Friday noon is deadline to register for TOC
The 16th Annual Tournament of Champions, the premier golf event in Saipan, will be played this Saturday and Sunday at the LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort East and West Course. The two-day event is full of exciting hole-in-one and cash prizes as well as raffle prizes during the banquet. The deadline to register is 12 noon tomorrow, Aug. 5.
The $175 TOC tournament fee includes two days of golf and the awards banquet, which will be held on Sunday at Laolao Bay’s The Grill Restaurant immediately following the tournament. “We set our price to match the fee from the first TOC in 1996. We appreciate the support for TOC and continued the reduced fee this year.” said TOC tournament director Ben Babauta.
First place winners in the Men’s Championship, A, B, C, Senior and Super Senior Flights will each receive $600 cash, $500 for second, $400 for third, a digital camera to fourth, and $100 DFS gift certificate for fifth place.
The Ladies Low Gross champion will receive $600, $500 for second, and $400 for third place. The Ladies Low Net first through third places will receive a trophy.
Over $400,000 worth of prizes are at stake in the two-day tournament, including hole-in-one prizes worth $50,000 on both the East and West course courtesy of AON, two brand new cars from Joeten Motors and Triple J Motors, two Delta Air Lines BusinessElite tickets to anywhere in the U.S. or Canada that Delta Air Lines flies and $25,000 from the Bank of Hawaii. In addition, $1,000 and a free year of golf will be awarded to the closest to the pin winners.
“The golfers have been saying that this is the year for someone to hit a hole-in-one. Our sponsors and committee would be thrilled if we have a winner this year,” Babauta said. “I really want to once again thank our sponsors and our players for their continued support of TOC.”
Nike Demo Days are today and Friday from 2pm to 6pm at the LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort Driving Range. Participants can sample a broad assortment of Nike clubs at The Range while experts will be in place to help golfers with their personal driver fittings while playing their practice rounds. This opportunity to receive individual attention from John Botelho from Nike Golf in Hawaii should not be missed.
In 2010, TOC first timer Geon Ju Lee of Korea won the Men’s Championship Flight, Jin Woo Park and Bae Young Man were in a tight race for second and third.
In the A Flight, Xian Lai Cui was first with Nathan Zhao and Tars Olopai placing second and third respectively. In the B flight, Young Woo Lee won the scorecard tiebreak over Prescil D. Azarcon and Hyoung Kim Il was third. Eun Sam Cui won the C flight and Danny Quitugua had a second place finish with Takashi Nakata placing third.
Tony Satur topped the Senior flight with Edward Manibusan and Vic Borja tied. Manibusan was awarded 2nd place by scorecard tiebreak and Borja third. In the Super Senior Flight, Duke Yoo won first, Bill Garris was second and Jesus M. Taitano was third.
In Ladies Flight, Keina D. Kim won low gross followed by Noriko Togawa in second place over Jung Yoom Kim. In the Ladies Low Net, Young Hee Yoo came in first while I Sun Park placed second and Sherlyn P. Jones was third.
This year’s TOC is supported by Platinum sponsors DFS Galleria, Marianas Visitors Authority, and Laolao Bay Golf & Resort. Gold sponsors include AON Insurance, Bank of Hawaii, Budweiser, Delta, Docomo Pacific, IT&E, Joeten Motors, Nike Golf, Saipan Computer Services, Shell, Tan Holdings, and Triple J Motors. Other supporters are silver sponsors Hard Rock Café, Jack Hardy Images Saipan, KSPN Channel 2/Visitors Channel, KZMI/KCNM, Miller, Pepsi, Power 99/The Kat, and bronze sponsors Asiana, Chong’s Corporation, Hyatt Regency Saipan, Island Apparel, Kautz Glass, Rota Water and Triple B Forwarders.[I] (TOC)[/I]
