Then you listen to one of Butler County’s — if not the state’s — best high school golfers. He has simplified golf into four words.
“Practice hard, play easy,” said Toku Fujiwara, a senior on the Lakota West High School golf team.
He certainly has made one of the most challenging and frustrating sports look easy.
Fujiwara, who has committed to Purdue University, captured medalist honors at the Greater Miami Conference tournament and on Tuesday, led Lakota West to a Division I sectional title.
At the sectional, he fired a 5-under 67 over the Glenview Golf Course and led the Firebirds to the team title. The top four Lakota West golfers shot a combined 299, or less than a 75 stroke average.
Fujiwara said the golf team is “peaking at the right time” as the postseason continues. They will compete in the districts Oct. 6 at Pipestone Golf Course in Miamisburg in hopes of advancing to the Division I state tournament Oct. 12-13 at Firestone Country Club in Akron.
While Fujiwara said he’d love to win the state individual title, he was more interested in praising his teammates than talking about his golf game.
He said winning the league by 21 shots over Lakota East, after a disappointing second-place finish to Mason last season, was more rewarding because “we knew what losing felt like.”
Fujiwara and teammate, Griffin Wullenweber, a junior, have consistently been the top two golfers in the league. Wullenweber had the lowest regular-season scoring average in the GMC, followed by Fujiwara.
Fujiwara called it “a healthy competition” between he and Wullenweber, who shot 71 in the sectional.
“We push each other to be better,” Fujiwara said of Wullenweber, a Miami University signee.
He said Wullenweber takes “stress off my back.”
He also gave first-year head coach Steve Nguyen, who was named GMC Coach of the Year, credit for bringing his mental expertise to the golf program. The players have learned about having the best mindset from the first tee shot until the last putt is holed.
“You have to be in the right head space,” Fujiwara said.
At the GMC, he shot a two-day score of 137 with rounds of 67 and 70. He’s a four-time first-team All-Conference golfer.
Fujiwara has been “rock solid” throughout his high school career, Nguyen said.
“Sure he has God given talent, but he’s also a hard worker, an extreme competitor,” the coach said. “His motor runs high when the pressure is on.”
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The Journal-News will profile a local high school athlete on Sundays. If you have a suggestion, please forward the athlete’s name and high school to Rick McCrabb at rmccrabb1@gmail.com.
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