Kiaaina tops 50 years of HHSAA golf

With the 50th state boys golf tournament being held at Waikoloa this week, here are Hawaiiprepworld’s choices as the top 10 golfers in the tournament’s history. The team element is a big part of the tournament, and is weighed heavily. These rankings account for only the HHSAA tournament, so legends like Dean Wilson of Castle, whose highest finish was 13th, will not be found here. Scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of every medalist since the tournament began in 1966.

1. Kalani Kiaaina, 1991-94 Iolani
Kiaaina burst onto the scene as a freshman in 1991, shooting a 76 on the first day at Waiehu to trail teammate Kyle Takaki by two strokes. With his teammates slipping to shoot scores of 78 (John Shibuya), 79 (Kourtney Kono), 81 (Takaki) and 90 (Akira Usami), Kiaana burned up the course with a 73 to find himself tied for the lead with Kaiser’s Craig Uyehara after 36 holes. Uyehara beat Kiaaina with a birdie on the first hole of the playoff, but Kiaaina earned the silver to go with a gold for the team title, which Iolani won by an easy 19 strokes over defending champion Waiakea. He slipped to sixth as a sophomore at Wailua, nine strokes behind Mike Pavao. He torched Waikoloa as a junior, becoming the first schoolboy to break par in both rounds on the track and the first to do it in the state tournament since Mitchell Murata 13 years before. Kiaaina fired a 71 in the first round and followed it up with a 70 in the second to beat the field by six strokes as the only player under par. He faced a challenge as the defending champion in 1994 at Wailua, opening with a 72 and closing with a 75 to beat Hawaii Baptist’s Jason Hattori by two strokes. No boy has ever won three individual state titles, but Kiaaina came the closest with his tie as a freshman, and for that he is the Star-Advertiser’s best golfer in the HHSAA tournament’s first 50 years. Kiaaina is currently a club pro at the Hawaii Prince.

2. Lorens Chan, 2009-12 Iolani
Chan, who is currently competing at UCLA, started his state career with a 69 at Royal Kaanapali and followed it up with a 74 in the second round to hold off teammate David Fink by two strokes for the individual title. He led the Raiders to the team title by 19 strokes over Moanalua, but never captured team glory again. He slipped to fourth as a sophomore at Turtle Bay in 2010, shooting a pair of 74s to end up seven strokes behind the leaders, Rudy Cabalar of Campbell and Nainoa Calip of Kamehameha-Hawaii, who blistered the course for a 3-under par 141 with Cabalar winning it in a playoff. Chan stepped up his game as a junior, walking onto the course at Waikoloa and firing darts for two days. He opened with a 66 to lead Kalena Preus of Punahou by a stroke and left him behind with a 67 in the second round to beat Moanalua’s Tyler Ota by four strokes and set the HHSAA scoring record with an 11-under par 133, a record that had stood since 1998. Six golfers in the tournament broke par both days after the feat had only been accomplished eight times previously. Chan was the heavy favorite as a senior, but passed the torch to Moanalua sophomore John Oda, who won at Wailua by three strokes over Seabury Hall’s Alex Chiarella.

3. Ralden Chang, 1979-82 Campbell
Chang owned the high school golf scene for three years, but the run started with a seventh-place finish as a freshman in 1979 at Wailua. Chang shot a 76-77 but couldn’t keep up with the older boys, finishing seven strokes behind winner Jonathan Ota of Kauai. Two eventual Hawaii Golf Hall of Famers, Ron Castillo and Greg Meyer, finished ahead of him in that tournament but Chang would leave their high school accomplishments in the dust. He beat another future Hall of Famer, Kevin Hayashi, as a sophomore when he closed with a 71 at Ala Wai in 1980 to take second place by three strokes over Mitchell Murata of Castle. Chang looked to be just another golfer when he teed it up at Ala Wai again in 1981, shooting a first-round 74 to start the second day in fourth place, three strokes behind Maui’s Kyle Takushi. Neither Takushi nor anyone else in the field could keep up with himin the second round, with Chang shooting a 69 to dust second-place Takushi by four strokes. Nobody else fired lower than 74 in that final round. The tournament was held at Kalua Koi in his senior year, and he opened with a 75 on a tough day to take the first-round lead by a stroke over two others. With Radford’s John Raudy and Eric Yu of Hawaii Baptist breaking par to come up from the bottom, Chang shot a 74 on the second day to win by three strokes over Waiakea’s Kent Kikuchi and become the first high school golfer to repeat as champion. The only blemish on Chang’s record is the lack of a team title, his Sabers never came close.

