Matthew Thayer 3/29/25 Matthew Thayer 3/29/25

University of Washington Huskies roll to title

*University of Washington's Vivian Lu is hugged by a teammate after her tournament-tying birdie on the final hole Wednesday.*

By MATTHEW THAYER

Led by co-medalist Vivian Lu, University of Washington won the 2025 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational women's collegiate golf tournament hosted by the University of Hawaii this week at the Royal Kaanapali Course on Maui.

Lu drained a 6-foot birdie putt on her final hole of the three-day, 54-hole tournament to tie Gonzaga University's Grace Lee for the individual crown at 11-under par. University of Washington posted a 19-under total to run away with team honors. Sacramento State was second at 8-under and Oregon State University took third at 7-under. Host University of Hawaii finished 16th out of 17 teams at 37-over. Denver's Emma Bryant and Oregon State's Kyra Ly tied for third at 7-under.

Individual co-champions Vivian Lu of the University of Washington (left) and Gonzaga University's Grace Lee pose with the winner's trophy Wednesday. The pair had to work out who got the trophy and who had to wait to receive a duplicate in the mail.

Co-champs Lu and Lee entered the final day of the tourney tied for the lead at 9-under. Playing bogey-free, Lee carded 16 pars and a pair of birdies, the last on her 14th hole, to hold a one-shot margin at 2-under going into the final hole. Lu was in the midst of an up-and-down round with four bogeys and five birdies as she headed into her last hole, the Royal's par-5 18th. Knowing she needed a birdie to have a chance, Lu played position golf along the lagoon lining the length of the 18th fairway's right side. Laying up to the middle of the fairway about 100 yards from the pin, she knocked her chip pin-high. Her 6-foot birdie putt broke a few inches left before settling into the middle of the cup for the tie.

*University of Washington players and head coach Mary Lou Mulflur pose with the Dr. Donnis Thompson championship trophy Wednesday on the Kaanapali Royal Course's 18th green.*

The tourney honors Thompson, who was University of Hawaii at Manoa's first female athletic director and founder of the Rainbow Wahine.

*Denver's Haven Ward blasts from a bunker on the Kaanapali Royal Course's 5th hole Wednesday.*

Montana State's Becca Tschetter gets a high-five from playing partner Maya Benita of San Diego State after her hole-in-one on the Kaanapali Royal Course's 17th hole during Wednesday's final round. Her ace was one of two on Wednesday. The other, by University of Washington's Kennedy Knox, came on the same 121-yard, par-3 hole over the lagoon.

*Tschetter celebrates on the 17th tee after her ace.*

*University of Washington's Kennedy Knox poses with her hole-in-one flag after acing No. 17 Wednesday.*

University of Hawaii head coach Julie Brooks (right) presents the team championship trophy to University of Washington head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. Mulflur has announced she is retiring at the end of the season after 42 years coaching at the university. She also played for the Huskies during her own college career.

*Oregon State's Kyra Ly strides off the oceanside green on No. 5 with a birdie Wednesday. She tied for third.*

*Denver's Emma Bryant follows the flight of her tee shot on No. 7 Wednesday. She tied for third.*

*Arkansas State head coach M.J. Desbiens Shaw (right) gives golfer Morgan Beaulieu a high-five after her tee shot on No. 15 Wednesday.*

*University of Hawaii's Varnika Achanta watches her sand shot on No. 5 settle near the cup Monday.*

*University of Hawaii's Emiko Sverduk chips to the second green Wednesday.*

*University of Hawaii's Wendy Song chips to the green on No. 6 Monday. She shot an opening-round, four-under-par 68 to be tied for the lead going into round two. She finished tied for 46th at 6-over.*

*Sam Houston's Cari Denson watches her birdie putt on No. 6 fall into the cup on No. 6 Monday.*

*Sacramento State's Caitlin Maurice tees off on No. 14. Maurice posted four eagles in her first two rounds on her way to tying for ninth place at 3-under.*

*UC-Riverside's Gabrielle Kiger escapes a trap guarding the green on No. 6 Monday.*

*Gonzaga University's Grace Lee tees off on No. 14 Wednesday. She went on to tie for medalist honors.*

*University of Washington's Athena Ni putts on No. 6 Wednesday.*

*Co-champ Lu tees off on No. 7 Wednesday.*

Matthew Thayer 3/23/25 Matthew Thayer 3/23/25

Five days in Fairbanks: Finding the aurora and more

*Kihei's Kelly Thayer stands atop a mound of Fairbanks snow as the aurora borealis spirals behind her. She said it was a lifelong dream to see the lights.*

By MATTHEW THAYER

Five days in frosty Fairbanks seemed like an adequate window to catch the Northern Lights.

As things turned out, we could have spent five hours in the sleepy Alaska town and flown home happy. Giddy even. And that would have been our loss, for Fairbanks turned out to be a fun and interesting place. With its friendly locals, icy roads and invigorating climate, America's northernmost city served up a slice of arctic life far removed from our Maui home.

Blayne "Buddy" Streeper of Fort Nelson, BC Canada, and his dog team head for the finish line on the second day of the 2025 Lotto Alaska Open North American Championship last weekend in Fairbanks. Covering 68.3 miles in three sprint events held over three days, Streeper and his dogs won with a combined time of three hours, 34 minutes and 54.1 seconds. Streeper averaged roughly 19.5 mph while setting a three-day total track record in the 79th running of the annual event that predates the Iditarod. Frenchman Remy Coste, competing out of Sweden, took second less than two minutes back.

The call north started last fall when my wife Kelly read that the aurora borealis was predicted to be exceptionally active in 2025, perhaps the most in a decade. Seeing the lights has long been on her bucket list. A report from NASA said the sun was at a "solar maximum" and generating an intense solar wind. This was the year to go.

My experience with past major celestial events has taught me to keep a firm grip on hopes and expectations. Maui's rain-soaked total solar eclipse of July 11, 1991, still hurts. From Halley's Comet to Hale-Bopp, even when you do luck out and catch astral phenomena, they rarely live up to their billing. "See that blur next to the star?" "Which star?" Several years back, our family booked rooms at Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks to view the lights, but we were rained out. Even if the sky had been clear, a low ebb in solar activity meant seeing the aurora borealis was a long shot anyway.

To maximize this spring's opportunity, we elected to hold off booking flights, a car and lodging until the aurora app on Kelly's phone predicted a good show. The 10-day weather forecast was also part of the equation, but we pulled the trigger a few days early when a bar graph glowed red for March 12-16. According to the Kp index, which rates aurora strength from a nothing zero to a knocking-satellites-offline nine, Fairbanks was predicted to have three nights of outstanding fives, followed by a pair of shimmering fours.

