Teeing off late, at a very windy Hawaii Kai Golf Course in Honolulu on Sunday, Blake Nakagawa quickly showed why he is the Big Island’s best boys 6-and-under golfer.
Teeing off late, at a very windy Hawaii Kai Golf Course in Honolulu on Sunday, Blake Nakagawa quickly showed why he is the Big Island’s best boys 6-and-under golfer.
The 5-year-old Nakagawa had one of the best starts to his young career, going par, bogey, par, par to open a wide advantage on his competition. Over the final five holes, the Big Islander simply maintained his lead, doing his best to “not blow up” according to his father Kiley Nakagawa.
By the end of the day, the young golfer turned in his scorecard with a 7-over-par, 43, to claim first place in his division, despite competing in his first statewide tournament with the U.S. Kids Aloha Local Tour.
Waipahu’s Brycen James Massey finished second with a 16-over, 52 and Honolulu’s Carter Kumabe placed third at 23-over, 59.
The key to the Oahu tourament for Nakagawa was his short game.
“He putted extremely well, all two putts except for one three-putt on hole No. 9,” his father said. “He also bought a new kid’s 42-inch 9-iron at a golf shop in Honolulu in the morning and it came in handy quite a few times.”
Prior to the tournament, Nakagawa had made a name for himself locally, competing for the Big Island Junior Golf Association, where he won 10 of his last 11 tournaments.
At the recent BIJGA banquet Nakagawa was honored as the Most Inspirational Player of the Year.
The win at Hawaii Kai gave Nakagawa the lead in the Winter season of the Aloha Local Tour. His victory in the opening tournament claimed 30 points and the next event is set at Kapolei Golf Course on Dec. 4. There are eight tournaments in the Winter season, which runs until the end of February.
Though his first victory on Oahu was nice, it was far from the most memorable thing on the trip for the young golfer. Nakagawa says his favorite parts of the Oahu trip were riding in the “cool convertable rental car” and eating NitroGenie ice cream at Ala Moana.
For more information on Nakagawa, visit his Instagram account at blake_Nakagawa.