Kapaa High School alumnus Bryden Salvador is back for a homecoming of sorts.
Salvador is with the University of Hawaii men’s golf team as the school hosts the 42nd annual John Burns Intercollegiate at Wailua Golf Course.
“It doesn’t feel like a homecoming. It feels like a business trip,” Salvador said Thursday. “Our coach always tells us, ‘This is not a vacation. This is a business trip.’ We always try to take care of business when we come down here.”
Though it’s good to be home, he’s keeps busy focusing on the tournament and on school work.
“I want to relax and kick back a little, but I just can’t. I got to keep going,” Salvador said. “Like, I have a project due this Friday. I told myself I was going to start when I flew in and do little-by-little each day, but I haven’t touched it at all. So tonight, I’m going to have to touch it.”
Growing up on the local golf courses, Salvador notices even the slightest changes.
“When you play golf here, like repetitive, you just kind of know. Like, ‘Oh, that’s odd. The wind’s coming this way,’” he said. “You just kind of know, and you try to adjust to it.”
He added on playing on his home courses for UH: “I feel privileged. I have the opportunity to come back and represent the state of Hawaii and the people of Kauai. I wish I played better, but sometimes, it doesn’t always happen.”
While out on the course, Salvador’s parents and his uncle were with him.
“That was nice. It’s good to have a home crowd cheering you on,” he said. “When sometimes I’m feeling hard on myself, I always look over. They’re always giving me the thumbs-up or a little applause. I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. Just relax and take it one shot at a time.’”
Whenever Salvador returns to Kauai when UH hosts a tournament on-
island, though, it’s not all that known that this is his home island.
“They don’t know unless I play with them. They’d ask a little bit about the island. Like, ‘Oh, where are you from?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m from here.’ Then they’re like, ‘Oh, really?’ Then the ball starts rolling,” he said. “They start asking more questions and more questions.
“Just today, a guy I played with from Texas-El Paso, he was saying I was very lucky to be born and raised on Hawaii and playing golf here,” he continued. “He was saying it’s so beautiful, and that there’s nothing in Dallas. He told me he liked the Spam musubis and the macadamia nuts. He just loves it, and he wishes he could stay.”
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Nick Celario can be reached at ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
