KOHALA COAST, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Golf shared first place at the Punahele Jerky Company Inc. Invitational hosted by the Vulcans at Waikoloa Golf Resort Beach/Lakes Courses on Monday and Tuesday.
The Vulcans made an event-high 119 pars to post rounds of 299 and 296 to finish plus-35 and share the team title with HPU (296–299).
Hawai'i Hilo trailed the Sharks by three strokes after Round 1 before falling behind eight shots in the second round. The Vulcans made gains through the final 10 holes of play as Kailee McKee and Kieran Florino both made par nine times and Lauren Kozohara birdied the par-4 12th hole. An HPU player totaled eight shots on a par 3 to help narrow the gap. The Vulcans took the lead after 13 holes and led by as many as three shots before HPU managed to bring the scores back even after 17 holes.
McKee opened with a 68 (-2) for a bogey-free first round with two birdies. Her 2-under score ties for No. 3 on the program single-round record list. A second-round 74 put her at plus-2 for the event and tied for first place with Seattle Pacific's Zoe Garcia (75–67).
Garcia managed to birdie the first hole of the sudden-death playoff to take the individual title.
Florino tied for No. 10 at plus-9 (77–72) and led the Vulcans on Day 2. Kozohara tied for No. 14 at plus-11 (77–74) and Jaylen Wan placed No. 17 at plus-13 (77–76).
EVENT NOTES
- McKee: Program Single-Round Score Rank No. T3 – [-2] (68) in Round 1
- McKee: Program Two-Round Score Rank No. T5 – [+2] (68–74)
- Program Team Two-Round Score Rank No. T8 – [+35] (299–296)
- Tied the 2024 RJGA Palm Valley Classic.
- This annual event, started in 2005, was formerly known as the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate, named after the late former director of golf and president at Waikoloa. Rose passed away at the age of 59 in 2007. The name of the event was changed starting in 2026.
UP NEXT
- Oct. 30-31 at HPU Sharks Shootout (Kohala Coast, Hawai'i) – Mauna Lani Resort Golf Club North Course
- Feb. 8-9 at LA Spring Kickoff (Glendora, California) – Glendora Country Club
2026 Punahele Jerky Company Inc. Invitational Individual Leaderboard
| NAME |
PLACE |
SCORE |
RD TOTALS (70) |
NOTES |
| K. McKee |
No. 2 |
+2 |
68–74 (142) |
2 Birdies |
| K. Florino |
No. T10 |
+9 |
77–72 (149) |
2 Birdies |
| L. Kozohara |
No. T14 |
+11 |
77–74 (151) |
2 Birdies |
| J. Wan |
No. 17 |
+13 |
77–76 (153) |
2 Birdies |
| H. Rodriguez |
No. T30 |
+18 |
78–80 (158) |
- |
| K. Kimata * |
No. T47 |
+37 |
83–94 (177) |
1 Birdie |
| E. Yokomoto * |
No. 53 |
+45 |
90–95 (185) |
- |
* Competed as Individual
2026 Punahele Jerky Company Inc. Invitational
| TEAM |
TO PAR |
RD SCORES (70) |
TOP FINISHER |
| T1. HPU (PacWest) |
+35 |
296–299 (595) |
(T4) I. Iorio |
| T1. Hawai'i Hilo (PacWest) |
+35 |
299–296 (595) |
(2) K. McKee |
| 3. Seattle Pacific (GNAC) |
+38 |
297–301 (598) |
(1) Z. Garcia |
| T4. Simon Fraser (GNAC) |
+43 |
303–300 (603) |
(T6) Z. Wang |
| T4. Vanguard (PacWest) |
+43 |
301–302 (603) |
(T6) S. Forrest |
| 6. Menlo (CCAA) |
+55 |
303–312 (615) |
(3) Z. Yuan |
| 7. Western Washington (GNAC) |
+69 |
318–311 (629) |
(T8) H. Pak |
| 8. Northwest Nazarene (GNAC) |
+83 |
318–325 (643) |
(T14) M. Kelpman |
| 9. Saint Martin's (GNAC) |
+89 |
326–323 (649) |
(T18) B. Nakagawa |
| 10. South Puget Sound (NWAC) |
+182 |
363–379 (742) |
(42) J. Kalar |
