| Posted on: Thursday, August 30, 2001
• Tomori making LPGA bid
Gilder, Veriato in field for first Turtle Bay Championship
Advertiser Staff
Bob Gilder, a regular at the old Kapalua International golf tournament, will play in the inaugural Turtle Bay Championship next month on the North Shore.
Gilder turned 50 on Dec. 31, and shot a record-breaking 10-under-par 269 to win last year's Senior PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He is No. 14 on the money list, with one win and $985,000 — more than he won in his last nine years combined on the regular tour.
The $1.5 million Turtle Bay Championship will be Oct. 5-7 at the Arnold Palmer Course (formerly Links at Kuilima). Top 10 players already committed include Allen Doyle (No. 2), Dana Quigley (6), Mike McCullough (7), Jim Thorpe (9) and Ed Dougherty (10).
Hilo's Steve Veriato, who won the Novelle Utah Showdown two weeks ago, is also in the field, along with Bob Charles, Gary Player, Graham Marsh and Kahuku High graduate Lance Suzuki.
• Mercedes tickets: Tickets for the 2002 Mercedes Championships are on sale. The PGA Tour's season-opening event will be Jan. 3-6 at Kapalua's Plantation Course.
The field is made up of 2001 tournament champions, a list that already includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Sergio Garcia, Shigeki Maruyama and defending champion Jim Furyk.
Practice rounds will be Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, followed by a Wednesday Pro-Am (Jan. 2) and the four-day tournament.
Advance ticket pricing, prior to Dec. 20, ranges from $10 for single days to $40 for a season pass, good for week-long access. Children 16-under are free when accompanied by a ticket-bearing adult.
Tickets can be purchased at Kapalua Resort's golf shops, Honolua Store, Kapalua Logo Shop, the Information Booth at Queen Kaahumanu Center, Lahaina Cannery Mall Customer Service Center, all Activity World outlets on Maui, and through Ticketmaster (1-877-804-0472 or www.ticketmaster.com).
• Kapalua caddies: Ryan Michimoto, a Lahainaluna High School graduate and one of 17caddies in the Kapalua Resort program, earned an Evans scholarship to attend the University of Hawai'i.
Michimoto was awarded full tuition and a housing scholarship by the Evans Scholars Foundation, a program sponsored by the Western Golf Association. Michimoto has caddied at Kapalua the past three years. He plans to major in civil engineering.
In 1992, Kapalua was the first in the state to organize a caddy program for its three golf courses — Kapalua Bay, Village and Plantation. Recently, the program has also become a source for standard bearers in the Mercedes Championships.
"The experience of walking a golf course with a caddy is second to none," said Gary Planos, Kapalua's vice president of Resort Operations. "Sadly, in modern-day golf, the enjoyment and friendships fostered by this association have been lost, especially in our islands."
Golfers can hire junior caddies for $25 (not including green fees). For more information about the Kapalua Caddy Program, call Kitt Felte at (808) 669-8808.
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