WAIKOLOA — The final regular season match of the 2026 BIIF golf season took place Monday at Waikoloa Village Course.
St. Joseph freshman Leo Saito dominated the day in the boys contest, shooting 6-under par (66) to win the field by five strokes. The win marked Saito’s second consecutive individual victory of his debut BIIF season. Saito birdied six times throughout the day, including eagling Hole 7 on a par 4. He shot 3-under par (33) on both the front nine and back nine.
Kaylee Palakiko led the girls field with her first win of the season, shooting 4-over par (76). She shot 12 pars on the day and birdied Hole 12.
The Waiakea girls additionally clinched the team title after shooting 253 collectively (+37). The Warriors won every match this season, joining the Waiakea boys team as island champions (they clinched last week). Leading the Warrior girls was Madelyn Awaya, who shot 80 (+8) to place second individually. Awaya has placed in the top three four times this season.
Awaya’s teammate, Khloe Nakagawa, tied in third with 91直播 Prep’s Khloe Nakagawa after carding 9-over par (81). Hilo’s Lauren Kozohara placed fifth in the girls contest after carding 82 (+10).
It was business as usual for the Waiakea boys as well. Although the Warriors already clinched the boys team title, the group still put their best foot forward and handled business — shooting 306 (+18) to beat Kealakehe by 10 strokes. Hilo placed third after shooting 62-over par (350) as a group.
Leading the winning Warriors was Waiakea’s Jake Otani, who placed second after shooting 1-under par (71). The senior had a strong front nine, shooting 34. Across the day, Otani secured four birdies.
Otani has placed in the top three five times in 2026.
Otani’s teammates, Noah Miyazono and Kysen Taniguchi, tied in fourth after shooting 4-over par (76). Both players finished the day strong, shooting 37 (+1) each over the back nine. Taniguchi eagled on Hole 18’s Par 5 to secure his spot in the top four.
The second-place Waveriders were led by senior Noah Okazaki, who placed third after shooting 2-over par (74). Okazaki had a strong start to the day, shooting 2-under par (34) over the first nine holes. He shot five birdies across the 18 holes.
The 36-hole BIIF individual championships will begin Saturday morning at Hualalai Resort. The event will conclude Tuesday at Kohanaiki. The contest will decide which golfers from the island will represent the BIIF at the 2026 David Ishii Golf State Championships, which begin May 5 at Kaneohe Klipper course on Oahu.
See today’s scoreboard on Page 3B to view the full slate of Monday’s results.
