It was not necessarily the season-opening round that Earl Tamiya wanted, but it’s one he will take.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo fired a 15-over 583 on Friday and was in sixth place at the St. Martin’s Invitational in Olympia, Wash.
The Vulcans were 27 shots behind first-place Western Washington heading into Saturday’s final round.
“We did all right for our first tournament,” Tamiya said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but they’re correctable.
“A lot of room for improvement.”
Predictably, senior Dalen Yamauchi set the pace for UHH, carding a 1-over 143. After failing to make a birdie during a 74, he shot a 2-under in the second round and was tied for 13th.
Western Washington’s Anthony Allen and Simon Fraser’s Chris Crisologo were tied for lead at 6-under in the 14-team field.
Tamiya said it was perhaps also predictable that James Coon, a true freshman, and Connor Graves, a junior transfer, struggled while playing their first competitive rounds as Vulcans. Both were 8-over.
“James seems to start slow every round,” Tamiya said.
Junior Kyeton Littel was a stroke behind Yamauchi and tied for 19th after a second-round 69, and senior Nicholas Matsushima was 6-over.
Playing as an individual, freshman David Tottori was 13-over.
The conditions weren’t to blame, Tamiya said, just nerves.
“Perfect weather,” he said. “Who would ever think that in Olympia?”
