Another successful season of high school golf was celebrated on Tuesday afternoon at Kohanaiki Resort Course — where the best golfers on the island competed on a beautiful, sunny day with calm breezes in the final round of the BIIF Individual Championships.
The top 18 boys will represent the BIIF on May 12-13 at the David Ishii Golf State Championships on Oahu. The top eight girls will play in the state tournament next week.
After shooting an impressive 4-under par (67) during Saturday’s Round 1, St. Joseph freshman Leo Saito held onto his lead by shooting 73 over the final round for a total gross of 140 — beating Waiakea senior Jake Otani by a single stroke (141). Otani also shot 1-over (73) in the final round at Kohanaiki.
Saito started the day off struggling after shooting a double bogey and bogey on the front nine, but made up for it on the back nine by shooting par (36). Saito, who also won the previous BIIF match, has impressed many during his first season of high school golf — currently holding a 71.9 scoring average per round. Per Golf Genius, Saito has birdied (or better) over 24% of the time across a 180-hole sample.
Winning the girls field for the second straight year was 91直播 Preparatory Academy sophomore Khloe Nakagawa, who grossed a total score of 151 over two rounds — beating Waiakea’s Jodyn Kawachi by four strokes.
Nakagawa played some of her best golf of the season Saturday in Round 1, shooting par to give herself a comfortable lead. In Tuesday’s Round 2, Nakagawa shot 7-over par (79), including 12 pars.
Nakagawa has been excellent all season long — finishing in the top three five times in 2026.
Otani, the Warriors’ No. 1 golfer, shot 68 in Round 1. Due to the top-two boys both shooting 73 in Round 2, the one-stroke difference between him and Saito on Saturday ended up deciding the individual title.
Otani secured 18 pars during the round. On the season, he’s placed in the top three in six of the seven island matches in 2026.
Kealakehe senior Noah Okazaki placed third in the boys contest, shooting 151 overall — a 73 (+1) in Round 1 and 78 (+6) in Round 1. He eagled on Hole 1 of the second round.
Otani’s teammates, Noah Miyazono (+10) and Skyler Miyashiro (+14), placed fourth and fifth, respectively. The Waiakea boys are expected to be one of the favorites to win the boys state crown. The Warriors will be seeking their third state title in four years. They won the BIIF team title earlier this month.
Hilo’s Iakona Manuia tied Miyashiro for fifth.
Kawachi’s second-place finish for the girls was highlighted by her first-round performance, where she shot 3-over par (75). During Tuesday’s round, Kawachi clinched three birdies to finish with an 80 (+8).
Kawachi has placed in the top three five times this season, including three wins. Her teammate, Madelyn Awaya, placed third after shooting 78 both rounds.
Like the Warrior boys, the girls team also clinched the conference team title.
Hilo’s Nalei Ramos (+14) and Lauren Kozohara (+19) — the Vikings’ two most-consistent golfers — placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
To see the full list of state qualifiers and results, see today’s Scoreboard.
