Saturday, October 6, 2001
[HAWAII GOLF]
No golfer in the field of the Turtle Bay Championship will be surprised to learn that the No. 13 hole of the Arnold Palmer course played the most difficult in yesterday's opening round. No. 13 was big test in first round
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comOnly three of 78 golfers walked off the windswept 13th green with a birdie, including first-round leader Terry Mauney. Another 16 had bogeys, nine double bogeys, two triple bogeys and two more fell into the dreaded "other" category reserved for quadruple bogeys and beyond.
"That hole is beautiful, but very tricky," Mauney said of the par-3, 201-yard hole. "I hit a beautiful shot in there and suddenly found myself 2-under and right in the middle of the tournament. A lot of the holes on the back nine were tough."
Including the par-4 10th that produced the most bogeys with 28 and only three birdies to rate the second-most difficult hole. The easiest was the par-5 18th. The closing hole surrendered the only two eagles of the day.
There were 32 birdies and only seven bogeys.
Local motion: Two things local golfers Larry Stubblefield and Lance Suzuki are accustomed to are the wind and the rain. Both were in abundance during the opening round of the $1.5 million Senior PGA Tour event.
Stubblefield, who earlier this year won the Mid-Pacific Open in similar conditions, shot an even-par 72 and is scheduled to tee it up at 7:40 this morning in the third group off the front side. Suzuki made the most of his sponsor's exemption by opening with a solid 74. The 2-over effort for the Kahuku resident left him with an 8:10 a.m. starting time off the back side.
One of his playing partners is Chi Chi Rodriguez.
Playing with Fred: Some 25 years ago, John Jacobs played at Turtle Bay with close friend Fred Biletnikoff. Just don't ask him for any details, because he doesn't have many.
"This is one of the five best courses we play," John Jacobs said, who shares the lead with Mauney and Fred Gibson. "The fairways are definitely the best. I was at Turtle Bay 25 years ago with Fred. We just came over to have some fun.
"We played the other course. I don't remember much because we took two six-packs with us. But this setting is the best for a hotel. It's going to be a dynamite destination once they get everything completed out here."
68s rule: Normally, a 4-under wouldn't catch a sniff of the lead of this event that was played on the north course at Kaanapali. The previous high score to lead after the opening day was Bruce Summerhays' 5-under 66 last October, the final year the tournament was played on Maui.
Irwin loves Hawaii: Hale Irwin, who calls Kapalua, Maui, home, has produced 10 of 16 rounds in the 60s the past six years. His only round over par occurred on the opening day of the 1998 event after he shot an uncharacteristic 1-over 73. He's 60-under par in those 16 rounds.
A kind island chain: Five of the top nine players on yesterday's leader board have won tournaments in Hawaii. Jacobs captured the 1999 MasterCard Championship on the Big Island. Hubert Green, who is part of a sixsome one shot back, won the 1978 and 1979 Hawaiian Opens at Waialae. Irwin has six victories in all in the 50th state, including the 1981 Hawaiian Open. George Archer is also one stroke back at 69. He won at Kaanapali and the 2000 MasterCard. Isao Aoki's only PGA Tour victory was at the Hawaiian Open in 1983.