LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz.--During a 2022 season that has probably had more downs than ups, the UH Hilo men's golf team posted perhaps their biggest "up" of the year so far at the Pacific West Conference Championships at the Wigwam Golf Club on Monday. 

The Vulcans are the first day leader, thanks to medalist contention work from Keith Ng and Dustin Franko. The Vulcans have a two-shot lead over Hawai`i Pacific through 18 holes, with 36 more to play. 

Ng and Franko are also looking for individual titles after excellent performances on a warm day in west Phoenix. Ng, who was even par through nine holes, picked up the pace on the back nine with three birdies (holes 11, 12, and 14) to climb into a share of the lead with a 69. Franko was right with him until the final two holes. The fellow British Columbia native also had three birdies early in the back nine, but then suffered a bogey on 17 and a double bogey on 18 to close out at 73 (+1).

Those two Canadians had the top two scores for the Vulcans, but UHH also had solid rounds from the rest of its line-up. Noah Lau and Nicholas Gomez were just one over par through the front nine and finished at 76 and 78 respectively. Andrew Otani was even par through nine holes and ended with a 75. The official tally for Hawai`i Hilo was 293 (+5).

Six teams will play 18 more holes on Tuesday and a final 18 on Wednesday. In 2021, Academy of Art won the title, with the Vulcans finishing two shots back in second place.

UH Hilo's island rival Hawai`i Pacific sits in second place on Monday with a score of 295 (+7). Dominican is next (+11), followed by Academy of Art (+13), Holy Names (+15) and Chaminade (+21).

Ng shares the leader board with Hawai`i Pacific's Keita Okada, the defending PacWest champion. Also at the top of the ladder is Chaminade's Ryan Shields Vega who shot a 69. Two more players sit two shots back after shooting 71 in HPU's Ryan Torres and ART's Matthew Watkins.

Ng won two tournaments during the Fall portion of the Vulcan schedule, while Franko finished sixth at the 2021 PacWest Championships and was 15th at the NCAA regional tournament. Both Ng and Okada won three PacWest Golfers of the Week honors this season.

The squads will head back to the course on Tuesday morning, with the first group slated to tee off at 9 am Pacific time.

FIRST ROUND TEAM TOTALS

FIRST ROUND INDIVIDUAL TOTALS