NAWILIWILI — Cyd Okino and Scott Yamashita, both of O‘ahu, teamed up to win the Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association Mixed Team Championship, Sunday at the Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Club. Okino and Yamashita took the title following a three-hole playoff
NAWILIWILI — Cyd Okino and Scott Yamashita, both of O‘ahu, teamed up to win the Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association Mixed Team Championship, Sunday at the Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Club.
Okino and Yamashita took the title following a three-hole playoff against the team of Cassy Isagawa and Andre Bedard, both from Maui.
Isagawa and Bedard finished the opening round at 66 under in Four-Ball Stroke Play format. Following Foursome Stroke Play, Sunday, they slipped to finish the day at 73 for a two-day total of 139.
Yamashita and Okino ended Saturday’s play two strokes back of Bedard and Isagawa, but charged ahead to finish at 71, Sunday for the two-day total of 139, triggering the playoff.
Kelli Anne Katsuda and Cole Yamane, leading the Saturday round at 64, dropped to a Sunday round of 80 to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place at 144.
The teams of Kyeton Littel-Kamimoto and Ashlyn Kawasaki (66-78-144) and Jonah Fonacier and Ciera Min (68-76-144) were the other teams finishing in the fifth place tie.
Michael Fan and Brittany Fan finished in third place overall with a 140 (66-74), after tying the team of Tyan Kuroiwa and Allisen Corpuz, Sunday.
But the opening day round of 67 by Kuroiwa/Corpuz put that team in a tie for fourth place with the Kaua‘i duo of Pono Tokioka and Kelli Oride.
Tokioka and Oride finished Saturday with a 71, but roared back to card the best score, Sunday at 70 for the 141 tie with Kuroiwa/Corpuz.
“They were three-under starting the day, but two bogeys along the way have them at one-under,” said James Tokioka, Pono’s dad, while watching the duo at the No. 8 hole, Sunday. “This is one of the hardest formats to play, but hopefully, they’ll get through it.”
Justin Chu and Lisa Kang (68-82-150) filled in the sixth place followed by Jarin Harada and Nichele Wada (73-79-152), Keegan Loo and Aannika Espino (73-86-159), Bryden Salvador and Naea Oda (78-85-163), Ken Miyata and Daesza Tomas (83-83-166), Daniel Miller and Hi‘ilani Rosa-Alana (78-95-173), Michael Miller and Taylor Viquelia (80-98-178), and Jacob Dysinger and Hi‘ilani Rosa-Alana (90-112-202).
The Mixed Team Championship, playing in light trades to open and gradually increasing through the day, consisted of two-person teams, one boy and one girl from the 13-18 age division.
Playing around a bee sting to one of the golfers at the No. 1 hole, the challenging Kaua‘i Lagoons course played 6,142 yards for the girls and 6,633 yards for the boys in the 13-18 age division.
The tournament helped prepare Hawai‘i Team members compete in a similar Ryder Cup format event being played against the top junior golfers from Japan later this year during the fourth annual Pacific Junior Cup, Nov. 11-14 at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course on the Big Island.
The HSJGA hosts the Junior Tour Series for all ages this Saturday and Sunday at the Puakea Golf Course.
Visit www.hsjga.org, or call Parker Anderson, HSJGA Tournament Director, at 635-4642.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
