WAIKOLOA — Mid Pacific’s Jake Sequin fired a season-low 4-under par 68 on Thursday for the first round lead at the HHSAA boys golf championships in Waikoloa.
There were 94 players from around the state who teed off at the Kings’ Course and play will wrap up today with the second round.
Sequin, a sophomore, was one of only two players to shoot under par in the first round. He notched seven birdies in the round, including five on his first nine holes (he started on the back nine). Sequin finished fifth in the ILH championships last month and his previous best this season was a 72 at the Leilehua Golf Course.
Roosevelt’s Kolbe Irei was the other golfer under par, staying close to Sequin with a 70.
It’s likely the leader will have to go low on the final day to take the title. This is the sixth time that the Kings’ Course has hosted the state championship, and in the previous five, only two winners posted a round over par.
The most notable of the low performances at the Kings’ Course was in 2007, when Honokaa’s Sean Maekawa fired a 9-under 135 over the two-day tourney, which tied the lowest state championship total until Iolani’s Lorens Chan fired a 133 up the hill at the Waikoloa Village course in 2011, a mark that still holds.
Maekawa is the Big Island’s last individual state champ, something Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Pono Yanagi hopes to change this year.
The reigning BIIF champ carded an even-par 72 first round and is tied for third place. If the Kamehameha-Hawaii senior’s past rounds at the state tournament are any indication, he should be in the hunt. In each of his past three starts on the state stage, Yanagi has shot at least three strokes better in the second round.
Yanagi delivered five birdies in his round, however, the par 5 18th ended being a hole he would like to have back, as he ended up with a double-bogey.
Kealakehe’s Ethan Jaehn was another BIIF golfer that managed to crack the top five. He fired a first round 74 and is six strokes off the lead.
Kamehameha’s Dillion Ah-Chong (75), Hilo’s Ethan Hironaga (77) and Waiakea’s Isaiah Kanno (77) were other BIIF players in the top 20.
In the team competition, Hawaii Baptist (310) has a 12-stroke lead on Waiakea (322) and is in the driver’s seat looking for its first state crown. Iolani (323) is third.
Vul fires 76
UH-Hilo senior golfer Jared Kinoshita shot a 4-over 76 to put him in middle of the pack Thursday after the furst round of the NCAA Division II West Regional in St. George, Utah.
With two more rounds to go, Kinoshita is competing as an individual, hoping to qualify for the NCAA chapionships later this month in West Virginia.
Kinoshita, the Pacific West Conference golfer of the year, had five bogeys and two birdies on the day. He had a birdie on each nine, three bogyes on the front nine and two on the final nine holes.
Ben Constancio of St. Edwards (Tex.) is the first round leader after firing a 6-under 66. One shot behind him is Colorado Christian’s Chase Carlson (67), with UC San Diego’s Adam Navigato and Sonoma State’s Blake Bourelle next at 4-under.
