Water sportsman Richard "Buffalo" Keaulana and golfer Lenore Muraoka Rittenhouse will be inducted as the 2010 class of the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame tonight at 5:30 in ceremonies at the Honolulu Country Club.

Their inclusion will bring to more than 100 the number of athletics greats inducted.

Keaulana grew up in the ocean, prompting family members to nickname him "Water Buffalo" at an early age. He became an accomplished water sportsman and teacher earning fame beyond the Wai'anae Coast where he became a legendary figure.

Keaulana won the 1960 Mākaha International Surfing Championship but made his biggest contributions rescuing swimmers and surfers. In 1969, he became a lifeguard for the City and County of Honolulu.

In recognition of his service, a statue was erected in his honor near the Mākaha Library.

Keaulana was inducted into the Huntington Beach (Calif.) Surfing Walk of Fame in 2005.

Rittenhouse was an accomplished basketball player until a surfing accident cost her a scholarship at the University of Hawai'i. Instead , she went on to make a name for herself as a golfer at UH, eventually becoming the Rainbow Wahine's most valuable performer in 1978.

In 1983 at age 27, she won the LPGA Tour's United Virginia Bank Golf Classic, 25 years after Jackie Pung, another Hawai'i product, first won an LPGA event.

Rittenhouse , who currently lives in North Carolina, is completing nursing school and was a founding member of the LPGA's senior tour.

Banquet ticket information is available at 540-5705. The Hall of Fame Web site is www.hawaiisportshalloffame.com.

SURFING

IRONS WINS IN RETURN

Andy Irons is back.

Irons, who took a sabbatical from the pro surfing tour last year, defeated fellow Kaua'i native Roy Powers, 14.57 to 13.36, today in the second round in the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

"I'm stoked to be back," said Irons, who won his first heat in his return in 2- to 3-foot conditions. "It's definitely nerve-wracking though to be around all the media."

Mililani's Kekoa Bacalso defeated Jay Thompson, 9.53 to 8.07, in his second-round heat. Bacalso faces Hawai'i's Fred Patacchia in the third round. Irons meets California's Bob Martinez.

Hawai'i's Coco Ho, Melanie Bartels, Jessi Miley-Dyer and Carissa Moore advanced to the Roxy Pro Gold Coast third round on Monday.

BASEBALL

'GOLDEN' TRYOUTS

Na Koa Ikaika Maui of the independent Golden Baseball League is hosting team tryouts at 4 p.m. Sunday at Hans L'Orange Park in Waipahu, according to one of the team's coaches.

The tryout is limited to players with professional or college playing experience and will be conducted by team manager Cory Snyder and pitching coach Brendan Sagara.

According to Sagara, there is a league policy that players 28 years old or older must have played at the Double-A level. There is a tryout fee of $40.

The Golden League has 10 other teams spread over California, Arizona, Utah, Canada and Mexico.