In a razor-close finish, the University of Hawaii at Hilo edged Grand Canyon by a stroke and three other schools by two shots to win the GolfWeek Division II Fall Golf Invitational on Tuesday in Sunriver, Ore.
Vulcan Corey Kozuma, a junior out of Iolani on Oahu, drained a 1-foot par putt to clinch the championship on the 18th hole of the 14-team NCAA Division II tournament.
“The final three holes were pretty intense,” UH-Hilo coach Earl Tamiya said. “Corey stepped up big time. He did really well in the tournament. It’s a great win for us. Our goal was a top-five finish, so winning is icing on the cake.”
The Vulcans needed Kozuma to par the par-4 18th hole to claim the team title.
“I was on the green in two shots, then two-putted to finish,” Kozuma said. “It was kind of nerve-racking, but I knew I had put myself in a good position. I just told myself to stick to my normal routine and not worry about anything until I finished.”
The Vulcans finished with an 876 total, one stroke ahead of Grand Canyon and two better than Cal State Stanislaus, Western Washington and Chico State.
Kozuma, who fired a 72 on Tuesday, finished third individually with a 5-under 211 total. He had rounds of 70, 69 and 72 on what Tamiya called “a difficult” par-72 course.
Michael Lee of Colorado School of Mines captured individual medalist honors with an impressive 11-under 205. Lee had rounds of 68, 75 and 72. Grand Canyon’s Alec Dalhquist (70-73-67) was second at 210, followed by Kozuma in third.
Rounding out UH-Hilo scoring were Jaime Hall (77-71-74—222, T-18), Dalen Yamauchi (76-73-73—222, T-18) and Chris Shimomura (78-77-80—235, T-58).
Volleyball
c Cal Baptist 3, UH-Hilo 0: Cal Baptist University fought past UH-Hilo 27-25, 25-23, 25-22 in a Pacific West Conference women’s volleyball match on Tuesday night in Riverside, Calif.
The Lancers improved to 14-1 overall and 6-0 in the PacWest. The Vulcans fell to 4-10 and 4-4.
UH-Hilo finished its PacWest road trip with a 3-2 record.
Freshman Bria Morgan led UH-Hilo with 20 kills.
The Vulcans will return home and host their alumnae at 7 p.m. Saturday.
