Kevin Ralbovsky, a member of the Aloha Section PGA and director of the KMR School of Golf, is Golf Digest's Top Golf Instructor in Hawai'i in its new biennial ranking, published in the August issue. The magazine's list of America's 50 Greatest Teachers includes a list for each state. Ralbovsky was first in Hawai'i, followed by Kapalua Academy's Jerry King and Ben Hongo, Wailea's Eddie Lee and Hilo Muni's Kevin Hayashi.

Ralbovsky's students have included Tadd Fujikawa, Stephanie Kono, Mari Chun, Ryan Perez, Amanda Wilson, Lorens Chan, Ayaka Kaneko and California's Sydney Burlison, now at Stanford. Ralbovsky is a two-time Aloha Section PGA Teacher of the Year, and has now been named Hawai'i's top teacher twice by Golf Digest.

Butch Harmon was voted the country's top teacher for the fifth consecutive time. Don Hurter, who grew up in Hawai'i and is now head pro at Castle Pines in Colorado, is 42nd on the national list.

6 HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS

Six high school scholar-athletes and four Aloha Section PGA apprentices were awarded scholarships by the section's foundation.

High school scholarships worth $2,000 each went to Zakry Akagi-Bustin (Leilehua/Creighton), Dayna Bersamin (Baldwin/UH-Hilo), Natasha Fong ('Aiea/UH-Manoa), Anna Jang (Punahou/Princeton), Henry Park (Kealakehe/UH-Manoa) and Hayley Young (Mid-Pacific/Boise State).

Winners were selected based on academic excellence, involvement in golf, community involvement and other criteria.

Apprentice scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500 were earned by Ed Angulo (Dunes at Maui Lani), Kendric Kimizuka (Kaua'i Lagoons), Matt Leininger (Waikoloa Village) and Regan Lee (Pearl).

They were selected based on their performance in the PGA's Professional Golf Management program.

The Aloha Section PGA Foundation Scholarship Program was established in 2007 to encourage and promote the attainment of higher educational goals for high school seniors and current college students who have actively participated in golf and excelled in academics. To date, $38,000 has been awarded.

PRO-PRO TOURNAMENT TEES OFF AT KA'ANAPALI

Two-man teams of Aloha Section members, apprentices and ATPs compete in the Pro-Pro Championship, beginning Sunday at Ka'anapali Kai on Maui. The final round is Monday. The purse is $5,400.

TJ Figueroa and Garrett Okamura won last year with a 36-hole score of 130 in the 4-ball format. There are 21 teams this year, including Kapalua's Jerry King and Mililani's Matt Pakkala, Turtle Bay's Kevin Carll and GolfTEC Hawai'i's John Lynch, Rodney Acia and Lee Hardy of Hilo Muni and Makena's Brian Sasada and Kirk Nelson.