Pearl Open boasts another solid field

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

It might seem like the 19th hole after all the zeroes Ernie Els, Lee Trevino, Karrie Webb and Dana Quigley collected in the last month, but for golfers in the state few tournaments are as prestigious as the Hawai'i Pearl Open.

Allan Yamamoto lined up a putt as Lenore Muraoka watched. Yamamoto was the head pro 25 years ago when the Pearl Open began. Advertiser library photo • Nov. 29, 1986

The purse is $80,000, which might not sound high after the millions that professional players have been chasing here the past month. But it is, by far, the most lucrative of any locally run tournament.

Pearl Open's other hook is that the field is all but equally split between Hawai'i and Japanese players, with a few from the Mainland and other foreign countries always in the international mix. Other than Dean Wilson, now playing on the PGA Tour, all of Hawai'i's hottest golfers are here, including 13-year-old Michelle Wie, who was the first female to play last year.

Several players from the Japan Golf Tour Organization are also here, including Hawai'i's David Ishii and Greg Meyer. Those two have combined for eight Pearl Open championships. Not coincidentally, Ishii is Pearl's Director of Golf and Meyer, No. 46 on the Japan tour money list last year, used to be head pro.

The enticing prize money and international field were part of the vision of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, who bought Pearl Country Club in 1975.

He wanted to create an event that would give Hawai'i golfers the opportunity to play against Japan's best, and support aspiring local pros by helping them "expand into the international golf arena."

"They wanted Pearl to be accepted by local people," said Allan Yamamoto, Pearl's head pro when the Open began. "There were a lot of preferential starting times at courses here around that time. They wanted to get that stigma out. The best way was to hold a tournament for the local guys. That's the reason why the purse is so high. They set a standard and raised the level a little bit."

The course fulfills the third part of Honda's mission statement, which was to "provide residents with a course of equal caliber to O'ahu's private courses."

Pearl, opened in 1964, might be called a country club, but it is open to the public and memberships haven't been sold since before Honda took over. And high school players have been extended playing privileges since Yamamoto worked at Pearl.

Inaugural champion Namio Takasu, now 60, is playing this week. He left Japan's pro tour in his 40s and worked in the golf industry. He returned to competitive golf last year and won a senior tournament.

In today's Pro-Am, Takasu will play with Yamamoto, a 67-year-old member of the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame, Koji Nagata, Pearl's first general manager, and Fumitake Okazaki, assistant manager under Yamamoto after he became GM.

The tournament donates approximately $4,000 annually to local charities. The American Cancer Society is this year's recipient.

Sunday's winner gets $12,000 and two tickets to Japan from Japan Airlines.