HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Leilehua senior Britney Choy has her eye on the state championships after taking second at the OIA championships last week.
|
|
Choy aims for grand finish
It was at age 7 that Leilehua's Britney Choy first went to the driving range with her dad, Wayne.
"I guess because I always swung hard every time I hit the ball, he thought, oh, I have potential," recalled Choy. "That's how it all got started."
Fast-forward 10 years, and Choy's potential is undeniable. As a sophomore, she won the state tournament. Last year, she won the Oahu Interscholastic Association title and finished third at states. This year, the senior, who now boasts a driving distance averaging between 260 and 270 yards, wants to go out with a bang.
"To end it with a win, to go out my senior year, it would be awesome," said Choy, considered one of the favorites going into tomorrow's first day of the David S. Ishii Foundation/HHSAA Girls Golf State Championships. And she's been working hard to make her senior sendoff a good one, practicing six times a week and taking many trips up to Laie.
"Since states is there this year, I've been going to Turtle Bay a lot, just practicing, getting myself ready and prepared," she said.
Last week, Choy finished second at the OIA championships, also held at Turtle Bay. Disappointed with her second-day round that dropped her out of the lead, the Wahiawa resident just shrugged it off.
"It was just one of those days when nothing goes your way," she said. "Oh well, can't win everything. It kind of helps, like motivation to do better in states."
There, she will compete against a good field of players, including Punahou's Stephanie Kono. But Choy relishes the chance to go up against her rivals.
"The more competition the better, because you always want to push yourself to see how well you can do against other really good golfers like Steph," she said.
Kono and Choy are also paired together for the upcoming U.S. Open qualifier at Ko Olina.
"She's ranked like top 10 in the country. That's just as good as having Michelle (Wie) in the tournament."
It's hard not to bring up Wie's name when talking about Choy, considering they are both among the top young golfers in the state, though admittedly Wie is "unstoppable," Choy said.
Though they now live totally different lifestyles, Choy had a taste of Wie's spotlight on a trip to Kauai three years ago, when she was often mistaken for the rising star.
On her way to enter a course, Choy passed by a large group of little girls, who all stopped playing with their practice clubs to stare at her, fingers pointed and mouths open in awe. Three of the girls shyly approached Choy and asked what her name was.
"I go, 'Oh, uh, Michelle,' and they got so excited," Choy said. "Then I went to the car to get something. When I came back, I had 30 little kids waiting for me. They were all screaming and yelling. I had this big crowd of little kids just following me and asking for my autograph.
"I was like, 'Oh no, what did I do?' "
After letting the kids know who she really was, Choy gladly signed autographs for them.
It's been a long and steady progression for Choy, who entered her first golf class when she was nine. By age 10, she entered her first tournament, where she finished third. But it wasn't until she was 13 that she made a decision that would change her life.
"I wanted to take (golf) more seriously," she said. "Since then I haven't stopped."
And just because her school didn't have a team didn't mean she couldn't help start one of her own.
"When I first came in my sophomore year, I got a couple girls and put a girls team together. That was the first girls team Leilehua ever had. So that was a big step for the Leilehua golf team."
This season, the Lady Mules qualified for the OIA championships as a team, a big accomplishment for the young program.
"Nobody really expected us to really make it that far," said Choy, who along with teammate Stacie Mita qualified for the state tournament.