Pros, amateurs tee off to benefit Hawai‘i junior golfers before Mitsubishi Electric Championship

On Monday, nine teenagers throughout Hawaiʻi played the exclusive 18-hole course at Nanea Golf Club, which features sweeping views of the Kona and Kohala coastlines on the Big Island.

The pro/am event is part of the activities before the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualālai, a PGA Champions event for senior pro golfers. The three-round tournament runs Thursday through Saturday.

The field will feature winners of PGA Tour Champions events over the past two years, winners of senior major championships over the last five years, World Golf Hall of Fame Members and other prominent players. 

But before the pros tee it up to go after the $2 million purse, the pro/am took place to raise funds for the Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association, a nonprofit that introduces the game of golf and its traditions to local youth.

Three of the teens who played Monday were from the Big Island: Noah Izawa Okazaki, 16, from Kailua-Kona; Jake Otani, 16, from Hilo; and Leo Saito, 13, from Hilo. They all have committed years of their young lives to the game, with aspirations of someday going pro.

Okazaki, who has been playing golf for eight years, was participating for the second time in the pro/am tournament at Nanea. He enjoys the event because it’s an opportunity to meet new members of the course and play on a fun course. And, he added: “I just like hitting it good.”

In Louisiana last November, Okazakai was one of the top 48 junior golfers from Canada and the United States to qualify and compete in the televised tournament, the Notah Begay III Jr. Golf National Championship. While he didn’t finish at the top of the leaderboard, Okazaki was grateful for the experience.

Otani, 16 said it’s an amazing experience to participate in the pro/am and connect with people at the club.

He said the game also has made him a better person: “It gives you patience. … It makes you learn all the life lessons that you need on and off the course.”

Being part of the Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association, Otani said he’s been able to compete at world and national levels, including placing in the IMG Junior World Qualifers last June. He also qualified to compete over the summer in the PGA Junior Championships held in Maryland.

Saito, the youngest Big Island junior golfer at the fundraiser, has been playing golf since he was 6. In 2023, Saito won the Drive, Chip and Put world championship.

Playing in the fundraiser allows him to enjoy the course and talk story with pros and amateurs, from whom he hopes to “gain some knowledge” and “improve myself.”

Mary Bea Porter King, president and a founder of the junior golf association, anticipates this year’s event will raise between $150,000 to $200,000. She said it will go toward running golf tournaments across the state, introducing more kids to the sport, paying coaches and funding scholarships for the young players.

The funding also helps the association send four teams to compete on the mainland through the course of the year. It costs upwards of $70,000 for tournament fees, lodging, food and transportation.

Porter King said the amateur and pro players at the fundraising round understand how difficult it is for young players to get into the game, with access and cost being primary issues.

Kids in the association and part of the First Tee program flew in from around the state to play golf on Monday. It’s not just about playing golf. Porter King said it’s an opportunity for the teens to ask the pros and amateurs questions about the game.

“I think any sport is healthy,” Porter King said. “It’s also a lifetime sport.”

Golf is a game of integrity and honesty, with a huge field that is not strictly policed.

“If you do something wrong like move your ball, it’s up to you to tell people,” Porter King said.

Tom Douglas, who has been playing golf on and off for 50 years, teed off with Otani on Monday. He’s participated in the fundraiser for 11 years.

Douglas said it’s kids like Otani that keep him coming back. He said it’s been fun to see the kids grow and thrive.

“A lot of these kids are just charming young people that are going to make it big in the world,” Douglas said. “That’s what we need. We’re old. We need these people.”

Amateur golfer Eric Schwartz, whose participated in the pro/am for eight years, said: “I’ve played in a lot of pro-ams, but this one’s the most relaxed and the most fun.”

He especially enjoys supporting and playing with the juniors because it reminds Schwartz that he didn’t start playing golf until he was 39.

Schwartz added that golf is like life, with all the ups and downs.

“It teaches discipline, it teaches consistency, it teaches mental acuity, so it has all those things,” he said.