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Hawaii Beat

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Ishii among four
Sony Open qualifiers

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Star-Bulletin staff

Four players qualified for the 144-player Sony Open in Hawaii field yesterday at the Pearl Country Club, including former Hawaiian Open winner David Ishii.

"I had a good start birdieing (Nos.) 1, 2 and 4," said Ishii, who was also added to today's Johnny Bellinger Shoot-Out with 1997 amateur champion Matt Kuchar.

Tommy Kim led all qualifiers with a 35-32 -- 67.

Four others tied at 68 for the other three spots -- Jim Johnson, Ishii, Bobby Kalinowski and Dick Mast.

Ishii, a professional at Pearl, and Johnson, of Boone, N.C., birdied the first playoff hole to qualify.

Kalinowski, of Phoenix, Ariz., shot a par 4 on the second playoff hole to qualify.

The Sony Open in Hawaii begins Thursday at the Waialae Country Club.

ProTour Hawaii golf ready to start

ProTour Hawaii, a series of 10 professional golf tournaments held on four islands, began its season today at the Waimea Country Club on the Big Island.

ProTour Hawaii events are 72-hole tournaments, starting on Tuesdays and concluding on Fridays. Play begins at 7:30 a.m. each day.

A field of 70 players travels from site to site each week, competing for $100,000 purses. A $100,000 bonus goes to the top golfer at the conclusion of the series.

ProTour Hawaii events will be televised on CNBC Sports.

The first three events are on the Big Island.

Following the opening at Waimea, the tour moves to Waikoloa Village Golf Club Jan. 23-26, and the Big Island Country Club, Jan. 30-Feb. 2.

ProTour Hawaii then moves on to Oahu, Maui, and Kauai, where the series will conclude at Princeville Resort and the $100,000 bonus will be awarded on March 30.

Beach volleyball gold medalists in town

2000 Olympic gold medalists Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst will participate in an exhibition beach volleyball match Thursday at Queens Beach at noon.

Local beach volleyball player Karrie Poppinga will also participate.

Hart victorious in tennis challenge

Roger Hart beat Brad Joelson, 6-2, 6-3, Sunday in the finals of the Hilton Waikoloa Tennis Challenge.

With the win, Hart becomes a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the Hilton Waikoloa USTA Challenger Jan. 21-22.

Weightlifting records fall in Honolulu Open

Nine state records were broken by three lifters Saturday in the Honolulu Open lift meet at the Nuuanu YMCA.

Chani Matsui, 13, set records for the 95-pound girls' class with a best snatch of 83 pounds, best jerk of 110 and total of 193.

Kyle Yamauchi, 17, set marks for the 123-pound boys' class with 203-248--451.

Matt Elam set marks in the superheavyweight class with 242-330--572.

Football organizing meeting next week

The Hawaii Football League will host an organizational meeting Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. on Maui.

Anyone interested in having a team for the league, which begins play May 5, is invited.

Registration, rules, the schedule and the entry fee will be discussed and covered.

The meeting will be at 10 W. Kauai St., Kahului, Maui.

For information, call 808-877-1546.