Dalen Yamauchi called it a regular round, yet he produced a result that was matched by just two of his previous college tournaments.
Yamauchi carded a 1-under on Tuesday, sharing medallist honors at the SoCal Intercollegiate in Santee, Calif.
“I just hit the ball in the right place,” said Yamauchi, a Waiakea High graduate.
Adam Stone (72) of California State East Bay also finished at 2-over 218 at Carleton Oaks Golf Club.
Yamauchi’s first career victory came in a playoff in November at the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course. He also lost a playoff at the 2013 Pacific West Conference championships.
The SoCal Intercollegiate has no playoff, but Yamauchi used two early birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to get his round going. His best putt of the round came from 15 feet away on No. 17.
He also birdied No. 9, offsetting two bogeys.
“The spring season has been all right,” Yamauchi said. “I’ve been hitting the ball pretty good. Putting has been coming, so hopefully I can bring a good putter to the rest of the events.”
UH-Hilo has two more tournaments ahead of the PacWest championships, which are April 20-22 in St. George, Utah.
The Vulcans finished in fourth place at 45-over 909. Cal State Monterey Bay took the team title with an 888.
The Vulcans’ James Coon (73) tied for 13th place at 10-over. Also in the field for UH-Hilo were Kyeton Littel (77), who tied for 16th at 13-over; Conner Graves closed with a 78 and was 20-over in a tie for 26th; and Nick Matsushima (83) tied for 37th among 40 golfers and was 35-over.
Lady Vuls on Maui
Freshmen Erin Costes (88) and Andi Igawa (86) were tied for 83rd place at 26-over 170 at the Anuenue Spring Break Classic at Kapalua’s The Bay Course.
Sophomore Mariah Paiste (96) was last among 91 golfers, 50 strokes over par.
Heading into Wednesday’s final round, Cal Davis’ Andrea Wong held a one-shot lead and the Aggies were protecting a four-shot advantage.