We booked the trip and crossed our fingers for clear skies. As the weather forecast unfolded, we were thrilled to see it was as rosy as the aurora's. Unfortunately, both predictors shifted downward as our vacation neared. Clouds were now expected, but we still might have one or two clear nights. Kp index fives became threes, then twos. Nightly temperatures were predicted to be below zero Fahrenheit. A full moon might make viewing more difficult.

Undaunted, we packed all the warm gear we owned or could borrow (mostly borrow) and set off on the morning of March 11. Arriving at Fairbanks International Airport around 9:30 p.m. the same day, we dug our thermal jackets out of our bags and headed to the rental car desk.

Any pressure I felt about driving on icy roads was amplified a bit when the agent handed over the keys to an all-wheel-drive SUV with a little more than 500 miles on the odometer. I guess if we were going to plow into a snowbank, they figured we should do it in style.

Once our suitcases were stowed, the car's heater was running and we were buckled in tight, I performed several practice stops and turns in the parking lot before heading to the Best Western Pioneer Park Inn. Tucked in a little stand of woods at the edge of the city proper, its lobby smelling of chlorine from the pool we never used, the inn became our home away from home for the next five nights.

The fickle nature of the forecasts became evident even before we unpacked. The night had been predicted to be cloudy, but it was crisp and clear. Though the Kp index called for a three, according to the new apps we were checking, a burst of aurora activity was headed our way.

We paused only long enough to gear up and ask the folks at the front desk for a tip on where to go nearby. They suggested we plug into our GPS a nursery on Farmers Loop Road called "The Plant Kingdom." There were too many streetlights at that closed business, but our search for a view took us to a plowed turnout off a snow-covered road called Echo Acres Drive.

The aurora was visible as a faint band of gray across the sky as we piled out of the car. Were those clouds? Nope. Those were the Northern Lights! The plan worked! As our eyes adjusted to the moonlit night, flares pulsing in the sky began to take on green and red tints. The pictures we were taking were even brighter.

The aurora glows red and green over Fairbanks, Alaska earlier this month. Generated by disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere caused by the solar wind of the sun, the northern lights are charged particles that can be seen as curtains, rays, spirals and dynamic flickers.

Ignoring our fatigue and freezing appendages, we reveled in the celestial display well past midnight. Just when we decided it was time to head back to the inn, the brightest display of the night gushed up out of the horizon to create a glowing green rope that stretched across the starry heavens. It hung for a minute or two, then spun into a coil that collapsed upon itself.

Our faces hurt from smiling so hard.

In retrospect, on such a clear night, we probably should have stayed in the little pullout parking lot until dawn hoping for more, for the clouds did indeed roll in. Two nights later, under partly-to-mostly cloudy skies, we viewed the total lunar eclipse while the obscured aurora glowed through patchy breaks in the cover. Subdued and moody, it was still an amazing sight. If that night was all we saw of the lights, we would have been satisfied. To hear the Fairbanks locals tell it, many unfortunate aurora chasers return home empty-handed.

*A composite image made from three photographs shows the total lunar eclipse unfolding over Fairbanks on March 13, 2025.*

*The northern lights are visible through a bank of clouds during a total lunar eclipse over Fairbanks, Alaska, on March 13.*

The rest of our late nights in Fairbanks were deemed too murky to bundle up, drive and endure sub-zero temperatures. This shift in focus turned out to be positive. We had a town to explore and new people to meet.

At 64 degrees north latitude and with a population of 31,500 souls, Fairbanks is a distant second to Anchorage in size. The pair remind me of, say, comparing Honolulu to Hilo. One is a major metropolitan area on the rise, and the other a functioning relic contentedly stuck in a slower, bygone time.

Built in a series of grids over flatlands and framed by wooded hills to the east, Fairbanks is graced by Art Deco buildings and a road infrastructure more than adequate for the population. It is a place where U-turns are legal and young people walk around in shorts, slippers and short sleeves when temperatures climb toward the high 20s.

*A statue titled "Unknown First Family" by Malcolm Alexander stands in Fairbanks’ Golden Heart Plaza on clear sunny day with single-digit temperatures.*

"I love Fairbanks," said Amber Vaska, town resident and chair for the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics. "It's small enough that you know everyone. It is small enough that you can easily get out of town and into nature. Anchorage is a little too city-like for us."

Vaska was part of a contingent playing traditional games at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center in downtown Fairbanks when we stopped in. The Dena Games she helps organize provide a chance for athletes to practice for July's big World Eskimo Indian Olympics and to participate in traditional competitions that can't be held in the summer, like dog mushing and snowshoe racing.

*Dena Games athletes and elders participate in a competition of "Hand Games" at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center earlier this month.*

Vaska said it was her organization's mission to "continue to celebrate our cultures and preserve them for future generations."

"We have dancing, we have regalia, so we really come together statewide, even internationally, with our indigenous cultures in Alaska and the polar north," she said.

Athlete Brittany Woods-Orrison said she splits her time between Fairbanks and remote Rampart on the Yukon River, population 57.

"Fairbanks is a really interesting community because it is called a hub in Alaska, which means a lot of smaller communities and villages surrounding Fairbanks come here frequently," she said. "Fairbanks is where a lot of people come together and where big events happen, so a lot of different cultural groups are represented here. I just love living in Alaska, especially this area, because we get the extremes. From the winter solstice, we're building to the summer solstice. Every day the light changes by seven minutes."

Woods-Orrison said being a native athlete is about celebrating culture, competition and mastering survival skills.

"I started competing in the native games at a young age, so I have a really strong sense of self," she said. "With indigenous people, it's our relationship with the land and knowing that we can live in coexistence. We're stewards of this place and we belong to this place. I grew up respecting the animals we ate and what we harvested and the people I'm around. I'm thankful to the native games because there is no other games or sports like it. We have such a high value to sportsmanship. They all have survival skills tied to them, or a deeper purpose."

Fairbanks resident Jonathan Smith paused after a training walk in the snow to describe why he moved to Fairbanks in 2011 and never left.

"It's a weird mix of blue-collar folks and outdoorsy hunters and free-spirited people who want to commune with nature," Smith said with a smile. "You know, stoners, free spirits, people who just want to make art in their front yard and live in a dry cabin."

*Fairbanks resident Jonathan Smith gives a thumbs up after a training session for the Midnight Sun Run scheduled for the summer solstice.*

The California transplant said the coldest temperature he has experienced in Fairbanks was 59 below.

"I like the cold and that was the first time that I actually cursed the cold," Smith said. "It takes your breath right out of your lungs. You definitely don't want to go outside with any of your skin exposed."

Little Owl Cafe barista Fiona Secor said the cafe and most other businesses remain closed when temperatures plunge so deep that even cars don't run properly.

*Little Owl Cafe Artisans Courtyard barista Fiona Secor offers up a tray of custom cupcakes.*

"Last year it got down to the negative 40s for a pretty good stretch," she said. "But it's been pretty mild this winter."

