Monday, June 21, 1999
Another Rainbow Open
By Bill Kwon
title for Meyer
Star-BulletinGreg Meyer couldn't have visualized a better sand shot than the one he made at the par-5 16th hole. It landed a foot from the pin. He tapped in for a birdie-4, which turned out to be the margin of victory - his second in three years - in the Sports Shinko Rainbow Open yesterday at the Mililani Golf Club.
"I'm not a real good bunker player," said Greg Meyer. "I just try to get a good image, try to see some sand up in the air. Luckily, it turned out all right."
Meyer's closing round of 71 gave him a 54-hole of 208, one shot better than John Lundgren, who also finished with a 71 to be the low amateur for the second year in a row.
Shane Hoshino, a UH-Hilo junior, lipped a 2-1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th to finish third with a 54-hole score of 209 after posting a 2-under-par 70, the day's best round.
But it was Meyer and Lundgren battling it out in the final threesome that included defending champion Dean Wilson.
"I'm happy, I had a good tournament," said Lundgren, a 41-year-old Navy orthodontist.
If there was one disappointment, according to Lundgren, it was his wedge shot to the final par-5 hole, which he left 35 feet short of a birdie he needed to possibly force a playoff with Meyer.
"You make a shot like that and it's as painful as a root canal," said Lundgren, who should know.
Lundgren remembers playing with Meyer when the latter shot a final-round 64 to win the Rainbow Open with a record 17-under-par 199 two years ago.
"This time he let me play a little bit," Lundgren said.
"John hung in there pretty good," said Meyer, who had a one-stroke lead over Lundgren and Wilson after 36 holes.
Wilson, who'll defend his Kauai Open title in two weeks, tumbled off the leaderboard with a 79 that included a triple-bogey at the par-3 15th.
Meyer opened with birdies at the first and third holes - the nines are reversed for tournament play - but drove his tee shot out-of-bounds at the par-4 ninth, enabling Lundgren to pull even.
Lundgren bogeyed 10, but Meyer bogeyed two holes later and they were even again. Meyer birdied the par-4 13th to go up by one again, but Lundgren holed out a sand shot at 15, drawing even again.
"That was kind of unexpected," said Meyer, who was on the green 40 feet away. He two-putted for par, but the hole seemed a lot smaller after Lundgren's deuce.
But Meyer answered with a great bunker shot of his own on the next hole. It didn't go in, but, then, Meyer probably didn't visualize holing it out.
Meyer won the $5,000 first-place money along with airfare, golf and accommodations at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
