AROUND THE GREENS
Porter-King's choices pay off with spot in Hall
By Bill Kwon
Mary Bea Porter-King, who was officially inducted into the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame on Monday with the late George Nahale Sr., likes to quote her favorite philosopher, Yogi Berra: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Porter-King has taken a number of forks in the road during her journey in golf. She feels blessed it has always been the one in the right direction.
"One of them led to paradise," said Porter-King, a Kaua'i resident and member of the USGA executive committee.
She remembers playing in the Women's Kemper Open at Princeville in 1987 and her caddy was a no-show. So she hired another caddy, a Kaua'i businessman named Charlie King.
After nine holes, her original caddy finally showed up. But she decided to stick with King and the rest, as she said, is history. "Two years later, we were married."
Since becoming a full-time resident, Porter-King has been a driving force in local golf, especially on the amateur level. A former junior golfer at age 7, she firmly believes in developing youngsters at an early age. After serving as president of the Kaua'i Junior Golf Association, she later helped to organize a junior program on a statewide level.
Getting named to the USGA executive committee "was a mystery," she said. Equally mystifying is that Porter-King could manage to convince the USGA to hold U.S. Open sectional qualifyings for men and women in Hawai'i for the first time this year.
The men's turnout for the three local qualifyings has disappointed Porter-King but Mary Bea still gets an "A" for effort.
An All-America golfer at Arizona State, Porter-King was a medalist in the 1973 LPGA qualifying school. Her LPGA playing career wasn't distinguished.
"I never played the game for money," she said. "It's obvious by my record."
However, her contributions to golf locally have been invaluable, making Porter-King a welcome addition to the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame.
The same can be said for George Nahale Sr., a two-time Manoa Cup champion whose greatest legacy is that his love of the game has been passed on to his 18 grandchildren, including Keith, who accepted the posthumous award.
Autograph session
Punahou School recently invited members of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team to speak to its students at an assembly. When the question-and-answer session ended, the youngsters lined up to get autographs.
One of the Rainbow players, guard Jake Sottos, who's an avid golfer, spotted 14-year-old teen phenom Michelle Wie in line. He wound up asking for her autograph instead.
Toyama to UH
Two of Hawai'i's top high school seniors — University High's Travis Toyama and Ryan Perez of Moanalua — have signed letters of intent to play for the University of Hawai'i men's golf team next year.
Toyama will defend his Interscholastic League of Honolulu individual title Wednesday at Ko Olina. Earlier this year, he shot a 9-under-par 61 in an ILH tournament at the Kalakaua Golf Course.
In 2002, Toyama became the youngest Manoa Cup champion at the age of 15, and last year he broke Tiger Woods' record with a 10-stroke victory in the 35th Independent Insurance Agent Junior Classic in New Jersey.
"Along with my early signee in November, Billy Bob Hoyt, from Arizona, this could be our best recruiting class since my 1999 class that was ranked fourth in the nation at the end of the year," said Rainbow coach Ronn Miyashiro.
Aces wild at Makena
They called Makena South's par-3 13th hole the "Lucky 13" following the City Bank Helps Maui golf tournament April 17 benefiting the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.
Three golfers holed out the 135-yard hole for their first career aces with Dave Phillips of Portland, Ore., winning a Dodge Durango by being the first to do so.
Vacationing with his wife, he found a Web site listing things to do on Maui, learned about the benefit event and decided to enter for the fun of it.
Playing in the group behind Phillips, Gary Kawahara of Pukalani, Maui, then aced the same hole for a round-trip ticket to Tokyo, courtesy of Japan Airlines. Moki Tacub of Kihei, Maui, was the third to get an ace at 13, winning a $700 JAL coupon.
It's the most tournament aces in the history of City Bank's three benefit tournaments on Maui, the Big Island and 'Oahu, according to Ron Migita, City Bank CEO and vice chairman. And possibly the first for any benefit tournament in Hawai'i, according to Pundy Yokouchi, MACC founder and board chairman.
This year's event raised $30,800 to bring the 16-year total to $330,800.
Alive and well
Sid Fernandez's father, Charlie, is alive and well and he would like to tell his friends. I incorrectly called him the late Charlie Fernandez last week.
"I had a lot of friends call me that morning and told me, 'I heard you died,' " said the elder Fernandez laughingly. Retired from the Pearl Harbor Shipyard, the 64-year-old Fernandez works part-time with a medical company and plays golf to a single-digit handicap when his sore back doesn't flare up.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
