Guy Yamamoto (born 1961) is an American amateur golfer from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Yamamoto won the

U.S. Amateur Public Links The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a men's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The USGA typically cal ...

in 1994. Yamamoto was the fourth person from Hawaii to win the championship, and the only one from

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

to win the APL until Casey Watabu won the championship in 2006. Coincidentally, Yamamoto and Watabu attended the same high school, although at different times. Yamamoto also competed in the

1995 Masters Tournament The 1995 Masters Tournament was the 59th Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Ben Crenshaw won his second Masters championship, one stroke ahead of runner-up Davis Love III. It was an emotional v ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

Biography

Early life and education

Yamamoto was born and raised on the

an island of

. He attended Wilcox Elementary School and Kauai High and Intermediate School in

Lihue Lihue or Līhue is an unincorporated community, census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. Lihue (pronounced ) is the second largest town on the Hawaiian island of Kauai after Kapaa. As of the 2010 ...

. While attending Kauai High, he was a member of the school's golf team as well as being active in extracurricular clubs. Yamamoto honed his golf game at Wailua Golf Course under the tutelage of the Toyo Shirai. Yamamoto graduated from Kauai High School in 1979.

Tournament golf

Yamamoto's biggest win happened in 1994 when he defeated over 5,300 golfers to become the

champion. The official account of Yamamoto's big win is best described by the United States Golf Association, as described below: "It took Guy Yamamoto 37 holes to emerge as champion of the 1994 U.S. Amateur Public Links. A two-putt par from 20 feet proved one better than opponent Chris Riley's bogey; Yamamoto, of Waipahu, Hawaii, defeated the UNLV sophomore, and captured his first United States Golf Association championship. After 11 previous attempts to qualify for the championship, Yamamoto, age 32, was ecstatic about his victory. "This is something I'll always remember," he said. "It shows that if you dream hard enough, sometimes your dreams can come true." The last four holes of the regulation 36 proved exciting. On the 15th, Yamamoto, who'd been three holes down after the morning round, worked back to all square by holing a 45-foot putt from off the green for birdie. On the 16th, Riley answered back with a birdie of his own to take a 1-up advantage. Then, on the 17th, a par five of 532 yards, Yamamoto drove long and straight, then lashed a 5-iron 196 yards to within three feet of the cup, and holed the putt for eagle 3. The two halved the 18th in pars. Then, on the first extra hole, after both players had driven in the rough, Yamamoto's 8-iron wound up 20 feet from the hole, while Riley's approach just missed the green to the left. Riley was unable to get up and down for par; Yamamoto rolled in his 20-inch par putt, and that was that." Because of Yamamoto's championship win, he was invited to play in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

in 1995. Yamamoto competed in the tournament and shot an 84 in the first round and a 77 in the second round. He missed the cut with a score of 161.

Professional life

Yamamoto is now the General Manager at the Mililani Golf Clubi in Mililani,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Guy American male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from Hawaii American sportspeople of Japanese descent People from Kauai County, Hawaii People from Lihue, Hawaii 1961 births Living people