WAILUA — Daezsa Tomas beat Naea Oda 3-1 Sunday to claim the Girls 13-18 title at the Mitchell Ota Match Play Championships. Playing in hot, dry conditions with barely a whisper of wind at the Wailua Golf Course, Tomas, a
WAILUA — Daezsa Tomas beat Naea Oda 3-1 Sunday to claim the Girls 13-18 title at the Mitchell Ota Match Play Championships.
Playing in hot, dry conditions with barely a whisper of wind at the Wailua Golf Course, Tomas, a graduate of Kauai High School, earlier beat Red Raider freshman Hiilani Alana, 8-7, during the opening round to meet Oda, a golfer with the Kapaa High School program in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation.
Oda beat out Kari Whitworth, an Island School phenom during the 2012-13 KIF golf season, 6-4, to advance against Tomas.
Alana posted a 6-5 win over Whitworth for third place in the flight.
Niki Upson claimed the title in the Boys 10 and Under flight when his competitor, Calden Jose, had to withdraw due to illness.
Christian Ganir, a 7-5 winner over Mason Gibson during the opening round, captured the Boys 11-12 flight with a 9-7 win over James Pratt.
Pratt, a 5-4 winner over Jussten Solatre during the opening round Saturday, fell to Solatre in the battle for third place. Solatre won 4-2 for the No. 3 berth.
Logan Gibson took the Boys 13-14 flight with a 4-2, win over Reece Valencia who had a strong gallery following during the final round at Wailua.
Bryden Salvador topped the Boys 15-18 flight with a 3-2 win over Jamie Amimoto Sunday. Salvador, opening with a 7-6 win over Keith Jose, was pitted against Amimoto after the Kauai High School golfer bested Kainalu Gandia in 22 holes.
Keith Jose opened with a win over Michael Miller, an Island School golfer, to meet Salvador in the semifinals. After being bested by Salvador, Jose was bested by Gandia 3-2 for third place in the flight.
The Mitchell Ota Match Play Championship was hosted by the Kauai Junior Golf Association, which announces the 2013 Summer Challenge Tournament for level three players of all age groups at the Kiahuna Golf Course on July 28.
Deadline for registering for the tournament is July 22. Registration can be done by visiting www.kjga.org.
The Mitchell Ota Match Play Championship is named after one of the founders of the Kauai Junior Golf Association.
Ota, Chica Ishii, Toyo Shirai and Tom Tomimoto had a desire to introduce youngsters to the sport and a willingness to help them develop their golf skills, states the KJGA website.
Since its inception, hundreds of juniors have developed into avid golfers, many going on to compete nationally on the amateur, collegiate and professional levels after leaving the KJGA program.
Visit www.kjga.org for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
