{"id":24,"date":"2026-05-14T15:06:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=24"},"modified":"2026-05-14T15:06:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:06:51","slug":"boys-golf-saito-leads-big-island-at-states-warriors-riders-place-top-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=24","title":{"rendered":"Boys golf: Saito leads Big Island at states; Warriors, \u2018Riders place top 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Another exciting season of Hawaii high school boys golf wrapped up Wednesday at the challenging Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course on Oahu.<\/p>\n

Read more Hawaii sticks with its mail-in voting system despite Trump\u2019s order<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another exciting season of Hawaii high school boys golf wrapped up Wednesday at the challenging Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course on Oahu.<\/p>\n

Eighteen boys from the Big Island competed in the prestigious two-round tournament, including St. Joseph\u2019s freshman phenom Leo Saito \u2014 who placed third overall in the individual competition with a total gross score of 150 (+6). Saito was the top BIIF finisher.<\/p>\n

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Saito shot 74 (+2) during Tuesday\u2019s Round 1 and 76 (+4) in Wednesday\u2019s blustery final round. He secured five total birdies to seal his podium placement.<\/p>\n

Saito, who also won the BIIF individual championship last month, got better as the season went on. The youngster won the final three matches of the island season, improving his season average score to 72.4. His front and back-nine averages were nearly identical, attesting to his consistency throughout the two-month-long season. Out of the 216 holes he played this season, Saito birdied over 22% of them.<\/p>\n

Saito told the Star-Advertiser<\/em> that one of the main reasons he attends SJS is because the school allows him to travel to golf tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI travel around 30 days a year,\u201d he said. \u201cThe key on every course is stick to your game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Otani was the next-best Big Island finisher, tying for fifth overall after shooting 6-over par in Round 1. The Waiakea star bounced back in a big way Wednesday \u2014 shooting 73 in the final round, including an eagle on Hole 3. The senior\u2019s services helped the Warriors place second in the team competition (+63). In 2025, Waiakea placed third.<\/p>\n

Otani, a two-time state champion, placed in the top three six times throughout his final season \u2014 including two individual wins.<\/p>\n

Kealakehe, which placed third, was spearheaded by star Malakai Akeo, who finished 10th overall after shooting 10-over par through both rounds (154). Akeo had an impressive first round, where he eagled Hole 7, secured three birdies and parred eight holes to finish the day with a 73 (+1).<\/p>\n

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Akeo began golfing at age 13, and has quickly climbed through the ranks of Hawaii junior golf over the last few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy that all the practice is paying off. Kona Country Club is bermuda cut grass, so it\u2019s similar,\u201d Akeo told the Star-Advertiser<\/em>. \u201cThe greens (at Kaneohe Klipper) run really nice. We always practice our wind shots. We have Mauna Lani (Golf Resort) for the wind shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to Akeo\u2019s superstardom on Oahu, the \u2018Riders were able to finish in the top three at states for the second straight year. Much of their recent success can be credited to coach Justin Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful for all that he\u2019s done for me,\u201d Akeo said of Lee. \u201cHe started our junior golf program five years ago. No support, just built it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis biggest thing is be a good person before you\u2019re a good golfer. Show up (at) the course, take off your hat, shake their hands. Ask what their name is, clean up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akeo\u2019s teammate, freshman Ace Akuna, tied for 18th after finishing 14-over par (158). After shooting 81 in Round 1, Akuna bounced back over the final 18 \u2014 parring 11 holes to finish the day 5-over par (77).<\/p>\n

Waiakea\u2019s Skyler Miyashiro (+14), Kealakehe\u2019s Noah Okazaki (+16), Waiakea\u2019s Noah Miyazono (+19), Hilo\u2019s Iakona Manuia (+21) and Waiakea\u2019s Olin Sakamoto (+23) rounded out the remainder of BIIF golfers that placed in the top 50.<\/p>\n

The overall individual state champion was Punahou\u2019s Bret Kiyuna, who finished 3-over par (147). Kalaheo\u2019s Quade Martinez placed second (+5).<\/p>\n

Read more Homeless count dips slightly on Big Island<\/a><\/p>\n

Punahou was named the team state champion winning by over 20 strokes (+42).<\/p>\n

Team rankings<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Punahou +42<\/p>\n

2. Waiakea +63<\/p>\n

3. Kealakehe +65<\/p>\n

T4. Kauai +82<\/p>\n

T4. Mililani +82<\/p>\n

6. Moanalua +87<\/p>\n

7. Kahuku +94<\/p>\n

8. Baldwin +115<\/p>\n

9. Roosevelt +134\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boys golf: Saito leads Big Island at states; Warriors, \u2018Riders place top 3 – Sports | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nBoys golf: Saito leads Big Island at states; Warriors, \u2018Riders place top 3 - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boys golf: Saito leads Big Island at states; Warriors, \u2018Riders place top 3 - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boys golf: Saito leads Big Island at states; 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