When it came to golf, the "Doctor Was In" with the best of them.

Amateur golf in Hawai'i lost one of its staunchest supporters with the death of Dr. Richard Ho last Thursday. Ho, who was 82, was honored earlier this year with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hawai'i State Golf Association, which he helped to establish in 1984. "He was very honored, gratified to be the recipient," said Anita Ho, his wife of 55 years.

Ho's passion wasn't limited to just playing the game — he was once a 5-handicapper — he contributed to golf in every way possible. Besides serving as president of the HSGA and then as board director for the HSGA and the Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association, Ho was USGA regional director for the past 25 years, and president emeritus of the Pacific Coast Golf Association.

"Dr. Ho gave generously of his time, made numerous financial contributions and passionately supported amateur golf in the state. He will be sorely missed," said Jay Hinazumi, HSGA president.

It was in his role with the PCGA, however, that many of Hawai'i's outstanding amateur golfers came to personally know and respect the good doctor, who was a pediatrician, by the way.

Through Ho's efforts, Hawai'i first competed in the 1987 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at the Seattle Golf Club with Wendell Tom, Les Uyehara and Larry Stubblefield, finishing seventh among the 16 teams entered.

"It was a wonderful experience, but it wasn't just because of that major amateur tournament that we owe him," said Stubblefield, a member of the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame. "He was a wonderful asset to amateur golf in Hawai'i. He did so many things for golf and he did it without any personal self-interests."

"He was always so pleasant, such a gentleman," said Uyehara, who still remembers getting invited by Ho to make the trip as the reigning state amateur champion. Uyehara also played with Philip Chun and Darryl Inaba at the Eugene Country Club when the event moved to Oregon three years later.

"Just a great person. He was very knowledgeable and very professional on the golf course," added Tom. "I grew up playing junior golf with his son, Stephen. And we were Waialae (Country Club) members. That's how come I know Dr. Ho from way back."

No one was more thankful for the opportunity to play in the PCAC than Jim Seki, who recently advanced to the U.S. Open sectional after sharing medalist honors in the local qualifier at Turtle Bay Resort's Palmer Course. He represented Hawai'i five straight years, beginning in 1998 when he won the state boys' championship as a junior at Punahou School.

"He was so helpful. He loved golf, he loved being around the game," said Seki, who went on to play for Stanford, winning the 2002 Pac-10 individual championship. "He pretty much helped Hawai'i guys out. For me, it was huge because it helped expose me to the Mainland. I would have been lost up there."

Now on the Canadian Tour, Seki's first appearance was at the Eugene Country Club with Jonathan Ota and Jay Kurisu. His third PCAC in 2000 was also memorable because it was played at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Seki said it was "neat seeing what the course was like" after watching the U.S. Open which was held there two years earlier. And memorable, too, because he was also part of Team Punahou as fellow Buffanblu graduates Parker McLachlin and Tony Okano represented Hawai'i, which finished ninth among the 26 teams entered.

Seki's final appearance came in 2002 at the San Diego Country Club when it became a 72-hole individual event. He was joined by University of Hawai'i's Matt Kodama.

With the USGA initiating a biennial state amateur team championship, the HSGA decided to spend its resources in sending the best amateurs to the USGA event and ended its membership in the Pacific Coast Golf Association. But the Pacific Coast Amateur still evokes fond memories to those who competed in the event, thanks to Ho, who was instrumental in bringing it to Maui twice — in 1991 at the Kapalua Bay Course and in 1997 at the Makena Resort.

It was always Ho's goal to send the state's best amateurs so that they could play against the nation's best. Mission accomplished.

According to his family, Ho's passion for golf can be summed up in an acceptance speech after being honored with the Aloha Section PGA Award in 2002: "When I took up the game of golf approximately 30 years ago it has been a venture which had led me to many gratifying experiences. It was like an obsession, a magical inexhaustible journey."

Richard Ho's life journey might have come to an end but his obsession for the game remains in all of us.

He is survived by his wife, Anita; son, Stephen; and daughters, Lori, Lisa Kettenburg and Lynn Nishida; brothers, Charles and Theodore.

Memorial services will be held at Star of the Sea Church tomorrow with visitation from 9:30 a.m., followed by Mass at 10:30 a.m. and a Celebration of Life at Waialae Country Club at noon. Donations may be made to Star of the Sea Church or Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association.

Private burial services will be held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific with full military honors.