Sasamoto takes flight in Joeten Memorial Golf Classic

Joe Sasamoto’s decision to stay in the Championship Flight paid off as he ruled the 2024 Joeten Memorial Golf Classic last Saturday at the LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort east course.

Age doesn’t matter in the sport of golf and it showed as the 62-year-old took on younger golfers yet he blew them out of the greens with the lowest gross score of 2-over 74. He racked up two birdies, 11 pars, and three bogeys for a 38 in the front nine. In the back nine, he had a birdie in hole No. 12 and seven pars in holes No. 10 and 11 and No. 13, 14, 15, 16 17, which led to his score of 36.

Second place went to Ned Norita with a gross score of 4-over 76, and third place was Ben Jones Jr. with a gross score of 5-over 77.

Sasamoto, son of Jose A. Sasamoto, known as the father of golf on Saipan, was ecstatic with his win. In an interview after the tournament’s banquet, he said the first-place win was “special… It’s an honor to win this tournament. It’s my first one with Joeten because I just got back in 2021 and I wanted to win it because Dung [Tenorio] and his dad are special people to me.”

He added that it felt good to win after he set a goal this year to win the tournament.

The tournament itself was challenging, said Sasamoto. “The course was hard and it was fast… but I had to be composed and I pulled through in the end,” said the 2023 Pacific Games NMI National Golf Team player.

He said his favorite hole was the last hole where he needed to birdie to win—which he did. “We had three holes left and the two holes were very hard. So, I knew if I parred those two holes, it would be okay, but the last hole—just so that there’s no doubt, I had to birdie it—and I did,” he said. “That was a big moment because it was the moment that counted.”

After he made that birdie, he said he finally felt like he breathed a sigh of relief after it felt like he held his breath during the other 17 holes.

As to why he decided to stay in the Championship Flight instead of the Senior Flight, he said, “I had a choice, but I told Dung that I already committed to the Championship Flight… that’s where all the good players are at and that’s the flight to win.”

He then said since he was a teenager, he’s never played in any other flight other than the Championship Flight. “My dad threw me into championship flights and that’s all I’ve ever played—if you want to win a flight in a golf tournament—that’s the flight to win.

On his thoughts of the event, he said, “I’m so proud of Dung for putting it together and making it such a successful event—but it’s only every five years and you can’t win this until five years later—so I knew I had to win this.”

Looking ahead, he then said that he hopes to make it into the NMI National Golf Team for the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau—whether as a coach or a player.

Every milestone year, the Joeten DaiDai Foundation hosts the JMGC to help support various causes and non-profit organizations within the CNMI. This year, the JMGC was held on the 75th anniversary of Joeten and the late Jose Camacho Tenorio’s 101st birthday.

Meanwhile, winners in other divisions of the tournament will be reported in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.