Next year’s University of Hawaii men’s golf team will look much like this year’s, only with sign language, Rainbow Warriors roots and a Ben Hogan cap.
Coach Ronn Miyashiro signed high school seniors Justin "Pono" Tokioka (Kauai), Zachary Braunthal (Punahou) and Skye Inakoshi (Mid-Pacific) to letters of intent for next fall. Unless something changes, it will be his second all-Hawaii team in a row.
Tokioka and Inakoshi tied for sixth at the last state high school championship. Braunthal was seventh a year earlier, helping Punahou to its third title in four years.
Braunthal’s grandfather is former UH coach Bob Takano, who helped start the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in 1977 with Jim Burns, the late governor’s son. It has become one of the most coveted invitations in college golf. This year’s tournament is Feb. 20-22 at Turtle Bay.
"Zach’s been lucky to travel to the mainland to play AJGA tournaments and other stuff," said Miyashiro, who has known Braunthal since he was a little boy. "He’s got a lot more experience than Skye and Pono nationally. For Zach, I think there’s a little untapped potential.
"He made a commitment to us, he had offers to go other places. It was a hard decision, but obviously he feels he made the right decision and he will do whatever it takes to make himself competitive."
Inakoshi is also just scratching his potential now, making his trademark Ben Hogan cap — Oakley outfits UH and it doesn’t carry the old-style cap … yet — even more noticeable with high finishes at the Manoa Cup and Big I National Championship last summer.
"To be honest, he wasn‘t on my radar a couple of years ago," Miyashiro said. "Over the last couple of years he has made a serious commitment to his game and it’s showed with the results he’s had, not only locally but nationally. He has played very well."
Tokioka led the Kauai Interscholastic Federation in scoring average his first three years and is also making an impact in open events, including a third-place finish in the amateur division of the 2009 Hawaii State Open.
His proudest accomplishment came last month, when he led the six-man U.S. team at the World Deaf Golf Championships in Japan. Tokioka, the youngest on the team, finished eighth overall.
"Every time he steps on the golf course he wants to win, be the best he can possibly be," Miyashiro said. "That work ethic carried him to where he is now."
Tokioka has been "profoundly deaf" from birth, but has thrived academically in public schools and has little trouble communicating. He didn’t start golfing seriously until he was 12.
"He has to work a little harder to make the transition than anyone else," Miyashiro admits, "but his disability hasn’t worked against him. He’s always been able to overcome a lot of things other kids didn’t have to deal with growing up.
"It helps him. He has to work harder in everyday life than anybody else. It carries over into his golf game."
Between now and the fall, expect to see Braunthal, Inakoshi and Tokioka teeing it up every chance they get. Miyashiro wants them on a golf course, competing as much as possible. The transition to collegiate golf is difficult anywhere, but Hawaii’s isolation makes it even tougher. Brandan Kop and Mike Pavao are the only Rainbows who have won conference championships. This year, there is another conference (Big West) to conquer.
"The goal is to get better every tournament and compete in the Big West," Miyashiro said. "It’s a tougher conference than the WAC, depth-wise. It always has more teams qualify for the NCAA."
The third annual Warrior Golf Tournament, to benefit the UH men, will be next Friday (Dec. 7) at Pearl Country Club. The three-person scramble costs $600 per team. For more information, contact Norman-Ganin Asao (384-4297) or Kellen-Floyd Asao (392-3806).
