It should be no surprise that “June” and “junior” golf sound similar. There is no more important month for the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association.

Last month began with 118 HSJGA golfers at the IMG Academy Junior World and Aloha Section PGA Junior qualifiers at Waikoloa Kings’.

That was followed by the HSJGA King Auto 12-under State Junior Championship, where Ava Cepeda, Raya Nakao, Tristan Bayot and Reagan Miles captured age-group titles.

Then came the Optimist International Junior, U.S. Junior Amateur and Big “I” qualifiers. The HSJGA King Auto 13-18 State Championship closed the crazy month, with Jennifer Seo, Reese Guzman, Joshua Chung and Isaiah Kanno winning.

July might be even crazier, and all over the map.

The Junior World Championships, which began in 1968, open Tuesday in San Diego. There are 34 Hawaii kids at the finals, in a competition that started with 1,200 juniors, from 56 countries and 42 states.

Casey Nakama, whose Golf Development Center is now into its third decade, says flatly that for golfers 13 and under “Junior Worlds is the biggest tournament they can play.”

For older kids, summer is one memorable event — and huge opportunity — after another.

The U.S. Girls Junior in California and U.S. Boys Junior in New Jersey are a week after Junior Worlds, along with the Optimist International Championship in Florida, where a dozen Hawaii golfers will tee it up.

Nakama has a record 10 kids in San Diego and Florida.

“I would love for them to play well,” he says, “but if they don’t, the experience is good enough.

“Don’t let them know that, but as far as I’m concerned, the experience at one of these golf tournaments is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

HSJGA executive director Matt Rollins breaks it down a bit more.

“The goal is to provide great opportunities for our members,” he says. “These kids can learn so much while on the road at these events and can also begin to get recognition from college coaches, paving the way for the next stage in their life.”

These “kids” include Big “I” qualifiers Davis Lee, Noah Koshi, Kolbe Irei, Kyung Eun Lee and Jaelin Ishikawa, who are headed to finals at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C., in August.

Lacey Uchida, Reese Guzman, Davis Lee and Jordan Terada punched tickets to Kentucky for this month’s 43rd PGA Junior Championship, at Kearney Hill (girls) and Valhalla (boys).

If those courses sound familiar, ponder the U.S. Junior Amateur sites — Poppy Hills and Baltusrol.

“Baltusrol has hosted numerous U.S. Open Championships and Jacob Torres will get to experience that this year,” Rollins says. “The U.S. Girls Junior is at Poppy Hills in Monterey and Malia Nam and Lacey Uchida have secured the opportunity to compete there. These are events where our players get to put their game to the test to see how they stack up on a major stage.”

They have stacked up remarkably well for the 6,000-plus who have been in the HSJGA in its 20-year history, on the course and off.

“The first 20 years definitely had a major impact on so many people,” says Rollins, who came to the HSJGA in 2016. “You can see that as you look through the names of our alumni and what they are doing today — professional golfers, doctors, lawyers, golf course managers, association and junior program volunteers, just to name a few.

“The skills and traits learned through the game have definitely helped to create some great people within the community in Hawaii and around the world.”

Nakama began his program just as Tiger Woods was about to become a phenomenon. That was followed closely by Michelle Wie, still his most famous student.

It was then that Nakama began to realize the huge impact of Title IX on junior girls golf, offering those who can break 80 a great opportunity to play in college. He has 220 students now, between the ages of 6 and 17. When the serious players reach the ninth grade, he has “the talk” with them.

“They are going be competing for a scholarship with 10 to 20 other players,” he says. “I ask them why would the coach choose you? You’ve got to show you will work hard, your grades are good, your skills are good. … It’s not a lottery.”

And, maybe more than anything else, you have to prove your passion for golf. If you don’t, you won’t be able to work hard enough, long enough, to succeed.

“I’ve got to get kids to like golf for that long — it’s hard,” Nakama adds. “There is a lot of sacrifice and practice, but when they do get a scholarship and go to college, it’s so satisfying.”

Early on, exceptional players like Wie, Cyd Okino and Nicole Sakamoto were the exception. They have become more the rule in Hawaii, thanks to the HSJGA and programs like Nakama’s.

“This is the best group of kids I’ve had all at once,” Nakama says. “Now there are a dozen kids who are really, really good. This group all started at the lowest level and became really good friends and did whatever I told them and got their scores down. This group stays together, practices together. Their parents are friends, they are just moving along.”

And moving across the mainland this month. This is not your mother’s junior golf, in so many ways.

“Golf is why they sign up,” Nakama says, “but once they get in the program and stay with us, it becomes the ‘I believe I can do anything program.’ They gravitate toward achieving and being more successful and believing in what they can do.”