KEALAKEKUA — Andi Igawa played her last Hawaii State Junior Golf Association event on Wednesday, but it won’t be her final competitive round on the Big Island.
KEALAKEKUA — Andi Igawa played her last Hawaii State Junior Golf Association event on Wednesday, but it won’t be her final competitive round on the Big Island.
The Waiakea High School graduate and Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion said that she has committed to play at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
Her performance at the King Auto Group 13-18 State Junior Championship, which wrapped up at The Club at Hokulia on Wednesday, showed where she needs to improve.
“I think I just need to work on my short game,” she said after shooting a second-round 83 and finishing 21 strokes behind winner Rose Huang of Honolulu in the girls’ 15-18 division. “My long hitting is fine. I just have to work on putting and chipping. If I can get those down, I’ll be OK.”
Huang shot a 3-under 69 in the second round to finish with a tournament-best 140. Allisen Corpuz of Honolulu finished second in the division with a 145.
Honolulu’s Shawn Lu fired a 2-under 70 to overtake first-round leader Kyle Suppa, who finished a stroke back after carding a 3-over 75 on Wednesday, in the boys’ 15-18 division.
Waiakea’s Shon Katahira finished 12th after shooting 78 for the second consecutive day. Kamehameha School’s Preston-Lee Ching (84-81-165) and Waiakea’s Trevor Hirata (87-79-166) finished 18th and 19th, respectively.
Allysha Mae Mateo of Mililani shot 76 – five shots better than her opening round – to win the girls’ 13-14 division, where Waiakea’s Kaelyn Uchida went 91-90-181.
Honolulu’s Evan Kawai also improved, with a 73 on Wednesday, to take the boys’ 13-14 title with 149. Kamehameha’s Pono Yanagi finished fourth after going 83-85-168.
Despite finishing in a tie for 10th place, Igawa said she’s playing better than she did when she won the BIIF title in the spring.
“I think I could use a little more practice, but I’ve noticed that my game has progressed a little bit more,” she said. “For BIIFs I shot 88 and still won with that. I think I got way better. I just have got to get more consistent.”
Igawa is considering majoring in education and said that UH-Hilo is strong in that area. Staying in Hilo could also help her academically.
“I really wanted to stay home after I thought about it for a while,” she said. “Initially, I was going to go to the mainland. It’s a better transition, for schooling, anyway.”
Notes: By winning their divisions Kawai, Mateo, Huang and Lu earned invitations to play in the Japan High School Golf Championship from Aug. 7-9 in Yamaguchi, Japan. … Suppa, Lu, Kyosuke Hara and Spencer Dunaway earned the right to represent Hawaii in the Junior America’s Cup while Malia Nam, Aiko Leong, Mari Nishiura and Kristin Le claimed spot on the girls’ team. … Zackary Kaneshiro, Justin Williamson, Tyler Munetake and Justin Ngan qualified for the Eddie Hogan Cup. … Mateo, Leong, Nishiura and Le earned spots in the Mary Cave Cup.
King Auto Group 13-18
State Junior Championship
At The Club at Hokulia
Boys 15-18
Shawn Lu, Honolulu 74-70-144
Kyle Suppa, Honolulu 70-75-145
Zackary Kaneshiro, Aiea 74-72-146
Kyosuke Kevin Hara, Hon. 74-75-149
Colin Laszlo, Waipahu 75-75-150
Andrew Chin, Honolulu 79-72-151
Keegan Loo, Lihue 74-77-151
Tyler Munetake, Wailuku 73-78-151
Justin Jay Arcano, Wailuku 77-75-152
Justin Williamson, Honolulu 76-76-152
Spencer Dunaway, Mililani 76-78-154
Shon Katahira, Hilo 78-78-156
Cole Shinataku, Honolulu 76-81-157
Desmond Mello, Kaneohe 76-92-158
Jamie Amimoto, Lihue 79-80-159
Justin Ngan, Wailuku 83-79-162
Trevor Arashiro, Honolulu 80-83-163
Preston-Lee Ching, Hilo 84-81-165
Trevor Hirata, Hilo 87-79-166
Remington Hirano, Hon. 80-89-169
Nathaniel Idica, Wailuku 90-86-176
Matthew Shen, Kapolei 89-92-181
Reyn Shiraishi, Honolulu 97-89-186
Girls 15-18
Rose Huang, Honolulu 71-69-140
Allisen Corpuz, Honolulu 72-73-145
Kaci Masuda, Honolulu 74-74-148
Aiko Leong, Honolulu 74-77-151
Kristin Le, Aiea 73-80-153
Annika Espino, Honolulu 74-81-155
Mari Nishiura, Mililani 79-77-156
K. Miyamaoto, Kahului 78-79-158
Jasmine Cabajar, Wailuku 76-84-160
Kirsten Ishikawa, Pukalani 81-80-161
Andi Igawa, Hilo 78-83-161
Z. Akagi-Bustin, Wahiawa 81-82-163
Caitlyn Villatora, Lahaina 85-80-165
Naea Oda, Kapaa 88-80-168
Keilyn Ing, Honolulu 86-84-170
Ji Hae Lee, Honolulu 81-89-170
K.Akemi Shimizu, Wailuku 84-90-174
Caylyn Villatora, Lahaina 89-93-182
Boys 13-14
Evan Kawai, Honolulu 76-73-149
Ray Kim, Honolulu 75-86-161
Aj Kioki Teraoka, Honolulu 84-78-162
Pono Yanagi, Hilo 83-85-168
Andrew Otani, Honolulu 85-86-171
MinJae Kang, Honolulu 86-86-172
Rilen Loo, Lihue 87-86-173
Jordan Terada, Kahului 85-88-173
Nathaniel Anderson, Paradise Valley 79-95-174
Jonathan Morikawa, Hon. 93-83-176
Acey Yanagishita, Honolulu DQ
Girls 13-14
A. Mae Mateo, Mililani 81-76-156
Malia Nam, Kailua 74-86-160
Lorraine Char, Waianae 80-83-163
Kamie Hamada, Aiea 86-86-172
Jaelin Ishikawa, Pukalani 90-90-180
Kaelyn Uchida, Hilo 91-90-181