Final Results 2017 HHSAA David S. Ishii Boys Golf Championship at Kā‘anapali

Jun Ho Won from Moanalua hits his second shot on number seven during the championship round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 5th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Back for revenge after finishing T2 in the 2016 HHSAA State Tournament, Jun Ho Won (Moanalua) went birdie for birdie on Friday in the final round on the Royal Kāʻanapali Course, carding a (-4) for a 2-day total 67-67-144 (-8) and earning the 2017 Individual medal honors. With six birdies on the front nine, Won was on fire. The ʻIolani team held their first day lead and shot 294-300- 594 to win by nine strokes over T2 Punahou and Moanalua.

Going into Friday’s final round, Won had a 2-shot lead over Mid Pac’s Zachary Kaneshiro and advanced his lead throughout the day, with no one within less than six shots off his lead. With a birdie right out of the gate on the first hole, Won continued to show his strength and steadiness with birdies on #4,6,7,8 and 9.

Andrew Chin from Punahou putts for eagle on number six during the championship round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 5th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

He would card just one birdie on the back, along with 3 bogeys. Won commented, “I played good this week, today I made some decent putts, my putting was definitely better today than yesterday.” On the uphill par 3, 8th hole, Won hit his tee shot to within 12 feet of the pin and rolled a 3 ½ foot slider putt, breaking it right into the hole for a birdie.

Won was the only player to finish both rounds under par this week. “I had fun this week with my team, we played well as a team – the greens were faster today, but we hung in there.” Won is a senior at Moanalua and will play on the Boise State golf team later this fall.

William Asai from Iolani hits out of the green side bunker on number six during the championship round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 5th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Moanalua teammate AJ Teraoka finished (-1) today for 2nd place overall (+2). “My goal today was to do way better than yesterday – go as low as possible,” Teraoka said. He made an eagle on #13, a 390 yard par 4 and commented, “I hit my driver good, right up the middle and then I had maybe 105 yards uphill to the pin – I hit a full 50 degree wedge and I didn’t even know it was in the hole until I started walking up close to the hole. One of the guys there told me it landed about four feet behind the hole and spun back and went in.” He added, “I was like, wow, that is cool.” Teraoka commented on the tournament, “The course was in a great shape, the greens were rolling really nice – overall this was a great tournament – I had a lot of fun with the team this week, we tried hard today and came up short (for the team win) but we tried.”

AJ Teraoka at the #4 tee during the championship round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 5th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

Andrew Chin, a senior at Punahou showed some firepower of his own on the front nine, with two eagles on the first and fourth holes. “On the first hole, I hit driver out there and then 3-wood to about eight feet, making the left center putt,” said Chin. He added, “I was pretty happy to start the round off like that and I knew I needed to capitalize on that start.” Chin, in addition to the two eagles, made four birdies on the front nine, but would give some of that back on the back nine to shoot one under for the day and +4 for the tournament (76-70-146) tying him with Iolani’s William Asai (72-74- 146). Chin said, “I wanted to go out on a good note – yesterday I didn’t play as well so today, I wanted to give it my best, especially for the team.” He added, “They’re all good players (my teammates), I’m a little disappointed we didn’t win the team title but we still had a great week here at Ka’anapali.” Chin will attend BYO (Utah) in the fall and play on the golf team.

Maui High’s Jordan Terada shot 74-73- 146 for the tournament, putting him at 5th place overall and Maui’s top finisher. Zachary Kaneshiro (Mid Pac) who was in second place after round one, finished T6 overall, tied with Remington Hirano (Punahou) and Andrew Otani (ʻIolani).

Awards after the championship round of the boys HHSAA State golf Championship at Kāʻanapali Royal Course in Lahaina May 5th, 2017. Photo by Aric Becker

ʻIolani took home their first team trophy in eight years (previously won at Kāʻanapali in 2009) with a nine-stroke win over Punahou and Moanalua T2.  ʻIolani Head Coach Glenn Inouye said, “It was really amazing what these kids were able to do this week, I am really surprised in a lot of ways, I am very proud of them.” This was ʻIolani’s best two days total for the entire 2017 season. Inouye continued, “Both William and Andrew coming into this season were shooting in the 80’s and they have really worked so hard with the other coaches – I am really proud of them and happy for them.” As a team “They all came together at just the right time this week – we’ve been stressing to them all season and especially this week about making sure to finish well. After seeing the (ʻIolani) girls team falter on the final few holes earlier this week (and lose the team trophy by one stroke), we learned from that and used it as motivation to battle to the end today.”