Hilo’s Isaiah Kanno said he never took a moment Tuesday to stop and admire the round he was putting together at Hokulia.
And if Kanno ever wanted to critique himself – well, no luck there either, because he rarely had the chance.
The good far outweighed the bad for Kanno during the first round of the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association championships, which the Waiakea junior owned during a near bogey-free 4-under 68 that vaulted him into a four-shot lead.
“Not really, I was just playing,” Kanno said when asked if he there was a shot or hole that he used to build momentum. “Today was the best I shot at Hokulia and this year in a tournament.”
With a trusty putter and fair scoring conditions, Kanno was already 3-under when he made his only blemish on the par-4 15th, but he quickly recovered with birdies on two of his next three holes.
“My putting was on the luckier side today as more putts were dropping in than usual,” Kanno said, “but my game in general was solid.”
Oahu’s Peter Jung and Noah Koshi were at even-par in a tie for second, and Hilo’s Pono Yanagi, the defending champion, was at 73. Yanagi’s first five holes included two birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey, but the Kamehameha golfer would go on to make 11 pars.
In the girls competition, Honolulu’s Miki Manta shot 2-under 70 and held a one-shot lead. Lacey Uchida led the Hilo contingent at 77, Kaelyn Uchida shot 80 and Kaley Saludares came in at 84.
Kanno’s 68 bettered the 72 he shot in the middle of the month at Turtle Bay on Oahu. He also qualified for match play earlier this month at the Manoa Cup.
The 2017 BIIF champion will approach Wednesday’s final round with some caution.
“My mindset is to hit the fairways and greens and two-putt at most,” he said. “But I’ll play more conservative than today.”
Also from Hilo in the 15-18 division, Riku Omata shot 81, Aidan Oki was another shot back, reigning BIIF champion Riley Kaneshiro carded an 87, while Keaau’s Ethan Hironaga was at 92.
Hilo’s Dysen Park carded a 77 and was second in the boys 13-14 flight, four shots behind Honolulu’s Joshua Chung. Waikoloa Ethan Jaehn shot 78.
Hilo’s Kailey Oki (82), Kiersten Saludares (86) and Elle Otani (88) teed off in girls 13-14, where Honolulu Jennifer Seo (77) owned a one-shot lead.
