Round 1 Results: 2017 HHSAA Boys Golf Championship at Kā‘anapali

Jun Ho Won from Moanalua hits his second shot on number five during the first round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 4th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Jun Ho Won came out blazing with four birdies on the front nine during the first round of the 2017 HHSAA David S. Ishii Foundation Boys Golf Championship and turned in an impressive 67 (-4) Thursday on the Royal Kāʻanapali Course.

Won is two strokes ahead of Zachary Kaneshiro who finished at 69 (-2).

ʻIolani takes the Team lead after the first round and sits seven strokes ahead of Punahou and 13 strokes ahead of defending Champions, Moanalua.

Jun Ho Won is a senior at Moanalua and will play on the Boise State golf team next year. He won the 2017 OIA Boys Individual Title and finished in 2nd place in the 2016 HHSAA State Championship so he is gunning for the state title this year.

Won commented after Thursday’s round saying, “I feel good about my round today, I can’t be disappointed. My goal today was to not 3-putt and I was doing well until the hiccups on #11 and #13.” He added, “The course played tough – only two players under par – the greens were fast and on the back nine, the wind picked up a bit. I think that’s what made me a bit nervous (the wind), but then I got used to it and got back into my rhythm.”

Zach Kaneshiro from Mid Pacific teeing off on number four during the first round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 4th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

After the two bogeys, Won then had a great drive on #14 with only 25 yards to the pin and stuck his approach to seven feet, making the right to left putt for birdie. He just would miss another birdie opportunity on #15, but come back on #16 and knock his approach to three feet and roll it in for his 6th birdie of the day, bringing him back to (-4).

“My goal for tomorrow is the same mindset – Zachary and I have played together quite a few times and he’s a real good player – he chipped in for par on #18 today,” Won said.  “I know I just need to go out and play my game, staying focused and focusing on every shot out there,” he said.

Zachary Kaneshiro made three birdies and one bogey on the front nine and then finished the back even par, with the chip in on #18. Zachary was the 2016 Hawaiʻi State Junior Golf Association (HSJGA) Player of the Year in the Boys 15-18 division and has also captained the Mid Pac team the last three years. Rilen Loo of Punahou shot even par on Thursday (71) and is in third place after the first round round.

William Asai from ʻIolani teeing off on number four during the first round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 4th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Chad Lee, a junior at St. Anthony’s finished Day 1, T4 with ʻIolani’s William Asai. Lee was the top Maui player to finish at one over par.

Lee said, “I started off well with a birdie on #2 and played steady all the way through #14, but I didn’t finish strong – overall I was pretty happy with my round. I really wanted to par the first three holes so the birdie on #2 got me going and feeling pretty nice – I hit a knock-down 5-iron to about 10 feet on that hole (par 3) and barely tapped the downhill putt to roll it in.”

As for today Lee said, “I just want to go out and play my game and see what happens,” said Lee. Lee finished in second place in the 2017 MIL Individual and hopes to be in the run for the trophy during tomorrow’s final round, just five strokes back from the lead.

Team ʻIolani scores were lead by William Asai (+1), Trevor Arashiro (+2), Kengo Aoshima (+3) and Andrew Otani (+4). ʻIolani Head Coach Glenn Inouye said, “It’s only the first day and we go up against Punahou every week during ILH season so they know us and we know them. We have a friendly rivalry and we both know to expect a battle tomorrow.” Inouye added, “The Royal Course played tough today, especially with the wind – the greens were really fast – we’re expecting tomorrow to be just as challenging.” As for the team he said, “It’s nice, most of these guys have been playing with each other 3-4 years on the team and we always stress the team championship – each individual then tries hard to contribute to the team.”

The second and final round will be held on today on the Royal Kāʻanapali Course with tee times starting at 6:30 a.m.