Posts Tagged ‘Golf’

Michelle Wie is finally hitting her groove. This year has been light years ahead of her previous, which may be due to her lack of competing in mens events. Whatever it is, she showed this weekend she can compete with some of the worlds best by winning the LPGA Canadian Open.

After leading the field after both round 1 and round 2 her even par round 3 sent her into the final round of the tournament even with one other competitor, the worlds number 4, Jiyai Shin. Previously, Wie might have collapsed going into a final round like this but today was different, just like this year. She has been coming to play in this years tournaments.

Michelle Wie dominated the 4th and final round of the tournament, making every putt you could think of. She sank putts all day and ended the round with 5 birdies that included some of the tougher holes of the course. The win netted Wie a pay day of $337,500.

Michelle Wie, who attends Stanford University, will continue her studies after the next stop on the LPGA tour.

Michelle Wie lost her three stroke lead after shooting an even round of 72 today at the Canadian Open at St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is now in a dead heat with world #4 Jiyai Shin heading into the final round.

Shin and Wie will be paired as the final twosome for the second straight day. After a blistering start that saw her shoot two rounds under 70 – including a tournament record 65 on Thursday, Wie has since struggled a bit in the rainy conditions.

Wie has been in a slump the last few months and has watched her world ranking drop from 7^th to 12^th. If she can hold on and win tomorrow it would be the second tour win of her career. Wie needs to come ready tomorrow, as Shin was the formerly ranked #1 payer in the world, but has also had some recent struggles.

Though not scoring another hole-in-one like she did yesterday, Michelle Wie managed to maintain her 3-stroke lead going into the weekend at the Canadian Open. Wie shot a 3-under 69 on Friday to stay 3-strokes ahead of Jiyai Shin of South Korea, who had a second-round 67.

Yesterday Wie had her ace on the par-3 11th during her first-round 65, a course record for a women’s competition. “I tried. Didn’t work out,” Wie said with a smile of not repeating the ace. “Compared to (Thursday), nothing was that dramatic.”

Wie is looking – and by all accounts feeling, extremely confident in her game right now. She is going to have to play the weekend like she played the first two days of the tournament, as she has some pretty heavy hitters breathing down her neck.

Michelle Wie did a little bit of everything during the opening round of the Canadian Open, that includes dropping a hole-in-one on the par-3 11^{th at} the St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Wie fired a first-round 65, which left her standing in first-place with a -7. She is 3-strokes clear of Sarah Kemp going into the second round tomorrow. Wie was on fire today, carding 3-birdies on the front nine and 3-birdies on the back nine. Those birdies were mixed in with her ace on the 11^th hole. She only had one bogey during opening round play.

Right now Wie is ranked 12^th in the world and is 20th on the money list with $329,659. She has played in 14 events this year and has missed the cut only once. She has three top ten finishes this year, but is still looking for a victory. By Michelle Wie standards her year has been sub par. She has not been in the top en of any tournament since May.

Will this be her first victory or will she falter as she has in the past?

Tadd Fujikawa remained in the lead of the eGolf Tour’s flagship tournament. After opening his first round with a 65, Fujikawa maintained his on-fire play by shooting a “course record” 64. With this he kept his three-stroke lead over former PGA Tour player Matt Hendrix into today’s third round at Spring Creek Golf Course in Gordonsville, Va. Fujikawa has a six-shot lead over three players tied for third.

Many of us remember Fujikawa for his memorable run at the 2007 Sony Open. At that time he was only 16-years old and became the youngest player ever to make a PGA tour cut. He finished in 20^th place that year and then turned pro.

This year marks his first “full year” on tour and as of right now, he looks like he will be a player to keep an eye on. “This is the most consistent golf I’ve played. I went through a stretch where I really struggled with my golf game,” Fujikawa said. “I just tried to stay positive and work through it.”

After tomorrow’s round, the top 20 players on the tour’s money list will have their PGA Tour Q-School entry paid for by eGolf. Fujikawa is currently 16th with $38,348 in 11 starts. He has three top-10 finishes.

