It wasn't easy getting the Governor's Cup — or, more formally, the Gov. John A. Burns Challenge Cup — to settle on a date and site for the two-day team competition that will be played for the 36th time this year.

The decision was reached after considering four dates and three golf courses. There was also a failure to communicate among some of the people involved, leading to a few ruffled feelings. But, it's all settled, at least for this year.

Using a Ryder Cup format, the event pitting the state's leading professionals and amateurs will be held Dec. 22 and 23 at the Turtle Bay Resort.

"We were Plan C," said Matt Hall, director of golf at Turtle Bay, which will host the Governor's Cup for the first time.

Plans A and B involved the Mid-Pacific Country Club, which had hosted the event the past seven years, and the Oahu Country Club, which was approached because of the driving distance to Turtle Bay.

Plan A had called for the Governor's Cup to be held Nov. 24 and 25 at Mid-Pac as originally scheduled. When several pros told Hall, who's also the Aloha Section PGA president, that it was too close to the Hawai'i State Open (next week at Hawai'i Prince), making it difficult to take that much time off work, a December date was suggested.

With a busy Christmas schedule and aeration planned, Mid-Pac couldn't accommodate a December date. Oahu Country Club, Plan B, was also asked for Monday-Tuesday times before Christmas. But the club is just too busy that week, said head professional Andrew Feldmann. He thought the OCC golf committee was amenable to another slot in December. But, by then, it was time to lock in Plan C.

"We are very excited to have the state's best golfers competing in this historic event," said Hall. "We will be using the Palmer Course on the 22nd and the Fazio Course on the 23rd with the all the matches finishing in front of the clubhouse on the Fazio Course's 9th hole on Tuesday."

Turtle Bay Resort will host a pre-tournament dinner and provide team shirts for the 24 players and the team captains, Ron Castillo Sr. (pros) and Phil Anamizu (amateurs).

Castillo was critical of the change in date and site, mostly because he felt he was left out of the loop in the decision-making.

"This is not an Aloha Section event. It doesn't cost the section one penny," said Castillo, one of the founding directors of the ASPGA. He also happened to be the one who got the Governor's Cup started in 1973 with his close friend, Jim Burns, who wanted to honor his late father and former governor of Hawai'i. Castillo was then head golf professional at the Hawai'i Kai Golf Course, which hosted the Governor's Cup for the first 10 years.

"Now that it's at Turtle Bay, we'll do it that way. But I hope to go back to Mid-Pac next year," Castillo said.

Mid-Pac is more than happy to host the Governor's Cup again, according to head pro, Mark Sousa, who said that things just couldn't be worked out because of the switch in months. The Lanikai country club welcomed the event in 2001 after it had a brief stop at the Koolau Golf Club after bouncing around from course to course — Pearl Country Club, Leilehua, 'Ewa Beach International, Hickam's Mamala Bay and then Ko'olau GC.

Whether Mid-Pacific Country Club is an ideal home or not, the Governor's Cup has been around too long and is too important an event on the local golf schedule for it to be subjected to personal feelings.

The pros might not feel the Governor's Cup is that big a deal, especially because of other commitments or having to take time off to play in it at their own expense. But it's perhaps the single-most important outing for the local amateurs, especially in the last 10 years, which happens to coincide when the Sony Open in Hawaii replaced the United Airlines Hawaiian Open at the Waialae Country Club.

Reason? The 12 amateurs who compete in the Governor's Cup get to play for the one amateur exemption in the Sony Open, thanks to the Friends of Hawaii Charities. I don't think there's any host site that provides odds better than 12-1 for an amateur to play in a PGA Tour event.

That's why Anamizu, who hasn't as yet contacted the 12 players who earned their way on his team because of the late announcement, is confident they'll all play. They are Lorens Chan, an 'Iolani freshman and the leading point-getter, Alex Ching, Travis Toyama, Max Bonk, Bradley Shigezawa, Brandan Kop, T.J. Kua, Alex Chu, Chris Igawa, David Fink, Jonathan Ota and Neal Takara.

Toyama, who won the Hawai'i State Amateur championship in March, says he can't wait for the Governor's Cup and the Sony Open qualifying. "It's something I'm looking forward to," said Toyama, who teamed with Luana Hills pro Leland Lindsay to win the Bridgestone Pro-Scratch Championship Tuesday at the Pearl Country Club.

Toyama, who played collegiately at the University of Hawai'i, thinks the December date is better than November for local golfers away at Mainland colleges such as Ching (San Diego University) and Bonk (Pacific University).

"If it's in November, they'd have to come home twice. It would be pretty expensive for them," Toyama said. With the Governor's Cup scheduled for Dec. 22 and 23 and the Sony Open qualifying on Dec. 29 at Waialae CC this year, it'll be ideal for them, he added.

Ching, who won four tournaments this year, including the Manoa Cup, won the amateur spot for the 2008 Sony Open but missed the cut.

Burns, who has partly financed the Governor's Cup out of his own pocket, is happy that Turtle Bay is hosting the event. Anything, he feels, to keep the event going.

"I think it worked out well this year," Burns said. "It'll be helpful with the dollar that the major sponsor is Turtle Bay." He considers AIG Hawaii, which has sponsored the Governor's Cup the last two years, is still a viable contributor. "I would still list them as a co-sponsor. The local AIG company's OK even if the national company is in the tank."

Even though the PGA Tour continues to covet that amateur spot, Burns feels it won't be easily taken away.

"At the moment, we're OK. But it's always a worry. Tadd (Fujikawa) qualifying really helped to keep it. He obviously made the Sony Open that year (2007)," Burns said about the youngster who used the Governor's Cup exemption to become the youngest in 50 years to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.

Burns and Tony Guerrero, who's on a four-man golf committee that has been instrumental in keeping that amateur exemption, just hopes there's another Tadd Fujikawa story waiting to happen this year.