By KEVIN JAKAHI
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
UH-Hilo senior Ric Yamamoto fired a 1-under-par 71 in the first round of the Amer Ari Invitational on Thursday, and that made big waves in the local golfing community.
The 2011 Hilo graduate was tied for 29th and sat five strokes behind Oregon State’s Conner Kumpula, who was one shot ahead of Stanford’s David Boote (67).
Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge, Oregon’s Zach Foushee, Stanford’s Maverick McNealy, USC’s Rico Hoey, and Texas Tech’s Hayden Springer were all tied for third after shooting 4-under 68 at the Waikoloa Kings course, where the winds were nice and friendly.
Yamamoto was one stroke better than college golf’s Golden Boy, Auburn senior Micahel Johnson, who’s ranked No. 1 in Division I with a 68.99 scoring average and was par for the course.
What’s the big deal about Ric Yamamoto?
He’s the ultimate underdog.
During his high school days as a Viking, Yamamoto never won a BIIF championship. At the HHSAA state tournament, he was never in serious contention for medalist honors.
He’s also on the ultimate underdog team, the host Vulcans, who are on the NCAA Division II level and struggle to fund golf and every other sport.
Division II golf has a maximum scholarship limit of 3.6 scholarships; the Vuls get 1.62. (Division I men’s golf gets 4.5 scholarships.)
Yamamoto has played in seven tournaments entering his senior season. That’s for his whole career. He’s never played in the PacWest championships.
By comparison his teammate, fellow senior Kyeton Littel, from Maui, played in 11 tournaments last season. He also shot a 71.
Yamamoto’s 71 is the best score he has posted at the tourney. Last season, he had an 89-83-74—246 total and tied for 103rd.
The only other time, he played in the Amer Ari was his sophomore season in 2013, when he shot a 76-74-77—227 total for a tie for 91st.
There’s an old saying in Hilo: When a local boy does good it’s a boulder in a pond.
It makes waves, and everybody hears about it.
His coach at Hilo High was Randy Pak, who’ll get congratulated all day long, along with Yamamoto’s parents, Carol and Douglas.
Speaking of locals, the only other homegrown product for the Vuls is senior Casey Tamura, a 2011 Waiakea graduate.
Tamura carded a 2-over 74. The other Vuls were Jared Kinosita (74), a freshman from Bakersfield, Calif., and David Tottori (78), a sophomore from Las Vegas.
The Vuls were tied for 12th with a 2-over 290 total. Big brother UH-Manoa was 11th with a 1-over 289 total.
Stanford and USC were tied for first at 10-under 278 total. UCLA was third with a 9-under 279 total.
Tamura’s 74 was also his best score at the Amer Ari. Last season, he shot an 87-85-84—256 total and was 105th. As a junior, he was 112th with an 86-87-80—253 total.
He played at Waiakea for former coach Lee Hardy, who’s a teaching professional at Hilo Muni. When Hardy goes to work, he’ll get back pats for his work with Tamura, who transferred from Hawaii Community College in Hilo after his freshman year.
Yamamoto may not win the Amer Ari. No Vulcan ever has. The homegrown local boy may not beat any of college golf’s big names.
But for one day he did. And in the tight-knit Hilo golfing community, Yamamoto’s 1-under 71 at Waikoloa — bettering likely future pro Johnson’s par 72 —stands as news, big enough to make tidal waves.
Basketball
UHH 60, Fresno State 56: Alexa Jacobs scored 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting to lead the Vuls (6-12, 6-7 PacWest). Vanessa Mancera added 12 points and had a team-leading seven rebounds.
Megan Lee scored 16 points and Hannah Ramirez had 12 points and 14 boards for the Sunbirds (3-17, 1-13).
“I’m very proud of the team. We came back after a tough loss to Dominican (85-54 on Monday). It was a good, tough, gutty road win,” UHH coach David Kaneshiro said. “It was one game we did what we needed to do to win. We got key stops and hit our free throws down the stretch.”
It was a pivotal win for the Vuls, who are seventh in the standings and just out of the reach of the six-team PacWest tournament.
Men
Fresno State 106, UHH 96: Gabe Solarin scored 28 points, hitting 8 of 10 from beyond the arc, to lead the Sunbirds (11-9, 7-7).
Vandy Lockett scored 28 points on 12 of 12 shooting to lead the Vuls (5-13, 5-9), who have six games left.
It was a deflating loss for the Vuls, who remain in 11th place and far out of the running for a berth to the six-team PacWest playoffs.
