Galdiano captures third state title

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii » In 50 years of high school golf championships, Hawaii has never seen anyone like Mariel Galdiano.

The Punahou junior kept her remarkable run going Tuesday, winning her third consecutive David S. Ishii Foundation Girls State title with a nearly flawless final round at Waikoloa Kings’.

Anna Umemura is the only other golfer — male or female — to win three high school championships. She captured the first two girls’ titles, in 1994 and ’95, and won again her senior year after missing the 1996 tournament because of a wrist injury.

No one has won more than two boys’ titles and that won’t change this week, when their state championship tees off Thursday and Friday at Waikoloa.

"The coaches were talking about Mariel earlier today," said Punahou coach Ed Kageyama. "She is just mentally tough. Nothing bothers her.

"We were saying we wouldn’t want to play against her in a match because she doesn’t make any mistakes. If you beat her, you have to beat her. She won’t beat herself. That puts a lot of pressure on other people."

Galdiano made that painfully obvious in her three-peat Tuesday. She bounced back from her only bogey, at No. 3, with an eagle on the next hole, destroyed the Kings’ par-5s all day and played the final eight holes in 3 under par.

She closed with a 68 — the tournament’s best round — to finish at 4-under 140. That was four better than teammate Allisen Corpuz, who had the day’s second-best round (70).

"It feels awesome," Galdiano said. "Not just for myself but for my parents and friends, especially my teammates and coaches. I always try to contribute, always try to play the best I can because I know it will just help."

Corpuz was two back to start the day, but birdied three in a row early to briefly pull into a tie for first. Her only bogey came next and she closed with lots of great approach shots, but nothing but pars on the final 12 holes.

Galdiano’s only "mistake" came in the closing moments when she accidentally drove the 447-yard par-5 finishing hole in two. Waikoloa’s notorious wind — all but silent until the last group was on the last fairway — grabbed her "layup" approach and pushed it past the surprised threesome putting out.

"I thought I could go with a 4-hybrid just short of the bunker," she said. "That was about 180, but I guess the wind pushed it and turned it left. I’m surprised it stayed on the green. The girls (on the green) just looked at me."

With Galdiano, Corpuz and Aiko Leong (77—151) all in the top six, Punahou won its third consecutive team title and eighth in the past nine years. All three juniors have verbally committed to colleges already, with Galdiano (UCLA) and Corpuz (USC) heading to Los Angeles and Leong on her way to Brigham Young.

Punahou doesn’t have a senior on its roster and there wasn’t one to be found in the top seven individually. Mid-Pac junior Erica Chiang (73—149) took third and Allysha Mae Mateo (Maryknoll freshman) and Mari Nishiura (Mililani junior), who both shared the lead with Galdiano after the first round, ended up tied for fourth. OIA champion Malia Nam, a Kaiser freshman, shared sixth with Leong.

Punahou will have three seniors next year and the sole goal of getting better, Kageyama said. So far, the rare team atmosphere in golf has accomplished that for his players.

"It’s definitely a great experience just because golf is always such an individual sport," said Corpuz, who won three U.S. Kids championships before she was 12. "It’s weird, but it’s also really fun to have a team behind you. On the course it feels the same, but off the course it’s really different."

Punahou went into the final day with an eight-shot advantage over ‘Iolani. At the turn, the gap was 28. Punahou’s team total the final day (best three of four scores) was 1-under 215 and its 435 total was 31 better than ‘Iolani and 40-plus ahead of bunched-up Kaiser, Mid-Pacific Institute, Mililani and Kalani.

"They all encourage each other and play well together and like being together," Kageyama said of his team. "At the same time, they use the competition to push each other. It’s a self-motivating thing."

Galdiano was not as dominant as her team, until you consider the remarkable possibility of her sweeping all four championships in her high school career. She is 30th in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, has already played in two U.S. Women’s Opens — and is going after a third at this weekend’s qualifier at Ka‘anapali — and shattered the scoring record while winning the 64th Jennie K. Invitational a year ago.

"Mariel plays well every year," Corpuz said. "She comes prepared and she works hard."