KAANAPALI, Maui >> Freshman Mariel Galdiano and her Punahou teammates were on another island for the David S. Ishii Foundation/HHSAA Girls Golf State Championship.
They might as well have been on another planet.
Galdiano was untouchable in a wire-to-wire win. She was the only golfer to break par in shifty Kona winds at Royal Kaanapali the past two days, and she did it twice.
Galdiano grabbed a four-shot advantage with a 3-under 68 on Tuesday, then poured it on with a 69 in Wednesday’s final round.
She won by seven over Waiakea senior Ciera Min (72—144), the only player in the top six not from Punahou.
The Buffanblu, denied a sixth consecutive title by ‘Iolani a year ago, returned with a vengeance. Punahou won by 37 shots, finishing at 213—435. Scarier still for the competition, freshmen Allisen Corpuz (71—148) and Aiko Leong (74—151) took third and fourth.
Senior teammate Kacie Komoto, the defending state champion, could do no better than fifth (73—152), and she’s on her way to Northwestern on a golf scholarship.
Punahou coach Ed Kageyama, also the director of golf at Kaanapali, could hardly go wrong. His strategy, when he picked his “scoring” team of four (eight Punahou girls qualified for states), was to go long.
“With this wind, the course is going to play long,” Kageyama said. “So I really went with players that had a long game and could handle the wind and the length (6,267 yards).”
Three more Punahou golfers were in the top 12, playing as individuals. Sarah Hasselman is a senior, but Kristin Le has one more year, and Ji Hae Lee is yet another precocious freshman on a team that was immensely focused — and talented — on the course and pretty much what you would expect off it.
“They are just fun, they laugh a lot,” Kageyama said. “It’s their outlook. They’re serious about golf when they need to be. When they don’t, they’re just teenage girls, most of them barely out of eighth grade.
“The future is good. It’s keeping things together and on track and keeping them focused. Don’t let them get ahead of themselves too much.”
They are making Min, who doesn’t turn 18 until November, feel old. The only 2013 league champion who is not a freshman is headed to Gonzaga in the fall. She knew her only chance Wednesday was to go low — very low.
“It wasn’t going to be a matter of Mariel shooting high,” Min said. “It was going to have to be a matter of me shooting lower. I didn’t shoot as low as I wanted to, but it’s OK. She played great. She’s just solid. She hits it far and then she gets it close to the hole.”
Galdiano, who qualified for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at 12, never gave anyone a chance. She was 3 under for the day, without even a sniff of bogey, going into the final hole.
“She just had a different look in her eyes this week,” Kageyama said. “She looked very focused and very determined. The way she was swinging and the sound off the club face was different than any other. She was ready for this, she wanted it.”
Galdiano birdied the par-5 sixth when she blasted within 5 feet out of the bunker. Her next birdie, at No. 12, was also from point-blank range and she dropped in a bomb on the next hole.
She was never in trouble, or nervous.
“After the U.S. Women’s Open,” she said with a what-me-worry grin, “nothing makes me nervous.”
Certainly not on one of her favorite courses, in slick conditions she enjoys.
“I feel really confident at Kaanapali,” Galdiano said. “My putting was definitely the best part of my game. The putts were going in.”
She is a force to be reckoned with, and has been since finishing second in the Hawaii State Women’s Stroke and Match Play Championships when she was 11.
“The best part of her game is the way she moves the ball,” Kageyama said. “She has length off all her clubs, can get it past all of the trouble. That sets her up for birdie. She can move the ball really well and be accurate.”
Last summer, Galdiano, Min, 2011 state high school champ Eimi Koga and Rose Huang, who was second last year, lifted Hawaii to the 35th annual Girls Junior America’s Cup. Wednesday, Galdiano got a title all to herself, and another one to share with her Punahou teammates.
What has been her biggest win in her 14 years?
“I guess this is it now,” Galdiano shrugged.
The real team drama Wednesday was who would finish second. Waiakea (233—472) took that by four over ‘Iolani (237), with Baldwin (234—480) finishing fourth. The Bears were led by senior Marissa Uradomo, who was 10th individually. She is headed to Indiana State.
