[GOLF]

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Casey Nakama is seven strokes back after shooting a 73 yesterday in the Rainbow Open.

‘Solid’ Carll takes lead
at Rainbow Open

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By Ryan Ito
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Kevin Carll carded a first-round 66 yesterday to pace a deep field at the 29th annual Rainbow Open.

He leads the 54-hole tournament, which attracts Hawaii's top professionals and amateurs, by two strokes over Regan Lee and Matthew Ma.

Carll got the early jump on the rest of the field, playing flawless golf for the first 15 holes. The only blemish to his scorecard came on a bogey on the par-3 16th.

Despite the bogey, Carll would finish strong, going eagle-birdie on the final two holes for his 6-under.

"A solid round," said Carll. "I struck the ball really well. Tees were up and the greens were soft. It was like I could throw darts at the greens today. I really hit some good mid-irons."

For Ma, a steady round at 5-under for 17 holes with no bogeys ended with disappointment.

"I missed a 4-footer for par on the 18th," he said. "I played a real solid round and I only made one bogey. I missed a 4-footer. I also missed a 5-foot birdie on 10, but other than that, I played solid. Only birdies and pars today -- and one bogey."

Lee, the 2002 Mid-Pacific Open champion, is in the hunt, but the seven birdies in his first round were nearly nullified with three bogeys.

"I didn't do anything really well today," Lee said. "I just kind of took care of the par-5s today.

"You definitely need to take care of the par-5s. It is a short course. And some of (the par-5s) are playing like par-4. So par is going to lose you a stroke on the field if you don't make a birdie."

But former Rainbow Open champion Kevin Hayashi sees the par-3s as the key.

"Obviously, you need to go 2- or 3-under on the par-5s," he said.

"But this course allows you a lot of other birdies. It's the par-3s that are the tough ones. If you can shoot even-par or birdie on the par-3s, you are going to shoot a good score. It's the par-3s that are the key, because everyone is going to birdie the par-5s."

Hayashi, the Pearl Country Club pro, won the event in 1986 and 1996.

He is tied with fellow pro Beau Yokomoto and amateur Norman-Ganin Asao at 3-under 69.

Nine other golfers are tied at 2-under 70. Four golfers are at 1-under 71.

And former Rainbow Open champions Jerry Mullen and Lance Suzuki are tied with 10 other golfers at even-par 72.

With such a hot start out of the gate by the leaders, most of the golfers think it will take double digits under par to win this weekend.

"Last year was 9-under I think," Asao said. "But this year everyone is playing better. I think 10- or 11-under might win the tournament this year. Especially with Kevin setting the pace with a 66."

Jeff Ferry, who holds the Mililani course record of 62, shot a 70 yesterday.

"This is a really strong field," he said. "You have some of the best players in the state here. So trying to catch people if you shoot yourself in the foot is going to be tough. So if you don't shoot under par everyday, then you are just losing ground. If someone that is under par right now can go real crazy and shoot a 64 or a 65, they can erase the whole field and drop it into cruise control. But the key will be to keep it in the 60s."

Tournament play continues today at 11:15 a.m. and concludes with the final round tomorrow.