PRINCEVILLE — As the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational started Monday, two of the University of Hawaii’s golfers made their way back to their home island. UH junior Justin “Pono” Tokioka, a Kauai High School alumnus, made his return to The
PRINCEVILLE — As the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational started Monday, two of the University of Hawaii’s golfers made their way back to their home island.
UH junior Justin “Pono” Tokioka, a Kauai High School alumnus, made his return to The Garden Isle.
“It’s great to be back home,” Tokioka said. “This is my favorite stop in the season.”
Tokioka finished the first round with a score of 76 (4-over-par), including an eagle on the course’s 14th hole.
“Today, I had a tough day. I had a bad start. I have to get back my confidence,” Tokioka said. “I hope tomorrow is a better day.”
Also returning to Kauai is freshman Bryden Salvador, who graduated from Kapaa High School in May.
“It felt great coming back to my home island. Being in the city, I kind of miss being out here in the country,” Salvador said. “It’s good to see all the familiar faces. It felt like a reunion”
The Princeville tournament is Salvador’s first college competition. He finished the round with an 85 (13-over-par).
“It was more of a learning experience. I was hitting it decent, but I had two big blowup holes. That kind of shook me up a bit,” Salvador said about his first round. “I was trying to recover from it, but I didn’t stop the bleeding enough.”
“I’m definitely hoping to improve my score. Big time,” he added.
UH men’s golf coach Ronn Miyashiro said growing pains were to be expected as Salvador is a freshman.
“It’s his debut. This is his first tournament. This is his first experience as far as college golf,” Miyashiro said about Salvador. “I think it was an eye-opener. He has high expectations about himself. He’s working. He know he needs to work to compete at this level. He does everything we ask of him, and more. But I think today it really showed that it’s different. It’s different from what he’s used to.”
As for Tokioka, Miyashiro said “Pono” has surely improved from last season, but perhaps puts too much pressure on himself when he plays on his home island.
“We talked about it again before he went out today. Coming to Kauai, he always puts pressure on himself and he tries to do things he normally doesn’t do,” Miyashiro said. “With him, it’s really, ‘You don’t have to do anything special, anything extra. You have enough talent. You have the ability. Just go out there and play.’”
Salvador said Tokioka has been like “a big brother” for him since he has arrived on campus.
“He’s shown me around the school and helped me get to places. He gives me a lot of advice,” Salvador said. “For school, golf and just in general, he just helps me a lot.”
Tokioka shared similar sentiments for Salvador.
“He’s great to have. I’m happy to have another Kauai golfer be at UH,” Tokioka said. “He’s a great guy. I’ve seen him improve through the years. I can see the potential.”
