Navy-Marine used to be my favorite golf course. After all, it was the site of my all-time best round — a 78 after playing the back nine in 1-over par 37. It's one of very few scorecards I've kept over the years.

I had played the military course by the Honolulu International Airport 17 years ago with Monte Ito's Dawn Patrol gang, and my foursome included Vernon Young, Yo Arakaki and Donald Imamoto. But don't call me a sand-bagger because I didn't win even low-net honors that day. Young tied me with a net 62.

If you do the math, you know that I played to a 16-handicap back then. My golf handicap has since doubled as my drives are getting shorter and my putts are getting longer. That's not a requisite for playing today's Navy-Marine, now that the course has been renovated — not necessarily for the better — with the addition of two ponds at the seventh and 12th holes, turning my club off the tee into a water-dousing instrument.

So it was with dismay when I read about the fire last Saturday that destroyed the maintenance warehouse, an estimated 17,000-square foot World War II building, near the par-3 fifth hole, causing more than $500,000 in equipment losses, mostly mowers, tractors, tools and chemicals to maintain the golf course.

The cause of the blaze that sent thick, black smoke spiraling into the sky and had drivers on Nimitz Highway pulling over to take photos or rubber-necking on the elevated freeway, is being investigated by federal fire officials.

How much equipment was lost, the cost to replace it, and what impact it will have on course conditions with limited equipment available during the interim are some of questions Navy-Marine golfers are now posing. It will probably be weeks, if not months, before answers become available.

Staffers working in the pro shop were told "not to talk to the press about the fire," referring questions to the Navy's PIO officer and the course's Moral, Welfare & Recreation office.

"We're open. That's all I can say," said David Chin, Navy-Marine's head golf professional, when asked about the fire.

A Navy spokeswoman said that the exact cost of the equipment lost in the fire, mostly groundskeeping machinery, is still being determined, but "initial estimates range from $500,000 to $1 million."

She added that plans call for replacing the equipment as soon as possible and that the course will be maintained with temporary equipment and that from Barbers Point, which is also operated by the Navy, and from Mamala Bay Course at nearby Hickam Air Force Base. The Army MWR, which operates the Leilehua Golf Course, has also offered the use of its equipment.

"Fortunately, they have the other military courses to help them out," said Howard Hamada, Pearl Country Club's golf course superintendent, who played Navy-Marine the day after the fire. He empathizes with Dave Natte, Navy-Marine's superintendent, for the logistical headache ahead of him.

In view of the way Navy officials closed ranks on even basic questions about the costly fire, I guess I won't be able to verify a story circulating among the golfers about the "privacy" fence — their word for it — along the ninth fairway blocking the view of the golf course from Valkenburgh Street.

The story goes that an admiral was in the middle of his swing when someone in a passing car yelled, "fore," screwing up his shot.

Even though almost every golfer has experienced that yell by some passing yahoo, it's still a funny story. In this case, a costly one as well, to the tune of some $200,000.

Considering a fence was built next to the par-5 ninth green after an admiral had his clubs stolen from a golf cart a couple of years ago, this latest story seems plausible.

YOU GO, GIRL

I'm glad, though surprised, that Michelle Wie, who has always traveled the road less taken during the wunderkind years, is going to the LPGA qualifying school. I thought Team Wie would take the same route that it did this year, trying to get an exemption by winning enough money through sponsor's exemptions. I mean, she was only one unsigned scorecard from getting her 2009 tour card.

I'm more glad that she won't talk to the media until her final round. She can concentrate on her golf game without distractions, and there will be fewer sound bites that can come back to bite her.

KOREAN PLAIN

The purchase of the Waikele Golf Course for $23 million, reported by The Honolulu Advertiser in July, is expected to be finalized next month. The Amfac-developed course has been purchased by South Korean investors, joining Coral Creek and New 'Ewa Beach as the third golf course in the 'Ewa plain to be owned by investors from South Korea.