Bradley Shigezawa’s move from Punahou to Northwestern looked all but seamless. One of Casey Nakama’s original students, Shigezawa collected a monstrous golf resume to complement his academic achievements before heading to a successful NCAA Division I program.
A year into it, Shigezawa realized academics meant more to him than Division I athletics. He transferred to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Southern California, a hybrid team from Claremont-McKenna, Harvey Mudd and Scripps colleges. Enrollment is low (3,000 combined), tuition is high and athletic scholarships don’t exist.
Shigezawa’s move has proved priceless. Friday, he became the second CMS golfer to win an NCAA Division III Championship, taking medalist honors by four shots and leading his team to a fifth-place national finish. It was the eighth win of his junior season, in nine starts. His worst finish was second. He was named the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Lee Fulmer Player of the Year and Friday’s win makes him an All-American.
Shigezawa’s 3-under-par 69 Thursday — the low round of the tournament at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Florida — gave him the lead after three rounds. He won by four shots, firing 72 on the final day by avoiding nearly all of Sandestin’s many hazards.
"You just have to hit your tee shot in play," Shigezawa said. "On the whole, I was able to do that the last day and stayed out of trouble."
He went into the last day with no fear, hardened by the experiences of an exceptional junior career.
"He’s been playing good golf for a long time," Nakama said. "Once he gets in the hunt he remembers everything. Now he enjoys it — the school and everything."
Shigezawa came to Nakama’s junior development program at 10 and was the youngest Manoa Cup qualifier in 2003, at 11. He won the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship 12-13 age division two years later and reached the Manoa Cup semifinals.
By 14, he had qualified for the U.S. Amateur. When he was 15, Shigezawa finished as low amateur at the Hawaii State Open. He claimed the same honor twice at Hawaii Pearl Open and once at Mid-Pacific, and captured three Turtle Bay Ams.
That was more than enough to get Northwestern interested, but the demands of Division I athletics left Shigezawa wanting more time for academics as a freshman. He moved West and, though he didn’t win for CMS last year he found precisely what he was looking for.
"The balance of academics and athletics is a little more to my liking," Shigezawa said. "In D-I, it’s not really a 50-50 split. I felt I had to put a priority on golf, which is fine, but not what I want academically. I need a little more balance to my schedule.
"Academically, Claremont is a great school, that was very much the deciding factor. And, I had a good friend from high school who played there — Bou-An Fujieki —and he played last week, too. That made an easy choice even easier."
SoCal life is sweet. Shigezawa, whose parents are optometrists, is a biology/pre-med major contemplating a future in opthalmology. And, Punahou graduate Marissa Suehiro is a sophomore on the CMS women’s team, which finished 11th at nationals (she was 55th individually). She and Shigezawa have been dating the last year.
"I can’t complain about life right now," said Shigezawa, who plans to play the 105th Manoa Cup next month. His summer also includes volunteer work, interning "to boost my medical resume," and, ideally, finding the time and talent to play some big amateur tournaments and qualify for USGA events.
His final year of collegiate golf will be a voyage of discovery. He and Fujieki, 68th at the championships, are the only juniors on this year’s CMS championship team. There are no seniors. Shigezawa knows what is possible for the team, and also hopes to have a clearer picture of his future in golf a year from now.
"I just want to keep improving," Shigezawa said. "I haven’t ruled golf out of my future 100 percent, not nearly. It is a great achievement for me to win a national championship. I basically did the best I could this year, but I know where I need to be if I want to continue in golf and I’m not there yet."
