Nakagawa chewing up the competition

KAILUA-KONA — Blake Nakagawa loves looking at his expanding collection trophies and medals, although the 6-year-old golfer has to look up to do so because the trophy rack is set up high enough to avoid Lyman, his 10-month-old golden retriever, who loves nothing more than to chew on the awards.

One of the few things Nakagawa loves more than trophies and his new puppy, is golf — and he is pretty good at it too.

Playing in the 6-and-under division during the 2017-18 season, the Big Island-grown phenom dominated the competition on the U.S. Kids Aloha Tour in Honolulu. He competed in six tournaments this year, winning every single one, including the Tour Championship, which took place earlier this month at Hawaii Prince Golf Club in Ewa Beach.

The Tour Championship trophy was a solid addition to the young golfer’s collection. One he is particularly proud of.

“It is a nice one. It is made of glass,” said Nakagawa, who now has eight trophies and 30 medals.

With the victory, Nakagawa qualified for the U.S. Kids World Championships, which will take place at North Carolina’s Pinehurst in July. The event will feature the top 1,500 junior golfers from 50 countries. The top 100 U.S. Kid’s golfers from the 6-and-under were invited to participate.

Nakagawa says he is looking forward to playing in the tournament, but also meeting new people and eating some good southern BBQ.

It is no fluke that the Big Island native is one of the best young golfers in the state. He trains a lot, though for him it is more play than work. He has a new coach, Nainoa Calip, who has been working with Nakagawa for about a year.

Calip is a Big Island standout as well. He played at the University of Hawaii and won the Manoa Cup in 2014. He is a student of the famed Hilo teacher, Kevin Hayashi, who has competed professionally since 1987.

“We hit a lot of balls, at least one bucket,” Nakagawa said. “We putt a lot.”

Driving the ball has been Nakagawa’s strength on the Aloha Tour. He consistently hits the ball straight and can usually out drive his competition. However, it is his short game that has shown a lot of improvement over the last year, especially his putting on the green.

At the Tour Championship, Nakagawa faced a long, downhill putt that broke right to left for an eagle on the second hole. His hand held steady and he read the green properly, sinking the putt, which helped him pull away from the field early.

Since winning the championship, offers to play all over the world have come Nakagawa’s way, including trips to the mainland to play at Pebble Beach, and even overseas at the European Championship in Scotland. Nakagawa may also take a trip to Japan later this year and play on their U.S. Kids Tour.

With all the possibilities to play all over the world, one may wonder how bad the travel is for such a young kid. However, Nakagawa loves to fly. He especially likes the juice that he gets on his short trips to Oahu. He has actually flown so much that he earned a Pualani Gold membership, and he absolutely loves hanging out in the Premier Lounge.

Nakagawa’s father, Riley, who travels with his son everywhere, takes him to the range, and to practice, was also very excited about this.

“We depend on him for the free checked bag,” Riley Nakagawa said.

With July’s flight quickly approaching for the World Championships, the largest, most prestigious tournament of the year, Nakagawa is working hard to get ready. But as his father points out, he never pushes his son, it is always his choice to train.

“You don’t see a lot of kids his age with his focus,” Riley Nakagawa said. “The passion is there without me pushing him.”

Blake Nakagawa also surfs and competes in jiu-jitsu, where he has met some new friends. He is currently in kindergarten at Innovations Public Charter School and is learning about math — something he is excited about and will help him with his scorecard.