Sasaki enjoys a night of fun at TOC

A few hours after dethroning Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho in a one-hole playoff at LaoLao Bay Golf Resort, Sasaki Oliver took the stage in the lobby of the Saipan Grand Hotel in Susupe to accept his award as the winner of the 2005 Tournament of Champions.

After receiving his prizes, first place trophy, bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue, and $600, Oliver made the most of his time in the spotlight by taking the opportunity to thank the people who helped him achieve his goal.

“Forgive me. Normally I don’t do this but it’s a very good night for me and my family as well. I would like to say thank you to I-Connect—Manny—thank you very much. ICAN, my wife, and the one and only, Saipan’s first professional golf instructor Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho—thank you bro, and Alex Aquiningoc thank you for your help. Thank you very much, you guys made it happen,” said Oliver.

The emotional display included a couple of hoots and hollers, but Oliver wasn’t finished celebrating yet, as he was also the winner of the random drawing to represent the TOC in Perth, Australia for the 2006 Johnnie Walker Classic Pro-Am.

When 2004 champ Camacho read off Oliver’s name from the envelope, he shook his head, looked at his star pupil, and said, “I’ve got some bad news for you bro. You’re going to Australia!”

The entire room let loose a roar that was heard by guests throughout the hotel, placing a perfect end to the biggest tournament in the region.

“Everything went fine. The tournament went well. We went through some rain this afternoon which wasn’t a lot of fun, but everybody got the round in. Some played better in the rain and some played worse, but it’s been a good year,” said TOC chairman Rodney Klinge.

While the banquet was originally planned to be held beachside, the Saipan Grand Hotel staff scrambled to transform the spacious foyer into the awards venue at the last minute due to threatening weather.

Klinge applauded their efforts as well as those of the LaoLao Bay Golf Resort for offering a weekend of top notch provisions, but he didn’t want to tip his hand as to the details of the 2006 TOC.

“We really don’t know yet. We usually pick the courses early in the year. I wouldn’t want to say one thing and have it turn out another, but we’ll deal with some of the different golf courses early in the year and decide where we’ll have it,” he said.