Murai edges Taguchi in HANMI tourney

Ryota Murai nipped good friend and golfing buddy Joji Taguchi to win the Championship Flight of last Saturday’s 4th Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands Charity Golf Tournament at the Coral Ocean Point.

Murai was a picture of consistency in all 18 holes, firing an even par 72 to edge the long-time Saipan resident and 2003 South Pacific Games veteran Taguchi, who wound up two shots off the lead with a two-over 74.

After opening with a bogey on the 16th hole, Murai had two straight pars before going three-over with consecutive bogeys on the 1st and 2nd holes of the shotgun start.

He redeemed himself with a par on the third and showed his real caliber with a birdie on the difficult five-par 4th hole.

It was just a portent of things to come, as the 30-year-old then made three straight birdies, giving him one-under 39 following his first 10 holes of the day.

After four more pars on the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th holes, Murai had difficulty finding his swing in the straight away 12th and had to settle for bogey, breaking his streak of nine straight holes without going over.

The Tokyo native got his swing working beautifully again on the 13th and needed just three strokes on the four-par hole to bring him back to one-under.

Like almost everyone that tried going for the green in the perilous 14th hole, Murai needed to reach deeper down his bag of golf tricks and had to settle for bogey. He would eventually end up even for the tournament after making par on the 15th.

While Murai dodged a bullet on the 14th hole, Taguchi all but kissed his 1st place aspirations for the Championship Flight goodbye after his tee shot found the water and he had to settle for a drop shot. He finished with a five, dropping him three strokes off Murai’s pace before closing with a birdie on the 15th.

Before the fateful 14th, Taguchi was matching his practice mate stroke for stroke. He couldn’t have asked for a better start with two pars and a birdie on the 18th before mirroring Murai’s performance in the next half dozen holes before sputtering down the end.

Third place went to Jeff Taylor, defending champion of the Northern Marianas College Foundation Golf Tournament, who finished at three-over 75.

In an interview during the awards banquet Saturday evening at the COP poolside, Murai said he has won a total of four golf tournaments in Japan prior to winning the HANMI event.

With Taguchi serving as interpreter, Murai said the HANMI so far has been the biggest win of his 12-year golf career and that his best score ever was a 63 he hit back home in Japan.

In other divisions, Jose Demapan defeated Alex Sablan via scorecard tiebreak to win the A Flight. Both men carded five-over 77s. Taking third place with a 78 was Yong Won Choi.

B Flight was ruled by former lawmaker Ray Dela Cruz of Tinian, who showed promise with a 77. Young Jun Jin then nipped James Balajadia via another scorecard tiebreak to take second.

Youth golfer Anthony Camacho topped C Flight with his 83. Mark Moss took second, and JJ Cabrera was third.

In Ladies Flight, Noriko Togawa proved once more that she is the best woman golfer on the island when she shot a 77 to win the low gross award. Takao Kano took the ladies low net with her 70, while Michiyo Mizuno was second with her 76.

Jess Taitano was the champion of the Seniors Flight (74), followed by Candido Castro (77), and Ed Manibusan (78).

In the special prizes, John Reyes won the closest to the pin on the 7th hole when his tee shot fell a mere 57 inches from the cup. Accurate drive on No. 10 went to Greg Koebel, whose ball landed 31 inches off the mark, while Jung Young Jin was nearest to the pin on the 12th, when his tee shot landed 37 1/2 inches away from the hole.

Ray Palacios won nearest to the pin on No. 14 (64 1/2 inches away from the cup), while Sasaki Oliver won the longest drive after swinging for 308 yards on No. 18.