Today five Hawaii golfers tee off in the 77th U.S. Women’s Open in North Carolina. For those into trivia, 2014 champion Michelle Wie West is making her 17th Open start — one more than Annika Sorenstam, the oldest in the field at 51.
Big Wiesy was Little Wiesy when she won the 2001 Jennie K. Wilson Invitational — Hawaii’s greatest women’s major for so many reasons — at age 11.
Allisen Corpuz and Mariel Galdiano were barely born back then, but will be playing with Wie this week in their first Open as pros. Karissa Kilby will give Punahou four golfers in the Open, while Waiakea alum Britney Yada is making her third appearance.
It is far from the Jennie K., named after a mayor’s wife who was one of King Kalakaua’s court dancers. But not as far as you might think. For female golfers from every part of Hawaii — and places far, far away — it is just as close to their hearts.
“The Jennie K. is the premier tournament for women in Hawaii,” says two-time champ Bobbi Kokx, who came from Michigan to play for and coach the University of Hawaii and is now in the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame. “The golf course is challenging, it is always in phenomenal condition for the tournament, and the greens are fast.
“The Jennie K. is three days of highly competitive golf, after-golf fun, and an opportunity to participate in a tournament like no other that is steeped in tradition.”
The Jennie K. is only six years younger than the Open. A trio of young golfers from Japan — who qualified for the Jennie K. at home — finished on top of the 71st edition less than two weeks ago at Mid-Pacific Country Club. The field of 120 ranged in age from 14 to 84.
Hanaka Shiozumi became the sixth Japanese golfer to win Jennie K. since 2011, when Eri Joma beat 13-year-old Allisen Corpuz — now an LPGA rookie — by a shot.
A year after that, Kalani alum Nicole Sakamoto captured the title. Now she works in the MPCC pro shop. Galdiano won in 2014, her 10-under-par 206 five better than anyone ever at Jennie K. The next year, Galdiano ran away from the field, winning by a record 24 shots.
Decades earlier, golfers from Taiwan won five times in the ’70s. In between were Hawaii Golf Hall of Famers Brenda Rego and Marga Stubblefield. They were followed by Hall of Famers Bev Kim, Lori Castillo and Kokx in the ’80s.
Kokx won again in 2000, just after regaining her amateur status. “I remember being grateful for the opportunity to compete, reconnect with friends, and take part in the whole Jennie K. experience,” she recalls.
She is not alone. The Jennie K. experience is like no other.
Kokx was then living and teaching on Maui, where bunches of golfers have come over to play for years. Ernette Asato has been flying over to play Jennie K. since 2001 and also has a few of the tournament’s iconic Hawaiian medals to show for it.
She also has a remarkable number of new friends and wonderful memories, particularly of the year 10 golfers traveled from Maui together and rented a 5-bedroom house and two vans.
“The hard part was coordinating who goes when to the golf course when each golfer had a different starting time,” Asato recalls.
The easy part was enjoying the week golfing, shopping, eating at new restaurants and simply enjoying the company. MPCC member Connie Bache used to throw theme parties for the travelers at her house, with entertainment from Frank DeLima and Cathy Foy.
Golfers from the mainland, Australia and other points on the planet also make the trip.
Jane (Swagerty) Hill, an Olympic swimmer in 1968, has come from Arizona to play in five Jennie K’s. She has learned a lot, about golf’s “humbling” nature and what makes the Jennie K. special.
“I won a bronze medal in the Olympics so golf is very frustrating for me,” says Hill, who started in her 50s. “With swimming I would practice and know what times to expect when I’d go to a meet, but when I go play golf I have no idea. One day is great, one day is terrible. Consistency is the most difficult thing. I try not to take it as seriously as some other people.”
She takes in every moment of the unique Jennie K. atmosphere, beginning with the blessing sung in Hawaiian and “Auntie Jennie’s” portrait on the first tee the first day, and around all week draped in lei.
She started coming after meeting three-time Jennie K. chair Susan Erne when both played at a club in Arizona. She stays at Erne’s house and used to help her arrange flowers at the tournament. Like Asato and Kokx, she treasures “re-connecting” with the new friends she has made over the years.
Maui’s Lisa Judge gets it. She has been coming to the Jennie K. for so long she can’t remember. She loves the beauty and challenge of the course and is grateful for all the work and welcome Jennie K. volunteers provide.
“But honestly, it’s the camaraderie of all the competitors,” is what Judge says keeps bringing her back. “I thoroughly enjoy seeing the ladies from all the different clubs and different islands year after year. It’s just a really unique and special tournament.”
It has been, for 71 years and counting.
