Lahaina, Maui, HI – Back for revenge after finishing T2 in the 2016 HHSAA State Tournament, Jun Ho Won (Moanalua) went birdie for birdie today on the Royal Ka’anapali 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 and nothing was stopping him. The Iolani team held their first day lead and shot 294-300-594 to win by nine strokes over T2 Punahou and Moanalua.
Going into today’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. 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.
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.”
Andrew Chin, a senior at Punahou showed some firepower of his own today 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 (Iolani).
Iolani took home their first team trophy in eight years (previously won at Ka’anapali in 2009) with a nine-stroke win over Punahou and Moanalua T2. Iolani 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 Iolani’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 (Iolani) 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.”
For a full list of individual and team results from today, visit
http://bit.ly/2pynz7z. For photos from the tournament visit
www.facebook.com/kaanapaligolf HISTORY OF THE DAVID S. ISHII FOUNDATION:
In 1996, after 40 years of state Department of Education sponsorship, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) became a private, non-profit corporation. State money, the bulk of the association’s funding up to that point, was cut to zero. Private sponsors were needed to underwrite the cost of staging both the boys and girls state golf championships.
This potentially dire situation did not escape the notice of Hawaii Hall of Fame golfer David S. Ishii. David – himself the 1973 state champion from Kauai High School – stepped up and committed his own funds to serve as the title sponsor of the event in 1997 and continued to personally sponsor the event for several more years.
Encouraged by his wife Lorraine and assisted by his many friends, David laid the groundwork to establish a foundation that would ensure support for the HHSAA tournament in perpetuity. Beyond that, he envisioned a foundation that could also offer college scholarships, sponsor clinics, and provide learning opportunities for Hawaii’s youth using golf as a means of imparting important life lessons.
The David S. Ishii Foundation was officially founded in 1999 and has more than fulfilled the vision that its founder held for it. Today, the Foundation sponsors the annual HHSAA State Golf Championships for both boys and girls, awards two $4,000 college scholarships to graduating seniors each year, offers travel stipends to the Boys U.S. Junior Amateur and presents workshops and clinics.
For more information about the foundation, visit
www.davidsishiifoundation.org ABOUT KA’ANAPALI GOLF COURSES:
The Royal Ka’anapali Course, a Robert Trent Jones Senior design, opened in 1962 and has tested the skills of golf professionals and amateurs alike. A Par 71 stretching 6700 yards, the Royal Course combines wide fairways and undulating greens, making it both distinctive and demanding. Home of the Champions Tour Ka’anapali Classic for 14 years, the Royal Ka’anapali Course also hosted Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf, the Canada Cup and LPGA Kemper Open, donning such golfing greats as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Jan Stephenson and Betsey King.
The Ka’anapali Kai Course is a Par 70, 6,400-yard course and boasts an array of strategically placed bunkers, contoured fairways, and re-shaped and resurfaced greens. This course, host of Golf Channel’s #1 series Big Break Ka'anapali, is a challenge to play and places a premium on strategy off the tee, accuracy with approach shots, and a deft touch around the greens.
In 2005-2007, Ka’anapali Golf Courses invested over $13 million in renovations and infrastructure. Golf course architect, Robin Nelson, was brought in to oversee the rework of the Ka’anapali Kai Course and enhancements to the championship Royal Ka’anapali Course. Ka’anapali recently celebrated 50 years (1962-2012) and was host of the Champions Tour SKIN GAME January 2008-2011.
For more information about Ka’anapali Golf Courses visit
www.kaanapaligolfcourses.com or call (808) 661-3691. Instagram @kaanapaligolf and
www.facebook.com/kaanapaligolf ###PAU (END)###
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