GOLF REPORT
Ishii's victory a perfect prelude to Hall of Fame
| • | UH women sixth in WAC tourney |
| • | UH-Hilo heading to super regional |
| • | Holes in one |
| • | Golf notices |
By Bill Kwon
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He already has a Hall of Fame golf career, but David Ishii isn't about to let it stop him from trying to get better.
How many guys who have been successful at every level of golf since high school, earned more than $8 million on the Japan tour, won a PGA Tour event and every major tournament locally would take a 5,820-mile roundtrip for a putting lesson?
Yet, that is what the 51-year-old Ishii did last Tuesday, going to see short-game guru Stan Utley in Phoenix for putting help.
Ishii must have been a fast learner. He returned to win the Mid-Pacific Open on Sunday. And he hopes it will help in his quest to play on the Champions Tour.
The Mid-Pacific victory provides a nice introduction to his induction into the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame Monday night at the Hawai'i Prince Hotel.
To show how special Ishii is regarded in local golf, the Aloha Section PGA wanted to induct him into the Hall of Fame last year. But the timing conflicted with Ishii's schedule on the Japan tour so it was put off.
The timing was right for this year, leading to a couple of firsts since the Aloha Section PGA initiated the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame in 1988:
The reasons are obvious.
It's difficult for anyone to share the spotlight with Ishii, who is already a member of the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame. Also, with his many friends and supporters, Ishii can carry the show, as it were, by himself.
Already, more than 250 plan on attending the induction, making it the event's largest gathering ever. And it figures to be a night replete with local golf nostalgia and lore.
HUMBLED AND AWED
Those who know Ishii won't be surprised that Ishii is humbled by all the attention.
"I'm honored," said Ishii, adding that he's in awe of joining such a company of legendary local golfers and how they seem irretrievably linked.
"Allan Yamamoto is my idol. I only heard stories about Ted Makalena. I know Masa Kaya. And especially Mr. (Toyo) Shirai, who was my first golf teacher when I was 6 and my high school coach on Kaua'i," Ishii said.
It is perhaps why Ishii regards winning the 1990 Hawaiian Open at the Waialae Country Club as the proudest of his golf accomplishments.
He joined Makalena, who won the Hawaiian Open in 1966, as the only two players from Hawai'i to win a PGA Tour event. And when Ishii won at Waialae 24 years later, he used a Ping beryllium copper putter that Yamamoto gave him to try. (Ishii still has that putter, one of about 150 around the house.)
Ishii, a Kaua'i native, won the 1973 state high school individual championship. In his senior year at the University of Houston, he was one of the standouts on a team that won the 1977 NCAA championship.
Ishii returned to the Islands with Yamamoto as his golf guru. Even before turning pro, Ishii won almost every local major tournament, including the 1977 Manoa Cup.
His first victory as a professional came in the 1980 Hawai'i Pearl Open and he went on to win that event six times at the Pearl Country Club, where he is now director of golf.
The most significant of his local victories was the first of five JAL Rainbow Open titles in 1980. The event's perk then was an exemption to the KBC Augusta Masters that fall.
"That was the reason why I got to play in Japan," said Ishii, who did so well he received invitations to play in more events.
SUCCESS IN JAPAN
It launched a career in Japan that led to 14 victories and the distinction of being the first foreigner to win the Japan PGA money title in 1987. Ishii still ranks among the top-10 career money leaders.
The money title also got Ishii exemptions to the U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA Championship the following year. But not the Masters. That would come in 1990 after he won the Hawaiian Open.
Until this day, Ishii remains the only one from Hawai'i to have played in all four of golf's major championships.
Truly, he's something special. And not only as a golfer. Since 1997, the David S. Ishii Foundation has been sponsoring the state high school golf championships for boys and girls, besides providing four college scholarships annually.
