LITCHFIELD PARK, Arizona – The Hawai'i Hilo men's golf team stayed red-hot as it captured the program's fourth Pacific West Conference team title along with individual co-championships claimed by Andrew Otani and Junsu Im at this past week's PacWest Championships at the Wigwam Golf Course.
The Vulcans jumped out to a 10-shot lead at the end of Day 1 and held strong to finish 15-over with round scores of 285, 294 and 300.
Otani and Im both shot 75 in the final round to finish at one-over for a tie atop the individual leader board with both staking claim as co-champions.
"I'm happy the way the boys played this week," Hawai'i Hilo head coach Earl Tamiya said. "We had the potential all year-long, and they finally put it all together at the end."
The Vulcans were coming off their best performance of the year with a third-place finish at the West Regional Spring Preview last week and continued on to win their first conference team title since 2014.
Otani and Im follow Zady Ari (2008), Logan Goulding (2009) and Blake Snyder (2011) as PacWest individual champs from Hawai'i Hilo.
Otani, a fifth-year senior, tied for fourth at the PacWest Championships his freshman season in 2019 before placing one spot better last year.
"Everything kind of came together at this course five years ago," Otani said. "I came up a little bit short then, so it's pretty sweet being able to finish the job."
Keith Ng and Dustin Franko also placed in the top 10 with Nicholas Gomez close behind at No. 20.
Hawai'i Hilo's season will continue on with the NCAA West Regional back at the Foxtail Golf Club, May 11–13, in Rohnert Park, California.
2023 Pacific West Conference Championships
| NAME |
PLACE |
SCORE |
RD TOTALS |
NOTES |
| A. Otani |
No. T-1 |
+1 |
69–73–75 |
8 Birdies |
| J. Im |
No. T-1 |
+1 |
71–71–75 |
10 Birdies |
| K. Ng |
No. T-5 |
+7 |
70–79–74 |
12 Birdies |
| D. Franko |
No. 9 |
+9 |
75–74–76 |
6 Birdies |
| N. Gomez |
No. 20 |
+19 |
79–76–80 |
4 Birdies |
| TEAM |
1st of 6 |
+15 |
285–294–300 |
|
Wigwam Golf Course
Litchfield Park, Arizona
Par: 72
Avg Score: 77.56
7,025 Yards
