Seemingly joined at the hip through two-plus rounds of the Pacific West Conference golf championships, UH-Hilo finally was able to shake Holy Names.
It was Academy of Art, however, that shook up the field, outplaying the Vulcans over the last three holes for a two-shot win at Waikoloa Beach Resort and its first PacWest title.
“We went 1-under on the final hole (No. 10), but we just had to sit back and wait to see how Academy finished, and they beat us,” coach Earl Tamiya in school release. “It’s the closest tournament that I can remember in quite awhile.”
UHH, which shot 9-over 289 to finish 23-over 863, put themselves in position to claim the school’s first conference title since 2014 on No. 7 – which and Junghwan Willis Lee and Noah Lau each eagled and Dustin Franko, Andrew Otani and Nicholas Gomez birdied. Franko closed with a 2-over 72 and tied for sixth at 5-over, Gomez (71) was 6-over in seventh and Lee (72) also made the top 10 at 7-over.
“We came close,” Tamiya said. “We had some bad holes in the middle of the round but finished very strong. That’s all you can ask for.”
Hawaii Pacific’s Keita Okada shot 70 to take top individual honors at 3-under, one shot clear of Academy’s Julius Kreutzer (69), HPU’s Ryan Torres (70) and Art’s and Matthew Watkins (70).
Also for UHH, Andrew Otani (75) came in at 10-over, and Lau (73) was 16-over and 16th in the 30-player field.
Holy Names ended up fourth, two shots behind Hawaii Pacific (867).
The Vuls will find out Friday if they’ve secured an at-large berth to regionals.
“We will just have to wait and see what the committee says,” Tamiya said. “We are playing good golf right now, and I hope that we get to continue.”
Women fourth
Kaelyn Uchida (77) and Tia Kualii (75) each placed in the top 10 and grabbed All-PacWest honors as the Vulcans finished fourth with their best performance of the season.
Uchida (15-over) shot seven strokes better than her average, Kualii (18-over) was nine shots better, Tori Hironaga (35-over) was a little more then ten shots better and Kasumi Goto (46-over) was four shots superior to her season average.
“It was a great way to finish the season,” Vulcans coach Jim DeMello said in a release. “All four of our girls exceeded expectations. Each one of them played much better than their season averages. I think we were the surprise of the tournament, and I look forward to next year.”
There were no surprises at the top.
Favored Point Loma carded a 21-stroke victory against Academy of Art, while the Urban Knights’ Anahi Servin got better as the tournament went on, closing with a 67 and a runaway nine-shot win for her third title in a row.
Women’s tennis loses
The Vulcans lost in the fourth round of the PacWest tennis tournament in Arizona, 4-0 to Metro State.
UHH (7-6) plays Mesa State on Thursday in a consolation match.
Singles
1. Brooklyn Ross (MSU-D) vs. Hikari Osaki (UHH), 6-1, 5-2, UNF.
2. Helena Steenberg (MSU-D)) def. Sandra Dafincescu (UHH), 6-3, 6-1.
3. Isabel Heras (MSU-D) vs. Carolina Alfonsin (UHH), 6-3, 1-5, UNF.
4. Gala Castillo (MSU-D) def. Carmelle Joyner (UHH), 6-3, 6-0.
5. Helena Stienemeier (MSU-D) vs. Hannah Highsmith (UHH), 6-4, 1-0, UNF.
6. Marie Cool (MSU-D) def. Casydee De Mattos (UHH), 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles
1. Ross/Heras (MSU-D) def. Alfonsin/Highsmith (UHH) 6-1.
2. Steenberg/Stienemeier (MSU-D) def. De Mattos/Joyner (UHH), 6-2
3. Cool/Castillo (MSU-D) vs. Dafincescu/Osaki (UHH), 5-2, UNF.