Teraoka leads Moanalua to another state championship

It’s been quite a month for Aj Teraoka.

The Moanalua senior carded a 5-under 67 and then waited for five groups behind him to finish to find out he was the individual winner — by one shot — at the David S. Ishii/HHSAA Boys State Golf Championships on Friday at the Turtle Bay Fazio Course.

Things were doubly sweet for Teraoka, who led his Na Menehune teammates to a six-shot victory over runner-up Punahou.

Playing in the final group, Hawaii Baptist’s Noah Koshi fought into a tie with Teraoka before bogeying his second-to-last hole — Fazio’s par-3 eighth. On the final hole, Koshi’s 25-foot birdie went 3 feet past to officially end it.

Teraoka was four strokes behind co-first-round leaders Koshi and Roosevelt’s Kolbe Irei, but he overcame it with six birdies and only one bogey to finish the two-day event at 3-under 141.

“I got off to a good start, my ball-striking went well and my putter got hot in the beginning and that really helped a lot,” Teraoka said. “The back nine, I played safe and smart. I didn’t want to mess up. I had a good round going.”

Teraoka, however, didn’t know just how close Koshi was behind.

“I never knew anything about the leaderboard,” he said. “I was doing my own thing.”

After Thursday’s first round, in which he suffered back-to-back double bogeys, it was obvious Teraoka would not be lifting the trophy if he put in an ordinary round.

“Honestly, it just feels amazing,” he said about coming back from so far down for his first state title. “I can’t stress that enough. I’m really happy.”

On one of Thursday’s double bogeys, the Fazio 12th, Teraoka played the wrong ball and suffered a two-stroke penalty.

Koshi, who finished the day at even par and wound up at 2-under 142, pinpointed his biggest mistake — a chip from off the eighth green.

“It was a terrible chip,” he said. “I was too aggressive with it. I thought it was going to be slow going uphill, but it went a couple more feet past than I wanted. And then I left the (12-foot) putt short.”

Ray Kim (2-over 146), Taylor John McGerity (147), Josh Tomita (157) and Jordan Chung (160) all pushed Moanalua to the team trophy — at 590. Punahou finished at 596, followed by Waiakea and Kauai in third at 638.

“Kim had three birdies in the last four holes,” Moanalua coach Vala Ray Luafalealo said. “That’s a great accomplishment. The seniors (Teraoka and Kim) get a lot of credit today. They carried the team.”

Added Teraoka, a UH commit who got his month off to a great start May 1 with a victory in the OIA Championships: “I thought we were the underdog coming into the tournament. My teammates all clutched up in the end and I’m proud of that.”

Individually, Mid-Pacific’s Davis Lee shot a 2-under 70 and finished at 143 for third place.