4. John Oda, 2011-14 Moanalua
Oda, the reigning state champion, was an important part of Moanalua’s third place finish in the wild 2011 tournament at Waikoloa, shooting a 70-76—146 to fall out of medal consideration as freshman but he would atone for the slipup in future years. He won the individual and team titles as a sophomore at Wailua, taking the lead with a 68 in the first round to lead teammate Jefferson Yee by two strokes. With past champions Lorens Chan of Iolani and Campbell’s Rudy Cabalar in the field, Oda shot a 71 in the second round to beat Seabury Hall’s Alex Chiarella by three strokes. Oda opened defense of his title with a 68 at Kaanapali and trailed Punahou’s Paul Samiere by three strokes but slipped to a 72 in the final round to allow Punahou’s Kalena Preus pass him to win by four and force Oda to settle for second. Oda got a shot a redemption in 2014, though, following up his first round 69 at Turtle Bay with a 73 in the second to find himself tied with Samiere and Punahou’s Kyle Suppa after 36 holes. Oda birdied the second playoff hole to take the title and his second gold medal as an individual.

5. Jarett Hamamoto, 1999-2002 Waiakea
Hamamoto burst onto the scene as one of Waiakea’s many talented golfers in 1999, leading the Warriors to a defense of their team title with a fifth-place finish, just ahead of teammates Landon Chang (6th), Layne Hamamoto (6th) and Ryan Masuda (8th). Hamamoto shot a 74 on both days at Waikoloa Kings’, four shots away from champion Jamie Matsumura of Kauai, who finished at even par. Hamamoto slipped as a sophomore, shooting an 80 in both rounds to finish nine shots out of the top 15 but picking up his second team title. He picked up his third team gold as a junior at Kapalua Village, opening with a 69 to open a two shot lead and taking the individual gold with a final-round 72 to beat teammate Gabriel Wilson, the only other golfer to finish the tournament under par, by two strokes. Kamehameha ended Waiakea’s run in Hamamoto’s senior year at Leilehua Golf Course, but the Warriors remained the class of prep boys golf. Hamamoto blistered the course for a 66 — one stroke off the lowest first round ever — on the first day and sat on it for a 74 in the final round to repeat as champion by four strokes.

6. Troy Tamiya, 1984-88 Waiakea
Tamiya helped build the Waiakea dynasty that Hamamoto kept going, picking up three team titles. He shot a 76 in his first round as a freshman at Keauhou Kona but bounced back with a 73 — tied with the low round of the day — in the final to finish tied for fifth only two strokes behind teammate Alika Toledo’s winning tally to contribute to Waiakea’s second straight team title. He failed to medal as a sophomore at Waiehu, stopping Waiakea’s state winning streak, then began a rivalry with Punahou’s Jeff Oda to determine the state’s top prep golfer. Tamiya finished the first round at Wailua as a junior with a 77 to sit two shots off Oda’s lead but closed with a 74 to Oda’s 77 to take the gold medal by a stroke and help the Warriors repeat as team champions. He took the advantage over Oda in the first round of his final HHSAA tournament, shooting a 72 to Oda’s 75 at Hilo to enjoy a three stroke lead. Oda shot a 72 in the second round, but Tamiya’s 73 stood up to allow him to repeat as champion by two strokes and add another team title for the Warriors.

7. Mike Pavao, 1990-92 Waiakea
Pavao picked up where Jerald Satake left off as Waiakea’s horse, shooting a 70 in the first round at Hilo as a sophomore to take a three shot lead as the only boy to tame the course. He shot a 78 in the second round but wasn’t the only one to struggle and won the individual gold by a stroke over a huge group of five others. Pavao was the only Wildcat to finish in the top 10 but still brought his school the team title for the first time since Tamiya’s senior year in 1987. He tied Aiea’s Regan Lee with a fifth-place finish, five strokes off the winner, with a 75-79–154 at Waiheu and Waiakea couldn’t compete with Kalani Kiaaina-led Iolani in the team race. Pavao put his team on his back as a senior, though, shooting a 72 in the first round at Wailua to trail Roosevelt’s Ho Yun Kang by two strokes, then fired a 73 in the second to beat Kang by two strokes. Waiakea took its second team title in Pavao’s three years despite the senior being the only Wildcat to earn an individual medal.

