Five years ago, Jarett Hamamoto and Pierre-Henri Soero could kick it around the Palmer Course during golf practices, goofing off with their University of Hawaii teammates.

This week, every moment counts as the former Rainbows try to advance out of the PGA Tour Q-School’s first stage at Turtle Bay. The game has turned into work as they pursue a professional career, but golf remains a passion for Hamamoto and Soero.

"I’m having more fun now," said Hamamoto, a two-time state high school champion for Waiakea High School. "I enjoy playing golf more now than I did in school. I don’t know why, just all of a sudden I started enjoying it, started playing better.

"It has nothing to do with money because I’m not making money. I just feel better about my game and it’s a lot more fun to go out and play than in college. I don’t have to worry about all the other stuff."

The 2005 Hawaii State Open champion shot even-par 72 in Tuesday’s water-logged opening round. He followed up with a 73 yesterday, when the 25-mph wind was Turtle Bay’s only defense.

At 145, Hamamoto is tied for 12th. The top 10 and ties after tomorrow’s final round advance to the second stage. Soero, who traveled from New Caledonia to Paris to Manoa for a four-year, all-conference career, is tied for eighth at 71–143.

Leaders are Arizona’s Nate Lashley (69) and Ryan Posey (70), of Dallas, at 137. Utah’s Tony Finau, who represents Turtle Bay, is 11th at 73–144.

This is the fourth time Hamamoto and Soero are trying to qualify. They find themselves in a diverse field of 35 at Hawaii’s inaugural Q-School. Golfers from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, the Virgin Islands, Canada and 10 states are here, chasing the same dream.

Soero, who qualified at Turtle Bay for the 2005 U.S. Open, moved to Florida after graduating. He has been playing mini-tours and trying to Monday qualify while working with 2003 LPGA Kraft Nabisco champion Patricia Meunier-Lubouc and her husband.

He is happy with the work they have put in and where his game and focus are now. He didn’t miss a green on the windy back nine yesterday.

"All pars, a couple lipouts that would have been birdies," Soero said. "They are going to drop one day, I am sure."

They did earlier this year, when he fired a 61 to win on the Fusion Tour. He also qualified for the PGA Tour event in Puerto Rico and got into a Nationwide event two weeks ago.

"It is tough, it is discipline, but it’s a dream," Soero said. "The thing that keeps me going is I played the U.S. Open, played a PGA Tour event, played Nationwide. It’s just a matter of getting there. If I never played the PGA or U.S. Open, it might be a different story."

Soero, five classes short of an online MBA in International Business, has been dating former Rainbow Wahine basketball player Pamela Tambini for seven years. She is finishing medical school in Miami, less than an hour away, but he couldn’t pass up a chance to play in Hawaii’s first Q-School.

Hamamoto moved to Arizona to pursue his pro career, and he caught a break this week by getting cousin Kevin Hayashi to caddie. The perennial Aloha Section PGA Player of the Year helped build Hamamoto’s swing, which came within a shot of winning the 2006 WAC championship.

Chan Kim, another former state high school champion, has a share of 38th after shooting 77 in the first round of the first stage in Beaumont, Calif., yesterday. The top 22 and ties there will advance.

Hawaii’s Tadd Fujikawa, Samuel Cyr and Nick Mason advanced out of first stage events last week.