With Tadd Fujikawa, David Ishii, Dave Eichelberger and Miki Saiki, the Hawai'i Pearl Open already has more than its share of diverse story lines. Then there are the other 170 entrants.

The 31st annual tournament is next week at Pearl Country Club. Fujikawa, who could not defend his 2007 championship last year, is back to compete against an international field that includes pros and amateurs from Hawai'i, Japan, Canada, the Mainland, Australia, South Korea and Fiji.

Saiki, a winner on the Japan LPGA tour last year, and 19-year-old Kumiko Kaneda are the only females so far, but several women will try to qualify. Michelle Wie, Stephanie Kono, Sakura Yokomine and Cyd Okino have played previously.

Fujikawa, a Moanalua High School senior, just finished in the top 35 at the Sony Open in Hawai'i for the second time in three years. In 2007, the then-16-year-old amateur became the youngest to make a PGA Tour cut in 50 years and finished 20th.

Three weeks later he won at Pearl, sticking his approach shot on the final hole to a foot. The ensuing birdie beat four-time Pearl Open champion Gregory Meyer by a shot; Meyer finished in the top 50 on the Japan Golf Tour Organization money list the previous year.

There will be at least as much competition this year in the state's toughest local event. Even with an $81,000 purse the tournament draws a large contingent from the JGTO, which regularly plays for $1.5 to $2 million.

Azuma Yano, who won at Pearl last year, finished second on the JGTO money list in 2008. Teen idol Ryo Ishikawa, 10th at Pearl last year, was fifth on the money list and has accepted four PGA Tour exemptions this year, including The Masters. Four others who played here last year finished in the top 50.

This year's field at Pearl will include Toshinori Muto (10th), Yui Ueda (45th), Dinesh Chand (47) and Junpei Takayama, who qualified for Sony this year. Kiyoshi Murota, who still plays part-time on the JGTO at age 53, represents Turtle Bay now and is going for his third Pearl championship; he was second last year. Yuta Ikeda, 23, will be here after earning more than $200,000, and fully exempt status, in just 10 JGTO events last year.

The top two players from the Canadian Tour are here, in John Ellis and Wes Heffernan. Hawai'i Golf Hall of Famer David Ishii, Pearl's Director of Golf, is going for his seventh title and Champions Tour player Dave Eichelberger his first. Two-time Manoa Cup champ Travis Toyama is playing in his first Pearl Open as a pro. Amateurs include Bradley Shigezawa and Lorens Chan.

After the final round, four contestants will be given the chance to win a new Honda in a putting contest. Entries are available at the Tony Group Autoplex or Pearl.

KISHIDA'S TOP VOLUNTEER

Wayne Kishida is the 2009 Chester Kahapea Volunteer of the Year for his work for the Friends of Hawai'i Charities and Sony Open in Hawai'i. Kishida has been a tournament volunteer for more than 25 years with Sony Open and the Hawaiian Open. As Volunteer Chair overseeing the Pro Airport Transportation committee, Kishida and his team are the first to welcome tour pros and their families to Hawai'i and also one of the last to see them depart.

Kishida negotiates the contract with The Cab each year and works closely with Honolulu International Airport staff to ensure he and his volunteer team have access to greet the pros and their families when they arrive. He makes it his personal responsibility to ensure that all pros are greeted at the airport baggage claim. He is available 24 hours a day in the weeks prior to, during, and after Sony Open.

The Chester Kahapea Volunteer of the Year award began in 2003 and honors the former Tournament Manager of more than two decades. Previous honorees are Bob Gwaltney (2008), Jim Quinn (2007), Al Dauth (2006), Patty Abrams (2005), Al Rodrigues (2004) and Bobby Tsumura (2003), also selected as the 2004 National PGA Tour Volunteer of the Year.

'ACES-TO-VEGAS' WINNER

Faxon Hanuna won the Hawaiian Airlines "Aces-To-Vegas" contest final Sunday at Mililani Golf Club. Two golfers qualified by entering the contest and making a hole-in-one at Mililani last year.

Hanuna won when his 50-foot putt stopped 4 1/2 inches from the hole. His prize was four round-trip airfares to Las Vegas, two rooms for four nights and three meals per day, plus $200.

"All of a sudden," Hanuna said, "I have all these friends I didn't have yesterday."

Aaron Ayakawa was runner-up, winning two Neighbor Island roundtrip airfares.

NOTES

Monday's "Golf Hawai'i" show will include an interview with Davis Love III, a tour of Kaua'i highlighted by a stop at Po'ipu Bay Golf Course and recycling efforts at the 2007 FBR Open. The show debuts at 2:30 p.m. Monday on The Golf Channel and will repeat at 9:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. on Feb. 8.

Sunday's "Emily T Gail Talks Golf" will include interviews with Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai volunteers Nancy and Bill Verbrugge, Eiko Oizunki of Golf Today Japan and Dave Senko, PGA Champions Tour Media Representative. The show airs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio AM850 Hilo AM790 Kona.