The state’s golf calendar pretty much closes each year with the Michelle Wie Hawaii State Junior Golf Association Tournament of Champions, won by 13-year-old Michelle Wie in 2002.
The next year opens with the best male players on the planet teeing off on Maui, Oahu and Hawaii Island, beginning with the Sentry TOC two weeks from today at Kapalua Plantation.
Welcome to paradise, after another year of wondrous and wacky golf. Dustin Johnson, Patton Kizzire and Jerry Kelly will be here next month to defend PGA Tour titles, with Brooke Henderson expected back in April for the LPGA Lotte Championship.
Kaci Masuda became the sixth medalist in Rainbow Wahine history when she won this year’s Anuenue Spring Break Classic. In another rare breakthrough, UH-Hilo — led by medalist Jared Kinoshita — swept the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate. On the mainland, three-time state high school champion Mariel Galdiano won back-to-back collegiate events for UCLA.
Punahou senior Claire Choi became the fourth girl to defend a state high school championship. Medalist AJ Teraoka led Moanalua to its third state boys title since 2012 — the only three the OIA has won since 1980.
Hawaii’s Patty Ehrhart tied for 23rd at the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, then reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Kahuku seventh-grader Ava Cepeda earned a ticket to The Masters in April by qualifying for the Drive, Chip and Putt championships at Augusta National.
In between, Mira Jang three-peated at the 40th annual HSWGA Senior Women’s Championship, Tyler Ota, Davis Lee and Peter Jung won a bunch of amateur events and Eric Dugas captured his second straight Aloha Section PGA Stroke Play Championship. He and Jung earned exemptions into the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Following are the rest of the 2018 winners:
JANUARY
Sentry Tournament of Champions—Dustin Johnson
Acura Hawaii Pro-Junior Skills Challenge—Evan Kawai and Kyle Thompson
Sony Open in Hawaii—Patton Kizzire
Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai—Jerry Kelly
FEBRUARY
27th annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate—Oklahoma State and Justin Suh (USC)
42nd annual John A. Burns Intercollegiate—Texas A&M and Chandler Phillips (A&M)
11th annual HSGA Four Ball—Tyler Ota and David Saka
MARCH
Big Island Invitational—Christian Agosto
33rd annual Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational—Texas and Kaitlyn Papp (Texas)
55th Hawaii State Amateur Stroke Play Championship—Tyler Ota. Women—Kyung Eun Lee; Mid-Am—Shawn Sakoda. Senior Men—Mike Kawate.
HSWGA Member Match Play Championship—Jeanne Pak and Young Leskovec (A Flight)
Aloha Section PGA Assistants Four Ball—Corey Kozuma and Ryan Nagata
Anuenue Spring Break Classic—Louisville and Kaci Masuda (Hawaii)
Army Women’s Invitational—Anna Murata
First Tee Shootout—Jared Sawada
APRIL
LPGA Lotte Championship—Brooke Henderson
60th Mid-Pacific Open—Sam Cyr. Low Am—Tyler Ota, Senior Pro—Kevin Hayashi, Senior Amateur—Mike Kawate, A Flight—Howard Miao, B Flight—Christopher Han.
ILH—Remington Hirano (Punahou) and Karissa Kilby (Punahou)
KIF—Kauai High and Kanoa Nii (Kauai), Kauai High and Taryn Taguma (Kauai)
67th Francis Brown Four Ball—Andy Okita and Justin Taparra. Seniors—Scott Ichimura and Mike Kawate, A—Edwin Mariano and Randy Tamashiro, B—Glenn Okita and Carlo Rufo.
