WAILUA — Punahou’s Allisen Corpuz dropped a long putt on the fifth playoff hole to bring excitement to the David S. Ishii Foundation Hawaii High School Athletic Association 2016 girls state championship at the Wailua Golf Course on Tuesday. Corpuz,
WAILUA — Punahou’s Allisen Corpuz dropped a long putt on the fifth playoff hole to bring excitement to the David S. Ishii Foundation Hawaii High School Athletic Association 2016 girls state championship at the Wailua Golf Course on Tuesday.
Corpuz, leading the field with a two-under 70 following the opening round, she ran into trouble on the final round and recorded a double-bogey on the first hole during the second round.
Another bogey on the Wailua No. 4 put the first-round leader at one-over while her teammate Mariel Galdiano, who ended the opening round at an even par 72, birdied No. 1 to go one-under. Another birdie at No. 10 put Galdiano two-under.
Corpuz crept closer after a birdie on No. 7 put her at even par on the crossing, and a birdie at No. 11 put her one-under — just a stroke back of Galdiano. Another birdie on No. 13 brought her to a tie with Galdiano at two-under.
Galdiano stumbled with a bogey at No. 15 that put her one-under, but picked up the pace on No. 17 with a birdie that put her two-under and force a playoff against Corpuz.
The see-saw battle between the two Punahou golfers put them in the top spot for team scoring with a two-day total of 440, just 30 strokes ahead of Iolani High School, who finished the two-day tournament at 470 led by Kamie Hamada and Chloe Wong each firing 77 in the final round.
Jasmine Cabajar of Maui High School picked up seven strokes on the final to finish at even par 72 to lead the team from the Valley Isle into a three-way tie for third place at 473. The Sabers tied with Mid-Pacific Institute who relied on its threesome led by Erica Chiang (73-75-148), and Kaiser High School who got a one-over 73 from Malia Nam on Tuesday.
Kaelyn Uchida set the pace for Waiakea High School, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation team champion, with a consistent 87 on both days for a 36-hole 174, four strokes better than Anne Nakamoto (88-90-178).
This performance was just a stroke better than Kalani High School of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, who finished with a 508 behind the lead of Miki Manta who finished in the medalist group with a two-day 157 (80-77).
Mililani followed at 519 behind the lead of Mari Nishiura (77-76-153) and host school Kauai High School rounded out the board at 547 behind the pace of Taryn Taguma (80-93-173).
Other Kauai individualists included Waimea High School’s Samantha Nichols who finished with a two-day 174 (85-89) for a tie for 32nd place, and Kapaa sophomore Samantha Coloma played in her first major tournament to finish 64th on a two-day 211 (106-105).
