow Open title anyway because the event had been moved back a month from its traditional Father's Day weekend slot. Lee will be competing in the Gateway Tour in Arizona at that time.
Still, it's a huge loss for all local pros, according to Lee.
"I golf for a living. I rely a lot on the tournaments for my income. If I were still in Hawai'i, the next one for me is Waikoloa," he said.
That the Maui Open, scheduled for May 30 to June 1, was canceled shouldn't have come as much of a surprise. Last year's disappointing turnout was already a cause of concern.
The canceling of the Mililani Rainbow Open, however, stunned many people especially after the new owners of the Mililani Golf Club — local developer Bert A. Kobayashi's company, KG Holdings LLC — had said it would continue the tradition of the 30-year-old tournament after buying the golf course from Sports Shinko's Hawai'i affiliate last year.
In a letter, dated April 4, to the Aloha Section PGA, Mililani's general manager Brian Tamamoto said:
"Due to the economic uncertainties brought on by the war, the Mililani Golf Club has decided to cancel our annual Mililani Rainbow Open."
Tamamoto said Mililani still plans to host a one-day golf benefit to raise money for local nonprofit organizations. As for resuming the tournament next year, he said the answer is a "possible yes," pointing out that the 1983 Rainbow Open was also canceled, only to return the following year.
First sponsored by Japan Airlines in 1973, the Rainbow Open had been a fixture on the local summer golf schedule as one of the major championships.
A roll call of previous champions reads like a who's who of golf in Hawai'i — David Ishii, Lance Suzuki, John Kalinka, Greg Meyer, Larry Stubblefield, Kevin Hayashi, Dean Wilson and Lee.
Ishii, a five-time winner, used the JAL Rainbow Open as a springboard to a long and lucrative career on the Japan PGA Tour. He was soon followed there by Meyer, who holds the 54-hole tournament record with his 17-under-par 199 victory in 1997, and Wilson, who's now on the PGA Tour.
Now looking to a possible future in Japan is Lee, who plans to enter the first stage of the qualifying there in early September. How he advances through the four stages necessary to earn a 2004 playing card will determine any decision to try again for the PGA Q-School in October.
Interestingly, one of Lee's last tournaments as an amateur was the Maui Open, which was resurrected after being in limbo even longer. First held in 1952, and won by Jimmy Ukauka for the next six years, the Maui Open boasted other Hall of Fame winners — Guinea Kop, Ted Makalena, Allan Yamamoto, Masa Kaya, Paul Scodeller, Morgan Fottrell, Art Fujita and Suzuki.
It then disappeared from the local golf scene for five years before returning in 1984 with Mark Rolfing helping Maui Beach Hotel manager Charlie Aruda to reestablish the popular Valley Island tournament.
The Maui Open still drew the pros but it was more of a come-over-and-play event for amateurs from O'ahu to enjoy three different courses in three days.
"I wanted to see this as a fun tournament," said Aruda, who stopped running the event in 2001.
The Maui Open thrived with the support of the University of Hawai'i athletic department, particularly basketball coach Riley Wallace and baseball coach Les Murakami. They, in turn, persuaded John Repetti of the Boyd Gaming Co., to become one of the event's major sponsors.
When participation declined last year, partly because of an increase in entry fees and imposing a 36-hole cut for the first time for the pros and championship players, the event lost some of its appeal.
The cut expedited play in the final round of the championship, but it rankled many O'ahu golfers because of the uncertainty of travel and rooming arrangements if they didn't qualify to play in Sunday's final round.
"We haven't backed out. We still want to continue as the major sponsor, but it makes no sense if the tournament has only around 80 players," Repetti said. "Somebody dropped the ball."
Glen Arakaki, who took over for Aruda, says that the basic problem this year was not being able to get reduced rates from the golf courses as in previous years. Plans had called for those in the pro and championship flight to play at Ka'anapali North.
"We were set to host it, but the next thing I got word was that there would be no tournament because of a lack of participation," said Ed Kageyama, consultant to the Ka'anapali course which is in receivership.
"We still want to put something on," said Arakaki, who adds that the 2003 Maui Open isn't canceled. It's just postponed for now.
"I heard they may move it to August," said Sasada. "It's too late to do something about it any sooner."
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net
