Saipan Tribune

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Monday, September 03, 2012

Kim, McKenzie win in Docomo Golf Classic

Gi Yeong Kim defeated Jeff Taylor in the scorecard tiebreak to win the Championship Flight of Docomo Pacific's 3rd Annual Golf Classic held last Saturday at the Kingfisher Golf Links.

Both golfers scored a net 63 and event officials, who utilized a Modified Calloway scoring system that resulted in a lot of close scores, had to track back five holes to declare Kim the winner of the tough Championship Flight.

Kim grossed a 74 and ended up with a net total of 63 after factoring in his 2-handicap and 9-high/low deduction adjustment. Taylor finished the play with a raw 78 and also netted a 63 after considering his 4 handicap and 11 high-low, but came up just short of winning the top spot.

J.J. Atalig, who had a 4 handicap and 8 high-low, carded a gross 79 and netted a 67 to earn third place and beat Chaeson Yi and Enoch S. Lim in another tiebreaker. Seven players made up the Championship Fight.

In the A Flight, Thomas McKenzie was the runaway winner, posting a 4-stroke lead over Seung San Choi. McKenzie, who recorded a 10 handicap and 9 high-low, topped the 14-player A Flight with a field-low score of 77 that calculated into a 58 net. Seung San Choi, who had a 7 handicap and 9 high-low, scratched a strong 78, but finished four strokes back in second place with his 62 net.

Steve Jang joined McKenzie and Choi in the Top 3 after turning a net 64. Jang logged an 8 handicap and 11 high-low and completed the tournament with a gross 83.

The Top 3 placers in the Championship and A flights and four other divisions received cash prizes. The champion won $300, while $200 and $100 went to the runner-up and third placers, respectively. Winners of other flights in the tournament that drew 135 golfers will be published later this week.

Besides the flight champions, organizers also handed out $100 cash to closest to the pin winners. Senior Flight's Eli Buenaventura prevailed on hole No. 6 (2'10”), while other winners were B Flight's Shinya Miyamoto on hole No. 8 (5'10”) and Leo Ganacias on hole No. 12 (14'5”), and C Flight's Colin Reyes on hole No. 15 (4'1”).

Meanwhile, Marianas Tourism Education Council thanked Docomo Pacific for organizing the annual tournament and donating its proceeds to MTEC.

“We want to thank Docomo Pacific for supporting our MY Wave youth program for the third straight year. We plan to use the funds to expand the program, which currently includes teaching over 100 kids that range as young as third grade all the way up to seniors in high school,” said MTEC's Vicky Benavente.