Entering her third season with the Washington State golf team, Nani Yanagi had never finished better than 28th in a collegiate tournament.

For the season-opening WSU Cougar Classic, Yanagi wasn’t one of the five golfers her head coach chose for the team competition.

That didn’t stop the 2012 Waiakea alumna from continuing her recent hot play.

Competing as an individual, Yanagi topped a field of 59 golfers to earn medalist honors at her home tournament last Tuesday, shooting the low round of the day.

Yanagi closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 6 under for the 54-hole tournament and win by three strokes.

"It was pretty awesome," Yanagi admitted Tuesday in a phone interview. "I was actually shocked to find out that I had won. I had no idea until we put the flag in on the last hole and a girl I was playing with said, ‘Hey, I think you won the tournament.’

"I said, ‘Really?,’ and she said her dad had told her two holes back I was in the lead. I said, ‘Thanks for not telling me that.’ I would have freaked out."

Yanagi shot under par in all three rounds and continued her recent hot streak of golf.

It started with her victory in a U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links qualifier in June on Kauai.

She competed in the tournament for the third straight year, but finally advanced to the match play round after finishing in a tie for 41st.

She lost in the round of 64, but just getting to match play instilled a confidence in her she has continued to play with since returning for her junior season with the Cougars.

"I played it three times and I had never made the cut, so luckily I was able to do that and I think I feel like at that point, my game was starting to turn in the direction I wanted to go," Yanagi said. "I’ve been really working hard trying to focus on my short-term goals, which will hopefully allow me to succeed in my long-term goals."

One of those goals was winning a collegiate tournament. With that already out of the way, she’s now focused on not getting ahead of herself and continuing to play solid golf.

"I’ll be playing as part of the team next week in New Mexico, so the goal is to play well and help my teammates win," Yanagi said.

Yanagi was born and raised in Hilo and decided she wanted to explore college options away from the islands.

She made two trips to Pullman, Wash., to visit the campus but had already decided on Washington State after her first time there.

"I verbally committed to Coach (Kelli Kamimura) in the parking lot," Yanagi said. "It’s a small college town, so it’d be (kind of like) home enough for me to be comfortable in and not be too scared like how I probably would be in a big city.

"The coaching staff was so supportive of me both in golf and my personal life, and after my coach took me around the campus for a day I thought I couldn’t let it go and committed right there."

Washington State will play four more tournaments in the fall before winter break.