Lahaina, HI – Eliot Gouveia and Eric Dugas held their first round lead and fired a 63 (-8) today to clench the 2018 Ka’anapali Classic Pro-Pro title and take home the $2,200 champions purse with a 60-63-123 (-19). Kevin Carll and Kevin Hayashi gave Dugas and Eliot a run for their money, posting a low round today of 59 (-12) to bump them into second place at 68-59-127, earning $1,600.
This is Gouveia and Dugas’ fourth event playing together and Gouveia commented on the event, “We knew we had to make a lot of birdies this weekend and play aggressive.” He continued, “With the winds low, we knew there would be some low scores out there and we had to capitalize on every birdie opportunity we had – we couldn’t have any bogeys on our card, and we didn’t both days.”
On the uphill par 5 6th hole, Dugas had a solid drive off the tee today with just 165 yards to the flag. Dugas hit a 7-iron into the green and “the greens were rolling great - I was able to make the 15 foot putt for eagle.” Dugas added, “Eliot had just made a good sandy par, so that let me be aggressive and I was able to make the uphill putt – we play well as a team – we had a lot of opportunities this week and we were fortunate to capitalize on them.” “Both days we got off to a great start and then in the middle, hit sort of a plateau – we thought that especially today, we needed to finish strong.
Eric was able to birdie both 17 and 18 today, he played exceptionally the last two holes which made my job easy,” Gouveia laughed. With a tournament low round today of 59 (-12), the team of Kevin Carll and Kevin Hayashi (2015 Ka’anapali Classic Pro-Pro Champions) shot up the leaderboard into second place, just four shots off the leaders, finishing at 127 (-15). With a clean scorecard, they posted eight birdies and two eagles today. Carll set them off on a birdie run, with five birdies on the first seven holes played. Then Hayashi birdied the next and eagled the following hole.
On the 12th hole, Hayashi had a great drive, with just 57 yards to the pin – he holed out with a sand wedge. Hayashi commented, “The ball actually hung on the flagstick a few seconds before it finally dropped in for eagle.” When asked what makes them such good teammates, Carll said, “We have good chemistry together, we feed off each other really well and we are so comfortable as playing partners that it makes for a fun game.”
2017 Ka’anapali Classic Pro-Pro Champions, TJ Kua and Todd Rego finished 63-66-129, taking home $1,200 for third place. Brothers, Chris and Kevin Shimomura came in fourth at 68-62-130 and the team of Kyle Hayashi and Jake Grodzinsky finished 65-66-131 for 5th place. For a full list of teams and scores, click here.
ABOUT KA’ANAPALI GOLF COURSES:
The Royal Ka’anapali Course, a Robert Trent Jones Senior design, opened in 1962 and has tested the skills of golf professionals and amateurs alike. A Par 71 stretching 6,700 yards, the Royal Course combines wide fairways and undulating greens, making it both distinctive and demanding.
Home of the PGA TOUR Champions Ka’anapali Classic for 14 years, the Royal Ka’anapali Course has hosted some of golf’s legends: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Jan Stephenson and Betsey King. The Ka’anapali Kai Course is a Par 70, 6,400-yard course and boasts an array of strategically placed bunkers, contoured fairways, and re-shaped and resurfaced greens.
This course, host of Golf Channel’s #1 series Big Break Ka'anapali, is a challenge to play and places a premium on strategy off the tee, accuracy with approach shots, and a deft touch around the greens. In 2005-2007, Ka’anapali Golf Courses invested over $13 million in renovations and infrastructure.
Golf course architect, Robin Nelson, was brought in to oversee the rework of the Ka’anapali Kai Course and enhancements to the championship Royal Ka’anapali Course. Ka’anapali recently celebrated 50 years (1962-2012) and was host of the PGA TOUR Champions SKIN GAME January 2008-2011. For more information about Ka’anapali Golf Courses visit our website or call (808) 661- 3691.