The great-granddaughter of one of Fairbanks' first doctors, Secor said she has fond memories of seeing the Northern Lights while waiting to head off to school on dark winter mornings.

"It's so cool, like every time, to see them up in the sky," she said. "It's always so fun and kind of magical to see them."

Woods-Orrison said the aurora is a way to commune with the past.

"We have really old oral stories about the lights and what they mean," she said. "It reminds me of my ancestors and what has passed. They're a sign of our ties to this place. It helps me to slow down and just, almost meditate in a way because I'm enjoying what is happening. Everyone takes a moment to pause and we all get excited together."

*The aurora borealis flares over Fairbanks.*

Vaska says there are traditional ways to get the aurora to shine brighter.

"I think it's supposed to be our ancestors who have passed away, as their way to still connect with the world today," she said. "If you want them to dance more in the sky, you whistle. And they're also supposed to get deeper colors. Who knows? And you’re supposed to whistle and the wind will blow."

It was Vaska who told us that the Alaska Dog Mushers' Association's 2025 Lotto Alaska Open North American Championship was being held on a wooded course at the edge of town. Drawing some of the top mushers and dogs from the United States, Canada and Europe, the championship featured three days of racing, the first two courses about 20 miles long and the final nearly 28 miles. We watched on the second day alongside several hundred other spectators as teams started and finished.

*His dogs bounding from the interval start, Joe Bifelt of Huslia, Alaska begins his second day of competing in the 2025 Lotto Alaska Open North American Championship.*

Who hasn't seen dog mushers and their barking teams in movies or on TV? At this race, you notice right away that these are not your prototypical huskies, nor are the sleds made of wood and sinew. The dogs look to be mixed breeds: muscular, long-legged runners with shorter coats. The sleds are small and no doubt made of the latest lightweight components. The lines of dogs tore off at intervals at the start, barking for joy. About an hour later, the top teams returned lathered up and spotted with kicked-up ice and snow—and still barking for joy.

Michael Tetzner, of Hamburg, Germany, kicks to do his part as his 16-dog team races to the finish on the second day of the 2025 Lotto Alaska Open North American Championship in Fairbanks. Tetzner finished ninth.

*Anny Malo of Quebec, Canada, guides her team to the finish line. She finished third out of 20 finishers.*

Interesting scenes unfolded as we were leaving the parking lot. We saw competitors watering, feeding and caring for their dogs. Many of their trailers looked like oversized pigeon coops with stacked rows of square doors. The dogs seemed more than happy to be boosted into their private suites once they were fed and watered.

From the mushers' park, trying to make the most of our last day, we headed to the University of Alaska Museum of the North and its unique building on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Conveying "a sense of Alaska, with innovative lines and spaces evoking images of alpine ridges, glaciers, breakup on the Yukon River and the aurora," the museum looks like a cross between an igloo and a spaceship. We got to walk beneath a hanging bowhead whale skeleton and lay hands upon a mesmerizing 3,550-pound Alaskan jade boulder, but we did not see the bus featured in the book and movie, "Out of the Wild."

*University of Alaska Museum of the North is housed in a building like none other on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.*

The Fairbanks City bus abandoned along the Stampede Trail in 1961 is where American nomad Chris McCandless starved to death in 1992. Dubbed "The Magic Bus" by McCandless in his journal, it became a pilgrimage site for adventurers intent on risking fates similar to the one he suffered. The bus was helicoptered out of the remote area near Denali National Park in 2020 and transferred to the Museum of the North, where it now sits in storage. A museum official said the bus will be displayed once its permanent on-campus outdoor exhibit space is completed, which is expected by the end of this year.

*A 42-foot skeleton of a bowhead whale is suspended over the Museum of the North's lobby.*

Both the Museum of the North and Morris Thompson Center feature enough collections of memorabilia, stuffed wildlife and artwork to make them must-stops for any visitor to Fairbanks with time to spare.

*A stuffed bison holds the high ground in a Museum of the North exhibit.*

For the record, we returned the rental car unscathed. Though I grew up driving in winter snow and ice, I solicited advice from my son and others who lived in Alaska. The rules are still the same. Leave room to stop, watch out for black ice and never spike your brakes. Our biggest driving adventure took us to the summit of Murphy Dome, a snowbound hilltop, elevation 2,877 feet. I have no way of judging wind chill, but the car's thermometer said it was one below zero and a stiff breeze was blowing when I exited the car to take in the 360-degree view. Was it 10 below? Or 15 below? All I know is that it was cold enough to chase me back into the rig and down the hill.

After getting so lucky seeing the aurora on our first night, we wondered if five days would be too long. Instead, we were sorry to leave the laid-back town. We were going to miss the snowshoe races, as well as an international ice carving competition just getting underway. There would be no more hearty breakfasts at The Cookie Jar Restaurant. Would we ever again have the opportunity to see the northern lights make swirling, dancing magic in the sky?

A server carries one of The Cookie Jar Restaurant's famed sweet rolls to a table. Dishing up comfort food like corned beef hash all day long, the Fairbanks landmark is a popular spot with locals and tourists who often fill the lobby waiting to be seated at tables.

*Kelly Thayer savors the aurora borealis earlier this month.*

*The author takes a self-portrait in front of the aurora borealis earlier this month.*

Matthew Thayer 3/5/25 Matthew Thayer 3/5/25

From China to Chinatown: An American success story

By MATTHEW THAYER

Hands deep in the pockets of her oversized travel coat, the attractive Chinese farm girl gazes to the left of the camera as its long-ago shutter clicks.

It's easy to imagine Chan Sun Choy studying the stranger from Hawaii, the number one son who handpicked her to be his wife. Or she might be looking to the loved ones who urged her to marry, to trade home for an uncertain future in a foreign land. Is she thinking: “What have you gotten me into?"

The betrothed farm girl who would go on to be one of Honolulu's most famous lei sellers poses for a photo before leaving China with her new husband more than 70 years ago. Photo courtesy of the Lau and Lee families.

More than 70 years later, the evocative black-and-white photo hangs at that woman's work station in Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe in Honolulu's Chinatown. The former farm girl is now Cindy Lau, longtime owner of the legendary shop on Maunakea Street. Considering how things turned out—how she became a mother, successful entrepreneur and all-around American success story—it’s easier to spot the strength emanating from within than the fear she was feeling at the time.

"I asked my popo one time about that photo and she told me that she wasn't smiling because she was scared," recalls her grandson, Nick Lee. "She didn't know this man. She didn't know if the marriage was good. She had no idea of what her future would look like."

He says though she enjoyed working on the farm, eating fresh food and playing sports, she was pressured by her family to accept the arranged marriage. Cindy's daughter, Karen Lee, says her grandmother in China relied heavily on Sun Choy, but she also championed the move to Hawaii.

