At 18 years old, Kihei Akina – a senior at Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah – makes his PGA TOUR debut at the 2024 Black Desert Championship playing on a sponsor exemption.

Originally from Kahuku, Hawaii, Akina is a standout junior golfer currently ranked No. 12 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and has verbally committed to Brigham Young University (BYU). He’s already played in a Korn Ferry Tour event, finishing T49 (13-under par) at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health, and now he’s taking his talents to the PGA TOUR.

What does an 18-year-old high schooler have in the bag when he plays a PGA TOUR event? On Wednesday ahead of the Black Desert Championship, we found out.

Starting with the driver, Akina uses a Ping G430 LST 10.5-degree, equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X shaft and the adjustable back weight set in the draw position.

“This is the big dog,” Akina told PGATOUR.COM. “For me, just putting it on the draw setting helps me straighten it out a little bit more – I kind of have a fade bias right now.”

From a fitting standpoint, it’s important to know your swing tendencies and adjust the club for optimal performance. The 18-year-old has this figured out like a pro.

Getting a taste of the professional lifestyle when it comes to equipment, Akina is putting in a fresh Ping G430 Max 3-wood this week, which is also equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Blue shaft. The club is so new, Akina hadn’t even hit it yet and was preparing to do some testing before his afternoon tee time on Thursday at the Black Desert Resort.

Welcome to the big leagues, where new equipment is always at the ready.

Looking at the irons in the bag, Akina plays a Ping i230 3-iron which he calls his “fairway finder” and says he can hit it low and high on command.

As for the rest of his iron set (4-PW), Akina relies on the Ping Blueprint S cavity-back models and says they’re forgiving to help out with any mishits. Interestingly, Akina utilizes the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue 120 X100 shafts, which are slightly lighter than the standard X100 Tour Issue models that weigh in at about 130 grams.

Another perk of playing on the PGA TOUR, Akina was also able to switch into fresh Ping Si59 wedges this week, stamped with his initials. New wedges with sharp grooves help to add friction on the golf ball at impact, providing greater stopping power and control around the greens.

For the flat stick, Akina uses a custom Ping PLD putter, stamped with “808” – his hometown Hawaii area code – on the front of the hosel, and his initials on the back of the hosel. He calls the putter the most important club in his bag.

“Most important club, the putter,” Akina said. “We got a Ping PLD with a little bit of lead tape on the bottom. We got a little bit of an engraving here, 808, that’s the Hawaii area code, and then my initials right there. This thing is sweet, I love the color. Hopefully can make some putts this week.”

Hear from Akina himself in the video at the top of the page.