8. Kalua Makalena, 1974-76 Leilehua
Makalena teamed with Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer Clyde Rego to make Leilehua one of the OIA’s first golf powers, shooting a 73 in the first round at Kuilima as a sophomore but following it up with a 79 to finish second by two strokes behind Wendell Tom of McKinley. Rego was right behind Makalena to take third place and the Mules won their first team title. Leilehua left no doubt in Makalena’s junior year, with Rego shooting a 70 for the first round lead at Hilo and Makalena shooting a 75 to sit in third behind Kahuku ace Randy Barenaba. Makalena then did something no schoolboy had done before, lighting up the course for a 68 while nobody else broke par to beat Rego by two strokes and hand Leilehua the repeat team championship. Leilehua’s run ended during Makalena’s senior year with Rego gone, and he opened defense of his individual title with a 74 at Kuilima to share the lead with Kalaheo’s Robert Black. Makalena slipped to a 78 in his final HHSAA round to finish third, one shot behind Black and four behind Moanalua’s Maurice JeanPierre.

9. David Ishii, 1970-73 Kauai
Hawaii’s most celebrated golfer helped make his name two days before Christmas in 1969, the only year the HHSAA made golf a winter sport. Ishii shot a 73 at Ala Wai to trail Kalani’s Keith Kollmeyer by two strokes in the first round of the 1970 tournament, then shot a 78 in the second round to finish fourth, four strokes off the winning score posted by Radford sophomore Jim Haney, who posted a 74. The tournament moved to Hilo in Ishii’s sophomore year in 1971, but he opened with a 77 to trail leader Kirk Kauhane of Damien by five. Ishii improved to a 76 in the second round to finish in a tie for seventh, eight strokes away from champion Duane Paiva of Hilo. The Vikings had three of the top five finishers to win the team title, the one thing that eluded Ishii. Ishii came of age as a junior, shooting a 74 in the first round at Ala Wai to sit just a stroke off the precedent set by Stan Souza of Saint Louis. Souza and Ishii shot matching even-par 72s in the final round to give Souza the crown by a single stroke. Ishii didn’t have to travel for the tournament in his senior year, rolling out of bed to shoot a 69 at Wailua while nobody else managed lower than the 75 put up by Kahuku’s Bert Tsukamoto. Ishii didn’t sit on the huge lead, though, shooting a 71 in the final round at Princeville Makai to become the first player to shoot both rounds under par and win the tournament by 10 strokes over Souza, who beat him the previous year. That margin remains the biggest split between first and second in the 49 years of the tournament.

10. Parker McLachlin, 1994-97 Punahou
McLachlin opened his prep career at Wailua, shooting an 80 to start nine strokes off the lead set by Maui’s Koa Lopez. He rebounded with a 76 on the second day to finish ninth but never threatened champion Kalani Kiaaina, ending his fist state tournament nine strokes away. McLachlin shot 75s in both rounds at Kapalua as a sophomore to finish in seventh place six strokes off the lead to give Punahou its first team title since it backed into the crown in 1970 when Kalani beat it by 13 strokes but was disqualified when Lenny Sakata signed an incorrect scorecard. McLachlin was joined by Tony Okano, Keola Gerell, William Kim and Anna Uemura, a girl who played from the same tees, for the historic win. The Buffanblu repeated in McLachlin’s junior year with Okano and Kim back, and there was no doubt who the best individual golfer was. McLachlin opened with a 74 at Hapuna to enter the second day four strokes away from Waiakea’s Ian Kawamoto but obliterated the course with a 66 in the second round to win the tournament by seven strokes over Mililani’s Shane Hoshino. McLachlin’s 66 remains the lowest final round in tournament history, and nobody else even broke par that day. Jim Seki joined McLachlin on the team at Wailua in 1997, with both Buffanblu finishing third to cap off the three-peat and last title for another decade. McLachlin opened his final state tournament with a 72 to trail eventual winner Norman-Ganin Asao of Hawaii Baptist by three strokes but struggled to a 79 in the second round to finish third, six strokes behind. McLachlin is one of only two boys to pick up seven HHSAA medals in his career with four individual and three team. Waiakea’s Ryan Masuda is the other.

Every golf medalist since 1966, along with golfers who contributed to team titles. The HHSAA didn’t begin awarding 15 medals until well into the competition, but this list includes the top 15 finishers regardless of whether they received a medal. You can sort any way you want to, or use the search box to find individual golfers. Who will join the list this week?