Moving up
Shimomura aims for pro golf
KAANAPALI — Chris Shimomura is ready to take his best shot at professional golf.
He is headed to the fourth stop on the Qualifying School calendar for the Mackenzie Tour, next week at Soboba Springs Golf Course in San Jacinto, Calif.
Shimomura, a 2010 Lahainaluna High School and 2014 University of Hawaii-Hilo graduate, will have former Vulcans teammates Chris Armanini on his bag as caddie.
“Right now, I’m just playing, trying to get ready for the journey ahead,” Shimomura said from the driving range at Kaanapali on Thursday. “I’ve got Q-School in California coming up in about a week and then after that I fly back here and then I go up to Arizona at the beginning of April — I’m going to do a couple of the mini tours there.
“There’s the Outlaw Tour there and then there’s a tournament, the Parker Open, that I’m going to play.”
There are seven stops on the single-stage Mackenzie Tour Q-School format. Five cards to the circuit — also widely known as the PGA Canada Tour — will be on the line at Soboba Springs.
“I haven’t played Soboba, but I’ve talked to a few people who have,” Shimomura said. “And I’ve kind of picked their brains about it.”
Since graduating from UH-Hilo, Shimomura has worked “here and there” at Kaanapali and Kapalua as an assistant pro, but he feels at 28 years old it’s time to take his best shot at playing golf for money.
“I’ve just been playing tournaments in the islands here and I’ve done pretty well,” he said. “I won the Maui Open in 2019, or whenever they had it last. From there, I’ve been kind of working on the game, the pandemic happened and whatnot. Luckily we had Sean Bedard — he’s been running the Shaka Tour.
“I’ve been playing there, won an event there on the Shaka Tour, been playing pretty decent. For the most part, been playing as much as I can with what’s going on.”
Now, he is moving up the ranks — instead of playing locally against friends for a little money, he is trying to move to one of the top minorleague tours in the world.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work with Chris (Armanini) here, both on the course and off the course, you know, body wise,” Shimomura said. “Game feeling good, body feeling good. I’ve just got to put everything together and have a good week.”
Armanini, a decorated teaching pro at Kaanapali, has been working after hours with Shimomura for months preparing for this chance.
“It’s a true pleasure working with a professional of his caliber,” Armanini said. “He works hard — everything I’ve asked him to do, he’s done it tenfold. Really our big thing was working on his body would hold up through what tournaments demand, so we’ve worked really hard on getting his body in shape.”
Shimomura has been able to put about 10 pounds of muscle on his 5-foot-7 frame, moving to about 130 pounds.
“I’m not the biggest guy, but I know how to get around the course,” Shimomura said. “The strength of my game is I’m pretty straight for the most part, my putting has always been pretty solid. Short game, that’s what I’ve been trying to focus on. I’ve been trying to get some length off the tee, which I’ve been getting, but I always rely on the short game and the putting,” Working with Armanini has helped Shimomura hone in on the immediate task at hand.
“It’s been easy,” Shimomura said. “I mean, we’ve known each other for a while, played college golf together. He knows my game and more or less how I work.”
Having Armanini on the bag will “help a lot, from shot to shot. He’ll be easy to talk to, I know he’ll be kind of keeping me loose out there. If I get in a tight spot he’ll loosen me up and we’ll work through everything.”