Most who have played a round of golf have felt like Dysen Park did Wednesday at Kohanaiki.
“It definitely was one of those days where I couldn’t make anything happen,” Park said.
Far fewer can lay claim to the Waiakea High junior’s roll of consistency preceding that round.
An accomplished junior tournament competitor, Park gets a crack at his first BIIF championship, though stiff competition awaits in Sunday’s opening round at Hualalai. The final round is Tuesday at Mauna Kea.
“I love both courses,” he said. “It’s always a great privilege when we get the chance to play beautiful private courses like Hualalai and Kohanaiki. As for Mauna Kea, I feel like it’ll be a great test for all of us. Anything can happen. But I’m very excited for this tournament.”
He was as steady as could be during the regular season, firing five consecutive 71s, four at 1-under, to take medalist honors three times in six tries. He’s never finished worse than second place.
“I think what helped me stay consistent was just keeping my head together and playing it one shot at a time,” he said.
At Kohanaiki, he made two double-bogeys on the front nine and a triple-bogey on 18 to finish at 78. That opened the door for Kealakehe’s Kevin Yamashita (75) to win for the second time.
Yamashita, a junior, owns the BIIF’s low round of the year, a 3-under 69 on March 30 at Waikoloa Village.
His coach, Justin Lee, thinks Yamashita can enjoy a home-course advantage Sunday.
“We know that course like the back of our hand,” Lee said. “We dedicate many hours of training there, so expect an exceptional score on Sunday from Kevin.”
Waiakea sophomore Noah Otani was trying to track Park down for much of the season, finally catching him April 11 at Hilo Municipal Golf Course. He fired a 1-under 70, with Park one shot back and Yamashita at 72.
Could the the championships be as closely contested?
“We have a handful of young, competitive golfers on this island,” Lee said. “On any given day, it can go either way. They make it really exciting to watch their extraordinary talent, go shot for shot to the finish. Out of the whole state of Hawaii, we could be witnessing some of the most competitive high school golf right here on our very own island.”
Waiakea seniors Kiersten Saludares and Elle Otani have provided drama as well at the top of the girls leaderboard, though Saludares won for the fourth time at Kohanaiki, carding a 74 for a six-shot win.
The teammates each shot 75s March 23 at Waikoloa, and Otani’s win came April 5 at Kona Country Club, where she rallied with a birdie on No. 18 to beat Saludares by a stroke.
The only other girl to post a top-two finish was Hawaii Prep’s Isabella Rodriguez. Her round of 78 at Waikoloa Village coincided with Saludares’ best score to date, an even-par 72.
“Kiersten is very talented and when playing well makes very little mistakes,” Waiakea coach Bobby Perreira said. “Her focus is to hit fairways and greens and try to putt well.
“Elle is very talented as well. If she can stay focused and play her best it will definitely be a great match.”
