Junior golfers light up state championship
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Jet Levinthol of Kapa‘a chips onto the eighth green and watches as the ball stops about two inches from the cup. He finished tied for eighth in the 13-14 division at 78-79—157.
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
'EWA BEACH — Hawai'i junior golfers continue to leave anyone over the age of 20 in awe. Take yesterday's final round of the Callaway Hawaii State Junior Championship, for example.
 |
| David Kim, from Kea'au, won the boys 13-14 age division with scores of 70-77—147.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Kimberly Kim, 10, won her division by 38 shots. Kim, who consistently hits her drives 250 yards, closed with a 2-under-par 70 on a 5,434-yard layout. Golfers 12-under played the Prince's A course two times.
Meanwhile, Amanda Wilson and Travis Toyama, who don't have a driver's license between them, resumed their remarkable ways. They won the tournament's overall championships to complement a summer of success.
It all left the people who set up the course wondering if they shouldn't have put the pins in tougher places. That question came up Tuesday when the leaderboard was awash in the red ink of birdies, eagles and Corey Bartlett's hole-in-one.
They didn't, and the board just got redder.
Wilson, 14, captured the girls championship by five shots, at 4-over-par 148. She opened with a 1-under 71 Tuesday despite bogeying the final two holes. The Waiakea sophomore pierced the Prince's high winds with five birdie putts.
"Her overall game is really good," said runner-up Stephanie Kono. "Her putting is the best part of her game. It's really good. She makes all the important putts."
Since May, Wilson has finished second in the state high school championship and Jennie K. Invitational, won the Hawai'i All-Star High School Invitational, reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and won local qualifying for the U.S. Junior Girls by four shots.
"I don't know what's happening," Wilson said with a smile and a shrug. "I've improved a lot since last year. I work hard."
Toyama, a University High junior, won the boys title with successive rounds of even-par 72. He beat Wilson's brother Gabriel (72-146) by two shots. Toyama, 15, became Hawai'i's youngest Manoa Cup champion last month. He found yesterday's final round just as agonizing, with five golfers within three shots of the lead teeing off.
"I was watching everybody," Toyama said. "Everyone can shoot low."
But only Toyama is the 94th state amateur champion. That title has been a burden, he admitted yesterday. He put more pressure on himself and his game hadn't held up against players his own age, until this week.
Peer golf pressure is so intense here and on the Mainland — he just got back from an American Junior Golf Association event in Palm Springs — Toyama has a tough time telling the difference between adult and junior competition.
What does that say about junior golf?
"It's great," he said.
The tournament's best rounds were turned in by age-group champions David Kim, from Kea'au, and Kimberly Kim, from Hilo. David shot 70 Tuesday, and finished at 147 to win the 13-14 division by two shots. Kimberly's 70 yesterday blew away the 11-12 division, but the Waiakea Intermediate sixth-grader wasn't impressed.
"Every hole was a bad hole because I missed a lot of birdie putts," said Kimberly, who plans to play the State Women's Stroke Play Championship next month.
Gabriel Wilson and Kono won the 15-18 age-group titles, with Kono defeating Lehua Wise in a playoff. Britney Choy captured the girls 13-14 division and Colton Knedler the boys 11-12. The 10-under champions were Tommy Yamashita and Rae-Lyn Morikawa.
The Wilson siblings qualified for "The Big I" (34th Independent Insurance Agents Junior Classic National Finals) with their first-round scores. Gabriel Wilson tied with Cory French and Pomaikai Shishido at 74, then parred both playoff holes to earn the trip to Houston Aug. 12-16. Qualifying was held in conjunction with Callaway but not all players entered.
SHORT PUTTS: The second annual Professional-Business Leader-Junior Golf Tournament (PBJ) was played Monday at the Prince and raised more than $18,000 for the HSJGA. The tournament is organized by the Aloha Section PGA. The winning team was made up of pros Jay Yasumiishi (Pacific Machinery) and Don Wilburn (Barbers Point), business leaders Darren Ah Chong and Randy Okumura and juniors Corey French (Kaua'i) and Walter Ching (O'ahu). Their winning score was 124 (best two scores of the sixsome). ... A field of 151 juniors qualified for the state championship. ... Boys ages 15-18 played from the back tees (6,801 yards). Boys 13-14 played the course at 6,205 yards and girls 13-18 played it at 5,843 yards. ... Many of these players go to Junior Worlds next week in San Diego.