"My grandmother, her mother, said, 'you should marry this family, it's a good family,'" Karen said. "My grandmother knew nothing about our family, but I think it was just the opportunity. My grandmother had her when she was older. Her brother left the village to go to Hong Kong and became a shopkeeper. Her sister got married and left the village, so it was just my mother and my grandmother. My grandmother wanted to find security for her."

The stranger in this story is Raymond Lau, the eldest son of a Honolulu barbershop owner. Karen says Raymond's parents were so determined to have him marry a suitable Chinese girl they took him to Guangdong Province to find one.

*Raymond and Cindy Lau pose in a photo hanging from a wall in Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe. Photo courtesy of the Lau and Lee families.*

"His brothers and his sisters were all connecting with different ethnicities and that didn't make my grandmother very happy," Karen said. "My father was number one Chinese boy, so she told my grandfather, 'Take him back to China now. Let's go. Let's go find him a wife, a Chinese girl.' So they went abroad and they went around to two different villages, so I hear. And then, when my mom appeared, he said, 'I choose that lady, I choose that girl.'"

Raymond and Sun Choy traveled around China and Hong Kong for about a year before landing in Honolulu. Not long after their arrival, Sun Choy gave birth to their first child, Karen. Though she spoke little to no English and basic housework was equally foreign, she was as willing to learn as her accepting in-laws were to teach.

"She was eager," Karen said. "Everything was new to her. Her mother-in-law and her father-in-law treated her well. The in-laws welcomed her. I think it was just sort of like a welcome addition to the family.

"My mother didn't even know how to cook. She said, 'I didn't even know what a washing machine looked like.' Her sister-in-laws helped her, helped her with dressing, helped her learn how to cook a little bit, how to do laundry a little bit."

Before long, she and Raymond had three kids and she was a busy housewife. Occasionally, she would visit her father-in-law's Chinatown barbershop where, in the back, her sister-in-law Janet Lau ran a small lei shop. Something about stringing lei and feeling the flowers in her hands appealed to the former farm girl.

When her beloved mother-in-law suffered a stroke that left her totally paralyzed, Sun Choy and Raymond served as primary caregivers for five years.

"With three kids and also taking care of this invalid, I mean, my mom just miraculously handled this all. Usually, when you have total paralysis, you don't last that long. My grandmother lived five years bedridden. And you know, there were no diapers back then."

Shortly before her passing, Raymond's father asked what he could do to repay their efforts.

"My grandfather wanted to show gratitude and obligation, and also not feel so… maybe to lighten his guilt because he was already planning his next wedding," Karen said. "He asked my father and my mother, 'What would you like tonight? You know, to repay you. What would you like?'"

The property on Maunakea Street appealed to them.

*Cindy's Lei Shoppe is located on Maunakea Street in Honolulu's Chinatown.*

"They both said, 'Let's take this small space, this property here.' Well, my mom was still helping out at the store here, and that's how they got this property."

Several foundational changes for the business happened around this time. Sister-in-law Janet eloped and offered Sun Choy the then-unnamed lei business.

"She [Janet] had a couple of Hawaiian workers that helped her, and she said, 'They will stay and help you,'" Karen said. "You can have the business. See what you can do. My mom was delighted about that idea and my father said, 'OK, if that's what you want to do.' That was kind of the beginning."

It was around this time that the lei shop supplanted the barbershop at the front of the store, and that Sun Choy adopted an Americanized name. The name change came by way of a favored hairdresser who suggested a slight riff on the Chinese dialect's pronunciation of Sun Choy.

"She used to go to a hairdresser regularly and the hairdresser said, 'Why don't we do it like a nice name?' And then she said, 'What about Cindy?' My mom quickly came home and told my father about it and he thought that was, 'OK, great, a good idea.' And shortly after, my father prepared the sign that you see that is still hanging. And it's called Cindy's Lei Shoppe."

Set to turn 93 this month, Cindy Lau remains a fixture at the busy flower store. The photo of her peering into the future hangs where she still strings flower lei alongside store employees. Her daughter Karen now leads the business that serves the needs of local customers and also ships lei to every state in the union.

*Longtime shop owner Cindy Lau makes a lei.*

*Cindy Lau holds court at the front of the shop.*

Having grown up around the shop, Karen says she took a break after college before returning for good in 1987. She says she has many fond memories, including when her aunt Janet was in charge of the small no-name shop.

"When I was a little girl, I would come over and hang with her because I really liked the idea of getting away from my 'Chinese-iness,'” Karen said. "There was a chance for me to, like, you know, be out in the street and have fun and string lei. My auntie didn't have any girls, so I was kinda like her little Calabash daughter. I loved being a part of it all here, stringing lei and taking the baskets down to the pier and helping her."

*Surrounded by family photos, Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe general manager Karen Lee pauses her busy day to talk about the history of the business.*

Karen says when Cindy took over, the immigrant housewife found she had a knack for business. Cindy was good with customers and not afraid to try new ideas. Her willingness to shift with changing consumer tastes and suppliers helped her shop survive where many Chinatown stores, from big boxes to mom and pops, have fallen by the wayside.

"You gotta realize she came from a village and everybody's Chinese there," Karen said. "Nobody speaks English there, right? Nobody's Americanized yet at that point. I think she was just so enchanted by the whole thing.

*With 92-year-old Cindy Lau stringing a lei in the background, a leimaker creates a lei in the back area of the iconic Honolulu Chinatown lei shop.*

"She was pretty. She was charming. They [the customers] liked her broken English. I think people thought that she was, you know, I'd say, clean and trustworthy. We would have politicians and we would have musicians, the local entertainers. People that came off the Lurline would go back and spread the word of this cute little shop."

Chinatown has gone through growth spurts and downturns, Karen says, adding that the historic district appears to be on the upswing.

A leimaker strings a hefty carnation lei at Cindy’s. Once a staple of Hawaii politicians and entertainers–even Elvis famously wore them–carnation lei are making a comeback. General manager Karen Lee said the shop is planning a carnation promotion for the upcoming graduation season.

"Gosh, when I think of when I was growing up, it was just the pool halls, the dance halls, a few chop suey restaurants," Karen said. "And I would say most of the people were from China, Chinese. But now it's not so Chinese. It's more like a mixed Thai, Vietnamese, locals and then all of a sudden you got the bars, you get the restaurants, you get the art scene. I see a lot of different faces. A lot of the Chinese people have moved out.

"I think we went through kind of a stagnant time, maybe about 15-20 years ago. I think now you see kind of a resurgence. It's like a curiosity, or people are interested in being in Chinatown."

