By KEVIN JAKAHI
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Hilo sophomore Riley Kaneshiro didn’t spend a lot of time reflecting on missed shots at the HHSAA golf tournament on Maui, where a conversion or two would have won him medal.
His mindset was to move on and enjoy the experience at the Ka’anapali Royal Course after he fired a 4 over 75 for a 153 two-day last week.
He was 19 shots behind eventual state champion and Moanalua senior Jun Ho Won, who torched the course, designed the Robert Trent Jones Sr., with consecutive 67s for a 134 total.
Kaneshiro was the highest BIIF finisher.
Kaneshiro hasn’t won a BIIF meet in his two seasons for the Vikings. At the BIIF individual championships, he was six shots behind freshman medalist Kanno.
But Kaneshiro felt his game was in proper working order on the Ka’anapali Royal Resort, where he’s played before.
“Going into the state tourney my swing felt ready,” he said. “I was keeping the ball in play. I had two birdies for the tourney, one on each day.
“I had five bogeys. I bogeyed the last hole on the first day. I missed a lot of putts that day. On the back nine of the second day, I parred the last hole.”
Hilo coach Randy Pak was impressed with Kaneshiro’s strong showing.
“He did fantastic. For a Hilo High School boys, that’s one of our best finishes at states in a long time,” Pak said. “He’s a fun-loving kid. He likes to have fun and compete. During practices, he likes challenges. He’s going to go far. He loves the game.
“He has a lot of potential, and he has a couple more years. Our No. 2 player is Ethan Hironaga, who’s Riley’s cousin. He’s a freshman, and they make a good 1-2 punch for us. He’s pretty good, too.”
Kamehameha sophomore Pono Yanagi was next at 74—154, followed by Waiakea senior Shon Katahira, 80—158; Makua Lani senior Matt Rosato, 79—159; and Waiakea’s Aiden Oki, 83—162.
Other BIIF golfers were: Kamehameha’s John Andrade, 80—167 and Kala’i Pomroy, 87—168; Waiakea’s Marc Agpawa, 83—170 and Isaiah Kanno, 88—172; Hilo’s Ethan Hironaga, 88—172; Waiakea’s Kody LaGuire, 85—173 and Braydon Teshima, 87—178; and Hilo’s Cody Pinzon, 98—187.
Hironaga’s cousin is Waiakea sophomore Tori Hironaga, who shot 105-90—195, 45 shots back of Punahou medalist Claire Choi earlier in the week on Maui.
Kaneshiro’s cousin is Waiakea sophomore basketball player Claire Kaneshiro. His dad David Kaneshiro got him started in golf at 9 years old.
His dad is not the UH-Hilo women’s basketball coach with the same name.
The young Kaneshiro grew up playing tennis and swimming and then committed to golf. By 10 years old, he was already beating his dad.
His swing coach is Kyle Shimokusu, who gave him golf’s simplest advice.
“He told me not to give up any strokes,” Kaneshiro said. “But that’s what happened. I missed a medal by one.”
There are 15 medals handed out, not 25 if 10 golfers tie for 15th place. The back nine of the second day is the tiebreaker.
Kaneshiro would have been in good shape. He shot 35 on the back, better than two others with a 152 total. Of course, they buried one more shot than Kaneshiro.
Will he think long and hard about the one that got away, like the bogey on 18 in the first round?
“Not really. There were times in the round I could have made it up,” he said. “Also I shot worse (78) in the first round.
“I like to think one shot at a time. Hitting fairways and greens are a big part of that, too. My irons are my strength. A couple of times, I had short distances but missed the green. But my chipping made up for it.”
Kaneshiro already stands 5 feet 11 and has room to grow in both departments: height and his game.
He came close to pocketing the BIIF meet at Kohanaiki, where Kamehameha’s Yanagi seized medalist honors with a 79.
Kaneshiro shot an 82 for a second-place finish. That was his most impressive performance until his state meet.
“Next year, I’d definitely like to get a medal,” he said. “I like to win at BIIFs, too. I’ve not won a meet yet.
“I have to work on my closing. At Kohanaiki, I didn’t close the round well. I had three doubles in a row.”
Well, his closing back nine 35 was better than 11 players in the top 15 on the Valley Isle.
His game is getting there — one shot at a time.
