KAPOLEI, Hawaii — They call it golf’s Longest Day for a reason.

Thirty-six high-leverage holes await those with the gumption to compete for a spot in the 125^th U.S. Open at Oakmont at a final qualifier. It is a test of stamina and mental fortitude as amateurs and local pros attempt to seize a berth at a major at the expense of a PGA Tour professional.

Ten of the 13 regional qualifiers take place Monday, including at Valencia Country Club in Valencia, Calif. That’s where University of Hawaii sophomore Dane Watanabe, a Kaneohe native and member of the UH men’s golf team, gets a shot in the biggest outing of his young career.

If he performs well — he will need to place in the top four of a field of 84 — he could get a far more prominent opportunity in two weeks.

“It's going to be a really long day,” Watanabe told Spectrum News during a recent interview at Kapolei Golf Club, where he trained regularly leading up to Monday. “But we have some of those in college, so I kind of know what to expect.”

Local qualifying was held at 110 sites across the country in late April and early May. For Watanabe, that was May 6 at the refurbished Pearl at Kalauao.

UH alumnus Jared Sawada of Mililani shot a 1-under 70 and Watanabe was right behind with an even-par 71 to take the Aloha Section PGA’s two berths into final qualifying at Valencia.

On Maui, Watanabe’s UH teammate Anson Cabello qualified at King Kamehameha Golf Club in Wailuku on April 21 by defeating Kyle Suppa in the first playoff hole. Cabello is in the final qualifier field at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash., also on Monday, needing to place in the top two of 41.

PGA Tour member Chan Kim, a Kaimuki High alumnus, is attempting to nab one of seven spots Monday at Lambton Golf and Country Club in Ontario, Canada. He has qualified for the U.S. Open four times, most recently in 2022.

Kihei Akina, a BYU commit from Oahu, and Luciano Conlan, a Haleiwa native on the UCLA men’s golf team, round out the four-player Hawaii contingent at Valencia.

The course will be a new experience for Watanabe. He will play 18 holes in the morning and 18 in the afternoon.

“I've asked some people that I thought might have played it, and they all kind of say the same thing — it's just a challenging kind of golf course, a little on the narrower side,” Watanabe said. “So I'm thinking just keeping it in the fairways and having always having a birdie putt is going to be really important. Usually when the courses are challenging like that. It's hard to get up and down. Chipping is hard from around the green, so I think fairways and greens are is going to be huge.”

So, too, will composure. Besides his consistent driver and an improved short game, that’s what Watanabe, 2023 HHSAA individual champion out of Iolani, will count on.

“Just stay in the present,” Watanabe said. Don't think too much about you know, oh, what could happen? ‘Oh, I could qualify for the US Open.’”

He felt like he had some serious momentum during the fall season but hit a wall in the spring, especially following the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., in mid-April.

His father helped him enlist the services of a sports psychologist, Darryl Oshiro, whom Watanabe credits with helping set his mind at ease.

“It's definitely a good thing to have, especially when we can be so hard on ourselves when we golf,” Watanabe said. “We're just striving for perfection, but you're never going to achieve it really, right? So, yeah, it can be really frustrating, but it's nice to have a person to keep you positive and just staying focused all the time on the present and just playing one shot at a time. That's really the key to golf.”

Conlan tees off at 4 a.m. Hawaii time, Akina at 4:10, Watanabe at 5 and Sawada at 5:30. Cabello tees off at 4:33 a.m. at Wine Valley. Kim tees off at 1:50 a.m. at Lambton.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.