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Sports Watch

By Bill Kwon

Friday, May 19, 2000

Golden year for
Jennie K. tournament

CONSIDERING that Sunday's winner of the 50th anniversary Jennie K. Wilson Invitational will probably be a Twenty-Something golfer, she probably has never heard of the tournament's namesake.

The state's most prestigious women's event is named after Jennie K. Wilson, wife of former Honolulu Mayor John H. Wilson.

Auntie Jennie died in 1962 at the age of 90, so you can't blame today's young women golfers if they've never heard of her.

Jennie who? Mayor Wilson who?

Well, use some "tunnel vision," ladies, which also comes in handy in golf.

The Wilson Tunnel is named after the late mayor.

Jennie was never a golfer. But she was a wahine who supported the wahine in all of their endeavors, whatever their pursuits.

This happened to be golf.

Auntie Jennie's motto was, "Kulia I Ka Nue," or "Strive for the Best."

The 54-hole tournament has given women golfers the opportunity to do just that.

And what a history the Jennie K. has had as it celebrates its golden anniversary this weekend at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai.

Sunday's winner will achieve a significant milestone and join some of Hawaii's greatest women golfers who have claimed the Jennie K. title.

The inaugural winner in 1950 was Edna Lee, who went on to win almost every local women's championship under her married name, Edna Jackola.

Among the other winners in the tournament's storied history -- played every year except 1967 -- include Jackie Yates, Jackie Pung, Ramona McGuire, Tura Kahaleanu Nagatoshi and Joan Damon -- also members of the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame.

The honor roll of Jennie K. champions certainly reads like a "Who's Who of Women's Golf in Hawaii."

In 1977, Althea Tome, a Farrington High School senior, beat Lenore Muraoka, now a 20-year LPGA Tour veteran, with a 30-foot birdie on the first playoff hole.

In 1980, Cindy Flom, a University of Hawaii sophomore who's still playing well on the LPGA Tour, rallied from five strokes down with nine holes to play to beat Lori Castillo in a sudden-death playoff.

Castillo, a two-time National Public Links champion, came back with a vengeance three years later to shoot a first-round 66, an 18-hole low, and a record 216 for 54 holes that still stands.

FOUR previous champions are entered in this year's tournament -- Anna Umemura, Bobbi Kokx, Bev Kim and Mildred Stanley.

It's hard to believe, but Umemura will be a senior this fall at the University of Tennessee.

She won the 1995 Jennie K. as a sophomore at Punahou School, and won again in 1997 and 1998. A wrist injury prevented a possible victory in 1996.

Kokx won in 1984 when she was a sophomore at the University of Hawaii. Stanley captured the 1985 title when, as she said, she was pushing 60."

So how old is she today? A gentleman shouldn't ask.

Meanwhile, two serious contenders are Kauai's Rachel Kyono and the winners of the last two state girls' championships -- Merynn Ito of Aiea High School and Maui High's Shayna Miyajima.

They're still teen queens.

Young or old, the 2000 Jennie K. champion after Sunday's final round will join quite an honor roll of women champions in local golf.

That's what the Jennie K. is all about.