Wednesday, February 17, 1999

Ward tops
field for LPGA
tournament

She is the Hawaiian
Ladies Open champion

By Bill Kwon
Star-Bulletin

Wendy Ward defends her title as the $650,000 Sunrise Hawaiian Ladies Open starts tomorrow at the Kapolei Golf Course.

Ward defeated Dana Dormann in a sudden-death playoff last year after both finished with a 54-hole score of 12-under-par 204, which tied the tournament record set by Barb (Thomas) Whitehead in 1995.

The 144-player field also includes three 1999 winners -- Catrin Nilsmark, Kelly Robbins and Meg Mallon -- and past champions Whitehead, Cindy Flom and Sherri Turner.

Joining them are Se Ri Pak -- the 1998 LPGA rookie of the year from South Korea who won two majors among her four titles last year -- Laura Davies, Pat Hurst and Liselotte Neumann. Pak began her great 1998 inconspicuously enough by missing the cut last year at Kapolei.

In addition, 12 Japan LPGA players are entered, including Kaori Harada and Ok-Hee Ku, who finished second and third on the money list behind Machiko Hattori, who is not here.

Along with Flom, a former University of Hawaii golfer, Lenore Rittenhouse and Pam Kometani are two other players with local ties who will be competing for the $97,500 top prize.

Ward, a three-time All-American from Arizona State in her fourth year on the tour, shares the LPGA record of 23-under-par for 72 holes with her 1997 victory in the Fieldcrest Cannon Classic. That mark was tied last year by Pak in the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic and Lisa Walters in the Oldsmobile Classic. Walters, who won the Hawaiian Ladies Open in 1992 and 1993, is recovering from surgery and not playing this week.

The par-72, 6,100-yard Ka-polei Course has been the site of the Hawaiian Ladies Open since 1996. The event was held at the Turtle Bay Resort in its first three years and then Ko Olina from 1990-95.

Admission is $10 daily or $15 for all three rounds. Ticket revenue will be divided by local charities -- Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Honolulu, the Hawaii State Women's Golf Association, the Hawaiian Humane Society and United Cerebral Palsy.

Hawaiian Ladies Open Starting Times

Thursday, February 18

First tee

7:20 a.m.--Kathryn Marshall, Diane Barnard, Barb Whitehead. 7:30--Jill McGill, Shelley Wendels, Becky Iverson. 7:40--Julie Piers, Connie Masterson, Sara Sanders. 7:50--Nadine Ash, Erika Wicoff, Elizabeth Makings.

8--A.J. Eathorne, Karen Lunn, Nanci Bowen. 8:10--Laura Philo, Nayoko Yoshikawa, Nancy Harvey. 8:20--Heather Daly-Donofrio, Mi Hyun Kim, Kaori Harada. 8:30--Dina Ammaccapane, Kristi Albers, Cindy McCurdy.

8:40--Michelle McGann, Vickie Odegard, Pat Hurst. 8:50--Dawn Coe-Jones, Lisa Hackney, Jan Stephenson. 9--Sherri Steinhauer, Liselotte Neumann, Tina Barrett. 9:10--Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Lisa Kiggens, Janes Geddes.

11:40--Wendy Ward, Stefania Croce, Carin Koch. 11:50--Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Penny Hammel, Dale Eggeling. Noon--Lorie Kane, Cristie Kerr, Kim Saiki. 12:10 p.m.--Helen Dobson, Luciana Benvenuti, Wendy Doolan.

12:20--Anna Acker-Macosko, Smriti Mehra, Dana Dormann. 12:30--Ellie Gibson, Christy Erb, Vicki Fergon. 12:40--Allison Finney, Jane Crafter, Young-Me Lee. 12:50--Ji Hyun Suh, Anne Marie Palli, Nancy Ramsbottom.

1--Mhairi McKay, Marianne Morris, Leslie Spalding. 1:10--Mardi Lunn, Asa Gottmo, Jean Zedlitz. 1:20--Kelli Kuehne, Lori Atsedes, Jody Anschutz. 1:30--Elaine Crosby, Joanne Morley, Ashli Price-Bunch.

Tenth tee

7:20 a.m.--Harumi Sakagami, Missie McGeorge, Liz Earley. 7:30--Jennifer Feldott, Debbi Koyama, Yu-Chen Huang. 7:40--Amy Read, Sue Thomas, Robin Walton. 7:50--Nicole Jeray, Yuri Fudoh, Jean Bartholomew.

8--Lora Fairclough, Ae-Sook Kim, Leigh Ann Mills. 8:10--Kate Golden, Mitzi Edge, Stephanie Lowe. 8:20--Susan Ginter, Muffin Spencer-Devlin, Lenore Rittenhouse. 8:3

0--Rachel Hetherington, Amy Fruhwirth, Nancy Scranton. 8:40--Chris Johnson, Alison Nicholas, Gail Graham. 8:50--Hollis Stacy, Catriona Matthew, Cindy Flom.

