Round 1 Results HHSAA Girls State Golf Championship at Kāʻanapali

Thereese Guzman from Maui High hits her third shot on hole number nine during the first round of the girls HHSAA golf tournament at Kāʻanapali Golf Resort in Lahaina May 1st 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Maui High School’s Reese Guzman and ʻIolani’s Kamie Hamada are tied for the lead at a 4-over-par 75 after the first round of the 2017 Hawaiʻi High School Athletic Association David S Ishii Foundation golf championships taking place at the Royal Kāʻanapali Golf Course.

Team ʻIolani holds the team lead at 232, 10 strokes ahead of defending champions, Punahou after the first round. The second and final round takes place today.

Guzman, a sophomore at Maui High School was the only one to make it to the State Tournament from her team.

“I played a really solid round today, I just had one blow up hole on #17,” Guzman said after Monday’s first round. “I don’t really know what happened on that hole, overall my driving was really solid all day – I only missed one fairway. I was surprised to see the scores actually, I had no idea I was in the lead at one point and then T1 until after the round.”

Kamie Hamada from ʻIolani hits her third shot on the sixth hole during the first round of the girls HHSAA golf tournament at Kāʻanapali Golf Resort in Lahaina May 1st 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

In regards to Round 2, Guzman said, “The Royal Course is pretty hard, especially when the wind kicks up – my goal for tomorrow’s round is just to play my game – with that course, you have to play smart and where you position your ball (on the green) is really important. I know that if I just play my game I’ll do fine.”

Tied for first with Guzman is ʻIolani junior, Kamie Hamada who stated, “My strength today was definitely my putting – the greens were really fast, but I was able to hit a lot of them and give myself some chances (for birdie).”

Malia Nam from Kaiser chips up on the sixth hole during the first round of the girls HHSAA golf tournament at Kāʻanapali Golf Resort in Lahaina May 1st 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Hamada hit it into the fairway bunker on #10 on Monday, and her approach shot landed her ball on the back of the green. “I had a little over 60 feet to the hole and a tough downhill, right to left putt – I thought the ball was going to roll off the green actually but it hit the hole and went in for birdie,” she said.

Along with Hamada, ʻIolani teammates Kristin Miyagi (+7) and Naomi Wong (+8) combined for the Team 232 for the day. ʻIolani won the 2017 Team ILH division.

Assistant Coach and ʻIolani alumnus Marissa Chow is assisting the ʻIolani team this year and said she’s very proud of the girls. Head Coach Kevin Ing said, “We really have a great group of girls – even those that didn’t qualify for States – they sincerely get along with each other and really work hard together. We told them just to focus on their game tomorrow – go out and do what they do best, play against the course, don’t worry about others and finish strong – play as a team and have fun.”

Claire Choi from Punahou hits her third shot on the sixth hole during the first round of the girls HHSAA golf tournament at Kāʻanapali Golf Resort in Lahaina May 1st 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

ʻIolani is 10 strokes ahead of rival Punahou, whose team has won the last 9 of 10 HHSAA Girls State Championships (all but 2012). Mid Pac is only one stroke behind Punahou at 243 so it is still anybody’s game going into today’s final round. Mid Pac’s Myah McDonald led her team on Monday with a 78 (+7) and is T5 with Kristin Miyagi of ʻIolani.

Punahou’s junior Claire Choi and Kaiser’s junior Malia Nam are T3 after the first round at 76 (+5). Choi said, “I played okay on the front nine but had a tougher time on the back nine and made a few mistakes. My putting was my pretty solid today, I had a hard time on the 16 th hole, but stuck an 8-footer on 17, allowing me to regain my confidence.”

Malia Nam who last played Kāʻanapali in the US Women’s Open Qualifier (2016) played a solid round on Monday and struggled a bit on the last few holes, along with the majority of the rest of the field. Nam said, “I hit my driver really well today, I only missed one fairway and I was able to make a few good up and downs.”

Lori Char (Kamehameha Schools – Kapālama) holed out for eagle on #10 on Monday from 148 yards out. Char finished round 1 at 79 (+8) and is currently T7 going into today’s final round. Char is a senior at KS and will be playing for Rutgers golf team next fall. Also T7 is Naomi Wong (ʻIolani), Kaley Ann Saludares (Waiakea), and Isabelle Won (Punahou).