Hayashi teams with Taketa in Pro-Pro event

Advertiser Staff

Kevin Hayashi will defend half a championship next week in the Aloha Section PGA Pro-Pro Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club.

The tournament, which features 29 two-man teams, tees off Tuesday at 11 a.m., with the final round starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday. Format is 4-Ball Stroke Play and the purse is approximately $12,000.

Hayashi, head pro at Pearl Country Club, won the 2002 title with Pearl Director of Golf David Ishii. Hayashi will play with former Hilo Muni colleague Lance Taketa this year.

Hayashi and Taketa are paired with Pearl pro Beau Yokomoto and Regan Lee in the first round. Lee is preparing for his second season on the Gateway mini-tour and will defend his title at the Mid-Pacific Open in two weeks.

Ko Olina head pro Kevin Carll's partner is Matt Hall, the new Turtle Bay Resort Director of Golf. Hall, the 2001 Aloha Section Assistant Pro of the Year while he was at Hapuna, is a graduate of the PGA Professional Golf Management program at New Mexico State.

Amatour II opens: The second season of Amatour Hawai'i opens this weekend with the qualifying tournament at Makaha Resort Golf Club. Players tee off from 11:40 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The top 36 in a field of 120 qualify for 2003. The field includes 16-year-old Chase Chulakote, who just won the State Amateur Stroke Play championship, and Mark Chun, Brandan Kop, Wendell Kop, Guy Yamamoto and Dick Sieradzki.

The inaugural Amatour Cup, open to players who earned exempt status based on last year's performance, will be played concurrently with the qualifier.