Thanks to a Hawaii-friendly schedule because of COVID, UH-Hilo’s men’s golf team didn’t cross paths with Holy Names of Oakland, Calif., during the regular season.
That’s changed in a hurry at the Pacific West Conference championships, where the two have been inseparable.
The Vulcans and Hawks will begin the final round atop the leaderboard after they mirrored each other for the second day in row at Waikoloa Beach Course, each shooting 9-over 289s on Tuesday to get to 15-over. The best team of the second round was Academy of Art, which shot 283 and was one shot off the lead in third, surpassing Hawaii Pacific (293), which was 20-over.
The Vuls will tee off Wednesday’ morning vying for the schools first conference title since men’s golf won a crown in 2014.
While the Vulcans’ chances of producing the medalist took a hit, they showed mettle thanks to balance. Freshman Nicholas Gomez posted his best score of the season with an even-par 70. After recording his team’s worst score Monday, he started his round with nine pars. Gomez was tied for 10th at 5-over along with Junghwan Willis Lee, who shot 71.
First-round co-leader Dustin Franko made two double-bogeys late in the round for a 74 that left him 3-over and in a tie for sixth, six shots behind front-runner Keita Okada (69) of Hawaii Pacific.
Andrew Otani (74) was 4-over. Nicholas Lau (80) slumped to an 80 and was 13-over.
The best round of the day belonged to Holy Names’ Hoshi Yadav, who shot 67 and was shot behind Okada.
In the women’s competition, UHH’s Kaelyn Uchida shot a 73 to move up one spot to sixth at 8-over as the Vulcans moved to fourth with a 32-over 312. Uchida made three birdies in her round, while fellow Waiakea alum Tia Kualii (76) had two and was 13-over.
UHH was 31 shots behind front-running Point Loma (601), which held a commanding 22-shot lead over Academy of Art. Academy’s Anahi Servin (69) takes a one-shot lead into the final round at 1-over.
Also for the Vuls, Tori Hironaga shot another 82 and Kasumi Goto bettered her total with an 80 (169).
First-round leader Dominican suffered a blow when an incorrect signed scorecard disqualified a Penguins’ player. They will continue to play as individuals but cannot compete for the team title.