"It's been a while. I'm looking forward to it," said Rego, home for the summer from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he will be a senior this year.

"I was disappointed when it was canceled last year. I came off of OCC (O'ahu Country Club Invitational) playing well," said Rego, a late-bloomer who didn't take up golf until five years ago during his junior year at Saint Louis School.

At least Rego can claim to have held the title for two years — the event's longest tenure since Ted Makalena won in 1962 and '63.

It's good to see the Army Invitational back. Now, if only the Navy-Marine Invitational, off the radar screen since 1999, can get started up again.

"Everybody's happy to see it back again," said Mike Iyoki, director of golf for the U.S. Army Hawai'i, which hosts the Army Invitational. "It's good for the Governor's Cup (amateur) point standings."

The tournament — played both at now par-70 Kalakaua and Leilehua — is so popular that Iyoki has to limit the field to 220 in five flights.

"What makes it ideal is that you play two courses, which are completely different," said Brandan Kop, a five-time champion (1985, 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1999) and runner-up to Rego two years ago.

"Leilehua favors a draw, while Kalakaua favors a fade. Kalakaua's a lot shorter, but I have a higher stroke average there. I'm glad the championship flight plays Leilehua twice."

From its 1957 inaugural won by Paul Scodeller, the tournament had a storied past in local golf. Both the Army Open and the Navy-Marine Open, which was first held in 1951, were regarded as the two biggest tournaments locally. The Mid-Pacific Open didn't begin until 1962, and the Hawai'i State Open was first played in 1974.

"Anybody who was anybody played in the Army Open and Navy-Marine Open," Ron Castillo said. "If you won either of the two, you had beaten the best."

"It was a big deal and I'll always remember it because it was the first open tournament I played in," said Lance Suzuki, who won both the Army and Navy-Marine in 1975.

"It was a biggie. All the top local professionals and the best amateurs played in the Army Open," said Larry Stubblefield, who won the event twice while still attending Ohio State University.

Suzuki was the Army Open's last professional champion in 1979. The tournament became an all-amateur event the following year when the U.S. Army declined to put up the minimum $2,000-a-day purse required by the Aloha Section PGA for its professionals.

Even then, after the first three years, the Army tournament had been a four-day test until 1991 with Kop having the distinction of being the last 72-hole champion.

Among the other who's who of local golf who have won the Army Open are Jimmy Ukauka, John Kalinka, Allan Yamamoto, who holds the 72-hole tournament record of 271 with his victory in 1976, and Masa Kaya.

Kaya, now 76, remembers his victory in 1965 when he shot a final-round 67 to hold off Castillo and Dean Cummings, a former Waialae and Princeville pro who is the father of PGA Tour professional Dean Wilson.

Winning the Army Open was fitting for Kaya.

He had served his two years in the U.S. Army at Schofield Barracks, site of the Kalakaua course. "I was a 'pineapple soldier.' I never left 'The Rock,' " Kaya said.

Besides Kaya, Larry Lee and Bob Ford were two other players with Army ties who also won the Army Open.

Lee was still in the service and stationed at Ft. Shafter when he won in 1960 — the year the Army Open became a 72-hole event for the first time. A former pro at the Wailua Golf Course on Kaua'i, Lee took his basic training at Schofield and started playing golf while serving in Germany in 1953 before returning home to finish up a 20-year Army career.

"Winning the Army Open was something special," said Lee, 74, who had been a pro at the Wailua Golf Course on Kaua'i from 1980 through 1998.

A 17-year Army veteran, Ford used some "local" knowledge in winning the Army Open in 1967 and again in 1969. He was the pro at both the Leilehua and Kalakaua courses after returning to civilian life.

Stubblefield, home for the summer after his freshman year at Ohio State, closed with a 3-under 69, which included a birdie at 17 and a clutch par putt at 18 after his long birdie attempt rolled six feet past the hole.

The current defending champion isn't the first Rego to win the Army Invitational. Clyde Rego, Todd's distant cousin, won the first all-amateur Army Invitational in 1980 by 13 strokes in his final tournament before turning pro.

"I'm glad he's keeping the Rego family name going," said Clyde Rego, who had been low amateur in two previous Army Open appearances.