Too bad University of Hawaii at Hilo golf coach Earl Tamiya couldn’t have volunteered to weed whack all the tall grass. ADVERTISING Too bad University of Hawaii at Hilo golf coach Earl Tamiya couldn’t have volunteered to weed whack all
Too bad University of Hawaii at Hilo golf coach Earl Tamiya couldn’t have volunteered to weed whack all the tall grass.
UHH had a mixed bag of play on the first day at the NCAA Division II national championships at The Meadows Golf Course in Allendale, Mich., where the field of 20 teams gets chopped to eight after two more rounds.
Guess where the Vulcans are?
They’re eighth, right on the cut line, after the first round of stroke play, posting a 19-over-par 303 on Monday on a course Tamiya described as hard with high rough — an accurate description reflected in the team scores.
How the Vuls got there is a tale of recovery. They were 15-over after the first nine holes. It looked like they were greasing their skids for a long uphill climb and early exit.
Then they rebounded quite nicely over the last nine holes with a 4-over, jumping into a tie with Lynn (Florida) University.
Nova Southeastern’s Mitch Farrer leads the medalist hunt with a 1-under 70 to help the Sharks to a 287 team total, 16 strokes ahead of the Vulcans, who are back in the championship for the first time in three years.
A tough course and wayward driving normally translate into a high score. That’s what got the Vuls. Meadows sounds like friendly name, but the course bared its teeth with a high rough that chewed a little on Tamiya’s guys.
“The course is tough,” he said. “It rained last week and they’re predicting thunderstorms on Tuesday. After we shot 15-over on the front, I thought we were in trouble. We shot 4-over on the back side and I thought we did all right.
“We fought back. That was mental toughness wanting to stay in the hunt. We struggled and have some room for improvement. We had trouble staying in the fairways. Once you go in the rough, par becomes harder.”
UHH seniors Corey Kozuma and Chris Shimomura are tied for 24th place after each had a 3-over 75. A stroke back is Dalen Yamauchi, who had a 76 and is tied for 36th. Christian Agosto had a 77 and is in 47th, while Kyeton Littel carded an 82 for 94th place.
A team runs out five golfers and the top four scores count. Nova Southeastern, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was 3-over par. Second-place Chico State was at 7-over 291, while last-place University of Charleston was at 41-over 329.
After the third round, the eight-team field will then eliminate each other through match play.
UHH has two more days to get a little more comfortable and away from the cut line.
“Nobody played outstanding. Hopefully, somebody can come through with a good score,” Tamiya said. “We’re in eighth right now. We might have a shot. Hopefully, we can hold on. We’re in the hunt.”
According to Tamiya, the Vulcans are hoping to finish in the final Top 10, which he said would be an outstanding accomplishment for the small-college team from Hawaii.
