Arriving two hours early to every golf tournament, sophomore Sai Kaneshiro warms up and practices swinging, chipping and putting to prepare both her mind and body. She scribbles a winning strategy in her notebook as she studies the course and determines which path to hit the ball. Her routine has remained constant throughout her entire golf career.

Sai started playing golf eight years ago when she joined her parents to play recreationally. With practice, golf competitions and a few tournaments, her hobby soon evolved into a long-term passion.

“For my first tournament, I was a little nervous,” Sai said. “I don’t think I played that well, but I learned a lot from it. I was like, ‘this is something I want to keep doing.’ When I go to a tournament and my practice pays off, that’s what really keeps me motivated.”

Since then, Sai established herself in the upper echelon of junior golfers. In ninth grade, she joined the Harker Varsity team and qualified for the California State Championship as one of the top 54 high school golfers in the state. Varsity girls golf coach Ie-Chen Cheng recognizes that even as a sophomore, Sai sets an example for the rest of the team.

“She’s humble, which is really important,” Cheng said. “She’s so elite, but she doesn’t walk around like, ‘I’m so good.’ She’s able to bring her ability to lock in and get super focused in these matches. The whole team is able to learn from her intensity.”

On the technical side, golf requires not only concentration but also proficient expertise. Cheng says that Sai’s fundamentals remind her of that of professional golfers.

“Her ability to keep the ball in the fairway and stripe her drive down the middle is incredible,” Cheng said. “I’ve hardly ever seen her hit a wayward shot, and that’s incredible. To have that kind of consistency is a bit mind-blowing. You see [professionals] spray it, but she’s always down the middle.”

While the mental pressures of the game continue to test her, Sai’s years of experience have taught her to properly control her head space. By mastering her mentality, Sai completely commands where her swings land.

“A lot of people say golf isn’t a sport, but people don’t understand how hard golf is,” Sai said. “It’s not as physical as other sports, but it’s just as difficult because it’s mentally draining.”

Whenever someone scores over par, it’s common for a less-disciplined golfer to implode, meaning they perpetually score higher on later holes because they get hung up on their mistakes. Sai learned to avoid this pitfall after a stressful moment in a tournament in April 2024 when she kept comparing her progress to her competitor’s, leading to her falling behind in rankings.

“I played in this tournament and was in contention,” Sai said. “On this stretch of three holes, I did badly, but my playing partner was doing really well. It created this huge momentum shift. I ended up falling behind and for the rest of the round, I could not focus.”

From that point, Sai focused on avoiding comparing her scores to those of her competitors in the middle of matches. By faithfully following the plan written in her notebook, she treats each hole as an isolated task, so past mishaps like a bogey, taking one extra hit to finish a hole, do not influence her future performance.

“You want to have a very keen mentality when it comes to golf,” Cheng said. “Sai possesses that mentality. She’s one of the most level-headed players I’ve ever coached and does not get too overly emotional. That is such a key success when it comes to golf.”

Sai maintains lofty expectations for herself in the sport. She hopes to reach the U.S. Girls’ Junior and the U.S. Women’s Amateur championships, two of the most prestigious tournaments in the nation, and continue her career into college. At the same time, Sai doesn’t let her ambitions overwhelm her and chooses to stay focused in the present moment.

“I try to not think about [the pressure] too much and just take it one day at a time, one tournament at a time,” Sai said. “I don’t worry about how others are doing. I just have to trust myself that if I keep working hard then it will work out.”