Waiakea’s Trevor Hirata dominated the field during both days of the BIIF golf championships. He opened the tourney with a round of 68 at Hualalai, taking an eight stroke lead into the final day of competition on Tuesday at The Club at Hokulia.
Waiakea’s Trevor Hirata dominated the field during both days of the BIIF golf championships. He opened the tourney with a round of 68 at Hualalai, taking an eight stroke lead into the final day of competition on Tuesday at The Club at Hokulia.
The junior managed to widen his lead on Tuesday, shooting another round of 68 for a two day score of 136, finishing 17 shots ahead of of teammate Shon Katahira, who finished second after shooting a 78 on the first day and a 75 on the second day for a total of 153.
“I am pretty stoked,” Hirata said. “I was hitting the ball well and only made a couple of mistakes that I was able to recover from.”
In two rounds of golf, Hirata shot over-par on only two holes. On the first day of the tourney, Hirata had a double bogey on the second hole, but it would be his only blemish in the round. Tuesday at Hokulia, Hirata had just one bogey, which came on the hole No. 15, but he was able to bounce back with a birdie on 16.
“Making that birdie was a good confidence booster heading into the final two holes,” Hirata said. “The course was in good condition, we had nice weather and the greens rolled very well.”
Kamehameha’s Preston Ching rounded out the top three with a 76 and 78 for a 154.
The girls competition proved to be a much tighter race than the boys. Kamehameha’s Shantel Antonio led by three strokes after the first day, but struggled to an 87 at Hokulia. Waiakea freshman Kaley Saludares, who was second after shooting a 76 at Hualalai, was much more consistent than Antonio on the second day of competition, carding an 81 for a two day score of 160 to take the championship by three strokes.
“I felt the pressure coming in three strokes behind and I kept track the entire time how much I was behind or ahead,” Saludares said after her Tuesday round. “I am really happy. I worked so hard to get here and since it was my first year I did not know what to expect.”
Waiakea’s Anne Nakamoto finished a distant third with two day score of 173 — 13 strokes back of the leader.
The HHSAA championships for both boys and girls will be held next week at Waikoloa Kings Course.
Ace in the hole
While Hirata dominated the boys competition, Kamehameha’s John Andrade came away with the shot of the day, making a hole-in-one from 163 yard out on No. 11, a par-3 hole.
“I pulled an eight iron at first, but I figured it would be short because it was 151 yards to cover the bunkers in the front. So I pulled seven and played a little draw over the right bunker,” Andrade said. “It bounced a couple of times and everyone started yelling, but I was kind of confused because I could still see the ball. It was leaning on the cup and it just kind of fell in. I saw it disappear and it was amazing.”
It was Andrade’s first hole-in-one. He finished the BIIF championships in sixth place after shooting an 87 at Hualalai and an 84 at Hokulia for a two day score of 171.