This year's Hawai'i State Senior Championship will move off O'ahu for the first time, flying to the Big Island where it will be played Oct. 17 and 18 at Kona Country Club.

Part of the reason for the change involved Kona's normally dry weather. The senior amateur has been rained out two of the past three years.

Female players must be at least 50 and have a GHIN Index of 31.0 or less as of Oct. 1. Men must be 55 or older, with an index of 25.0 or less.

Competition will be by flights with a shotgun start each day (noon Saturday, 7:30 a.m. Sunday). Entry deadline is Oct. 5. Play will be on the Alii Mountain Course and Ocean Course

The Hawai'i State Golf Association has special discounts at the Outrigger Keahou and King Kamehameha hotels, and Mokulele Airlines and Dollar Rent-A-Car.

For more information, visit www.hawaiistategolf.org or call 589-2909.

WOMEN DRIVERS

$100,000 RAISED IN 3 YEARS

With $8,000 kicked in the day of the event, the annual Women Drivers tournament has raised nearly $100,000 over the past three years. About 140 women participated in this year's tournament Monday at Mid-Pacific Country Club.

The beneficiary is Women's Fund of Hawai'i, which provides resources to organizations that "help women and girls become safe, financially secure and empowered."

In 2007, the Women's Fund gave $50,000 in grant awards. Last year that grew to $119,886. HMAA was the major tournament sponsor this year and committted to do it again next year.

NOTES

Marc Casperino, David Fugate and Paula Trask earned places in the national BMW Cup at last weekend's qualifier at Ka'anapali. The national will be Sept. 25 at Pinehurst, N.C. Format was modified Stableford, with one point for par, three for birdie and five for eagle or better. Casperino won A Flight with 26 points, Fugate took B with 22 and Trask won women's flight with 18. The event benefited StarWish, a fundraising effort by Sheraton Maui and its employees, Lahainaluna High School, Relay for Life and others.

Deadline for the 59th Korean Invitational Tournament is Sept. 4. It will be played Sept. 12 and 13 at 'Ewa Villages. Entry fee is $125. For more information, call Duke Chung (748-5601), Kerry Ahn (846-3395) or Wayne Yoshimura (779-1020).

The second annual Class Challenge, played in June at Pearl Country Club, raised $17,500 for Lahainaluna's "Re-do the IMU!" — a $10 million project to bring a sports and events stadium to the 178-year-old high school.

"Emily T Gail Talks Golf & Other Sports" will air Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio AM 850 Hilo/AM790 Kona. Guests include Paul Bergen, president of Professional Golf Management, and Bert Roussel, founder of the Mardi Gras Golf Tournament, which benefits West Hawai'i American Cancer Society.