CAMP WALKER, South Korea – Over the last few years since high school golf in Korea and Okinawa moved to the fall, coaches and players have lamented the fact that there’s no DODEA-Pacific Far East tournament on the links.

But there’s hope, coaches say, in the form of a proposed Korea at Okinawa inter-district meet planned for Oct. 4 and 5.

“Just to go to Okinawa and to compete there, that’s always something I’ve been wanting to do,” said Ben Martinez, a Daegu sophomore, during a Warriors golf practice in August at Camp Walker’s Evergreen links.

Should it happen, it would be the first time golfers from Kubasaki and Kadena would face somebody other than each other; same would go for teams at Daegu, Humphreys and Osan, depending on which schools travel to Okinawa.

“It’s being worked on,” Kubasaki golf coach and athletics director Jon Fick said Thursday at Kadena’s Banyan Tree golf course.

The plan would be to play at the 6,369-yard, par-72 Banyan on Oct. 4, a Friday, and the 6,687-yard, par-72 Taiyo Golf Course in Gushikawa on Oct. 5, a Saturday.

All of that depends on course and tee-time availability on those two courses, which get heavy user traffic on weekends.

It would be a self-funded excursion, not sponsored by DODEA-Pacific. Such self-funded ventures were approved by the DODEA-Pacific area office following a region-wide athletics directors meeting in April at Yokota.

“Golf deserves one,” Martinez said of a Far East tournament. “It’s a sport just like any other. And it’s a lifetime sport.”

Alas, no DODEA schools in Japan have golf teams, other than non-DODEA-sponsored clubs. Some DODEA-Japan schools fielded teams during the fall 2020 rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, but did not play other schools.

Korea

Martinez possesses a strong long game, Warriors coach Kathryn Brashears said. He’s joined by junior D.J. Cruz and freshman Blake McDonald, who’s practiced with the team since his seventh-grade year. McDonald has an “exceptional” short game, Brashears said.

The lone varsity girl is freshman Jenna Jung, who practiced as an eighth-grader and has made strides since last year, Brashears said.

Humphreys is loaded with veteran blood, under second-year coach Nicole Tyler, led by senior boys Matthew Hwang, Isaiah Perez and Trevor Yi. Juniors Joel Kwak, Zachary Hudson and Jasmine Harris and sophomore Sheena Farhad round out the varsity lineup.

“All of them are very skilled, competitive golfers and I think we are going to be a team to contend with,” Tyler said.

Osan is a youthful contingent, with but two seniors, Grace Pak and Connor Rohrer. Three freshmen dot the Cougars’ varsity lineup with Myles Vasquez “showing good promise,” coach Sung Plourde said.

In addition to possibly heading to Okinawa, on occasion the DODEA schools also host international schools from around Korea; the number of those competitions should rise this season, Plourde said.

Okinawa

Both island champions return, juniors Matt Burn of Kubasaki and two-time Okinawa district champion Emma Conroy of Kadena.

Joining Burn on the Dragons boys side are juniors Drake Garza and Mason Ramos and sophomores Ryan Gavin and Asher Romnek. The latter is also an accomplished baseball player for last spring’s Far East Division I tournament runner-up Dragons.

Sophomores Una Strawn and Alana Santiago and junior Jasmine Antonio dot a girls lineup that has to replace departed former island champion Julizka Aguirre, who graduated.

While Conroy returns with her two-championship pedigree, one Kadena player who could be in position to challenge Burn for the boys crown is sophomore Evyn Sorenson.

“The kid can golf,” Panthers second-year coach Charley Smith said. “He’s a beginner, but I’m shocked by what I see.”

He’s joined by returning senior Noah Williams. Another returning senior is Ava Sims, who played last season for Kadena and in Daegu as a freshman and sophomore.