EWA BEACH — Lihue’s Kade Kikuchi came up short Wednesday at the King Auto 12 and Under State Championship presented by the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association.
EWA BEACH — Lihue’s Kade Kikuchi came up short Wednesday at the King Auto 12 and Under State Championship presented by the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association.
Kikuchi, playing in the Boys 11-12 Flight at the Hawaii Prince Golf Course in Ewa Beach and the sole Kauai Jr. Golfer in the field, the 12-year-old ended the opening round in third place, firing five strokes off the pace in the tournament that wrapped up Wednesday afternoon.
He rebounded on day two to finish tied with Reagan James Miles of Kihei, Maui, to force the one-hole playoff after Kikuchi ended firing even par 72, the best round in the flight. Miles, who led the pack following a 1-under 71 on the opening day, finished Round 2 at 77, for third place in the second round. Both golfers were tied with a two-day 148 heading into the playoff.
Miles took the playoff for the title in the Boys 11-12 Flight.
Tristyan Bayot of Waipahu fired off a two-day 153 (77-76) to claim the Boys 7-10 Flight 12 strokes ahead of Dylan Sakasegawa of Pearl City (81-80-161), and Ava Cepeda of Ka‘awa, Oahu, was eight strokes better than Mariko Yonemura of Waipahu to claim the Girls 7-10 Flight with a two-day 150 (75-75). Yonemura finished at 158 (83-75), a stroke ahead of Kate Nakaoka of Mililani who ended with a 159 (77-82).
Raya Nakao of Kaneohe claimed the Girls 11-12 Flight after finishing Round 2 seven strokes under par for a two-day 137 (72-65). Teal Matsueda of Honolulu claimed the runner up spot at 154 (79-75).
The Boys and Girls in the 7 to 10 Flight played to approximately 4,486 yards off the fairway tees while the Boys and Girls in the 11-12 Flight plays to 5,205 yards.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com