MAY
OIA—Kaiser and Malia Nam (Kaiser), Moanalua and AJ Teraoka (Moanalua)
BIIF—Waiakea and Mari Ebersole (Waiakea). Boys—Waiakea and Riley Kaneshiro (Hilo)
MIL—Baldwin and Reese Guzman (Maui High) and Seabury Hall and Jordan Terada (Maui)
U.S. Open local qualifier—Sam Cyr and Chris Stutts
U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier—Tiffany Chan
David S. Ishii Foundation Hawaii State Girls High School Championship—Punahou and Claire Choi (Punahou)
David S. Ishii Foundation Hawaii State Boys High School Championship— Moanalua and AJ Teraoka (Moanalua)
U.S. Open local qualifier—Jared Sawada
68th Jennie K. Wilson Invitational—Natsumi Nakanishi
Hickam Invitational—Matt Ma
JUNE
U.S. Senior Open qualifier—Stan Souza
IMG Academy Junior World Qualifier—Girls: 7-9—Honorine Nobuta; 9-10—Kate Nakaoka, Ava Cepeda, Jaylen Wan and Ireland Roberts; 11-12—Raya Nakao, Teal Matsueda, Mira Kubo and Nicole Tanoue; 13-14—Madison Takai, Rachael Wang, Kelsie Inouye and Jolie Chee; 15-18—Kyung Eun Lee, Allysha Mae Mateo, Karissa Kilby and Lacey Uchida. Boys: 9-10—Tristan Bayot, Jake Otani, Jordan Takai, Iakona Manuia and Noah Miyazono; 11-12—James Fujita, Justin Todd, Ryan Chang and Kade Kikuchi; 13-14—Joshua Chung, Dysen Park, Ethan Jaehn and Joshua Hyashida; 15-18—Davis Lee, Jacob Torres, Kolbe Irei and Jonathan Morikawa.
Aloha Section PGA Jr. Championship—Qualifiers: Lacey Uchida, Reese Guzman, Davis Lee and Jordan Terada. (Younger division champions: Joshua Chung and Lacey Uchida (13-15), Justin Todd and Teal Matsueda (11-12).
Aloha Section PGA Ka`anapali Classic Pro-Pro Championship—Eliot Gouveia and Eric Dugas (Makena)
110th Manoa Cup—Joshua Sedeno. Women—Brittany Fan.
HSJGA King Auto 12-under State Junior Championship—Girls: 7-10—Ava Cepeda, 11-12—Raya Nakao. Boys: 7-10—Tristan Bayot, 11-12—Reagan Miles.
HSJGA Optimist Qualifier—Boys: 12-13—Kihei Akina and Dane Watanabe; 14-15—Aidan Oda; 16-18—Kolbe Irei and Mason Nakamura. Girls: 13-14—Kara Kaneshiro, Katrina Huang and Elle Otani; 15-18—Myah McDonald, Kaylee Akagi, Michelle Kim and Jae Eun Park.
U.S. Junior Girls and Boys Amateur qualifiers—Malia Nam, Lacey Uchida and Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia); Jacob Torres.
HSJGA King Auto 13-18 State Junior Championship—Girls: 13-14—Jennifer Seo; 15-18—Reese Guzman. Boys: 13-14—Joshua Chung; 15-18—Isaiah Kanno.
Big “I” Qualifiers—Davis Lee, Noah Koshi, Kolbe Irei, Kyung Eun Lee and Jaelin Ishikawa
JULY
U.S. Women’s and Men’s Amateur qualifiers—Claire Choi and Spencer Dunaway
62nd Waialae Women’s Invitational—Kimberlie Miyamoto (low gross) and Keiko Soeda (low net)
Barbers Point Invitational—Tyler Ota. Seniors—Jonathan Ota, A—Robert Nakagawa, Frank Manuma.
55th Oahu Country Club Men’s Invitational—Shawn Lu. Seniors—Mike Kawate, Mid-Am—Chad Umetsu.
Pearl Junior Open—15-18—Shayna Lu and Peter Jung; 13-14—Jolie Chee and Joshua Chung; 11-12—Raya Nakao and Mahalo Ohkubo; 10-under—Ava Cepeda and Jordan Takai.
U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier—Clyde Kegel
Ninth annual Dave and Busters Jr. Classic—15-18—Noah Koshi and Allysha Mae Mateo. 13-14—Joshua Chung and Madison Takai.
AUGUST
60th Army Invitational—Tyler Ota
Maui Open—Alex Chiarella. Low Am—Justin Ngan. Senior Pro—Mark Keith. Senior Am—Nelson Domingo. Super Senior Pro—Dean Prince. Super Senior Amateur—Raymond Tendo. A Flight—Gregg Wada.
Pearl Invitational—Andy Okita. Pro—Ryan Acosta. Seniors—Jonathan Ota.
