Hawaii golfer achieves dream of capturing Iolani’s first individual girls golf state championship

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Jasmine Wong has played countless rounds of golf in her life, but three weeks ago, it came down to 36 holes to become a champion.

“This is something that I dreamed of, especially when I first got to Iolani,” Wong said.

Wong’s journey on the green began at 6 years old.

“It’s like every other kid probably, like you just see your dad hit golf balls at the range and you’re just watching and then you’re like, ‘dad, can I hit something because I’m bored,’ and so he gave me his pitching wedge and then I just started swinging and he was like, ‘oh, you’re actually not bad at this,’” Wong said.

The natural talent found her much success.

Wong made the ILH first team the past two years — and this season, she took home conference honors for Girls Golfer of the Year.

Yet the lone box unchecked, a state championship victory.

“I took a little peek at the leader board, since it was electronic and they kept live scoring and so right at the last two holes, I felt the pressure kind of build up and that’s when I was realized I’m like, oh shoot I could like possibly get this,” said Wong.

She did it by the thinnest of margins, winning by a single stroke, to capture the Raiders’ first individuals girls golf state title.

“Coming down to the final holes … there was a couple bogeys down there, which kind of made it a little bit more tense, but she held it together and we’re really proud of her to do that,” said head coach Kevin Ing.

Ing has spent over 50 years coaching various Iolani teams, from football to baseball and now girls golf.

In that half decade, he’s never seen drive quite like hers.

“Jasmine is so focused on everything that she does, whether it’s her golf, her academics — she’s just amazing, she’s just always focused and that’s probably her strongest part of her is her determination to get things done right,” said Ing.

Wong says winning a state championship has been on her bucket list, and she’ll carry this accomplishment with her as she continues her golf career at Gonzaga.

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