by Claudia Terry – Club Correspondent
The Maui Strong tournament on Thursday, Oct. 5, hosted by the Rossmoor Women’s 18ers, drew in 59 participants from the 18ers, Niners and RMGC clubs who all came together to play a round of golf and raise money for the survivors of Maui’s Aug. 8 wildfire. Seventy dollars of the $100 entry fee went to the Maui Strong Fund. Mark Heptig, Director of Golf, got permission to waive the green fees so more money could go to the charity, and generous participants and friends contributed further donations to the cause, bringing the total up to $5,000. Because the Hawaii Community Foundation, the nonprofit organization which activated the Maui Strong Fund, is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, the $70 portion of the entry fee was tax-deductible. HCF’s EIN is 99-0261283.
MaryJean Kidd and Laura Kim of the 18ers organized and ran the successful event, providing snacks before the round and delicious boxed lunches afterward catered by Sunrise Bistro of Walnut Creek. Decorations in the Event Center were provided by the Rossmoor Couples Club and the Hawaii State Club.
The format was stroke play, two best net balls of the foursomes. Players rotated who was the “coconut” on each hole and if the coconut player managed to achieve the best score, then that score could be used twice on that hole. Women played from the gold tees and men from the red tees. There was a closest-to-the-hole prize on Hole 16 for men and for women.
Winners of the flights were as follows: Flight 1 first place went to Jun and Larry Chao, Linda and Rob Ingalls with a total of 135; second place went to Laura Kim and Gayl Westenforf and Joan and Clement Binnings with a total of 137; third place went to Andrea Alpine, Karla Witte, Joyce McCann and Claudia Terry with a total of 139.
Flight 2 first place went to Susan Hill, John Weyand and John Gruenstein (with blind draw Susan Wood) scoring the lowest score of the day of 122; second place went to Daisy Soo Hoo, Peggy Yamada, Joanne Brennan and Rebecca Palomo with a total of 133; third place went to Carolyn Byerly, Lauren Artress, William Quarles and Kurt Klose with a total of 137.
Flight 3 had a tie for first place but the card-off resulted in Toni Hessler, Sandy Acker, Jacky Dunn and Marlene Seffern winning first with a score of 140, and Judy Freed, Susan Wood, Bill Broxham and Peter Van Slyke coming in second also with a score of 140; third place was split between two teams, Laurie Krelle, Lynn Weis, Barbara Wixson and John Kent who tied with the team of Lana Yagle, Virginia Lawson, Joanne Wood and Polly Bernson, both teams scoring 146.
Closest to the hole for women went to Krelle and for the men to Ed Lowe.
Anyone wishing to contribute additional donations to the Maui Strong Fund can do so by visiting: hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong