In its latest issue, Golfweek includes Hawaii’s Cassy Isagawa and David Fink among the Top 50 Players to Watch in women’s and men’s collegiate golf for the upcoming season.
They were hard to find this summer, along with intrepid Punahou sophomores Mariel Galdiano and Allisen Corpuz. The foursome experienced the life of touring pros in their "offseason."
Isagawa, the 2010 state high school champion out of Baldwin, traveled the least but had one of the most impressive victories. She became the first non-Canadian to win the British Columbia Women’s Amateur in June, breaking the course record in three of the four rounds.
That came a few weeks after she finished 23rd at the NCAA championship. The second-team All-American led Oregon in every statistic as a sophomore, after obliterating the Ducks’ scoring average record as a freshman. She was ranked 22nd by GolfStat the end of this season, after five top-fives and a win at the Topy Cup.
Before heading north, she reached the quarterfinals of the Oregon Women’s Amateur. Afterward, she went to a U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier in Washington. She came home to defend her State Women’s Match Play Championship, falling in the final to Kacie Komoto, 2 and 1.
Finally, Isagawa teed it up against the guys at the Maui Open and tied for 10th — fifth among the amateurs.
"I was really excited," Isagawa said. "Not the first day — I shot 81 with nine bogeys so it was not the greatest, but I had an awesome second day. Hit just eight greens and still shot even-par. It meant a lot because I was playing with these men who hit it a lot farther. I wanted to challenge myself. …It really helped with my short game and how to manage myself on the course."
Fink, the 2010 and 2011 Manoa Cup champ, never came home after carving out the fourth-best scoring average (71.47) in Oregon State history as a fourth-year junior. He missed graduation to get to a tournament in Pennsylvania, then mainland-hopped to Rhode Island, Washington, California, British Columbia and Arkansas for a series of prestigious amateur events.
His best finish was fifth in the 47th Pacific Coast Amateur, which he won in 2012.
"I didn’t play well," said Fink, who turns 23 Saturday. "It took some shots at my confidence, but that’s what the game is all about. I really wanted to gain experience and meet people. I stayed with host families everywhere I went, which is a great way to network and meet great people. I figured out a lot more than I thought I’d figure out."
Corpuz turned 15 in March, took third in her first state high school championship two months later, then left May 31 to play nine tournaments in nine states over 10 weeks. In one 11-day span, she flew from Boston to Truckee, Calif. — tying for third at the Trans National Women’s Amateur — to New Jersey for a Women’s Amateur qualifier.
"This summer went really well," Corpuz said. "I got to meet up with friends that I haven’t seen in a while, as well as play some great tournaments. My favorite memory from this summer was when I qualified for Women’s Amateur because it was the first time I qualified."
Corpuz, the youngest State Match Play champion in history, started her tour with a runner-up finish at the AJGA Ping Phoenix Junior. She took fourth a week later at the AJGA Rolex.
Galdiano won the state title as a freshman, finishing 11 shots ahead of Corpuz. Waiakea senior Ciera Min, who just became the first woman to win the 90-year-old Big Island Amateur, was second. She is about to begin her first year at Gonzaga.
Galdiano turned 15 while she was playing in her second U.S. Open in New York.
Her summer started in the 112-degree heat of Phoenix, where she was fourth, then moved on to Oklahoma and the Open. The Galdianos came home for a week, then headed out for another month. They started at Junior Worlds in San Diego, where Galdiano won the oldest age division by seven shots at Torrey Pines.
They went north for an AJGA event in Yorba Linda, Calif., then flew to Virginia, where Donald Trump hosted dinner for the Jr. PGA Championship at Trump National. Galdiano tied for 10th and Corpuz was fifth. Her summer sojourn also ended at the Women’s Amateur.
"The best memory from this past summer was holding my trophy at Junior World and taking pictures," Galdiano said. "It just felt really good to have a major junior win."
