By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Corey Kozuma fired back-to-back 70s and Dalen Yamauchi had a 74 and 71 to spark the University of Hawaii at Hilo to a commanding 20-stroke lead over Simon Fraser in the 7th Annual Dennis Rose Intercollegiate on Monday.
The NCAA Division II men’s and women’s golf tournaments is being played currently at the Waikoloa Resort’s Beach and Kings’ golf courses. The final 18 holes will be played today.
Kozuma, a junior out of Iolani School on Oahu, led the field heading into the final round with his 4-under-par 140 total while Yamauchi, a sophomore and former Waiakea High standout, was second with his even-par 71-74—144 total.
The defending men’s champion Vulcans carded rounds of 288 and 288 to finish the windy first day with a 576 total on the par 72 Kings’ course. Simon Fraser (295-301) was second at 20-over-par 596 and Cal State University-East Bay (301-299) was third at 24-over-par 600.
“I’m really happy with how we played considering the winds,” UHH head coach Earl Tamiya said. “They were tricky, some times blowing from the north, then some times the south. The winds would blow for one hour, then stop. Then they would start back up.
“But we’ve played here a lot and the wind is always to our advantage.”
Tamiya said Kozuma, the only player in the field under par, fueled the Day 1 charge with his two impressive rounds and Yamauchi wasn’t too far behind.
“Corey’s on a roll,” Tamiya said. “He shot two-under par in both rounds to lead us. Dalen also played really well despite the difficult conditions.
“Overall as a team we’re playing well and just need to go into the final round focused.”
UHH freshman Kyeton Little (73-72) was tied for third at 145, followed by teammates Jamie Hall (72-76—128, T-7th) and Chris Shimomura (75-75—150, T-10th). Three other Vulcans are playing as individuals: James Horton (81-73—154, 25th), Ric Yamamoto (78-77—155, 26th) and Christian Agosto (74-82—156, T-27).
The Vulcans are coming off two straight tournament titles, last week at the Sonoma State Invitational and earlier this month at the GolfWeek Division II Fall Invitational in Sunriver, Ore. Hall, a sophomore from Seattle, Wash., was the individual champion at the Sonoma State event, claiming the title in a two-hole playoff.
Rounding out team scoring in the nine-team men’s field were: 4. Hawaii Pacific University, 304-303—637 +31; 5. Montana State Billings, 309-306—615 +39; 6. St. Martin’s, 317-301—618 +42; 7. BYU-Hawaii, 311-309—620 +44; 8. Chaminade, 317-315—632 +56; 9. Notre Dame de Namur, 316-321—637 +61.
Grand Canyon University carded rounds of 309 and 299 for a 608 total to hold down first place in the women’s tournament after Day 1. The Antelopes, led by individual leader Charlotte Jaengkit (70-74—144), had a nine-shot lead over second-place CSU-East Bay (315-302—617) heading into today’s final round.
UHH (325-307) was third at 632 in the six-team field, followed by St. Martin’s (340-334—674), St. Mary’s of Texas (348-337—685) and Hawaii Pacific (374-386—760).
Jaengkit held an eight-stroke lead over East Bay’s Linda Brown (79-73) and Grand Canyon’s Kelcey Tate (74-78) who were tied for second at 152.
UHH’s Shannon Abarra (78-78) was tied for 7th at 156 while teammates Kacie Harada (81-77) was 11th and Erika Morihiro (82-77) and Nyssa Aoki (84-75) were tied for 12th. Vulcan Jade Salvador (81-87) was tied for 17th at 168.
