University of Hawaii at Hilo senior golfer Dalen Yamauchi was named to the All-PacWest first team for the third consecutive year, an award much to his character as his production.
University of Hawaii at Hilo senior golfer Dalen Yamauchi was named to the All-PacWest first team for the third consecutive year, an award much to his character as his production.
Yamauchi finished tied for 16th at the PacWest Championships. He’s had much better years, but the same buoyant outlook since he started hitting golf balls into a backyard net as a 5-year-old with his late grandpa, Nobu Yamauchi.
Last season, Yamauchi was third at the PacWest Championships. As a sophomore, he tied for first, but lost a playoff for medalist honors. Both years, he advanced to the NCAA Division II national tournament.
UHH qualified for the national championship as a team last season for the first time since 2011. In 2013, Yamauchi was a sophomore when he represented the Vulcans as a solo participant.
There are five spots each on the All-PacWest first, second and third teams. The 10 conference coaches voted for the squads, which were announced Wednesday.
Basically, there were 15 other PacWest golfers who finished higher than Yamauchi. His teammate, junior Kyeton Littel, was tied for 23rd at the PacWest Championships and landed on the third team.
“It’s a great honor,” said Yamauchi, a kinesiology major with a 3.0 grade-point average. “It came to me as a surprise because I didn’t do that good in the PacWest. But they still chose me for the first team.”
Sometimes, character counts more than anything else. It’s a lasting impression, and sometimes more valuable than low scores.
Take a simple question for example: What’s most memorable this season?
He could have pointed to his two wins: at the Dennis Rose Invitational at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course, where his parents Wayne and Agnes Yamauchi followed and made it a family affair, or at the UC San Diego Intercollegiate.
“I really enjoyed the people I played with on different teams,” he said. “The people you meet are really nice. Mostly, I enjoyed spending time with my teammates and getting to know them better.”
The 2011 Waiakea graduate credited his swing coach Lee Hardy, who ran the Warriors for ages, for teaching him golf etiquette, how to act on and off the course and respect others.
“It shows when people are nice to you because you’ve been nice to them,” Yamauchi said. “I have to thank coach Lee a lot. He’s still reminding me how to behave, and what mannerisms to have, and how to talk to people and what to say.
“He actually brought me up in a golf sense. He’s always told me to be very humble. Out there, the game can give it to you. You have to watch what you say and how you act toward people because the golf gods will haunt you. The golf gods will know.”
Role models
It’s no accident when Yamauchi swings a golf club, he’ll credit any success to others. He grew up under one of the community’s pillars, his grandpa Nobu Yamauchi.
The Nobu Yamauchi RBI League was founded in 2002 in his honor. He was a longtime coach at the Boys and Girls Club and the Piopio Bears Athletic Association.
Coach Nobu was best remembered for his lifetime commitment to helping others. He would round up kids from the low-income housing in his neighborhood to play ball. A lot of times, the kids didn’t have gloves or shoes, but he would help them get the equipment they needed.
Wayne and Agnes Yamauchi are the same way. If they aren’t volunteering their time at a BIIF event, scorekeeping or being on the PA system, they’re running Hilo PONY baseball or holding fundraisers for their Nobu Yamauchi RBI baseball and softball travel teams.
“My parents taught me how to be nice to people in the community,” said Yamauchi, who graduates next semester and will try his hand on the Gateway tour. “They are always giving back and it rubbed off on me. At the Boys and Girls Club, he used to wake up at 5 or 6 a.m. to fix and clean the baseball field.
“When I played baseball, I used to go with him. At the time, I didn’t want to, but I got used to it. Even now, I still help out with the Nobu Yamauchi Memorial Golf Tournament (June 11 at Hilo Muni). I’ll give my dad prizes and stuff.”
Best memories
Nobu Yamauchi passed away in 2002, at the age of 77. It’s been more than a decade, but his grandson recalls every detail of their time together like it was yesterday.
“My grandpa taught me to play golf, and sometimes my dad would bring me to the golf course with all his friends,” Yamauchi said. “I figured I’d give golf a try in high school and see how good I can do.
“I took lessons from coach Lee Hardy during high school and that got me better. That’s how I really got into golf.”
Grandpa Nobu was more than Yamauchi’s first golf coach. He was also a babysitter, a daily companion, and a constant influence.
When Coach Nobu went to the ballpark and young Dalen tagged along, he kept his ears open when people talked about his grandpa making a lifetime commitment to helping others.
Those were the best bedtime stories young Dalen remembered. It wasn’t Grandpa Nobu’s golf swing Yamauchi copied.
It was something far more valuable. He carries himself like Grandpa Nobu, an achievement that tops all awards.
That’s one reason Yamauchi was the 16th golfer in his conference, but named to the All-PacWest first team.
“Everybody tells me stories how nice he was,” Yamauchi said. “I bet he’d be proud of me.”