ROHNERT PARK, California – Dustin Franko shot a Round-2 best score of 66 as the Hawai'i Hilo men's golf team made progress after a tough setback in the opening round of this week's NCAA Division II Men's Golf West/South Central Regional at the Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park, California.
The Vulcans opened the three-day event with a 313 team score (plus-25) on Thursday, slotting in at No. 20 out of 20.
Day 2 saw better results as Hawai'i Hilo scored a 291 at three-over to place right in the middle at No. 10, but it ultimately resulted in moving up just one spot in the overall team leader board.
Franko saw the biggest leap in performance after finishing six-under to move up 78 spots to a tie for 16th place. The senior from British Columbia, Canada flipped the script going from nine bogeys in Round 1 to eight birdies on Day 2. Franko's score of 66 is only matched by Colorado Christian's Peyton Jones' total from the opening round.
Elsewhere, Junsu Im improved his round score by five shots to move up 21 spots to a tie at No. 73.
Colorado Christian maintained its lead atop the leader board at six-under with West Texas A&M following behind at two-plus.
Simon Fraser leads all schools from the West Region with a six-over score at the No. 4 position.
Sonoma State's Griffin Pace will take the lead into Saturday's final day of competition after shooting two rounds of 68 (minus-eight).
The top five schools plus two additional individuals will advance to the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship, May 22–26, in Warren, Ohio.
2023 NCAA West/South Central Regional – Rounds 1 + 2
| NAME |
PLACE |
SCORE |
RD TOTALS |
NOTES |
| D. Franko |
No. T-16 |
+1 |
79–66 |
10 Birdies |
| A. Otani |
No. T-52 |
+5 |
75–74 |
6 Birdies |
| J. Im |
No. T-73 |
+9 |
79–74 |
4 Birdies |
| K. Ng |
No. T-94 |
+13 |
80–77 |
4 Birdies |
| N. Lau |
No. T-104 |
+17 |
80–81 |
6 Birdies |
| TEAM |
19th of 20 |
+28 |
313–291 |
|
Foxtail Golf Club
Rohnert Park, California
Par: 72
Avg Score: 74.89
6,851 Yards
