By James Sablan
james@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE greens of Laolao Bay Golf & Resort’s West Course were the battleground for the Santa Soledad Parish Golf Tournament on Sunday — a charity event that saw fierce competition, with Golf Bros and Pali’s Dream claiming their respective titles in the Double Peoria and Low Gross categories.
Taking top honors in the Double Peoria category were Golf Bros’ Harry, Vicente, and Franko Nakamura, along with Louie Tilipao, as they emerged victorious with an impressive net score of 66.2.
The Variety of Men team — consisting of Amier Younis, Jay Muna, Frankie Blas, and Dojo Esteves — secured second place with a net score of 66.8, while third place went to Team Fejeran, composed of Tony Benavente, Diego Benavente, Ron Benavente, and Joji and Taguchi (Benavente), who posted a 67.2.
In the Low Gross category, Pali’s Dream lived up to its name as team members Pali James Balajadia, Franco Santos, Zhiyun Li, and Dominique Kieffer outplayed the field with outstanding consistency to secure first place with a remarkable 56 (-16).
Second place went to The Boys — Marco Peter, Ned Norita, Carl Hocog, and Keith Kintol — who finished with a very respectable 58 (-14), while third place was claimed by Hafa Bean’s Luther Taylor, Jeff Taylor, Chris Nelson, and Kyle Hofschneider with a strong 59 (-13).
The optional Closest to the Pin competition highlighted individual precision on the challenging West Course, with the following winners:
#3: Jeff Taylor — 7 ft. 2 in.
#7: Louie Tilipao — 1 ft. 10 in.
#13: Harry Nakamura — 12 ft. 8 in.
#17: Joel Camacho — 7 ft. 6 in.
The tournament, which served as a fundraiser for Santa Soledad Parish, was a tremendous success — blending spirited competition with community support.
James Sablan has been a sports reporter for Variety since 2013. He was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College and covers all local sports.