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Sports Watch
GOLF is the most incredible game, the greatest game in the world. Don't just take my word for it. GOLF WATCH
Inductees epitomize
game of golfThe latest to express that feeling is Mark Rolfing, who was inducted into the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame yesterday along with Barrett Melvin and the late Billy Arakawa.
What makes the game of golf so great are the many people and memories resulting from chasing that little white ball around.
Of the three, Rolfing perhaps is more known to today's followers of golf. He has done so much in promoting Hawaii through golf.
He helped to convince the PGA Tour that Maui would be an ideal place to open its season with the Mercedes Championships.
And, as the events chairman of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Rolfing keeps a watchful, nurturing eye on all of the other major professional golf tournaments which give the 50th state a national television exposure that money can't buy.
His has been an incredible odyssey -- from a Kapalua cart barn attendant to the resort's co-owner -- after following the sun to Hawaii 25 years ago.
"Everything good to me has involved golf," Rolfing said.
Golf analyst for NBC Sports, Rolfing was asked what was the best putt, the best tee shot and the best bunker shot he ever saw.
He thought about it for a moment. Then went with his own personal experiences.
BEST putt? The one Warren Chancellor sank to beat him in the 1981 Hawaii Match Play Championship.
Worst tee shot? His, in losing to Larry Ordonio in the Aloha Sectional PGA Stroke Play championship, blowing a two-shot lead with one hole to play.
Best bunker shot? The one he holed out for par at Leilehua after leaving the first try in the sand trap.
"That's why the game's so great," Rolfing said.
Those are the memories every golfer -- from championship caliber to duffer -- can have.
Maybe we can't be a Jack Nicklaus or a Tiger Woods. But for one shining moment we can sink a 35-foot putt or hole out a bunker shot just like they can.
That's what makes golf the joyous game that it is.
And, you have to have a sense of humor to play the game or you'll be frustrated as all hell.
When emcee Les Keiter introduced Melvin, citing his many golfing accomplishments, the 83-year-old Pennsylvania native remarked, "I didn't know I was so good."
Melvin played in six U.S. Opens, the first in 1936 at Baltusrol while still in his teens.
HE came to Hawaii during World War II courtesy of the U.S. Army. With his Tam O'Shanter cap, plus-fours and tie, Melvin, whose father was a golf pro at Carnoustie, had the sartorial distinction of being the Payne Stewart of his day.
After being discharged, he took over as the golf pro at the Kalakaua and Leilehua courses. Among his victories were the 1950 PGA of Hawaii Match Play Championship and the inaugural Navy-Marine Open the following year. After a 20-year absence, he returned to Hawaii in 1972.
It was in 1947 that Melvin and Arakawa crossed paths. Melvin had been asked to sponsor a tournament at Kalakaua.
The winner? Billy Arakawa.
Arakawa, one of Hawaii's premier competitors in the match-play format, won tournaments over a span of three decades. He also represented Hawaii in six national public links tournaments.
"My father would have been proud," said Jamie Apuna, accepting the honor with her mother, Jeannette Arakawa.
"He was always happiest when he could help people, especially young golfers."