She says an influx of new businesses, from bakeries and pizza shops to a pickleball facility that has taken over the old Fort Street Walmart store, have injected new life into the area. In the middle of it all sits one of the only old-time family shops still going strong: Cindy’s Lei Shoppe. Its staying power can certainly be credited to Cindy, but also all the other family members who have contributed their own time and energy. That it currently has three generations working side by side makes it an anomaly, Karen said.

*Cut flowers and flower arrangements have become part of the shop’s offerings as it stays nimble in an ever-changing consumer market.*

“Usually, you don't go on to three generations. It's a real fine line. It's a lot of toil. Everything is by hand here and it can be grueling sometimes during high season where, you know, you gotta work later."

She says after a stint on Maui in the 1980s she decided to see if she had what it took to survive in the family business.

"I thought, I'll just come and kind of park myself and see if maybe something will come of it. One year led to another, to another, and here I am. Like with my mom, I just got so enchanted by it all. Selling lei is so much easier than selling real estate. And so much more rewarding. It's a happy thing. Giving lei is happy, it's happiness. You know you are moving someone's heart some way."

Karen serves as general manager of the business, while her son Nick is the comptroller and her nephew Alex Lau is the manager. All three were hustling around the busy shop last month as Cindy did her part by stringing a plumeria lei. They say the matriarch has her "good days and bad days," and her hearing and short-term memory may not be what they once were, but she's still the boss.

When it came time to take a photo of Cindy and Karen for this story, Cindy refused until they each held a lei. Having posed for countless reporters, photographers and camera-happy tourists through the years, she knows the value of including the shop's product in pictures.

*Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe owner Cindy Lau poses with daughter Karen Lee. Having grown up around the shop, Lee is now the shop's general manager and a driving force of the popular business.*

"She is a force to this day, to this minute," Karen said. What she's done, she is definitely a force. All the cousins, the aunties, they see, they recognize this. This force, this magic that she has."

Nick says Karen is made of similar stuff. Like Cindy, she has never been shy about shifting with the changing times or putting in a full day's work, day after day after day.

*Nick Lee grew up in the business and now serves as its comptroller.*

"My mom is a real inspiration," Nick said. "She's somebody that's a big person for product. I think working with other people, talking to other people, prompting them and I guess, in some way, getting them to open up. She has that talent, that skill. It's natural. She has a lot of the same instincts as my grandmother, my papa, and my uncle Raymond as well. I think that they're quick on their feet, quick in mind, and with great instincts with people. I think they know how to make people feel seen, heard and remembered. And that goes a long way."

Karen said the family plans to honor Cindy's birthday with a party this month. Every attendee will be encouraged to stand close to Cindy so she can hear them offer a three-minute tribute.

"I'd rather it be said now than when she's no longer here. And I think it'll be easy to say. The words will come easy because of what she's done."

Cindy's Lei Shoppe is open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. To place an order online or learn more, visit cindysleishoppe.com.

*Manager Alex Lau slides buckets of cut flowers to the walk-in cooler.*

*A leimaker creates a haku lei at Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe. Haku lei are worn around the head like a crown, often for very special occasions such as weddings, graduations and hula competitions.*

*Cindy Lau creates lei in a line of leimakers.*

Matthew Thayer 2/21/25 Matthew Thayer 2/21/25

George Kahumoku Jr.: Making connections and sharing aloha

*Four-time Grammy Award winner George Kahumoku Jr. plays a tune at sunset at Napili Bay.*

Story and photos

By MATTHEW THAYER

George Kahumoku Jr. may not have been the strongest or healthiest in his family, nor even its best musician, but his innate curiosity, ingenuity and a burning desire to “find a need and fill it” have led him to heights few would have predicted.

The four-time Grammy Award winner says it’s all about making connections. His relationships with the land, sea and thousands of people he has shared his aloha with through the years have opened opportunities around the world. Not bad for a sickly underdog raised by his grandparents alongside 26 cousins.

With so many colorful twists and turns in Kahumoku’s life story, it is difficult to choose where to start. Do we begin with his tale of a private visit with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II? How she revealed that the first George Kahumoku was a heroic Hawaiian stowaway on a British sailing ship? Or how a later great-grandfather was one of the first Hawaiians to receive a guitar from Spanish cowboys and thus helped lay the foundation for the music genre known as slack key? Or maybe how Nona Beamer dubbed the celebrated Maui storyteller, musician, farmer, teacher and artist “Hawaii’s Renaissance Man” in honor of his willingness to connect traditional Hawaiian techniques with modern science?

Kahumoku picks a papaya on his Kahakuloa farm. The three-acre farm features a wide variety of crops including 30 types of avocado trees, 35 of banana, Hawaiian medicinal plants and herbs. With the assistance of volunteers and paid help, Kahumoku says the farm produces between 500-1,500 pounds of food a week.

Kahumoku has had so many varied careers and experiences, perhaps it is best to harken back to the early days when he was a small child at his grandmother’s knee.

“When I was young, I was really sickly,” Kahumoku said during a recent interview on his remote Kahakuloa farm. “I had asthma. My grandmother wouldn’t let me go out and work.”

While he longed to be with his cousins doing his share, his grandmother kept him busy inside, and in doing so, bestowed him the gift of Hawaiian language.

Wife Nancy Kahumoku shades George Kahumoku with an umbrella as they ride in Kihei's Whale Day Parade in 2010. On display with them is one of the four Grammy Awards he won. Nancy, the sister of the late pianist George Winston, is a driving force behind the career of husband George. “She handles airfare, marketing, branding and doing all the stuff I don't want to do," George Kahumoku said. "I don't want to do paperwork. The only thing I want to do (with paper) is draw or write."

“Most of the time they were the guys outside working hard and I was inside close by my grandmother. In a sense, by being close by my grandmother, she made me read the Bible to her all the time. So there I was reading the Bible in Hawaiian and not knowing I’m learning the language.”

Once he was set loose upon the neighborhood, Kahumoku began cooking up ways to earn money.

“I always felt I had to do more, you know, I always have to push it.”

From mowing lawns and cleaning used cars as a child, to going door to door at age 16 to hawk the services of an Oahu roofing company, Kahumoku displayed an uncanny entrepreneurial streak that continues to this day. He learned early how to turn a nickel into a quarter. Almost from the start, music has been one of his most lucrative hustles.

Kahumoku (from right) plays with special guest Nathan Aweau and Slack Key Show co-host Shem Kahawai'i at the Napili Kai Beach Resort this past Wednesday. It was Kahumoku's last show before heading out on a 12-state, coast to coast tour. The long-running Slack Key Show runs every Wednesday, 6:30-8 p.m. Kahawai'i said he is set to steer the ship while Kahumoku is off spreading his aloha on the Mainland.

He says he was washing cars at Lippy Espinda’s used car lot after school when he happened into his first paying gig. Espinda’s lot was on Kalakaua Avenue, near where the Hawaii Convention Center now stands in Honolulu.

