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HCC drive begins for new members Posted on: Thursday, May 17, 2001 Jennie K. list is Hawai'i female golfers' honor roll By Bill Kwon The Jennie K. Wilson Invitational is a womens golf tournament unlike any other in Hawaii. Once you win the Jennie K., its a title that stays with you.
Advertiser library photo Kokx will be defending her title this weekend at the Mid-Pacific Country Club. Some of the other past Jennie K. champions in the tournaments first 50 years? They include Jackie Pung, Jackie Yates, Lori Castillo, Cindy Flom, Edna Jackola, Tura Kahaleanu Nagatoshi, Althea Tome, Debra Spencer and Joan Damon, who won the event a record six times. Recent champions include Sherrie Sue, Kari Williams, Lesly Ann Komoda, Nicole Horner, Pam Kometani, Anna Umemura and Kathy Cho. It was my first tournament back after a long layoff, Kokx said. Winning was so unexpected. So it was more rewarding, especially knowing more about the history of the tournament and being a part of it. To Kokx, a teacher at Kihei Elementary School on Maui, winning the Jennie K. remains a singular honor. When she won in 1984, she was thrilled just to walk off with the states most prestigious womens golf tournament, which is named after the wife of former Honolulu Mayor John H. Wilson. I just took things for granted then. Golf was the most important thing in my life at the time; that along with my studies, Kokx said. Umemura, who won the first of her three Jennie K. championships in 1995 as a 16-year-old Punahou School sophomore, is skipping the event this year. But she was so moved by the invitation to play that she messaged the Mid-Pacific womens committee her regrets. Though in town briefly for some badly needed R&R, Umemura apologized for not playing in what she called such a fun tournament. She was especially glad that this years Jennie K. will include some of the states precocious young golfers, including 11-year-olds Michelle Wie and Stephanie Kono. Back in the late 1970s, an age restriction prevented an 11-year-old wunderkind named Kristl Caldeira, a two-time Junior World champion from KÅneohe, from competing. Fortunately, the age barrier has been lifted. The first one is always good. I was so excited because it was the first womens tournament I ever won, she said. The one in 1997 also felt good because I came back from a wrist injury and became the first to win all three womens majors the same year. For two former champions, the Jennie K. was the last amateur tournament they ever played locally before turning professional. So they never defended their only Jennie K. titles. Pung, the first woman named to the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame and the only living member of the original class of inductees, says that winning the 1952 Jennie K. title motivated her to continue her career in golf. She was a mother of two young girls and had to work at Sears to help support the family, practically neglecting her golf game from 1948 to 1952. But she entered and won the Jennie K. that May. When I won, I told myself, Thats it, Im going, recalled Pung, who will be 80 on Dec. 13. That encouraged her to play in the U.S. Womens Amateur that summer at the Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore. Pung went on to win the 36-hole final, 2 and 1, to become the first golfer from Hawaii to win a national golf championship. Pungs greatest moment in golf turned out to be her most anguishing when she was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after winning the 1957 U.S. Womens Open. The total was correct, but the scorer put her down for a 6 instead of a 5. Castillo, whos married to Kapaluas Gary Planos, went on to win three national titles, including back-to-back victories in the U.S. Womens Public Links Championship in 1979 and 1980. She still holds all three Jennie K. tournament records with her remarkable 1983 victory a course record 8-under 66 (womens par was 74) in the opening round, the 54-hole score of 216 and a 17-stroke margin of victory. I remember I shot a 66 and had a 13-stroke lead on Friday the 13th. Thirteens always been my lucky number, said Castillo, who had just finished her senior year at Stanford after transferring from University of Tulsa. She closed her remarkable round with an eagle-birdie-birdie finish. The previous 54-hole record of 217 was set by Yates with her second straight Jennie K. victory in 1954 and Nagatoshi, who made it Tura, Tura, Tura with the third victory in 1970. On Sunday in Lanikai, the winner of the 51st Jennie K. will enjoy a proud moment shell never forget. Or others, for that matter. Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net
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