HSJGA Mixed Team Championship—Lacey Uchida and Pono Yanagi
OJGA Alumni/Junior—Shawn Tanoue-Avery Kageyama
Oahu Country Club Women’s Invitational—Chloe Wong (low gross) and Jeannie Pak (low net)
U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier—Craig Steinberg
HSJGA Ka`anapali Match Play Championship—Girls: Myah McDonald. Boys: Peter Jung (15-18) and Joshua Hayashida (13-14).
National Car Rental Assistant Championship—Hunter Larson
SEPTEMBER
Big Island Junior Classic—Girls: Ava Cepeda (7-10), Mia Cepeda (11-12), Madison Takai (13-14), Kaylee Akagi (15-18). Boys: Jordan Takai (7-10), Kade Kikuchi (11-12), Ethan Jaehn (13-14), Davis Lee (15-18).
34th Mayor’s Cup—Davis Lee. Seniors—Mark Gaza (overall), Keith Nakamura (low net). A—Michael Wolfe. B—Glenn Maeda. Women—Kayli Bunyan, Ye Won Ham (low net), Debra-Anne Murobayashi (Seniors).
Kauai Junior Classic—Girls: Honorine Nobuta (7-10), Raya Nakao (11-12), Rachael Wang (13-14), Lana Calibuso-Kwee (15-18). Boys: Kade Kikuchi (11-12), Joshua Hayashida (13-14), Peter Jung (15-18).
Aloha Section PGA Stroke Play/SPC Championship—Eric Dugas
U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur qualifier—Mira Jang, Agnes Yamauchi and Lisa Judge
Oahu Junior Classic—Girls: Honorine Nobuta (7-10), Nicole Tanoue (11-12), Chloe Jang (13-14), Kyung Eun Lee (15-18). Boys: Tristan Bayot (7-10), Kade Kikuchi (11-12), Marshall Kim (13-14), Kolbe Irei (15-18).
HSWGA Senior Championship—Mira Jang. Kate Huntsinger (low net).
Senior SPC/Senior Championship—Kevin Hayashi
Drive, Chip and Putt Regional—Girls: 7-9—Rina Kawasaki, Honorine Nobuta; 10-11—Kady Matsumoto, Ava Cepeda; 12-13—Mia Cepeda, Scarlett Schremmer; 14-15—Madison Takai, Jessica Hreljac. Boys: 7-9—Lakota Lee, Brycen James Massey; 10-11—Jordan Garcia Hunter, Rhett Leonard; 12-13—Gregory Jackson Jr., Ian Chapital; 14-15—Yuuki Kubo, Anson Cabello.
HSGA 95th Big Island Amateur—Davis Lee, Kelly Whelan (Senior)
OCTOBER
16th Turtle Bay Open—Peter Jung. Katrina Huang (Women), Mike Kawate (Seniors).
HSWGA Member Stroke Play Championship—Heather McGinnis. Kyong Omura (A Flight).
Second annual HSGA Maui Amateur—Michael Grabowski. John Conners (Low net), David Goode (Senior gross), Stacy Higa (Senior net).
ASPGA Golf Concepts Pro-Scratch—Jared Sawada and Andy Okita
Seventh annual Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational—Pepperdine and Blake Elliott (McNeese State)
Dennis Rose Intercollegiate—UH-Hilo and Jared Kinoshita (UH-Hilo)
Rainbow Wahine Invitational—Florida International and Hannah Alberto (Sam Houston State)
NOVEMBER
Fifth annual Ka`anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational—Cal and Sebastian Crampton (Cal)
12th annual HSJGA Asia-Pacific Junior Cup—Japan
Pac-12 Preview—Arizona and co-medalists Yu-Sang Hou (Arizona) and Tze-Han Lin (Oregon)
Sony Open in Hawai‘i amateur qualifying—Peter Jung
46th Gov. John Burns Challenge Cup—Pros
DECEMBER
Michelle Wie HSJGA Tournament of Champions—7-10: Ava Cepeda and Jake Otani; 11-12: Ray Nakao and Ben Cafferio; 13-14: Ferrari Dudoit and Ethan Jaehn; 15-18: Lana Calibuso-Kwee and Davis Lee.
2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifier—Justin Arcano and Justin Ngan