The official taping of the first-ever Maui community golf show, titled Da Game, began today on Maui’s west side as Kapalua resident and golf club member Dave Ward hosted the program’s inaugural episode. Humbled Cell Productions is overseeing the filming and post of the new Maui Golf Review magazine golf show aimed at the local market, with the help of the Valley Isle’s community television station, Akaku.

Ward, who heads up XXX, a well-known Maui golf club of local businessmen, is helping the 16-year-old golf guide’s effort to provide the Maui community with some much-needed programming. Da Game will present Maui golfdom in creative ways. “Dave has been selfless in his willingness to contribute his valuable time and energy to the effort. His great sense of humor, edginess, and knowledge of golf are priceless qualities and will make for entertaining viewing at home by our local golfers,” John Byrne, the editor of the Maui Golf Review said.

While the magazine itself is essentially a brochure of Maui’s courses for the sake of visitor information, the company was once the leading Hawaii golf periodical. “Back in the ’90s, we were an 86-page golf magazine that covered everything from the Manoa Cup to our exclusive Rob Sandler celebration of the centennial of golf in Hawaii,” Byrne notes. “But, market forces made covering local golf difficult to manage financially,” he adds, saying: “So, we cut back on our frequency and basically became a brochure.”

But video has always had an appeal to the company. “Akaku, and the advent in technology, has made the entry-level price-point for ‘Indy” producers so attractive, that it makes sense to go this route and to use it not only for community television, but on the web too,” he said.

But entertaining a media-drenched society is hard to do, and the Maui Golf Review’s staff has been hard at work experimenting with how to dazzle local viewers.

“We see this gap in the market for a golf show on the island, and with the Akaku resource available to us, we felt it was an opportunity to serve the community with something positive and entertaining. Dave Ward is certainly a big boost to the show, because he has this irreverent and edgy way of communicating that is great for golf and Maui,” Marie Lenz, the show’s producer said.

“Honestly, he doesn’t need to be doing this, but he is so selfless and proud of Maui, that he just naturally stepped up to the challenge,” she said. “One hour of volunteer work is a lot to ask for,” she notes. “But Dave is making what would be a mediocre show something Maui can be proud of. He is awesome!”

Fun, interesting, newsy, current, edgy, and a slice of life that appeals to everyone is the shows aim. “We want make you to come back for more,” Lenz adds.

One of the first episodes highlights is Dave’s Brett Ogle interview. “Brett won the ‘94 Hawaiian Open, and was here last month playing on our courses,” Lenz explains. “Few former champions ever venture out to our other courses, and Dave gets Brett to talk story about what he thought of our other venues. It’s something you’ll rarely see,” she contends.

Jeremy Holcombe, who with partner Stephen Ruddell, are overseeing most of Da Game’s production, was on hand operating the camera and directing the action. “I’m happy to be here. The Maui Golf Review is doing something cool, and Steve and I are excited to be helping with the effort.” Holcombe and Ruddell’s company, Humbled Cell Productions, describes itself as follows: “We are a Faith based, full service company that brings media to life in a whole new way. Humbled Cell Productions creates and offers a wide range of quality, professional services and media to all of its customers.”

“But we really want to let the people of Maui know how much Stephen Luksic and the entire Akaku team means to our efforts,” Byrne notes. “Frankly, if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t even bother.”

Da Game is scheduled to air June 30, 2010 on both Akaku, Maui’s community television station, as well as on Oahu’s Olelo community station. It will also be permanently hosted on the Maui Golf Review’s soon-to-be launched local online network, AlohaVision.com. Clips from the show will also appear on the mauigolfreview.com website when it debuts in July.

The Maui Golf Review is part of the Kahului-based, regional golf custom publishing company, Review Publications. Review Publications has published award-winning golf periodicals throughout Hawaii, Oregon, California, and Florida since 1995.

