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Saturday, July 29, 2000
Yokomoto,
Hines play match
to remember
Partners birdie 13 of 27 holes
By Bill Kwon
with no bogeys to capture the
Aloha Section PGA Match
Play Championship
Star-BulletinPlaying bogey-free golf all day, Tommy Hines and Beau Yokomoto won the Aloha Section PGA Match Play Championship at the Oahu Country Club.
Hines and Yokomoto defeated David Ishii and David Chin, 5 and 4, in the afternoon final, after eliminating defending champions Ben Hongo and John Rose of Kapalua, 6 and 5, in the morning semifinal.
All told, the winning pair combined for 13 birdies in the 27 holes they played yesterday.
They had seven in the first 10 holes in taking a 4-up lead after 11 holes against Ishii and Chin.
"We avoided the bogeys," said Hines. "When you play a team like David and David, you can't make mistakes."
"It's good to be on the other side of the coin," added Yokomoto, referring to his team's loss to Ishii and Chin in last year's semifinals.
"The greens are not easy, but I putted poorly," said Ishii, who left today for a Japan PGA tournament in Sapporo after a two-week vacation to celebrate his 45th birthday Wednesday and that of his 11-year-old son, Colan, the following day.
The match ended at the par-4 14th when Ishii bogeyed, missing a 6-footer after pitching back short of the flag, as Yokomoto parred. Yokomoto, the 2000 Mid-Pac Open champion, ran off five straight birdies from holes two through six to give his team a 3-up lead.
Both Davids bogeyed the uphill par-3 seventh to go 4 down, but Ishii pitched in from 50 yards for a birdie-2 at the ninth to cut the deficit to three.
Another par-3 bogey by Ishii and Chin at the 11th dropped them to four back again.
Ishii missed birdie putts at 12 and 13 for chances to shrink the deficit.
"We had to play well to beat them," said Hines, the head professional at Hawaii Prince.
"We needed a strong start. They were 3-under (par) on the front nine and we were only 3 up," he said.
Yokomoto covered the opponents' birdies at holes 5, 6 and 10, while Hines covered Ishii's birdie at the par-4 eighth.
The winners shared the $2,500 top prize.
Ishii and Chin, who played in the event for the ninth straight year with three victories and four seconds to show for it, had advanced into the finals with a 4 and 3 victory over Mike Iyoki and Lou Merkle.
