LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i men’s golf team opened its spring season with the first round of the Mauna Lani Invitational, Wednesday at the Mauna Lani Resort North Course. The Warriors carded a 311 and currently stand in 16th
LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i men’s golf team opened its spring season with the first round of the Mauna Lani Invitational, Wednesday at the Mauna Lani Resort North Course. The Warriors carded a 311 and currently stand in 16th place of the 22 teams competing.
Leading UH is Kaua‘i’s T.J. Kua, a sophomore who carded a 2-over, 74. Kua, coming off of a respectable showing at last month’s Sony Open, is currently tied for 19th place.
Four strokes back of Kua are sophomore Jared Sawada and junior Kamden Brakel, both tied for 62nd with a 78. Contributing to the Warriors’ score are Kaua‘i’s Cory Oride (freshman), who is tied for 94th with an 81, and sophomore Pono Calip, in 114th with an 86.
Participating as individuals are freshmen Alex Chu (81/T94th), Daniel Koge (84/T109th), and Henry Park (96/120th).
Individuals Nils Floren (Texas Tech), Bobby Hudson (Texas), Alex Kim (UCLA), Nick Taylor (Washington), and Andrew Vijarro (Oregon) sit in a five-way tie for first place. Each of these men fired a 2-under, 70 on the round.
Currently leading the team standings is UCLA who carded an even-par (288).
The tournament continues Thursday with the second round before concluding Friday with the third and final round.
In last year’s tournament, previously known as the UH-Hilo Invitational, the Warriors finished in 17th place with a 947 total (314-328-305).
Kua led UH with a 229 finish (76-81-72) and a tie for 60th place. Fellow sophomores Calip (79-82-78=239) and Sawada (81-85-74=240) were the team’s next highest finishers, earning ties for 87th place and 89th place respectively.
USC is the defending team champion, having run away with last year’s title by finishing with an 11-stroke lead over runner-up Washington.