“First time I got paid, I was 11 years old,” Kahumoku said. “This was at the Forbidden City on Kalakaua. It was a strip joint from 10 o'clock at night until about 4 in the morning. But from 3 o'clock in the afternoon to 8 o'clock at night, that is where Kui Lee was playing.

“I was washing cars next door at Lippy Espinda’s used car lot. I was playing guitar during one of my breaks and Kui heard me. He asked me, ‘Hey, come inside and play one song for us.’ I said, ‘OK.’

“I’m kinda shy as a young kid. I take my slack key guitar and they mic it up. I do one of my grandfather’s slack key songs. The place was full of construction workers and carpenters drinking cheap beer and eating free salty food. That place was just packed.”

*Kahumoku plays Wednesday at his Slack Key Show.*

At Espinda’s, Kahumoku says he made a dime for each car he detailed and waxed for the popular TV pitchman credited with popularizing the shaka sign. The fastidious Espinda made little George earn every penny. The goal for Friday afternoons was 10 cars to earn a buck. On Saturdays, he put in 12 hours to hopefully do 30 vehicles and make three dollars.

The reaction to his song at Forbidden City opened his eyes to the power of music.

“I do one song, took me three minutes. Those guys, they throw money on that stage. I made $27.10.” Professionally, I wasn’t paid for the gig; I was paid in tips.”

Every once in a while, Lee would invite him over to play another song. Kahumoku says the paydays were usually similar to the first, or even better. The memory still brings a wide smile to his face.

Oregon fan Carl Christianson takes video as Kahumoku plays his ukulele following Wednesday's Slack Key Show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort. Christianson asked Kahumoku to autograph the instrument for him and ended up with a signature and a song.

*Dr. Norman Estin of Kaanapali snaps a photo of Kahumoku and Christianson.*

Born on the Big Island, Kahumoku and his 26 cousins were moved to Oahu by their great-grandparents while his father, George Kahumoku Sr., and uncles were working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Kwajalein Atoll. The Kahumoku men were stationed there before and during the testing of nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands.

“I have photos of him with no shirt on and glasses they made of Coke bottle bottoms with an atom bomb going off behind him,” Kahumoku said. “They didn’t know. Nobody knew what the hell it was.”

He said the deadly radiation exposure wasn’t limited to the air. When the thrifty Hawaiians saw dead fish floating ashore, they harvested them to cook, salt and smoke.

“He was radiated inside and out,” Kahumoku says. “My uncles too, they all died young. They didn’t even live to be 50 years old. They all died from radiation poison.

“That’s why we were raised by our great-grandparents. First, by our great-grandparents, and then, when they died, by our grandparents, and when they died, by aunties and uncles.”

The elders moved the kids to Oahu with hopes of enrolling them at Kamehameha School. Of the 26 cousins, George was one of two to be admitted. He says his graduating class of 1969 featured some “shakers and movers,” including Keola Beamer, Mililani Trask, Malama Solomon and Kali Watson. Just as he may not have been one of the top stars in school, he says he was middling among family members when it came to making music.

“I wasn’t even the best guitar player in my family,” Kahumoku said. “My younger brother was the best, Moses. And I had cousins who were even way better. I was probably like the 11th best player, but I was the guy who knew how to turn it into money. That’s the big difference. The other guys were shy and stuff like that. And they needed to drink or get loaded, get high before they could play, to get enough encouragement.

“I was always the underdog when I was little because I have asthma. And I always wanted to prove that, okay, you know, I can do this. And my sister still says, ‘til today, she says, ‘George the race is over, you already won.’ She’s trying to get me to slow down too. But I don’t know how to slow down.”

Wainani Kealoha performs a hula at the Slack Key Show to a song played by Nathan Aweau. She has been with the show since 2012 and says it is "an honor" to work with Kahumoku. "George cares, he cares about people, he cares about the land," Kealoha said. "He loves to take care of the homeless. He's really one of a kind. He'll help anybody."

*Kealoha helps lead concert goers in singing Aloha 'Oe at the close of Wednesday's show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort on Maui.*

Now 74 years old and sporting a pacemaker to help his heart keep time with his busy mind, Kahumoku’s schedule is frenetic as ever. Not only is he running a farm, playing four gigs a week and thinking about adding another show, he and his wife Nancy will soon be leaving on a 12-state tour that will see him do 22 events in four weeks. Traveling with them will be fellow Hawaiian slack key legends Herb Ohta Jr. and Sonny Lim. Kahumoku says they will do workshops and small performances by day and play larger venues in the evenings.

It will be a chance for folks from coast to coast to hear great Hawaiian music and, no doubt, be treated to heartfelt stories about the islands and the people of Hawaii. A storyteller at heart, Kahumoku loves to share tales of the past. They might be about Hawaiian legends, working as a welder on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, or how he raised pigs and produce on the Big Island.

As for where he got his first name, he says it took a royal visit to learn the answer. Kahumoku said he was part of an entourage from Hawaii that traveled to London in 1977 for Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. For his part, he played her the song, “Queen’s Jubilee,” which had been written for Queen Victoria in 1887 by Hawaii's Princess Liliuokalani.

Later in the reception line when it was his turn to introduce himself, the queen repeated his name before shaking his hand. The next day, he says, he received a note from the queen expressing a desire to meet. A car was sent to fetch Kahumoku, and the next thing he knew, he was down in “the dungeons” exploring the royal archives with the monarch herself.

Wearing a mask and white gloves to preserve the fragile paper, Kahumoku was led to where the captain’s logs are kept. The queen explained that an important part of her education was studying the leather-bound, handwritten tomes penned by ship’s captains who roamed the planet in service of country, king and queen. One can only imagine the geography, history, economics, politics and other subjects to be gleaned from the crumbling pages.

Queen Elizabeth directed him to a particular log, one with a story from 1793 about a heroic young Hawaiian. The surname and hometown were spelled phonetically, but both were easily recognizable.

“In the book, it says there is a young Kahumoku who is a stowaway from Kealakekua,” Kahumoku said. “That’s where my family is from, Kona. There was a huge storm right out of Nova Scotia and what happened is, the first mate fell overboard. None of those sailors knew how to swim. They don't know how to swim because they don’t go into the ocean. Here’s young Kahumoku straight out of Kealakekua Bay. He knows how to swim, how to surf and everything. So, when the guy falls overboard, he jumps into the cold icy waters and saves the first mate and brings him aboard. When he reaches England, he is knighted ‘George’ by King George. King George knighted him after himself.”

The queen let the words from the yellowing pages sink in for a moment, then asked: “Are you related? Are you from Kealakekua?” To his affirmative, she continued, “Well, that was the first George Kahumoku. What number are you?”

The young Hawaiian musician said his father was number seven and one of his brothers was number eight, so that made him George IX.

