WAILUA — Kapa‘a High School golfer Juliette O’Shaughnessy enjoyed her personal best rounds of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation golf season during the 36-hole state qualifying match played at Wailua Golf Course on Friday and Saturday.
After finishing with a two-day total 184, the results put her one stroke back of earning the top girls individual honor that was awarded to Kaua‘i High School junior Amalia Abigania, who finished with a 183.
“Makes me want to rethink that four-putt hole on the front nine,” O’Shaunessy said.
Paul Ito, a former golf professional and team parent helping with the KIF scoring, said the qualifying match was to crown an individual boys and girls KIF champion for 2024, and to determine the additional individual qualifiers for the upcoming 2024 David S. Ishii Foundation Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association golf championships at the Kaneohe Klipper course on O‘ahu.
The girls will play May 7-8, and the boys will play on April 30 and May 1.
“On the second day of the state qualifying event in Wailua, Kapa‘a High School freshman Juliette O’Shaughnessy showed no fear and matched her best round of the year with another 92 for a two-day total of 184, securing her second place for individualist honor, and a spot as the individual girls qualifier for the state golf tournament,” Ito said.
“Kaua‘i High School junior and defending KIF Girls Champion Amalia Abigania was able to hold on to win her second KIF individual title by one shot with a final round 99 toward her 2-day total of 183.”
Leilani Redondo of Kaua‘i settled for third place individualist with a 186 followed by Sydney Ito of Kaua‘i posting a 201 and Bailey Ponce of Island School at 224.
The Kaua‘i High School girls team clinched the team title earlier in the season.
On the boys course, Kaua‘i High School relied on the make-up match that was played on Thursday at the Ocean Course Hokuala, where Kapa‘a High School finished first with a 335, followed by Kaua‘i High School at 353. Island School posted a 369 and Waimea rounded out the field at 381.
“The boys team title was up for grabs between Kapa‘a High School and Kaua‘i High School at the make-up match,” Ito said. “Bottom line for Kapa‘a to win the season, the Warriors needed to win the final match, and Kaua‘i finish last in this match.
“For Kaua‘i to win, they needed to finish second or better,” Ito said. “Kapa‘a High School did what they needed to do by securing the win at Hokuala, but Kaua‘i also did what they needed to do and finished second to secure the season title and their spot representing the KIF at the David Ishii HHSAA Boys Golf Championships at the Kaneohe Klipper.”
Ito said there were no girls team competition at the Hokuala because no school was able to field a full team.
During individualist play, Kapa‘a’s Grahm Morgan topped the boys play with a 79 followed by a tie for second place between Island School’s Garrett Hadley and Lucas Summerhays, who both posted 82. Kapa‘a’s Pohaku Ahnee Lagmay was next up with an 84.
On the girls course, Island School’s Ponce topped the wahine field by posting a 97. Kapa‘a’s O’Shaughnessy finished with a 102 for second, followed by Mehana Guy at 110. Brynn Lee Hirata of Waimea High School was next at 115.
Following the first round of the state qualifying match at Wailua, just seven strokes separated the five contenders — Summerhays at 76, Hadley at 78, Kaua‘i High School’s Cody Nii at 80, Kapa‘a High School’s Jayvin Raquel at 82 and Kapa‘a’s Makoa Chong at 83.
“On the second day of the event, it was do or die, and Kapa‘a High School freshman Graham Morgan put together his best round of the year, shooting the lowest round of the event with a 74 to come back from a rough 89 in Round 1 to finish with a two-day total of 153 to secure the final boys state qualifying spot, beating out teammate Makoa Chong by just a stroke,” Ito said.
“The big story, however, was Lucas Summerhays defending his KIF crown with a solid final round 77 to go with his first round 76 for a two-day total of 153, holding off Kaua‘i High School senior Cody Nii, who finished with a solid 78 to secure second place in the individual competition.”
Third place in individualist competition went to Morgan with a 163, followed by Chong who carded a 164. Renyn Lee of Kaua‘i rounded out the leaderboard with 166.
