Whitney Ueno's focus on the golf course is so strong, even her coach at Willamette is envious.

"She's so into the shot and into the moment, that she's not even thinking about, 'what is my score' and 'what is her score,' " Tom Hibbard said of the 2005 Hilo High graduate.

"To me, it's very important, because it means she's focusing on the shot at hand, not messing up her mind about the shot before. She's concentrating on this particular shot. That's a quality I don't have in my own game."

But golf still comes second to school for Ueno.

"Golf kind of slips down because I'm putting more emphasis on my studying," said Ueno, who aspires to be a doctor. "I don't get to practice as much."

Regardless, Ueno is still finding success on the golf course. She was named the Northwest Conference Women's Golfer of the Week yesterday for the third time this season after winning last weekend's Pacific Invitational with 84-81—165.

Ueno has won every tournament she's entered this season.

"I know I have to try harder because now the other girls are trying to also do better," Ueno said. "It's a little more pressure because I want to get my scores better this season, because they're a little worse than the fall season."

A combination of bad weather and more emphasis on school has meant less practice, resulting in poorer scores, she said.

Ueno is taking biology and chemistry classes, preparing for a future in medicine, possibly in pediatrics.

Although she has been golfing for about 10 years, placing school above golf is nothing new for her.

"My parents have always been about school first," Ueno said.

Because Willamette is a Division III school, Ueno does not receive a scholarship, but chose the school because "the more I looked into it, the more it stuck out," she said.

It helped that her father, Aaron Ueno, played baseball at Willamette, which is in Salem, Ore.

"I would be pleased to have her on my team even if her average score was 25 shots higher per 18 holes," Hibbard said. "She's just a great kid, and I'm very fortunate to have her here. She could have played Division I, I'm sure.

"She's just dominated. And she stands about 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds, and she hits it past all of them."

This summer, Ueno intends to hit the course but has no plans to enter any tournaments, although she does want to help out with the Big Island Junior Golf Association.

Instead, she'll volunteer at the Hilo Medical Center, and she's "thinking about doing other things besides golf."

Ueno has kept busy at Willamette. This weekend is the school's Hawai'i Club lu'au, which will feature dancing, food and decorations complete with flowers from Hawai'i.

Will she help with the cooking? "I'm doing decorations," she said. "I'll be doing that instead."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.