He says the queen did more than share a bit of history. As with other invited nations and communities touched by the British Empire, the Hawaii contingent returned home with a cache of important historical artifacts that had been collected and sent to England through the centuries.

Kahumoku (from left) shares a break with farm helpers Leo Kalua'u and Pascual Lopez Kelilikane. "It's a blessing we have uncles like this who bring us back into the old ways," Kalua'u said. "He's not only a good guy, he's an inspiration to young men."

Kahumoku’s meeting with the queen can be chalked up to fate or coincidence, but so many of his connections happen because he seeks and nurtures them. What other musician do you know who displays guest books at their shows and then mails postcards to the mainland to let people know he is coming to their town? Who else invites audience members to their farm to help with the chores and share a meal?

“I think the big thing I want people to realize, I’m just an ordinary person who saw an opportunity to connect,” he said. “To help others connect with others and make something useful out of it. Come up with something that can help out each other.

“The money was never the bottom line. The first line is connection. Even with my cousins, I’m just an ordinary guy doing extraordinary things. But it’s not that extraordinary if you look around. Like, people’s lawns needed to be done, so I mowed yards. People needed ginger, so I raised ginger. Then the next thing you know, I’m selling them Chinese taro and then avocados. It’s just one thing rolls into the next. I didn’t plan any of it, that’s for sure. I just go with the flow.”

*Kahumoku conducts a Hawaiian blessing at a tree-planting event in Wailuku in 2020.*

When Kahumoku is on Maui and not on tour, he says he generally performs on Mondays at Pailolo Bar & Grill at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort, Wednesdays at his own long-running Slack Key Show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort, Fridays at Kula Lodge and Saturdays at Leilani’s on the Beach in Kaanapali.

Going with the flow these days means that he and Nancy have put the Kahakuloa farm where they have lived for the past 22 years up for sale. Once it sells, a move to the mainland to be closer to their grandchildren is in the offing. As hard as it must be to leave behind all his trees, plants, friends, clients and neighbors, change has never frightened George Kahumoku Jr.

Perhaps it is because he never stops making connections, never stops learning and creating and never stops sharing his aloha.

To learn more about George Kahumoku's tour schedule, workshops, store, blog and how to connect, visit https://kahumoku.com.

George and Nancy Kahumoku share smiles during a community performance at a post-pandemic event in Lahaina in 2022. The Kahumokus are familiar faces at fundraisers and other Maui functions where they lend their talents to help others.

*Merchandize available at Kahumoku shows includes books, CDs, artwork and sheet music to some of the several thousand songs and chants he has written through the years.*

*Kahumoku takes a photo of achiote, or red dye lipstick pods, growing on his farm. He said the pods are used to make Puerto Rican pasteles and gandule rice.*

*Kahumoku cups an edible nasturtium flower growing on his Kahakuloa farm.*

*Raindrops collect on the leaves of one of Kahumoku’s tapioca plants.*

Kahumoku holds an Okinawan spinach leaf grown at his farm. He says the leaves are tasty eaten fresh, lightly poached or steamed. Spinach from his farm is featured on the menu at Hula Grill restaurant in Kaanapali, he said.

Matthew Thayer 1/5/25 Matthew Thayer 1/5/25

Matsuyama wins The Sentry going away

*Hideki Matsuyama hoists The Sentry champion's trophy Sunday afternoon on the Kapalua Plantation Course's 18th green.*

By MATTHEW THAYER

Hideki Matsuyama put proof to the old saying, "Beware the injured golfer," as he shook off a lingering illness and sores in his mouth that made it hard to talk, to stamp his name in the PGA Tour record book with a dominating win at The Sentry Sunday.

Crafting an eight-under-par 65 in shifting winds over the final round at the Kapalua Plantation Course, his 35-under-par total set a new PGA Tour record score in relation to par. Cameron Smith set the previous record while winning the 2022 Sentry title at 34-under on the par-73 Plantation Course. Matsuyama also set a PGA record for birdies in a 72-hole tournament with 35. His steady birdie barrage was too much for weekend playing partner Collin Morikawa, who shot 67 Sunday for 32-under and solo second place. Sungjae Im finished third at 29-under.

*Matsuyama pumps his fist as his birdie putt on No. 18 drops into the cup Sunday.*

In his post-round press conference Sunday, Matsuyama was asked about his on-course conversations with caddie Shota Hayafuji, and he revealed he has been so under the weather speaking has been difficult.

"You know, I actually wasn't feeling too well this week, and so I was really just focused on what I needed to do, so I really didn't speak much, so there's nothing that I can remember that comes to mind.

"In December I was kind of ill, and kind of, I thought I was better coming into this tournament, I had a couple sores in my mouth, so it was hard for me to speak this week, so that's what I had coming in."

*Matsuyama pats caddie Shota Hayafuji on the back after their win Sunday.*

*At the conclusion of an epic weekend head-to-head battle on the Kapalua Plantation Course, The Sentry winner Hideki Matsuyama (right) shakes hands with runner-up Collin Morikawa Sunday afternoon.*

Though he said the illness limited his practice time, you couldn't tell by the way he played, posting scores of 65, 65, 62, 65 over his four rounds. For the 32-year-old Japanese pro, it was his 11th PGA Tour win in 265 starts. He won the Sony Open on Oahu in 2022, and is now one of seven players to win both Hawaii events, joining Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson, Justin Thomas and Smith.

Morikawa said he felt like he left some shots and opportunities on the course, but could not take anything away from Matsuyama's play, especially his chip-in for eagle from 105 yards on the third hole Sunday.

*Morikawa putts on the Kapalua Plantation Course's 18th green Sunday afternoon.*

"Yeah, excuse my language, but 35-under par is, that's low," Morikawa said. "I mean, he was matching me yesterday shot for shot, and I felt like I was playing lights out, right? Like, yes, you could leave some shots out there, but you shoot 11-under on any golf course, you're going to be happy, right? Today he just never let up. Then you get to the third hole and the guy holes it. I just knew I had to be on top of everything, and just kind of let a few slip on that front nine. Played a good back nine, but to win on a course like this, conditions like this, you got to have it for 72, and I had it for 65."

*Matsuyama (left) pounds his drive off the tee on No. 16 as Morikawa looks on Sunday.*

Out of the $20 million purse, Matsuyama pocketed $3.6 million, Morikawa earned $2.2 million and third-place Im took home $1.4 million.

Morikawa leads a large Sunday gallery up the No. 15 fairway. The threesome of Morikawa, eventual winner Hideki Matsuyama and Thomas Detry had the largest crowd all day long as golf fans followed their play on the hilly Kapalua Plantation Course.

