It hasn't been the best of times in local golf.

Hawai'i's teenage pros, Michelle Wie and Tadd Fujikawa, missed cuts in tournaments they entered. For both, instead of, "Oh, Canada," it was woe, Canada.

Kaua'i's Casey Watabu didn't cut it in the U.S. Amateur, missing out on his last hope of making the Walker Cup team.

And Parker McLachlin blew a seven-stroke lead going into Sunday's final round in the last Nationwide Tour event.

So we all could use some good news: Two defunct golf tournaments are being revived this year — the Makaha Open and the Mayor's Cup — although the latter will undergo a name and format change.

The most noteworthy return of the two is the Makaha Open, once one of the premier events on the Hawai'i golf calendar.

Details haven't been finalized, but the 54-hole championship will be played Dec. 7 to 9 with a pro-am scheduled for Dec. 6, according to Ron Kiaaina Jr., Makaha Resort's director of golf.

"It's nice to revive the thing," Kiaaina said. "(It's) an event to look forward to at the end of the year."

Lance Suzuki won the inaugural Makaha Open in 1980. Other winners include David Ishii, Casey Nakama and Dick McClean.

Kevin Hayashi was the winner of the last Makaha Open, sponsored by the resort's previous owner, All Nippon Airways, in 1993. It was the last time a professional tournament was held there, although it did host the Sony Open Monday qualifying this year.

"I thought it was a great tournament. Makaha is a great golf course, one of the toughest ... really challenging from tee to green," Hayashi said.

As for the Mayor's Cup, it was once a popular amateur event at the Ala Wai Golf Course before disappearing from the golf scene last year.

It's being resurrected as the Mayors' Challenge Cup Nov. 10-11 at the Ala Wai Golf Course with 12-person teams representing O'ahu and Kaua'i.

There's a new wrinkle, though. It'll require a 36-hole qualifying to determine the players. And, instead of an individual low gross champion, it'll be a team competition.

Making up the teams will be the top-three finishers (by flights) in the open, senior, super senior (60 and older) and women's divisions. The O'ahu qualifying is Oct. 6-7 at the Ala Wai Golf Course.

The event is the brainchild of Kerry Komatsubara, a local attorney, after he talked about reviving the event with Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Komatsubara wanted to make it open to more players, hence the competition based on net scores. Golfers must be county residents with an established USGA handicap index.

"We thought it'd make for more human interest stories because it's a blue-collar tournament" said Komatsubara. Besides, he adds, it would be a good incentive to encourage the counties to spruce up their municipal courses.

He had hoped that Maui and the Big Island would also enter teams, but only O'ahu and Kaua'i had expressed interest in the inaugural event.

"If we do a good job, maybe the other islands will join in. The first year is always the hardest," said Komatsubara, who hopes next year's event will be played at Wailua.

It's a can't-lose situation for Hannemann and Kaua'i mayor Bryan Baptiste. The money won't come out of county pockets. It will come from private sponsors, according to Komatsubara.

Entry fee for the two-day qualifying is $112 with $62 going to the city for green fee and cart. There is no additional cost for those qualifying.

For information, call 595-0908. Entry forms are available at all O'ahu municipal courses.

A HAWAI'I FIRST

Congratulations to Diane Plotts, who will become the first woman president of a private country club in Hawai'i when she begins a one-year term Oct. 1 at the Oahu Country Club, replacing Jim McWhinnie.

The state's oldest private country, OCC celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

"I'm honored that OCC would do that. It's special, but don't make too big a deal about it. It's not my style," said Plotts, although she admits it's a rare distinction nationally.

An OCC member since 1975, Plotts says she plays to a "struggling 18" handicap and tries to get out at least once a week, usually walking nine holes in the morning at the hilly Nu'uanu Valley course.

A former general partner of Hemmeter-related companies that developed Hyatt Regency Waikiki and other Hyatt hotels, Plotts, 72, has been a Kamehameha Schools trustee since 2000 and holds business directorships with Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., and American Savings Bank.

Active in community service, Plotts was a founding director of the Bank of Honolulu and the Plaza Club, which she also served as its president.