District 13, of the American Advertising Federation, recognized the firm in 2008; with a first place Pele Award for Business Photography. In 2009, the Hawaii Publishers Association recognized the company for its work on the HVCB BIVB Hawaii Official Guide to Golf, with first place Pai Awards for Best Cover Design and Best Directory that year. In 2009, the American Advertising Federation once again recognized the firm with its distinguished Award of Merit for its work on Kaanapali Golf Resort’s photography

The Hamakua Youth Center embodies Big Island values.  What was once the Hamakua ‘Cash & Carry Store’ on Mamane Street in Honoka’a is now a warm welcoming place for area youth.

It has a communal kitchen, pool table, other games, a communal garden, a place to hang out talk story with friends, a place with free Hawai’i’an cultural activities, wherein youth can learn to play piano, ukulele, plus “an exciting new multi-media studio to nurture young talent and develop skills in video and CD production.  The HYC also provides referrals to other services and assists in many unseen ways, the needs of youth and their families.”

The Hamakua Youth Foundation is a non-profit group, truly grass-root, receiving some support from “Hawaii Island United Way, Hawaii County and private foundations, and food from the Hawaii Island Food Bank, island ranchers and farmers.”

Many people have wondered what more can they do to support HYF/HYC and now there is fun way to do that.  Mark your calendar for Saturday June 5^th 2010 for “Invest in Our Youth, A Day of Golf & Celebration.”  A modest $50 registration fee gets you lunch and golf at the Hamakua Country Club beginning at 7:30AM.  After 1PM celebrate with live music, presentations by HYC youth, great food and a silent auction, and when you give and give generously to Hamakua Youth remember you are making a valuable investment in the future of Hawai’i.

“Foundation President Joel Cohen of Waimea has been volunteering at HYC for five years. “There is a lot of love in this place,” said Cohen.  “It’s really something special that you won’t find anywhere else.” “

Further info can be found at HamakuaYouth.org to learn about this terrific organization.  Thank you Cathey Tarleton for the ‘heads up.’

“Local businesses are encouraged to field a team for golf, or donate an item or gift certificate to the Silent Auction. 100% of all proceeds go directly to funding Hamakua Youth Center programs. Golf signups and donations for silent auction gratefully accepted at Barbara Franklin’s Office: 45-3488 Mamane Street (by the red wood bridge). To sign up or for more information, call HYC, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., at 775-0976.

After local favorite Tadd Fujikawa got knocked out in a dissapointing second round, the focus of the Sony Open returned to the top of the leaderboard. Ryan Palmer, Robert Allenby, Steve Stricker and late charger Retief Goosen came out firing on Sunday for the final round of the Sony Open and put on quite a show.

And it all came down to the last hole and 20 yard chip by Ryan Palmer. Tied with Allenby going into the long dogleg left at Waialae Country Club Allenby was less than 60 feet from the pin, just off the green and needed to chip it close. The ball came off hot and it looked like it was going to rocket past the hole. If it weren’t for the pin getting in the way it would have, instead, it bounced off the pin and landed just inches from the hole. A tap in for Palmer, and his 3rd PGA tour victory was sealed.

Palmer now sits atop the FedEx Cup leaderboard with the win and 500 points and also collects a payday of $990,000. Not bad for a weekend in Hawaii. Here is the top 10 of Sony Open, full leaderboard and can be found at the PGA’s Sony Open Section.

Round 3 of the Sony Open is underway on the south shore of Oahu at the Waialae Country Club. The top of the leaderboard includes Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, and in the lead at 9 under par through two days is Ryan Palmer at the PGA event.

Notable local boy Tadd Fujikawa failed to make the cut yesterday after shooting a 5 over par 75. Coming out of the gates great, scoring an early birdie, only lead to a struggling back nine for the young PGA tour professional from Hawaii. Tadd Fujikawa had large crowds following him all day, no doubt adding to the stresses of his game.

Check out the daily updates at our Sony Open Results Section.

Tadd Fujikawa tees off in 15 minutes after a first round 2 over 72 at Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open. He’ll need to shot at least a 69 to make the projected cut of 1 over par.

There are still quite a few golfers left to tee off so that cut could change as the day moves on but for now, Tadd is in good shape to make the cut this weekend. You can check back here at our Sony Open section for results or follow the action live at the PGAs leaderboard.