4 Hawai'i golfers honored
Advertiser Staff
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America's most isolated golf destination had four of its golfers named Rolex Junior All-Americans today.
Honolulu's Stephanie Kono, Tadd Fujikawa and Ayaka Kaneko, and Hilo's Kimberly Kim, who now lives in Arizona, were all honored by the American Junior Golf Association. Kono was among the 12 on the Girls First Team. Fujikawa, Kaneko and Kim are on the 12-player second teams.
Kono, 16, is a Punahou junior. She earned honorable mention last year. This season, she had three Top-10 AJGA finishes including a third at the Thunderbird International Junior. She was named to her first Canon Cup West Team and climbed to No. 8 nationally in the final 2006 Polo Golf Rankings.
This is the first Rolex honor for Fujikawa, who turns 16 in January and, like Kono, works with Kevin Ralbovsky at KMR Academy. The Moanalua sophomore became the youngest ever to qualify and compete in the U.S. Open this year. Fujikawa, 14th in this year's ranking, was runner-up at the 2005 Polo Golf Junior Classic. He helped lead the Canon Cup West Team to victory and recently shared seventh at the inaugural PING Invitational in Oklahoma.
A nine-stroke victory in the TEE UP Junior Challenge in California helped Kaneko earn her accolades. Kaneko, 16, is a junior at Sacred Hearts Academy. She also had an impressive showing at the Junior World Golf Championship in July, where she finished second. She ends the season ranked No. 17.
Kim's honor comes after a year of dramatic accomplishments in and out of junior golf. At 14, in August, Kim became the youngest ever to win the U.S. Women's Amateur. She finished 66th at the U.S. Women's Open after making the cut in July. The sophomore's best AJGA finishes were ties for fifth at the Thunderbird International Junior and Rolex Girls Junior Championship. Kim was a member of the victorious Canon Cup West Team and 18th in the rankings.
The Rolex Junior All-America Teams were introduced by the AJGA in 1978 to honor the world's premier junior golfers. This year's selections distinguished themselves in 63 national events, 52 conducted by the AJGA. Teams were determined exclusively through the Polo Golf Rankings for the first time.
Former Rolex Junior All-Americans include Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer.