| Posted on: Thursday, October 4, 2001
• Waikoloa Beach Resort holding tournament to benefit attack victims
• This week's Holes in One
Around the Greens
Inspirational comeback for Mark Chun
By Bill Kwon
 |
| After suffering a stoke in 1999, Mark Chun said, "There was a lot of doubt on my part whether I'd ever play golf again."
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
With his victory in the Mayor's Cup at the Ala Wai Golf Course Sunday, Mark Chun completed perhaps the most remarkable comeback of the year in local golf. The victory came in his first tournament since suffering a stroke less than two years ago.
"It's the first individual tournament I've ever won," Chun said. "And to win it in my first tournament back after my stroke is incredible. That's why it's so sweet."
Featured in Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific newspaper ads for his remarkable recovery, Chun has been its recent poster boy. The advertisement can now be updated with Chun's inspirational accomplishment.
"There was a lot of doubt on my part whether I'd ever play golf again," Chun said. "Whether I'd even get out of bed again, let alone walk again."
After suffering a stroke on Dec. 12, 1999, Chun could not walk for two weeks. Undergoing rehab, Chun's road to recovery literally began with a single step, and then more steps one at a time.
"I would take one step and sit down. One step and sit down," the 40-year-old Chun said.
"Who would have thought that I had to learn to walk again at my age," he said.
That ?s why he regards the date of his stroke as his new birthday.
Chun's wife, Lori, his brother Phil and other family members and friends were stunned when Chun suffered his stroke. It wasn't supposed to happen to someone his age.
No one was more stunned than Chun. But with months of personal rehab, he began his long journey back to a normal life. Well, almost normal.
"I'm not 100 percent. Not even. Maybe 90 to 95 percent. I still have dizziness and still feel off-balance at times. And I still get tired at the end of the day," Chun said.
His eating habits have changed, although he had never been one to crave anything. He has cut out alcohol except for an occasional glass of wine. The only no-no is leafy vegetables, a source of vitamin K that coagulates the blood.
"I'm on blood thinners (Comadin) every day for the rest of my life," Chun said.
He still cannot drive a car.
"My wife takes me everywhere," said Chun, who works part-time as a starter at the Ala Wai and Navy-Marine golf courses.
At last year's Manoa Cup, Chun recovered enough to drive a golf cart, so he volunteered to caddy for Art Fujita after seeing the 67-year-old Kaua'i golfer carrying his own bag over the hilly O'ahu Country Club course.
"I'll be back in 2001, playing golf," Chun said at the time.
Chun has not only fulfilled that prediction, he returned to the golf scene a winner.
CHIP SHOTS
• Play has been down dramatically — practically nonexistent for civilians — at the military golf courses, especially on-base Hickam, Kane'ohe Klipper and Kalakaua, where all cars require a military decal to enter because of the alert status following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
Hickam has suffered a 50 percent drop in play, according to Mamala Bay pro Tom Stanfill, who added that the Hickam Invitational, scheduled for the weekend of the attack, has been canceled until next year.
"It'll be postponed like the Ryder Cup where the awards and prizes will all be used to commemorate 2001," Stanfill said.
The six municipal courses on O'ahu have seen more play as a result, especially the popular Ala Wai where 1,253 more rounds were played than during the same Sept. 11-26 period last year — 8,815 to 10,068 rounds.
The play is 98 percent local, so maybe local restaurants and hotels should take note, said an Ala Wai official.
• Kevin Hayashi, who finished eighth in the first stage of the Japan PGA qualifying last month, decided not to return for the second stage.
"It's a combination of reasons," said Hayashi.
His biggest concern was the reoccurrence of his father's cancer. The terrorist attack Sept. 11 also made travel arrangements difficult.
"But I had already made up my mind not to go before then," Hayashi said. "I think it's for the best."
• Shane Abe is back in Hawai'i as an assistant pro at the O'ahu Country Club after he and his wife, the former Lori Takahama, resided in Florida for four years. They spent the past nine months in Boston, where Abe said he was "Mr. Mom" for their 21-month-old son, Charles.
"It's kind of a neat story that a former Manoa Cup champion is working at our pro shop," said Andrew Feldmann, O'ahu Country Club's head professional. Abe won the Manoa Cup in 1988.
• With OCC's Andrew Feldmann serving as auctioneer, the Aloha Section PGA Scramble's live auction following its 15th annual tournament at Hawai'i Prince recently raised more than $12,000.
Top items included a pro-am spot in November's PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Po'ipu Bay Resort — and a chance to play with Tiger Woods — which went for $4,000. Another popular item was the 2000 Grand Slam flag from the No. 18 hole autographed by the four participants, including the winner, Woods, which went for $4,100 to Waikele pro Scotty Kaneko. Kaneko said he did the bidding for a friend.
• Roy Adams is now the head professional at the Makaha Resort Golf Club, succeeding Tommy Hines.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net. |
