Wabol rules HANMI Golf

Jess Wabol foiled Jeff Taylor’s title defense and lead five other winners during Saturday’s 7th Annual Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands Charity Classic held at the Marianas Country Club.

All Flight winners received $500 cash and a one month free golf at MCC, which they received along with their trophies in Saturday night’s banquet at Pacific Islands Club’s Charley’s Cabaret.

Wabol, despite the windy conditions, bested six other golfers in the Championship Flight to win the title in the first of the three major golf tournaments in the CNMI.

The former Oleai Elementary School principal fired a 37 both in the front and back nines to end up with a final score of 74 and enjoy a three-shot lead over last year’s champion Taylor.

Taylor was aiming to defend his title and started out strong with a 38 in the front to remain one shot back of Wabol, but could not sustain his momentum in the final nine holes to finish with a 39 and a 77 total.

Tony Camacho fired a 42 and 39 for an 81 to end up in third place.

Other golfers in the Championship Flight were Bae Yong Man (82), C.K. Kim (82), Andy Nepaial (85), and Chief Public Defender Adam Hardwicke (89).

Charlie Jo won the A Flight after surviving a two-hole playoff with fellow junior golfer Jin Ahn after both of them finished with a 76.

Putting became the key in the two-hole playoff in Nos. 17 and 18 as Jo pared both holes, while Ahn pared No. 17 and had a bogey in the 18th hole. J. Sablan placed third with a 78.

Jo also won the longest yard with a tee shot of 355 yards in hole No. 14.

The B Flight also went in a playoff but Donn Dunlop only needed one hole to win the title. Dunlop, Joe Tudela, and Jess Castro ended up tied with similar 81 scores that needed the playoff at hole No. 18.

Dunlop had a disastrous tee shot but finished off the contest with excellent putting to claim the crown. He save par in the par-4 hole No. 18, while Tudela and Castro bogeyed and double bogeyed to finish second and third, respectively.

M. Sunaga topped the C Flight with a final score of 87, while Brian Nicolas and S.C. Chen scored an 87 and a 90 to place second and third.

T. Umezawa shot a 39 and 35 for a 74 to top the Senior Flight with Nick Sablan (39-39) and former Superior Court associate judge Ed Manibusan (38-41) placing second and third.

The Ladies Flight followed a Peoria format and was ruled by veteran golfer Noriko Togawa, who shot a 39 and 41 at the front and back for a gross of 80. She had an 8.4 handicap for a net score of 71.6.

Lourdes Kim fired a 46 and 40 for an 86 gross and the 12 handicapper ended up with a 74 net to place second. Joan Kim placed third with a 74.6 net (44-45, 14.4).

Ed Manglona won a Palm Trio courtesy of PTI after having the lowest score based on the Peoria-type format scoring. He shot a 49 and 43 for a 92 gross but had a 22.8 handicap to end up with a 69.2 net.

The 7th Annual HANMI Charity Classic was sponsored by Aqua Resort Club, Carlsmith Law Office, Century Hotel, Century Tours, Chung Nam (c/o Mr. Jae), Coral Ocean Point Resort, DFS, D&Q, Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, Flame Tree TV, Hafadai Beach Hotel, HANMI, Hyatt Regency Saipan, Joeten Motors, JSTA, Kautz Glass, Marianas Resort and Spa, Northwest Airlines, Pacific Eagle Enterprises, Pacific Islands Club, Procter & Gamble, PTI, Sablan Topline, Saipan Country Club, SaipanCell Communications, Saipan Grand Hotel, Saipan Sanki, Saipan World Resort, Takagi & Associates, Tan Holdings Corp., Titan Imports, and 360 Restaurant.