[GOLF]

Kono leads going into
Jennie K. final round

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By Grady Timmons
Special to the Star-Bulletin

At the tender age of 12, Stephanie Kono is just one good round away from winning the Jennie K. Invitational, the state's most prestigious women's amateur golf event.

Kono, who last year captured the State Women's Match Play Championship as an 11-year-old, fired a second-round 76 yesterday for a two-day total of 151 and a one-shot lead over Kira-Ann Murashige of Hilo, 77--152, going into today's final round at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai.

Leah Whiting, the reigning high school champion from Waiakea on the Big Island, was another shot back at 77--153, as was Moanalua's Ayumi Hori, who birdied the last two holes to post the day's best round, a 75--153.

First-round leader Desiree Ting, a former University of Hawaii golfer, slipped to an 81, and was four shots back at 155.

The tight leaderboard reflected the young and changing face of women's amateur golf in the Islands. The Jennie K. is traditionally a tournament won by seasoned college golfers and veteran amateurs. Last year's winner, 11-year-old Michelle Wie, shattered that tradition when she won by a whopping nine shots.

Wie, now 12, withdrew from this year's event to accept an invitation to play in this week's LPGA Asahi Ryokuken Invitational in North Augusta, S.C., but her absence has only opened the way for other young female golfers to showcase their talents. Kono, like Wie, is a seventh-grader at Punahou School. Murashige is a high school sophomore, while Whiting and Hori are high school seniors.

For the first nine holes yesterday, Kono and Whiting looked as if they might run away from the field. The pair began play on the back nine, where Kono scored an eagle at the par-5 16th to make the turn at 2-under, with Whiting, who turned in one-under, in close pursuit.

The front nine proved to be a different story, as the wind picked up and the pressure intensified. At the short, par-4 first, Kono stumbled badly, taking a triple-bogey seven when she pulled her approach shot into the left front bunker and took three to recover.

"I hit my first shot from the bunker too soft and didn't get it out," she said. "I did the same thing on my second shot and it rolled back into my footprint."

At that point, she took a different club and blasted out onto the green. But the damage had been done. Badly shaken, she three-putted three of the next four holes for bogeys before settling down and parring in.

Whiting experienced an even worse meltdown at Mid-Pac's notorious par-5 fifth, where water frames both sides of the fairway and the green sits on an island. After driving right into the water off the tee, she took a drop and played what she thought was a safe second shot down the left side of the fairway.

"The ball hit a cart path and took a crazy bounce," she said. "It ended up in the water." Several strokes later, Whiting holed a 13-foot putt -- for a nine.

"I'm not sure why the scores were so much higher on the front nine," said Whiting, who will attend Oregon State next year on a scholarship. "For me, it was mostly that nine. It really affected my score. But that's golf."

Heading into today's final round, the various leaders all had different strategies. State high school champion Whiting said, "I'm just going to focus on playing my own game."

Murashige, who putted poorly, said, "I think I hit all my bad shots today. I'm going to be more aggressive tomorrow."

Admitted Kono: "I'm nervous. But I seem to play well on the final day. It's the second round that always gives me trouble. I'd prefer to be trailing the leader, rather than be in the lead, but I feel OK. I just don't want to go into any more bunkers."