Utah’s Lone Peak High doesn’t just produce many of the state’s best golfers.
The school in northern Utah County produces some of the country’s top golfers as well.
“This is a tremendous honor for Kihei. He deserves to be recognized for all the hard work he’s put into developing his game.” — Lone Peak golf coach Derek Farr
Kihei Akina, a rising junior at Lone Peak, was recently named the National Boys High School Golfer of the Year by USA Today. Akina was featured Sunday in an on-demand broadcast produced by USA Today Network Ventures.
“This is a tremendous honor for Kihei,” said Lone Peak boys golf coach Derek Farr. “He deserves to be recognized for all the hard work he’s put into developing his game.”
Akina, who has offers from many of the top college golf programs in the country, won medalist honors at the 6A golf tournament last fall. He shot matching rounds of 64-64 to finish at 16-under at TalonsCove Golf Club in Saratoga Springs and led Lone Peak to its fifth-straight state title.
Akina’s score of 128 tied the individual state tournament record.
In 2021, he shot 6-under 136 at Davis Park Golf Course to win 6A medalist honors as a freshman.
Akina is currently ranked as the No. 28 overall boys junior golfer in the country, according to USA Today’s Golfweek rankings.
The younger brother of former BYU golfer Keanu Akina, Kihei made it to the championship match of the Manoa Cup, which is Hawaii’s State Amateur, in June.
Sophie Linder of Gordonsville, Tennessee, is the publication’s Girls High School Golfer of the Year.