GOLF BRIEFS
Hawai'i volunteer given national award by PGA
Advertiser Staff
Pearl City's Bobby Tsumura, 64, a volunteer with the Sony Open in Hawai'i and the Hawaiian Open for more than 25 years, has been named the 2003 Volunteer of the Year by the PGA Tour.
PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem presented the award Tuesday to Tsumura, who was flown to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
"It was a great honor to get this award," Tsumura said from Florida, site of this week's Players Championships, which includes Tiger Woods.
"It reflects on all the thousands of volunteers throughout the PGA Tour. It was quite an honor and quite unexpected."
Tsumura said he also received a Waterford Crystal bowl.
Tsumura, who still works part-time at Island Movers as an estimator and in sales, got involved at the urging of a friend, Jim Kometani, more than a quarter century ago.
"We started as water boys (providing water to Tour players) and things grew from there," Tsumura said.
He is in charge of the Operations Support Division and oversees many volunteers at Sony.
"I took care of whatever. Whatever needed to be done, I was there ... refreshments for players and volunteers and pretty much everything else, but we don't do toilets."
Said Anthony Guerrero Jr., president of Friends of Hawai'i Charities, the tournament's host organization: "He not only has been a veteran volunteer for a quarter of a century ... but he has mastered over the years many areas of tournament operations and has been a model to hundreds of volunteers who have worked with him."
Wong tourney set
The 10th annual Na Koa Ed Wong Memorial Tournament is April 20 at the Hawai'i Prince Golf Club in 'Ewa.
The tournament is held in memory of Wong, one of the founders and former president of Na Koa, the organization dedicated to supporting the University of Hawai'i football program.
"This tournament provides everyone the opportunity to spend time with our staff and get to know one another," UH football coach June Jones said in a press release.
Sign-up deadline is April 2. For information, call Ben Wong 542-8912 or 734-6194.
REHAB benefit
The 10th annual AT&T Hawai'i-REHAB Tournament, whose cumulative contributions to the Rehab Hospital of the Pacific should surpass the $1 million mark this year, will be held May 26 at the Hawai'i Prince Golf Club.
Deadline is April 30. For information, call 566-3451 or e-mail dhirano@rehabhospital.org.
Junior golf season
Kapalua Resort kicks off its 2004 junior golf season Saturday.
The program is available free to youngsters from 7 to 17.
Children from Maui are invited to enroll in one of three sessions offered between April and August.
Each session is composed of three clinics that focus on rules and etiquette, mechanical aspects of the short and long game, bunker shots and putting.
Juniors who attend a complete session and pass a written exam become Kapalua junior golf members.
To register or for more information, call Kapalua Golf Academy at (808) 669-6500.
