Junior America’s Cup comes to Hawaii every 17 years. It has never come with this kind of pressure. No one here is complaining.
The 41st Junior America’s Cup tees off Tuesday at Wailea Gold. Hawaii, represented by PJ Samiere, Shawn Lu, Spencer Dunaway and Keegan Loo, will face 17 teams from the Western United States, Canada and Mexico.
The local boys will also have to stare down the success Hawaii’s girls had last year, when they won their third Cup on the cozy Bermuda greens of Wailea Gold. Eimi Koga, Mariel Galdiano, Rose Huang and Ciera Min finished in the top 16 to lift Hawaii to its second Cup in three years. Hawaii’s girls joined the America’s Cup lineup in 1985.
"Oh yeah, there’s pressure," said boys captain Rick Castillo, director of golf at King Kamehameha Golf Club/Kahili Golf Course. "Pressure from the girls last year and pressure playing in your home state."
The Hawaii boys have also won three Cups, the last in 1996 in Vancouver, Canada. Castillo was on the first, in 1976 in Ogden, Utah, with Tommy Hines Jr., Gordon Krah and Kalua Makalena, who was medalist. Hawaii won again two years later in Idaho, with Donald Hurter, Michael Murata, Brandan Kop and Krah.
Castillo became Hawaii’s captain in 2006. That year he had state high school champions Alex Ching, Sean Maekawa and Chan Kim, and TJ Kua, who was second in the state twice and would go on to be one of the finest golfers in University of Hawaii history. The team took a one-shot lead into the final day, in Ogden, but lost by one to San Diego.
"I told my players on the last day that exactly 30 years ago Team Hawaii won at this club," Castillo recalled. "When they lost by one they were so demoralized and felt bad for me. I tried to play it down. They were disappointed. It would have been magical."
Junior America’s Cup has made its own magic since starting 40 years ago. It brings together some of the finest juniors from some of the top golf regions in this country, Canada and Mexico. Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Corey Pavin have played, and stayed in the homes of host families, which has also become a Cup tradition. Tournament week starts with a Sunday party and features opening and closing ceremonies.
Another feature has become college golf coaches, lots and lots of them.
"It has more of a Ryder Cup feel because you are representing your state so there is a lot of pressure," Castillo said. "This was always purely a team event until my first year in 2006 when they introduced the Sally Pini Award for the individual medalist (Ching was co-champ in 2007). So now sometimes I go to events and there are 40 or 50 college coaches there. I anticipate a lot coming to Maui to parlay scouting with a Maui vacation."
Castillo was director of golf at Wailea when the Gold Course opened. He also anticipates Hawaii having a wee advantage on that course, particularly on its big-breaking Hawaiian greens.
"It’s an advantage to be very familiar with Bermuda grass and that counts for a lot when you are putting," Castillo said. "A lot of kids grew up hitting on Bent grass and they don’t sense the kind of breaks that the grain in Bermuda grass has. It’s kind of a subliminal skill we have.
"And the Gold Course … it’s my favorite course on all of Maui. Having worked there when they opened it in 1994 to the time I left in 2005, I’m very familiar with that course and where golf balls tend to go. I can help these guys."
The Hawaii girls team — Kristen Le, Zoey Akagi-Bustin, Keilyn Ing and Kaci Masuda — opens defense of its championship Tuesday in Albuquerque, N.M.
