Hawai'i's David Ishii and Scott Simpson will be the final two players in the inaugural First Hawaiian Bank Pro-Junior Golf Challenge. The exhibition is part of Sony Open in Hawai'i Week and will be played Tuesday at Waialae Country Club.
Fred Couples, Tom Lehman, Paul Azinger and Sony defending champion Brad Faxon were announced as participants earlier. The six Hawai'i juniors are Michelle Wie, Ayumi Hori, Jarett Hamamoto, Gabriel Wilson, Stephanie Kono and Earl Medeiros.
The Challenge, which replaces the Johnny Bellinger Shoot-Out, will start at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Each pro will pair with a junior.
Former Hawaiian Open champion Mark O'Meara, who won two majors in 1998 at the age of 41, committed to the Sony yesterday. Brent Geiberger and Joel Edwards also committed to play.
Putt for $1 million
Stephenni Ortega, a 23-year-old mother from Salinas, Calif., will take one 40-foot putt at $1 million Sunday at Waialae, site of next week's Sony Open in Hawai'i.
The $1 million putt is the culmination of the Wega 40-inch Picture Perfect Putt Contest, a Sony promotion for its 40-inch Wega television, the world's largest direct-view TV. Ortega qualified last fall at the Sony Metreon in San Francisco. She was later chosen as the national finalist.
Ortega must sink the 40-footer to win her $1 million. A miss gives her an OK mulligan — $10,000 worth of Sony products.
Aloha Section PGA honors
Dave Gleason, Director of Golf at The Dunes at Maui Lani, was named Professional of the Year at the Aloha Section PGA's annual meeting. Hilo Muni's Kevin Hayashi earned Player of the Year honors.
Waialae's Kevin Ralbovsky is the Section's Teacher of the Year. His boss, Waialae head pro Greg Nichols, earned the Horton Smith Trophy. It is given to recognize "outstanding service and contributions to developing and improving educational opportunities for the PGA golf professional."
Kapalua Director of Golf Marty Keiter won the Bill Strausbaugh Award for "causing dramatic improvement in employment conditions" for pros.
Other awards were given to: Kellie Pleas, Puakea (Junior Golf Leader); Matt Hall, Hapuna (Assistant Pro); Michael Castillo, Po'ipu Bay (Resort Merchandiser); Greg Nichols, Waialae (Private Merchandiser); Dave Gleason, Maui Lani (Public Merchandiser); Rodney Acia, Hilo Muni (Senior Player of Year); Warren Haruki, Verizon Hawai'i President (President's Award); Les Tamashiro, Acushnet (Sales Representative).
Short putts
Former Hawai'i golfers John Hearn and Chie Shimada, married and working as golf pros in La Quinta, Calif., are proud parents of John Masanobu Hearn, born Oct. 30 at The Queen's Medical Center.
