Junior golfers battle rain at Laolao

Even the most avid local golfers would have been hard pressed to complete a round of golf amidst the driving rains experienced by Saipan last Saturday, but for a group of about 60 junior links legends, the weather only shortened their rounds at the Laolao Bay Golf Resort.

The first annual inter-island event between Northern Marianas Islands Junior Golf League and the Guam Junior Golf League was welcomed by unrelenting rain at Laolao last weekend, but determined youngsters managed to squeeze in nine holes into the Shieh Su Ying Junior Golf Championship before calling it a day by the bay.

After pushing back the start of the one-day outing as far as they could, the organizers got the future Tigers and Sergios onto the course for the shotgun start around 1pm. Competitors in the 7-8-year-old category teed off 100 yards away from the hole, 9-10 from 150 yards, 11-12 from the red tee boxes, 13-14 from the white tee boxes, and 15-18 from the blue tee boxes.

While the Guam contingent took most of the top spots on the day, the Saipan strikers landed several Top 3 finishers in their third event of the season.

In the 7-8 year old category, Norman Xiong of Guam finished with a 37 to take first place for the boys, while fellow Guamanian Jordan Heath had the lowest score for the girls with a 48.

Guamanian Xiang Hua’s 40 strokes were good enough to win the boy’s 9-10-year-old category, while Spencer Camacho (46) and Christopher Camacho (52) of Saipan finished in second and third, respectively. Diana Yoon of Guam took the top spot for the girls.

Mando Rico Iwanaga edged out brother Kuramatsu (38) with a 37 in the boy’s 11-12-year-old category, while Saipan’s Justin Alexander was just off the pace with a 44 in third.

Saipan struck gold in the girl’s 11-12-year-old category when Leina Kim recorded a 42 to beat Guamanian Pearl Magallanes by five strokes. Mari Balajadia of Saipan finished third in the division with a 66.

Steve Yoon (37), Arnold Yoon (42), and Stephen Gatewood (47) of Guam locked up the top spots in a one-two-three sweep for the Guamanians in the boy’s 13-14 year old category. Unfortunately, there were no girls competing in the 13-14-year-old age group, but they reappeared in the 15-18 as Guamanian Young Na Lee (44) and Shantee Magallanes (54) finished one-two.

Guamanian Calvin Clark (37) and Jung Ho Lee (41) took the top spots for the boys, but Saipan’s Frank Camacho took third with a 45.

NMIJGL coach Jeff Taylor was on hand for the event, and he said that the teams from both islands are interested in continuing the inter-island golfing activities, and that the groups will work together in the future to make it happen.

“We want to make this an annual event, and the Guam delegation is as well. We just hope that next time out that the weather is more cooperative,” he said.

“We would like to thank Microl Toyota, Triple J Motors, Pacific Trading Corp., Laolao Bay Golf Course, and Duty Free Shoppers for sponsoring the event. We would also like to thank all of the parents and volunteers who helped us keep score throughout the event,” continued Taylor.

The tournament was named for Shieh Su Ying, who was a doctor from Guam who was a frequent contributor to local sporting events. When she passed away, her grandson has continued the tradition of donating to athletics.