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| Ready for the start of this year's Aki Cup |
The 2016 Aki Cup sponsored by Air Golf is off and running with a nice start at the beautiful and challenging Taiheiyo PGA Mashiko Course in Tochigi. Aki Cup golfers experienced a demanding, PGA quality course with tree lined fairways and a variety of interesting hole layouts that force the golfer to think about each shot. And the runaway winner of Aki Cup #1 was Hiroe Sakai who played superbly and scored a net round of 61 (gross 97).
Hiroe earned 375 points for her Aki Cup #1 win by shooting her best score in “about fifty years”. When asked about her strong performance, she guardedly attributed her play to using a yellow colored golf ball. Whatever the reason, it was a solid round on a difficult course and her steady play gave her a huge lead over the rest of the field. The next closest player, Yasu Iwatani, finished in second—17 shots behind—with a net 78 (gross 92). Steve Novosel (gross 96) and John Evans (gross 112) tied for third with a net 79.
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| Winner Hiroe Sakai tees off on the par three 14th |
This was the first time to play here for all the participants and most seemed to enjoy the course. Some of the uncommon features of this course include a rock pile that helps guard a short par three, a short par four with a green surrounded by grass mounds, and lots of trees—lining the holes and occasionally helping to defend the greens.
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| Toshimichi drives off the 10th |
Since this event had 7 people, only 75% of the points were allotted. According to Aki Cup rules, events with 6-9 players are awarded the three-quarters of the regular point. Players additionally earned points for using a JGA handicap (30 points) or a Golfshot handicap (10 points).
Next stop on the Aki Cup points race will be at Windsor Country Club in Ibaraki on October 1st for the popular World Cup. More than twenty people are already signed up for the two-person Texas scramble, but some spots are still available. The World Cup will serve as the second of eight Aki Cup events.
Aki Cup #1 Leaderboard
|
|
HC
|
JGA
|
GS
|
Gross
|
Net
|
Pts
|
|
1 Hiroe |
36 |
|
|
97 |
61 |
375
|
|
2 Yasu |
14 |
30 |
|
92 |
78 |
292.5
|
|
T3 Steve N |
17 |
30 |
|
96 |
79 |
198.75
|
|
T3 John |
33 |
|
|
112 |
79 |
168.75
|
|
5 Steve A |
7 |
30 |
|
87 |
80 |
142.5
|
|
6 Toshimichi |
20 |
30 |
|
101 |
81 |
135
|
|
7 Jack |
10 |
30 |
|
92 |
82 |
127.5
|
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| Colored Balls were popular on this day |
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| John driving fearless of the water on the right and left |
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| 2 meter deep bunker no problem for Hiroe |
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PGA instructor Brian Joseph
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