Campbell’s Jet Magsanide did pretty well on a golf course he doesn’t like to play because of its degree of difficulty, while Kalani’s Kara Kaneshiro proved once again to be one of the top girls golfers in the OIA.
Magsanide was consistent for the second consecutive day and Kaneshiro played a spectacular final round Tuesday en route to OIA golf titles Tuesday at Pearl Country Club.
Magsanide finished at 10-over-par 154 after his second consecutive 77 to win the boys tournament by one stroke over Waipahu’s Julian Samia.
Kaneshiro fired a 2-under 70 to finish at 148, which was one shot ahead of Kahuku’s Ava Cepeda.
Magsanide said Pearl Country Club “is my least favorite course on the island” because of its length, elevation changes and tricky greens.
He birdied the fifth and 17th holes, bogeyed the 16th and double-bogeyed the second, fourth and sixth on Tuesday.
“I was tied for the lead with three other players, and in order to have a chance to get the win, I would have to do the same thing,” said Magsanide, a senior. “Try to stay consistent and hit the ball straight and keep it out of trouble.”
Samia birdied No. 17 and bogeyed Nos. 2, 9 and 14 in his 2-over 74.
“My drives were straighter, but my second shots could have been better,” said Samia, a junior. “My short game was on today. I could have gotten it close to the pin for birdie putts, but two-putt pars is all my round was today.”
Samia added he was too aggressive in his first-round 81.
Radford’s Magnus Corpuz and Moanalua’s James Fujita and Dylan Sakasegawa tied for third at 157.
Kaneshiro, the girls winner from Kalani, has either won or tied for the top spot in four of the eight OIA tournaments this season.
On Tuesday, she birdied Nos. 1, 5, 14 and 15 and bogeyed Nos. 7 and 13 to finish eight strokes better than the previous day.
“I was hitting the ball pretty well,” said Kaneshiro, a junior. “I missed some putts, but some of them dropped in the end, so it was all right.”
The only trouble for Kaneshiro was on the par-4 seventh.
“On one hole, I drove it into the water hazard and I kind of panicked a little bit,” she said. “But I was able to save bogey.”
Kahuku’s Cepeda shot a 71, seven shots better than her first round, and Leilehua’s Leia Chung finished third at 151.
“My approach shots were good. I was hitting them close,” said Cepeda, a freshman.
Moanalua won the boys competition (top four scorers) with a 642, while Kalani took the girls (top three) with a 467.
The top 24 girls qualified for the David S. Ishii Foundation/HHSAA State Golf Championships to be held May 6-7 at Ka‘anapali Kai Golf Course.
The top 36 boys qualified for the state championships to be held May 9-10 at Ka‘anapali Royal Golf Course.
State tournaments were not held the previous two years because of COVID-19.
