The latest local golf prodigy doesn’t possess the flair of Michelle Wie or Tadd Fujikawa when they played at the Sony Open as teenagers. But Kyle Suppa knows every corner of Waialae like he does his textbooks at Punahou, where the junior maintains a 3.76 GPA.

The numbers were also good for him at the Sony Open on Friday — barely — as he survived the cut and advanced to the weekend.

Suppa said he was only nervous the first three holes of the first round and the first and 18th of the second. But since he played in the morning Friday, there was a long wait to see if he’d be playing Saturday.

Now he can let it rip, which friends say is his true nature on the course. Since he’s an amateur, there’s no paycheck involved, so he might as well shoot for the pins.

Suppa played a methodical style in the first two rounds, using his home-turf advantage to stay out of trouble and fashion back-to-back 69s. He’s been a par-making machine this week, cranking out 32 of them, and went 24 holes before his lone bogey on Friday.

"I know where to put the ball where I can make par," he said, during the long wait to see if he’d play another round.

But if you talk to his buddies who work in the cart barn, you learn Suppa’s style isn’t always to play it safe.

Danny Zane has played with him on a regular basis the past five years.

"No fear," said Zane, when asked to describe Suppa’s game. "We were just talking about how he’s been playing conservative. It’s not like him to hold back like that."

Suppa tweaked his back on Tuesday. He said that hasn’t affected his shot-making (or selections), but has kept him off the practice range.

"I’m trying to hit as little as possible," he said.

Everybody in town is rooting for Suppa, but none more than the employees who take care of the carts and have played pau hana rounds with him since he was 10 and teeing off from the fairways.

"He’s like our cart barn mascot," Zane said. "He’d come over here and say, ‘Hey, are you done (working) yet? Let’s play.’"

Kevin Carll, the head pro at Waialae, has tracked Suppa’s progress closely over the years. With a couple of breaks in the first two rounds, he wouldn’t have had to worry about dancing with the cutline.

"He left some shots, some putts out there," Carll said.

Randall Wong, another cart barn employee who plays with Suppa, said the kid showed his mental toughness by besting par both days despite some bad breaks.

"He’s always been like that, even when he was hitting (his drives) from the fairway," Wong said.

Suppa said he hasn’t received any advice from Fujikawa or Wie yet.

"I know Tadd personally. I met Michelle a few times. I’m not sure she’d remember me, at least before this week."

He recalls watching Fujikawa light up the course in 2007 when Tadd was his age, 16.

"I was only 8, so I wasn’t really paying much attention," he said. "But I have watched a lot of the other amateurs over the years, and I think they get some big numbers because they go for the flags."

Starting now, he might as well, too. There’s nothing to lose.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.