Queen of Aces
| • | Holes in one |
| • | Women's golf group to honor Lily K. Yao |
| • | Els, Garcia fall in Match Play openers |
| • | Golf Notices |
By Bill Kwon
Call Gladys Nakamoto the Queen of Aces. When the 64-year-old retired school teacher aced the 87-yard seventh hole at the 'Ewa Villages Golf Course on Feb. 17, it was her third hole in one in less than three months.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Not bad for a 30-handicapper who took up the game eight years ago when a bunch of her younger teaching colleagues at Ilima Intermediate School wanted to do "something active." Until then, she had been a golf widow. Now she plays twice a week with her husband, Paul, and some friends.
"I love the game. I really enjoy it," says Gladys Nakamoto, who has been golfing for just eight years, but has three holes in one.
"That's the biggest mistake I ever made, encouraging her," he said.
Some golfers never get a hole in one. Paul, or "Napo" to his friends, is still looking for his first ace in 25 years of golfing.
"The closest I've ever come was two feet," said Nakamoto, who saw all three of his wife's aces. Her first two, both in December, came at the Kalakaua Golf Course in Schofield Barracks. She aced the 130-yard 15th hole on Dec. 5 with a 5-wood, and two weeks later she nailed the 143-yard second hole with a 3-wood.
"I was shocked on the first one," Gladys said. "I just wanted to get on the green and I was happy when I saw the ball go on the green. I didn't see the second one, but my husband said nonchalantly, 'Mom, it's in the hole.' "
Her third hole in one came after their friends in the foursome ahead waved her group on.
"They saw it and started jumping up and down," said Gladys, who used a 9-iron in holing out the shot. She had been a little nervous because the green was fronted by water and she had just plunked her tee shot in the water on the previous par-3 hole.
"Napo" doesn't think he'll ever get a hole in one. And while he's a bit envious of his wife's hole-in-one spree, he's not really looking forward to getting an ace of his own. Too expensive, he says.
"I spent $200 on drinks on her third one," he said. "On the other two, we were with seniors and they didn't drink. They just had coffee. But the guys we played with on the last one drank and had a ball."
Gladys is also having a ball playing golf.
"I love the game. I really enjoy it. I watch it a lot on TV and went to the Sony Open for the first time this year," she said.
It's quite a change of opinion from her days at the University of Hawai'i "when we were forced to take up golf in P.E." she said.
Back then, she thought golf was a waste of her time. Now, she can't get enough of it.
Prior to her aces, Nakamoto came close with a couple in the "birdie range," she said.
Not surprisingly, after her two holes in one in December, the Wahiawa couple went to Las Vegas to see if her luck would continue there.
It didn't.
Then came her third hole in one.
"We're thinking of going again in April," she said.
Royal Kunia at last to open
It appears that the Royal Kunia Country Club will finally be open for play in April after sitting idle since it was built 10 years ago. The course has started advertising an April 5 opening.
Royal Kunia will accept letters from golf clubs to book dates starting Saturday, according to Jared Kato, golf operations manager. Some 80 golf carts are on order for a mid-March delivery, he said.
Though still not announced, the golf fees will be competitive with other courses in the Central O'ahu area (such as Kapolei, Waikele and Coral Creek), according to Kato, formerly an assistant pro at Waikele.
"We do plan to open the fairways and use a 90-degree rule from the cart paths," Kato said.
Two individuals perhaps the happiest to see Royal Kunia finally open are architect Robin Nelson and golf course superintendent Leighton Wong.
For years Nelson has called Royal Kunia "the best golf course in Hawai'i nobody has played."
For Wong, it'll be a vindication of an almost one-man effort to keep the golf course in presentable condition despite its hold-up because the original developer did not pay the remaining $13 million in impact fees.
The city finally reached an agreement in 2001, waiving the rest of the impact fee with the stipulation that the new owners pay $2.5 million and $1 a round in perpetuity. The $2.5 million was paid last October, clearing the way for the opening.
The new owner, a Japan-based company called Sports Trust, has retained Wong as Royal Kunia's general manager.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
