VOLCANO – Waiakea junior Shon Katahira added valuable length to his golf game while Waiakea sophomore Kaley Saludares showed she’s still the same mentally tough player, making them front-runners for BIIF titles.
VOLCANO – Waiakea junior Shon Katahira added valuable length to his golf game while Waiakea sophomore Kaley Saludares showed she’s still the same mentally tough player, making them front-runners for BIIF titles.
At the BIIF season-opener on Wednesday, Katahira carved up Volcano Golf Course with a 4-under-par 68 to take medalist honors, edging Kamehameha junior Kala’i Pomroy by three shots.
Kamehameha freshman Pono Yanagi was third with a 74 while Kamehameha senior Preston Ching and Waiakea senior Trevor Hirata, the two-time defending BIIF champion, each finished with a 76.
“Shon’s game is a lot sharper right now,” Waiakea coach Alika Toledo said. “Trevor’s game right now is definitely not at its peak. Last year, his game peaked toward the end of the season. They’re both definitely grinders.”
In a bit of a shocker, Kamehameha took the team title with a 299 total, outpacing two-time defending BIIF champion Waiakea’s 347. (Hilo won the BIIF crown in 2013.)
For the girls, Saludares carded a 6-over 78, beating fellow Warrior sophomore Kaelyn Uchida by three strokes.
Waiakea seized the girls team title with a 249 total, running ahead of Hilo’s 294.
Saludares triple-bogeyed the par 3, No. 3 hole and had a 42 over the front nine. Then the defending BIIF champion rebounded with a 36 over the back nine, displaying her closing ability.
Last year at the BIIF championships, Saludares trailed by three strokes after the first round and eventually captured the title by three shots. She also extended Waiakea’s streak of 12 consecutive BIIF individual champions.
The Warriors had a 10-year BIIF team championship run that was snapped in 2014 by Hilo. However, with the emergence of Saludares and Uchida last season Waiakea captured the BIIF team crown.
Waiakea freshman Tori Hironaga finished third with a 90, adding another scoring weapon to a deep stable. Anne Nakamoto, another standout sophomore, didn’t play at Volcano.
It’s really early but Saludares has a chance to go down as the most accomplished BIIF golfer in history. Waiakea’s Britney Yada won three BIIF titles from 2007 to ’09; no girl has won four. (Honokaa’s Sean Maekawa is the only boy to capture four BIIF titles, 2004 to ’07.)
“That’s definitely a goal of mine, but I’m taking it slowly. I just want to keep improving over time,” Saludares said. “I’ve improved my chipping, and I definitely needed that today.
“I got in a bad spot on No. 3 and tripled that hole. But I pulled it together over the back nine.”
Waiakea coach Sandra Goodale described Saludares as a committed golfer, who doesn’t let one bad shot or two or three torpedo a round.
“She enjoys the game of golf and has made it her lifestyle,” Goodale said. “And she has the ability to bounce back after a bad shot, a bad hole or a bad front nine.
“We have seven or eight girls who can play on any given day.”
That’s a handy option for any girls golf coach, who has four starters with the top three scoring.
Long Shon
Katahira went through a growth spurt over the summer, and he’s now 5 feet 11 and 200 pounds, adding two inches and about 20 pounds.
Last year as a sophomore, he ripped his drives about 270 yards and finished as the BIIF runner-up to Hirata by 17 strokes. Now, Katahira has more strength in his swing and the same flexibility, pounding balls 285 yards.
It’s much easier to make a club selection when drives go deep. Instead of thinking about a long iron, Katahira can reach for a short iron and get on a green, where his double-deck strengths come into play.
“My drives were very good, and my mental game was on,” he said. “I was hitting almost every green. My putting is the strength of my game, and 15 feet and in I’m pretty confident.”
Those are the two best weapons for any golfer: putting and confidence. The first one can erase mistakes, and the latter is often the best friend of BIIF champions.
“I want to win the BIIF title. Patience is the key,” Katahira said. “There are two rounds for the BIIF championship. You can’t get complacent after the first round. You have to buckle down and stay patient.”
Patience was the theme of the day for Katahira and Saludares, a pair of BIIF season-opening medalists.