[ HSWGA MATCH-PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP ]
Mari Chun, right, and her mom and caddie Lani Chun watched her shot on the 10th hole yesterday.
Chun takes command
The 16-year-old takes the title
after finishing as runner-up
last year
She doesn't have her license, but it has hardly stopped Mari Chun from driving.
And driving well.
Her putting is pretty good, too.
The 16-year-old consistently drove her tee shots some 240 yards, landing them in the middle of the fairways, and was solid on her approach shots in taming the gusty winds that can unexpectedly roar at Oahu Country Club. Except for a rare three-putt on No. 12, the incoming senior at Kamehameha Schools was in complete command of the Nuuanu course yesterday.
Monday's medalist capped an impressive week in the Hawaii State Women's Golf Association Match-Play Championship with a 6 and 5 victory over good friend Stacie Nishimoto to earn the title and the traditional toss into the OCC pool by the tournament runner-up. Chun's grip was solid even at the end, as she held onto Nishimoto to ensure that both shared the swim.
"This is one of the biggest wins I've had," said Chun, who won the NHSCA National Open High School Golf Championship and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title in 2002. "Plus, match play is a really special game. You're able to appreciate all the players who came out to play. All of them are great."
Chun, the runner-up in this event last year, had little time to enjoy the victory. She was on a plane last night for Colorado, where she will try to qualify for the USGA Junior Girls Championships.
Chun will be catching up with coach Kevin Ralbovsky, the teaching pro at Koolau Golf Course. Chun, who joined Ralbovsky's KMR School of Golf this year, said playing five afternoons a week at Koolau -- considered by some the toughest course in the nation -- has helped her game.
It also helped increase her gallery, which included fellow KMR student Ryan Perez, who won the prestigious Manoa Cup state match-play men's championship on this course earlier this month.
Perez watched from above the green at the par-5 13th as the match ended when Nishimoto conceded the hole following a bogey putt.
"This is the hardest hole on the course and the scariest," Perez said of the 406-yard uphill hole, which he double-bogeyed during the morning round of the 36-hole final this month.
The uphill walk from the tee to the green is intimidating. Lani Chun carried her daughter's bag and had just one thought:
"Dang, Mari, you're making me walk this again," Lani Chun said. "But it was good. I told her we've got to climb it one more time for the memories.
"I don't usually caddy, but this time she felt comfortable with me. She really did it on her own. All I did was wipe clubs and wipe balls. I believed in her and she believed in herself."
Mari Chun was 6-up after eight holes, with birdies on the first two and the par-3 No. 8. Nishimoto didn't win a hole until she parred No. 9, pulling within five.
The two halved a windy No. 10, but Chun went 6-up again with a par on No. 11. At 12, Nishimoto staved off elimination with a fist-pumping putt for a bogey to win her second hole.
It wouldn't be enough.
"Mari was playing real tough today," said Nishimoto, an incoming senior at Iolani School. "You had to do something great to beat her today; she was playing awesome.
"Yesterday (Thursday's semifinal), I was making a lot of crucial putts and a lot of great shots at the right time. Today, the putts weren't quite dropping. I was having fun, playing with a friend and having a friend (recent Iolani graduate Andrew Llarenas) on my bag. I didn't know I was behind. I didn't think about it until the end."
At the end, Chun was focused. She had finished second last year to Bobbi Kokx, 5 and 4, "and I felt really confident going up 13," Chun said. "I didn't let the idea (of closing it out) get to my head. I just kept going and playing my game.
"I wouldn't say the course was playing easy today, but I was able to make shots. Stacie and I are really good friends, on and off the golf course. We're used to playing against each other in the ILH. But today was a real special treat and I feel honored to play with her."
