Trevor Hirata’s scorecard indicates an early comfort zone, but in reality Hirata summed up his opening round at the HHSAA golf championships as an 18-hole grind.
The Waiakea senior and three-time BIIF champion started by making eight consecutive pars, settling for a 4-over 76 that left him four shots off the lead at Wailua Golf Course on Kauai.
“I think my first eight holes were a grind like the rest of my round,” Hirata said. “I didn’t hit a lot of greens, so it was a matter of getting up and down.”
Punahou golfers Matthew Shen and Kyle Suppa, and Moanalua’s Shawn Lu shared the lead at 72, and Hirata was in a group of five golfers tied for ninth.
The final round is Thursday, and the next highest BIIF competitor behind Hirata was Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Preston Ching (79), with Waiakea’s Shon Katahira a shot behind.
With a light drizzle, off-and-on wind and heat later in the round, Hirata said the course played long. For a stretch he struggled on par-4 holes, bogeying Nos. 18, 2, 6 and 8, before making his lone birdie on his final hole, the 535-yard par-5 ninth.
“I wasn’t hitting as well as I could,” Hirata said. “I’m going to go for it (Thursday). I went for it today, but (Thursday) I’m going to try to hit more greens and fairways.”
Seeking its fourth consecutive crown, Punahou (6-over 294) was 10 strokes ahead of Moanalua, with Waiakea (330) fourth and Kamehameha-Hawaii (333) sixth.
Also in the field from the BIIF are: Kamehameha’s Kala’i Pomroy (81), Kamehameha’s Pono Yanagi (84), Waiakea’s Marc Agpawa (85), Makua Lani’s Matt Rosato (86), Hilo’s Cody Pinzon (86), Makua Lani’s Loa Ng (89), Waiakea’s Brayden Teshima (89), Kamehameha’s John Andrade (89), Hilo’s Riley Kaneshiro (90), Waiakea’s Kobe Toledo (91), Kamehameha’s Kua Manuia (97) and Waiakea’s Tre Nakagawa (100).
In three previous trips to states, Hirata’s best finish came last season when he carded consecutive 73s and finished 10th at Waikoloa Kings’ Course.
“I was thinking today how this is my last high school golf,” Hirata said. “I’m just going to go out and have fun.”
