Kamikaze hobnobs with pros in JWC

Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho gave a good account of himself in the 2005 Johnny Walker Classic Pro-Am Event held last April 20 at the Pine Valley Golf Resort and Country Club in Beijing, China.

The 44-year-old pride of the CNMI was paired with world No. 34 Paul Casey and played in a group that also included two golfers from Thailand.

Camacho and Casey started their tee off shortly after noon with Camacho, the amateur out-driving Casey, the pro, as his first shot landed less than 75 yards to the pin giving him a chance on a birdie.

That proved to be the only ray of sunshine on an otherwise gloomy front nine for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. employee as the unfamiliar course and strong 20-30mph winds conspired to give him a score of seven-over par 43 after nine holes of play.

Camacho settled down in the back nine and with Casey gamely egging him on, the 2003 Suva South Pacific Games veteran improved to three-over in the last nine holes to finish with a 10-over 82 for the day.

Although he never recorded a birdie, Camacho came away with 11 pars to go with four bogeys and three double bogeys.

“Overall Joe did a fantastic job playing a round of golf with Casey and shooting the breeze,” said Tournament of Champions co-chairman Ben Babauta, who along with his co-chair Rodney Klinge, accompanied Camacho to Beijing.

Prior to the Pro-Am, Camacho, Klinge, and Babauta participated in the JWC Welcome Dinner held at the Great Wall, Badaling.

There the three had a chance to meet European Tour pros like 2004 JWC champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Nick Faldo, and world No. 3 Ernie Els.

The next day, the CNMI delegation relaxed and kicked off their golf shoes in a fundraiser where they rubbed elbows with more professional golfers, among them K.J. Choi, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, and Lian-Wei Zhang.

The next couple of days saw Camacho, Klinge, and Babauta hobnobbing with more golf celebrities as well as organizers of 2005 JWC. Camacho also had a chance to show off his skills on the greens and fairways, playing 18 more holes with fellow amateur players that joined the Pro-Am.

Camacho and company’s trip to Beijing was sponsored by Johnny Walker and Diageo. The next JWC will be held in Perth, Australia In February 2006.