Jared Kinoshita was up, he was down, he was all around.
At the end of the day, the UH-Hilo senior was back where he started: in the lead at the Dennis Rose Invitational.
The Vuls held the top spot as well Tuesday after Kinoshita carded an eventful even-par 72 at Waikoloa Kings’ Course.
“Today was a very tough day on the course,” Kinoshita said. “It was a grind trying to stay even or under par for the day.
“The pins were in some tricky places, so I tried to take advantage of some birdie situations, which presented themselves.
Kinoshita, who tied the UH-Hilo record Monday with a 65, had two birdies and three bogeys on the front nine, and then a birdie and double bogey to begin the back nine, before closing out with back-to-back birds on 17 and 18.
Kinoshita maintained a three-shot lead heading into Wednesday’s final round after Bryson Bentley of Stanislaus State turned in another 70, and Vulcans junior Taylor Patrick vaulted himself into contention and the his team into the lead with 68, the second-best round of the day.
“This is the best chance we’ve had at winning a tournament as team since I’ve been here,” Kinoshita said, “and I hope the guys stay focused and do what we know we can do.”
Patrick was in third at 3-under, and four players are one shot behind him.
The native of Surrey, British Columbia, had three birdies on the front nine and then added two more on the back nine before suffering his only bogey on 17. The 68 is his low round of the 2018- 19 season and equaled his collegiate career best.
The Vulcans moved past first-day leader Western Washington with a 1-under 287 and now sit at 7-under after two rounds (282- 287). The No. 2-ranked Vikings are next at 3-under, and Stanislaus State was 2-over.
The other Vulcans that contributed to the scoring were freshman Andrew Otani (71-74) at 1-over and Warren Miller (73-73) another shot back. Evan Merrier shot a 74 to round out UHH’s top five.
