A happy, if a little belated, 30th anniversary to the Aloha Section PGA, which is made up of 173 golf professionals and 60 apprentices working at the more than 80 golf courses throughout the state.

It was on Sept. 2, 1976, that the local section was fully incorporated and officially became a part of the PGA of America, the governing body that brings you the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

The anniversary might have gone unnoticed had it not been for Joy Kunishima, the Aloha Section's administrative assistant, who noticed the date and said, "Hey, wait a minute. If the PGA of America is observing its 90th anniversary this year, we should, too."

If you know the history of local golf, this anniversary is an even bigger deal.

The sport never took off until statehood in 1959, but people have been golfing in the Islands since the late 1890s. There were attempts to form a golf association locally in the 1930s, and World War II brought things to a complete halt a decade later.

It didn't help that the PGA of America had a disgraceful Caucasian-only membership clause until 1961, would you believe it?

With that racist restriction eliminated, the number of golf professionals in Hawai'i soon grew to around 28. Too small for their own section, they organized to become a chapter of the Southern California PGA Section. That move was necessitated to bring the first PGA Tour event, the Hawaiian Open, here in 1965.

Hawai'i remained a chapter until it fought to get its own section, joining the Northern and Southern California sections to form District 11.

Even then it took some doing, according to Ron Castillo Sr., who along with Ben Neeley and Jerry Johnston, were among the pros spearheading the movement for independence.

"We were such a small voice, we had no say. We had to request Southern California to do anything," Castillo said. "Even the qualifying for the Hawaiian Open was held in California."

Added Neeley, now Waikele's director of golf, "We were in the middle of the Pacific, doing our own thing. We really wanted to have our own autonomy."

Southern California wasn't too happy at Hawai'i getting its own section. It, along with the PGA of America, soon came to realize that the golf professionals in Hawai'i had "a little juice," according to Castillo.

When the PGA of America held its annual meeting here in 1974, welcoming the delegates was Gov. George Ariyoshi, who urged them to support a move to give Hawai'i its own section in his keynote address.

"The AMA (American Medical Association) also had a dinner that night, but Ariyoshi came to ours instead. Also, five of the (then) seven city council members," Castillo recalled. "It just blew their freaking minds that all these politicians attended."

And, so, the Aloha Section PGA finally became a reality in 1976.

Today, it continues to thrive by holding 12 tournaments for its PGA members, including local qualifiers in four PGA of America's national tournaments, and the local qualifying for the Westfield PGA Junior Championships in Ohio.

And, yes, it now handles the Sony Open in Hawai'i qualifying, not the Southern California section.

The Aloha Section also oversees the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame, publishes a golf guide, conducts training programs for its apprentices and seminars for outsiders, including high school coaches and other people in the community, according to Paul Sugimoto, executive director since 1998.

This year, it also formed a tax-exempt PGA Foundation that will result in the awarding of scholarships and contributions to charitable organizations. The major fundraiser is the Aloha Section PGA Scramble.

Besides Kunishima — the office's "All Everything," says Sugimoto — also on the Aloha Section staff is Don Hirata, the tournament director.

The current president is Matt Hall, Turtle Bay Resort's director of golf. "We want to increase our visibility in the community, getting our professionals more involved. We're also taking the lead in providing a clearer picture of the golf industry and its impact on the economy," Hall said.

He is continuing the tradition of a long line of Aloha Section PGA presidents over the years, including Neeley and Castillo, the first named to that position 30 years ago.

Besides Castillo, the list of the other officers in 1976 reads like a who's who of local golf — Earl Howard, secretary; Henry Rente, treasurer; Fran Cipro, tournament director; and Neeley, Bill Schwallie, Bob Helmes and Henry Yogi were among the directors.

The Aloha Section PGA has indeed come a long way in 30 years and hopes to continue to grow with the help of its many friends and tournament sponsors.