9--Michelle Estill, Janice Moodie, Maria Hjorth. 9:10--Carlotta Sorenstam, Jenny Lidback, Emilee Klein.

11:40--Deb Richard, Susie Redman, Moira Dunn. 11:50--Michele Redman, Catrin Nilsmark, Tracy Hanson. Noon--Kris Tschetter, Laura Davies, Natsuko Noro. 12:10 p.m.--Hiromi Kobayashi, Mayumi Hirase, Meg Mallon.

12:20--Se Ri Pak, Akiko Fukushima, Kelly Robbins. 12:30--Marnie McGuire, Aki Takamura, Sophie Gustafson. 12:40--Leta Lindley, Eva Dahllof, Laura Baugh. 12:50--Sherri Turner, Karen Stupples, Kristi Coats.

1--Annette DeLuca, Hee-Won Han, Denise Killeen. 1:10--Ok-Hee Ku, Amy Benz, Karen Noble. 1:20--Shani Waugh, Suzanne Strudwick, Pamela Kometani. 1:30--Karen Weiss, Melissa McNamara, Yuri Kawanami.

Friday, February 19

First tee

7:20 a.m.--Marnie McGuire, Aki Takamura, Sophie Gustafson. 7:30--Leta Lindley, Eva Dahllof, Laura Baugh. 7:40--Sherri Turner, Karen Stupples, Kristi Coats. 7:50--Annette DeLuca, Hee-Won Han, Denise Killeen.

8--Ok-Hee Ku, Amy Benz, Karen Noble. 8:10--Shani Waugh, Suzanne Strudwick, Pamela Kometani. 8:20--Karen Weiss, Melissa McNamara, Yuri Kawanami. 8:30--Deb Richard, Susie Redman, Moira Dunn.

8:40--Michele Redman, Catrin Nilsmark, Tracy Hanson. 8:50--Kris Tschetter, Laura Davies, Natsuko Noro. 9--Hiromi Kobayashi, Mayumi Hirase, Meg Mallon. 9:10--Se Ri Pak, Akiko Fukushima, Kelly Robbins.

11:40--Rachel Hetherington, Amy Fruhwirth, Nancy Scranton. 11:50--Chris Johnson, Alison Nicholas, Gail Graham. Noon--Hollis Stacy, Catriona Matthew, Cindy Flom. 12:10 p.m.--Michelle Estill, Janice Moodie, Maria Hjorth.

12:20--Carlotta Sorenstam, Jenny Lidback, Emilee Klein. 12:30--Harumi Sakagami, Missie McGeorge, Liz Earley. 12:40--Jennifer Feldott, Debbi Koyama, Yu-Chen Huang. 12:50--Amy Read, Sue Thomas, Robin Walton.

1--Nicole Jeray, Yuri Fudoh, Jean Bartholomew. 1:10--Lora Fairclough, Ae-Sook Kim, Leigh Ann Mills. 1:20--Kate Golden, Mitzi Edge, Stephanie Lowe. 1:30--Susan Ginter, Muffin Spencer-Devlin, Lenore Rittenhouse.

Tenth tee

7:20 a.m.--Ellie Gibson, Christy Erb, Vicki Fergon. 7:30--Allison Finney, Jane Crafter, Young-Me Lee. 7:40--Ji Hyun Suh, Anne Marie Palli, Nancy Ramsbottom. 7:50--Mhairi McKay, Marianne Morris, Leslie Spalding.

8--Mardi Lunn, Asa Gottmo, Jean Zedlitz. 8:10--Kelli Kuehne, Lori Atsedes, Jody Anschutz. 8:20--Elaine Crosby, Joanne Morley, Ashli Price-Bunch. 8:30--Wendy Ward, Stefania Croce, Carin Koch.

8:40--Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Penny Hammel, Dale Eggeling. 8:50--Lorie Kane, Cristie Kerr, Kim Saiki. 9--Helen Dobson, Luciana Benvenuti, Wendy Doolan. 9:10--Anna Acker-Macosko, Smriti Mehra, Dana Dormann.

11:40--Dina Ammaccapane, Kristi Albers, Cindy McCurdy. 11:50--Michelle McGann, Vickie Odegard, Pat Hurst. Noon--Dawn Coe-Jones, Lisa Hackney, Jan Stephenson. 12:10 p.m.--Sherri Steinhauer, Liselotte Neumann, Tina Barrett.

12:20--Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Lisa Kiggens, Janes Geddes. 12:30--Kathryn Marshall, Diane Barnard, Barb Whitehead. 12:40--Jill McGill, Shelley Wendels, Becky Iverson. 12:50--Julie Piers, Connie Masterson, Sara Sanders.

1--Nadine Ash, Erika Wicoff, Elizabeth Makings. 1:10--A.J. Eathorne, Karen Lunn, Nanci Bowen. 1:20--Laura Philo, Nayoko Yoshikawa, Nancy Harvey. 1:30--Heather Daly-Donofrio, Mi Hyun Kim, Kaori Harada.