KOHALA COAST — One legacy was cemented and one took flight in the BIIF golf individual tournament on Tuesday at Mauna Kea Golf Course. Waiakea’s Trevor Hirata capped off his high school career with his third straight league title, while his fellow Warrior Kaley Saludares captured her second championship despite only being a sophomore.
Neither win came easy.
The tournament started on Sunday with the first round at Hualalai and after the first 18 holes, Hirata trailed Kamehameha’s Kala’i Pomroy by one stroke. Scores were low in that first round as Pomroy finished at even par with a 72.
Mauna Kea proved to be a completely different beast with the sand traps gobbling up golf balls nearly as fast as the players could hit them. Scores shot up but Hirata kept himself composed, finishing the day with a 5-over 77. Pomroy — who shot an 81 to finish in second place — was three shots back.
“The course was in pristine condition, pins were very inaccessible and it was just hot as heck” Hirata said. “I didn’t hit the ball off the tee very well and I didn’t make a lot of putts, but I was able to hit a lot of greens.”
Hirata admitted that his drive was so unreliable that he hit only two all day, electing to instead tee off with his 3-iron.
“I just wanted to keep it in the fairway, get on the green and two putt,” Hirata said.
The conservative game plan paid off in the end, as Hirata let the players around him make the mistakes. The battle between Hirata and Pomroy was close until the eighth hole, when Pomroy carded a 10, making the title Hirata’s to lose.
“That really helped me relax,” Hirata said. “I had that cushion and I could just hit middle of the green and not really go after anything.”
For the senior, winning three straight championships was kind of indescribable. His sendoff statement after his final BIIF round, “it was good fun.”
Like Hirata, Saludares was also able to defend her title from the previous year. In her freshman season, the Waiakea golfer managed to overcome a 3-stroke deficit on the second day to claim her first championship.
This year, Saludares was the player to beat, having established what seemed to be a comfortable 5-stroke lead after the round at Hualalai. However, the day did not start well for the sophomore. She carded a 9 on the first hole and just like that, she found herself tied with her teammate Tia Kualii.
To make matters worse, Saludares carded a 7 on the second hole and dropped three strokes back, the same deficit she had to overcome the previous year, but with two less holes to play.
No problem.
Starting anew, Saludares began to turn her game around.
“I knew I needed to get my head back in the game and just go one shot at a time,” Saludares said. “I managed to make two long birdie putts on hole six and hole eight and that got me going,”
Both putts were downhill, very fast and on greens that were very unforgiving.
“I just had to tap the ball and it went with the line and dropped in,” Saludares said. “I was very happy.”
Saludares capped her comeback on the 16th hole when she made her sand shot out of a very deep bunker.
“I jumped up to see where the ball went and I saw it kick right and roll in,” Saludares said. “I was pretty excited. I didn’t expect that.”
Winning the championship by three strokes, Saludares carded a 16-over 88 at Mauna Kea. She tied another teammate, Anne Nakamoto, for the second best round of the day. Only Kualii had a better round, shooting an 86.
“Nobody likes to do it the easy way,” Waiakea coach Sandra Goodale joked after Saludares’ round. “She battled and kept her composer. She kept it between her ears.”
For Saludares, to pull out the victory was an unbelievable feeling, just like the previous year.
“When I won last year, it took me months to realize that this was real life, because it was a really hard year for me,” Saludares said. “And today, it was a really stressful day, but is an unbelievable feeling to win again.”
BIIF golfers will now turn their attention to the HHSAA meet which will take place in Kauai at the Wailua Golf Course next week.