Strong finish nets Taguchi title

Long-time Saipan resident Jojie Taguchi played flawless golf in the back nine to capture first place in the Championship Flight of last Saturday’s 6th Annual Rotary Club of Saipan Goodwill Golf Tournament held at the Coral Ocean Point Resort golf course.

The 2003 South Pacific Games veteran just couldn’t get things going in the first nine holes, as windy conditions and loose nerves resulted in him making a costly double bogey on the very first hole and three more bogeys before he made the turn.

But as soon as he made par on the ninth, it was all smooth sailing for the Commonwealth’s adopted son.

Taguchi made it known that he meant business after making par on the difficult 439-yard 10th hole. He saved par in the next four holes and converted a birdie on the 15th. He closed out a picture-perfect back nine with a par and a birdie to salvage a two-over 74 performance after going four-over in the front.

“I wasn’t really on my game in the first nine holes. The jitters got the better of me or maybe it was the Rotary hole-in-one on the seventh. I finally relaxed in the back nine and was able to get control of my shot and everything fell into place,” said Taguchi.

In all, the 38-year-old Taguchi carted away three birdies and 11 pars to negate a double bogey on the first and three bogeys on the front nine.

“Despite the not so ideal conditions I was able to put myself in a position to win. It was a great comeback for me. I just hope I could play much better from the start the next time so [in the future] I wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder so much in the back nine,” he added.

He took home $500 in cash, a handsome championship trophy and loud cheers from the COP poolside gallery, site of Saturday night’s sumptuous awards banquet.

Taguchi nosed out SPG teammates Eddie Peter and Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho for the championship.

Incidentally, Peter and Camacho were the leaders after the front nine with the former recording an even 36 and the latter a respectable two-over 38. But Peter found too much of the rough in the back nine and Camacho didn’t have his putter working and both wound up a stroke back of Taguchi at three-over 75.

Peter went on to bag the $300 second place prize money after he edged Camacho in the 17th hole tiebreak. Peter needed only four strokes to finish the hole, while Camacho took five shots and took home the third place purse of $200.

In all, Peter had two birdies and 12 pars to make up for one double bogey and three bogeys. Camacho, for his part, finished the day with a birdie on the 18th and a total of 13 pars. He, however, had four bogeys.

In the A Flight, Jun Jae Ho nipped Jess Aldan in the 14th hole tiebreak to the win the division. Both players recorded four-over par 76 scores. Eddie T. Manglona’s seven-over par 79 was good enough to land him in third place.

Daniel Quitugua won the B Flight after carting a six-over 78. He was followed by George Moses, who scored an 81, and Robert Hernandez, who grossed an 81.

C Flight belonged to Francisco “Frank” Camacho after he made an 86. He actually finished tied with Norbert Sablan, but Camacho won first place after beating Sablan on another 17th hole tiebreak. Charlie Ludwig took third place with an 88.

In the Seniors Fight, Jack Tenorio won the division after the secretary of Labor and Immigration scored a 70.6 based on the double Peoria standard. Richard Pierce was second with his 72.2. Jess Taitano won the low gross contest with a 77.

Ladies Flight was won by Margarita Taitano, who finished with 75.2, while Alice Taitano came in second with a 75.4. Yong Yeon Ja won the lowest gross award.

First place winners in each category received $500 and a trophy, while second place and third place took home $300 and $200, respectively, plus trophies.

Closest to the pin was won by Fred Camacho, while Maui Wilhelm took the top honors in the longest drive contest.

But the biggest prizes of all went to nobody as the unusually strong winds and sleek greens Saturday blew everyone’s chance in winning any of the hole-in-ones sponsored by Bank of Hawaii, Triple J Motors, and Microl.

Not even Rotary’s own $5,000, 12-inch hole-in-one on the 7th hole was not spared the same fate, forcing Rotary officials to mull plans of putting up a 24-inch hole next year.

A total of 122 golfers teed off for the tournament, according to Rotary president Jeff Schorr.