Back in high school, Tyler Ota liked to “hang around the smart kids to pick their brain and learn how to learn.” On the golf course, he has put himself in position to learn from the best pros and amateurs.

And now, nearly 10 years after graduating from Moanalua and earning his fifth consecutive Hawaii State Golf Association Amateur Player of the Year Award, Ota’s sights are set on the peak.

Hawaii’s most dominant amateur the last few years is ready to go pro — without any cameras or hype. He will play in Mackenzie Tour/PGA Tour Canada qualifying in March. He is also looking toward the four-stage Japan PGA qualifying that begins in August.

“It was a career choice, but I also wanted to set my goals a little higher,” Ota says. “It was time, definitely time. Especially after this (last) year, picking the five tournaments I wanted to play and winning them, then qualifying for the Sony (Open). You can’t have a much better year than that. … I can build on this and set my goals higher the next five to 10 years.”

Playing pro golf has been a goal since he started in the game as a little kid with Casey Nakama, who played golf and basketball at Moanalua about 35 years ahead of Ota.

Ota’s fascination with learning and “getting in there to try to figure it out” was a means to an end. It included a full-time job with Golf Concepts but not college.

Now he calls himself “a nobody in a huge pond of great golfers — I just need to play good golf and hopefully everything will take care of itself. Easier said than done.”

Every golfer and golf game is unique. Ota is known for being persistent and consistent, with an innate ability to cope with whatever comes next. Technically, his strength might be that he has no real weakness.

“He’s physically strong so he can make adjustments to his swing to where he can control the ball much better and not lose too much distance,” Nakama says. “Some guys, if they don’t hit the ball far they can’t do too much at that point, but because he’s so strong he can change the shape of his shot and keep the ball more in play. He should be fine.”

While winning his second Manoa Cup last year, and second straight Hawaii State Amateur, Ota qualified for his second Sony Open in Hawaii in three years. That opportunity has been invaluable.

In 2018 he was struck by how close his game was to the best players in the world, but without the high-level consistency. He took in all the advice top-30 players like Gary Woodland and Abraham Ancer were kind enough to give.

“Hearing positive feedback from guys like them was a big confidence booster,” Ota recalls. “It was also just seeing some friends having success at the next level after putting in the hard work, time and effort. That is a big influence as well.”

This year Ota felt his game was even closer to the PGA Tour pros, with the dramatic exception of how they could turn a mediocre round into a sub-par score.

“That’s why these guys are so good,” he says. “They make those putts that I missed. They turn a 74 into a 69. Thursday’s round was the first time I realized I could do something like that.”

Punahou’s Parker McLachlin played in his 10th Sony Open last month. In the Pro-Junior exhibition he thought long and hard about what he would tell the juniors — and Ota — about turning pro.

His answer was to be ready to “completely sell out to chase your dream.” Ota says he is ready for that sacrifice and knows absolutely that it won’t be easy. He is moving away from a happy, secure life.

What makes him happiest might be that those closest to him are practically pushing him onto the plane.

“It sounds kinda crazy, but it’s a little surprising how supportive they’ve been,” Ota says. “It’s tough. I gave up a steady income, that was the toughest thing. My girlfriend has been really supportive. She’s been a major push for me going. She sees that if I don’t do it now, 10 years from now I’ll regret it. And that’s the biggest thing, too. The regret would have been there, so it’s cool.”