Stubblefield, Kim enter Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
On a day that was all about Bev Kim and Marga Stubblefield, they spoke of family, friends, "aunties," and Hawai'i golf.
Kim and Stubblefield were inducted into the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame yesterday. The Hall started in 1988 to perpetuate Hawai'i golf history. It now has 56 members.
Stubblefield, 51, joined her brother Larry — a 2001 inductee — as the Hall's only siblings. She called her win at the 1972 Jennie K. Invitational the highlight of her career. The Stubblefields grew up next to the second hole of Mid-Pacific Country Club, site of Jennie K.
Marga remembered her parents, Val and Charles "Stubby" Stubblefield, being with her at every event, if only in spirit. They never pushed, Marga said, but her dad developed the curious caddy habit of saying "we shot 72 and she shot 80."
Her brother, who also played professionally, was part coach and confidante. "He had 'been there, done that,' " Marga said. "He was a huge comfort. We'd work on my swing over the phone. Now, when he asks me for help with his swing, it is a very special moment for me."
Stubblefield's 42 years in golf include two top-five finishes in the collegiate national championship, nearly 10 years on the LPGA Tour and 15 more as an instructor. She was the first Rainbow Wahine golfer in the 70s and became their first fulltime golf coach in 1998.
Kim, 57, has won tournaments in five decades, starting with the Waialae Invitational at age 14. With no junior program available, she began to work with the late Guinea Kop, also a Hall of Famer.
In 1971, she made the state match play title her first "major" victory. She won it a third time 25 years later, after both children (Ty and Heidi) were grown. Grandson Sam attended the induction, golf ball in hand.
Kim remains a threat in every local event.
She traces her gift for the game to her parents' support, her family's understanding, all the wisdom Kop bestowed and the generous guidance of "aunties" such as Hope Yee, May Lee, Florence Kamimura, Ernelle Chock and Bea Luke.
"All these ladies I looked up to, I thought maybe one day I'd grow up and be a little like each of them," Kim said. "Maybe today part of that dream came true."
Her husband, Randy, agreed: "I don't think she ever expected it, yet it's really nice. It is such an honor. This is her life, her thing ... a dream come true."
Bev called Randy the family's "most avid non-golfer." She said he caddied for her a few years ago and, after being asked several times where the match stood, he went to her in despair.
"Bev, you've to tell me what's going on," he said. "I don't even know what hole we're on."
Yet his support is so solid he can spot a flaw in her swing and reads "golf guru" Dave Pelz to help with putting.
Kim and Stubblefield have found people who care that deeply their entire golf lives, and now join some of them in the Hall.
"Most of the people that are in the Hall of Fame are older," Larry Stubblefield said. "These are all people we grew up learning from, spending time. Every one of them treated us with respect ... they made us feel like we belonged."
