By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

THE NMI will have entries in both the women’s and men’s golf tournaments in the 2007 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.
Veteran golfer Jess Wabol, who is leading the island’s preparation for the quadrennial meet, said that junior golfer Leina Kim will be joining the NMI men’s team on the Samoa trip.
Wabol, during the monthly meeting of the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association last Thursday, said that they will be sending a total of six golfers to Apia.
Kim will be joining Wabol, Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho, Tony Satur, Gus Camacho and former Superior Court presiding judge Edward Manibusan in the Pacific Games
Manibusan will be the team’s coach, while the four other golfers will join the individual and team events.
Kim will only be competing in the individual event, as the NMI failed to form a women’s team due to the new eligibility rules.
Wabol earlier announced that they would be holding a separate series of qualifying tournaments for the Pacific Games for the women’s division.
But only a few showed up for the qualifiers, as most of the female golfers on the island are long-time NMI residents, but not US citizens.
The new Pacific Games eligibility rules allow only US citizens or citizens of the islands/nations they are representing to participate in the multi-sports meet.
Kim participated in a couple of qualifying tournaments from the blue and white tees last year and even joined the men’s qualifiers.
The 14-year old junior golfer will be Kwang Young and Shirley Dela Rosa Kim’s second child to represent the NMI to the Pacific Games.
In 2003, Leina’s brother Michael played for the NMI in the 11th Pacific Games on Guam.
Leina could not be reached to comment about her Samoa trip, as she is currently in Arizona with her mom and visiting Michael, who is involved in a developmental golf tour in the mainland.
At 14, Leina earned a reputation of being a local teen golf sensation on Saipan beating female and male players twice her age.
She topped the Ladies Division of the 2006 Tournament of Champions and just last month won in the Saipan Swim Club’s Jingle Bell Fundraising Golf Tournament.
In the inaugural LaoLao Bay Double Peoria Classic on Dec. 16, Leina was runnerup to Kim Young Sik.
A majority of the participants in the LaoLao Bay tournament were male, but the Marianas Baptist Academy student stood her ground and downed the island’s veteran parbusters.
Meanwhile, the NMI golfers are expected to start joining local tournaments in the coming months to prepare for the Pacific Games, which will be held in August.