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Sports Watch
Hawaii tour turns
into sour disasterTHE Hawaii Pro Tour was supposed to have been a venue for some 60 players chasing their golf dreams. It has turned into a sleepless nightmare instead for them.
UPDATE In 2006, Pro Tour Hawaii's former chief financial officer Gregg V. Wood was convicted of defrauding the business and its owners Sandy and Tina Mohr. Wood was sentenced to federal prison but his conviction was overturned on appeal in 2007.
—Honolulu Star-Advertiser
For subsequent coverage of this case, see:
» March '05:
Scammed golfers have shot at par» June '06:
Golf tour backer convicted of fraud» Oct. '06:
Man gets 21 months for collapse of golf tour» Jan. '08:
Hawaii fraud victims won't be repaid $62,675
After just three of the scheduled 10 tournaments, the tour collapsed with no idea where an estimated $700,000 in entry fees paid by the players went.
Checks bounced. Obligations were not met. And don't be surprised if bills go unpaid. Even its Web site has shut down. More important, all the money that the players invested has disappeared. It has all the earmarks of a slick scam, a con game at the expense of the players, who are wondering what to do next.
Organizers Sandy Mohr, the tour's CEO, and Gregory Moore, the chief financial officer, are pointing fingers at each other as the ones to blame.
The FBI has started an investigation, but it's little solace to members of the first-year mini tour who don't know if they will ever get their money back. Even a portion of it.
The state government should initiate an investigation of its own because it is an embarrassment to Hawaii. A black eye for a state with so much invested in the golf industry.
"It's really bad for Hawaii for that to happen. It's a major disaster," said David Ishii, director of golf at the Pearl Country Club where a number of the players involved are competing in a tournament.
"Whoever took the money should be arrested, prosecuted and thrown in jail," said Kevin Hayashi. And, mind you, he was the only winner of the first three events who got paid. Still, he's owed around $11,000 more from the other two tournaments, besides his initial $11,500 entry fee.
For others, it's one heart-ending story after another.
Robert Wallace, a 28-year-old club pro from Maryland, says he lies in bed awake, trying to decide what to do next or where to turn. He's already out a thousand dollars in air fare and $3,200 in hotel bills. That's not counting his entry fee. "I felt good about my game. Now it's over."
Kevin Carll, a Big Island pro whose wife in expecting in July, not only could be out of his entry fee, he can't even cash a check for the amount he earned.
THERE'S nothing we can do but stick together, said Casey Brown, a 1998 University of Arkansas graduate, who's acting as a liaison between the players and the FBI.
"We don't have enough to know what's going on," said Brown, who along with Chris Zambri, never got their $18,500 winner's paychecks.
"We don't know who to trust. It ruins your trust in people."
An initial trust in the fledgling mini tour also cost Rob Nelson, director of golf at the Koolau Golf Course. The next tournament was scheduled at his course.
"I'm looking at a $20,000 loss in revenue," said Nelson, who added he didn't ask for a deposit because he trusted the organizers. "I got a whole year to make up my revenue. But I feel for these guys. It was a shock to everybody."
There were some early signs of trouble.
Nelson was told by two local pros, Ivan Cunningham and Jay Shannon, that players were complaining about their earnings checks bouncing by the second tournament.
The credit cards that some players used to pay their entry fees were run through different companies.
The players weren't kept informed or couldn't even reach Mohr or Wood by telephone. But it got serious when checks started bouncing.
The idea of playing of a mini tour during the winter months in Hawaii at great golf courses seemed such an ideal concept.
"It looked so legit on paper," Brown said. "This was set up for success. But the wrong people were pulling the trigger and it just went down."
Now, no dreams are left. Only nightmares.
Bill Kwon has been writing about
sports for the Star-Bulletin since 1959.