*Belgian pro Thomas Detry gets off to a rough start Sunday as he sand shot on No. 2 carroms sideways off the lip of the trap set up a double bogey.*

*Jhonattan Vegas tees off on No. 10 Sunday. Vegas finished fourth at 25-under, good for $975,000.*

*Sungjae Im follows through on his drive off the 10th hole Sunday. Im finished third at 29 under par to win $1.4 million.*

Matthew Thayer 1/3/25 Matthew Thayer 1/3/25

Two crowd favorites top crowded Kapalua leaderboard

*Second-round leader Hideki Matsuyama follows through on his drive on the uphill fourth hole Friday.*

By Matthew Thayer

Two crowd favorites who have played well through the years at the Kapalua Plantation Course without capturing a win, Hideki Matsuyama and Collin Morikawa, sit atop the leaderboard halfway through The Sentry PGA Tour season-opening golf tournament.

Matsuyama is alone in first place after posting his second-straight eight-under-par 65 Friday to put him at 16 under. Second place Morikawa matched that 65 to reach 15 under.

Collin Morikawa walks off the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth green after settling for par. The former Cal Bear shot an eight-under-par 65 and is alone at second place halfway through The Sentry at 15 under.

Those scores were far from dominating as the leaderboard is crowded at the top. Four golfers, Corey Conners, Maverick McNealy, Tom Hoge and Thomas Detry, are tied for third and 14 under. Four pros, Keegan Bradley Harry Hall, Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark, are tied for seventh at 13 under. Another six players are within six shots of the lead.

Offering short answers in his post-round media interview, Matsuyama, a Japanese pro out of Sendai Japan, was asked why he plays well in Hawaii.

Second-round leader Hideki Matsuyama chips to the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth green Friday. His second-straight eight-under-par 65 put him at 16 under, one shot clear of second-place Collin Morikawa as they head into the weekend of the $20 million PGA Tour golf tournament at the Kapalua Plantation Course.

"You know, obviously the views are beautiful here, I haven't played well here in a while, so it's good to get off to a good start here," he said.

Former University of California Berkeley player Morikawa, whose family roots on Maui date back to a family-owned restaurant on Lahaina's Front Street, said knowing the layout helped him to remain confident during a slow start to the day. He finished Friday's round with five-straight birdies.

Peter Malnati gives an autographed golf ball to volunteer standard bearer Felix Eisenberg, 13, after shooting a nine-under-par 64 Friday. Eisenberg is Maui Junior Golf member and a sixth grader at Kalama Intermediate School.

"Yeah, I mean, when you look at the leaderboard, and I'm through six holes and I'm even par, and guys are lapping the field already," Morikawa said. But like I said, it's not telling myself I got to be patient. I just know this golf course and I know at any point you can kind of go on a little stretch of birdies, and I just had to keep playing my game. The game felt solid enough to shoot a low score and thankfully it came on that back half of the round today."

Morikawa said favorable conditions and low winds mean weekend scores are sure to go low.

*Corey Conners (left) shakes hands with playing partner Nico Echavarria after their round Friday. Canadian Conners shot his second-straight 66 and is tied for third at 14 under.*

"Yeah, look, I know guys are going to take it low," Morikawa said. "I like to look at leaderboards and I know by the time I start tomorrow, someone's probably going to have the lead, someone else, before Hideki and I go out. But it's just like I said. I feel like from hole one all the way through 18, I can make birdies and with that mindset, it's not about rushing, like, getting to 5-under by 9. If it comes, it comes."

*A mirror reflects golf patrons walking the steep uphill path alongside the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth hole Friday.*

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley hits his long approach to No. 9 Friday.

*Viktor Hovland lines up a putt on No. 9 green Friday. Visibly limping from a broken toe when he finished his round, the Norwegien pro shot 69 and is tied for 29th at four under.*

*Tony Finau misses a birdie putt on No. 9 Friday. Finau shot 69 and is tied for 13th place at 10 under par.*

*Brian Harman hits from the deep rough on his way to posting bogey on No. 18 Friday. He shot 74 and sits alone at 58th place in the 59-player field.*

*Two-time tournament champion Justin Thomas chips to the ninth hole after his long approach sailed over the green Friday. He finished with a 71 that put him in a tie for 44th place at four under.*

*No doubt, there's a story that goes with the golf-ball-sized dent in the Sentry signage along the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth hole Friday.*

*Belgian pro Thomas Detry tees off on No. 3 Friday. He shot 65 and is part of a four-player tie for third place at 14 under.*

*Peter Malnati waves to the gallery on No. 18 green after sinking a birdie putt to seal a nine-under-par 64 Friday.*

*Max Greyserman hits his approach to No. 18 Friday. He shot 67.*

Matthew Thayer 1/2/25 Matthew Thayer 1/2/25

New dad leads The Sentry on Maui

The Sentry first-round leader Tom Hoge (left) and playing partner Adam Hadwin converse on the Kapalua Plantation Course's 18th green as they wait to close out their rounds Thursday afternoon. Hoge finished with a nine-under-par 64, while Hadwin posted a six-under 67.

By MATTHEW THAYER

New father Tom Hoge, a 35-year-old pro out of Fargo, N.D., made the most of an early tee time to grab the first-round lead of The Sentry PGA golf tournament Thursday at the Kapalua Plantation Course.

Hoge fired a nine-under-par, 64, a score that was good for a one-shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama and Will Zalatoris who both posted 65s. Tied for fourth, two shots behind Hoge going into Friday's second round, are Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa and Corey Conners.

*Hideki Matsuyama follows through on the Kapalua Plantation Course's first tee Thursday.*

In his press conference following his round, Hoge was asked why he had taken time off recently and he said he and wife Kelly had their first child in December.

"I played all the way through Mexico, first week of November," Hoge said. "Then was just at home, and we had our first child in early December, so kind of forced time off. I feel like with the changes in the schedule, last year was a lot of golf from now until the TOUR Championship, it was cramped in there pretty tight, so I felt like I was pretty burned out at that point, needed a little bit of time away."

*Will Zalatoris tees off on the Kapalua Plantation Course's first tee Thursday.*

He said the break tempered his Maui hopes.

"Really didn't have much for expectations coming in, because there wasn't a whole lot of play or practice the last few months. But felt like I was putting really well coming into the week."

*Cameron Young tosses his ball to his caddie on the No. 18 green Thursday.*

Tied for fourth at seven-under 66 are Adam Hadwin, Thomas Detry and Tony Finau. Tied for 10th at six-under are Jhonattan Vegas, Harry Hall, Aaron Rai, Austin Eckroat, Maverick McNealy and Adam Scott.

The 72-hole, $20 million tournament is scheduled to conclude Sunday with the winner taking home a check for $3.6 million. Second place in the 59-member field is good for $2.16 million, while last will garner $50,000. With fair weather and moderate winds predicted, it will likely take a very low score to win. The tournament record was set in 2022 by Cameron Smith, who finished 34 strokes under par after four rounds on the par 73 Plantation Course.