Posted on: Thursday, May 12, 2005
Waiakea's Kim claims state golf
| • | Girl's Basketball: Kalani advances to OIA D-II final |
| • | Kaimuki rallies past Castle, 44-39 |
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
KAHULUI, Maui — Christine Kim of Waiakea High School held on to her first-round lead with steady play yesterday to win the 2005 HHSAA/David S. Ishii Foundation Girls Golf Championships at The Dunes of Maui Lani.
Photos by Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser "Boring" is how Kim, 16, described her second-round play. "I didn't make any birdies. That was sad," she said.
But "boring" was just another word for consistent. The junior shot even par on the front nine and bogeyed only three holes on the back nine of the hilly course, including the par-4 12th when she found a bunker on her tee shot. Her shot from the sand left her 110 yards from the green and she failed to get up and down for a five.
Kim was not rattled, and parred the next hole.
It was more of a roller coaster for Chun, who started the day three shots off the lead. The Kamehameha senior made five birdies, but also stumbled with seven bogeys, including four in a row midway through the round. Chun said she was having trouble with her putting and felt rushed at times, three-putting three greens on the back nine.
Chun finished with a 2-over 74 for a 155 that put her in a three-way tie for second with Wilson (76) and Jayna Shimomura (76) of Baldwin. A tie-breaker system that calculates holes won and lost dropped Wilson to third and Shimomura to fourth.
Stephanie Kono of Punahou, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, shot 78 and placed fifth at 158, struggling to overcome seven bogeys and a double bogey.
Defending state champion Britney Choy of Leilehua shot a 79 to place 10th at 165.
Players welcomed the calmer conditions yesterday. On Tuesday, high winds battered the golfers and boosted scores.
Kim said she was "really scared to hit the ball" during the first round because of the wind. "I was guiding the golf ball, but today on the back nine I let go a little bit and was hitting the ball better, although it didn't always go where I wanted it to."
Kim said she missed her team's trip to Maui and had never seen the course before this week. Instead, she got pointers from her eighth-grade sister, Kimberly, who had played there before and will be joining her big sister on the Waiakea team next year.
Waiakea scored a three-player total of 479, with Baldwin finishing second at 491, and Kamehameha-O'ahu third at 493. Waiakea's victory sustained the Neighbor Island's dominance as schools from outside O'ahu have won all seven state championships.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
Kim, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion, bettered her Tuesday score of 78 by shooting a 3-over-par 75 in the second round. She finished at 153, two strokes ahead of Mari Chun of Kamehameha-O'ahu. With Waiakea teammate Amanda Wilson placing third, the Big Island school won the team title for the third time in six years.
Waiakea's Christine Kim said she had a "boring" second round, but a 3-over 75 helped her win the the state title by two strokes.
First-year Waiakea coach Natalie Nakamura said the team spent spring break on Maui to get some time at The Dunes of Maui Lani course, but that still didn't prepare them for the first-day conditions. "We didn't experience that before in our practices," she said.
Punahou freshman Stephanie Kono birdied the 15th hole at The Dunes at Maui Lani en route to a second-round 78 to finish fifth.
