NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Golf won the 2026 Pacific West Conference Championship on Wednesday at the Aliante Golf Club, claiming the program's second conference title.
The Vulcans maintained its second-place standing through the first two rounds of play and closed with a 295 (+7) to finish at plus-31 (895) overall for the team victory.
Elle Otani paced Hawai'i Hilo tying for No. 4 overall at plus-four on rounds of 74, 73 and 73.
"The key for me was making sure I hit fairways, greens and two-putt. Just making bogey at the worst and keep my score low. Keeping it simple, I guess, taking it hole by hole," Otani said.
Otani was a part of the last cluster of golfers to finish. After shooting a bogey on Hole 17, the senior closed out the victory with an even-par on the final hole.
"I was very nervous because I didn't know where we stood at that point like if we needed that putt or not. I was so nervous and I couldn't even look at my teammates because I thought I was going to start breaking down," Otani said. "When I hit in my last putt, my teammates started cheering and then they came rushing towards me. That was like the moment I knew like we won like that. It was just kind of unbelievable."
Kiersten Saludares finished No. 8 at plus-nine (73–77–75) while Kailee McKee (+10) placed No. 9 and Trinity Ledgerwood (+11) finished tied for 10th. Kieran Florino rebounded from a 17-over second round to shoot one-over in the final 18 to help the Vulcans turn in their closing score.
"Winning PacWest was the goal for the three of us seniors and accomplishing this was such an amazing experience," Otani said. "I wasn't planning on playing college golf after high school but things seemed to just fall into place."
Dominican entered the final round leading the field but shot 22-over — 12 strokes more than Round 2 — to fall two spots to No. 3. Point Loma posted a four-over final round to close within two strokes.
Westmont's Hannah Camara took the individual PacWest title at an even-par finish — two shots ahead of runner-up Kim Penzold of Menlo.
NOTES
- On the men's side, the Vulcans repeated as champions for the fourth year in a row marking the third time in conference history a school won both men's and women's golf titles at the PacWest Championships. The last time was when the Vulcans did it in 2014 along with Grand Canyon University in 2013.
- Second overall PacWest Championship for Vulcans Women's Golf (2014, 2026).
- First team win for Hawai'i Hilo since finishing as co-winners of the 2015 Dennis Rose Intercollegiate.
- Second conference champonship for head coach Jim DeMello.
UP NEXT
- May 4-6 at NCAA West Regional (Pueblo, Colorado)
2026 PacWest Championships Individual Leaderboard
| NAME |
PLACE |
SCORE |
RD TOTALS |
| E. Otani |
No. T4 |
+4 |
74–73–73 (220) |
| K. Saludares |
No. 8 |
+9 |
73–77–75 (225) |
| K. McKee |
No. 9 |
+10 |
75–77–74 (226) |
| T. Ledgerwood |
No. T10 |
+11 |
75–76–76 (227) |
| K. Florino |
No. 27 |
+25 |
79–89–73 (241) |
2026 PacWest Championships
| TEAM |
TO PAR |
RD SCORES |
| 1. Hawai'i Hilo |
+31 |
297–303–295 (895) |
| 2. Point Loma |
+33 |
311–294–292 (897) |
| 3. Dominican |
+43 |
299–298–310 (907) |
| 4. Westmont |
+50 |
295–315–304 (914) |
| 5. HPU |
+61 |
315–306–304 (925) |
| 6. Vanguard |
+82 |
317–316–313 (946) |
| 7. Menlo |
+85 |
313–314–322 (949) |
| 8. Jessup |
+97 |
312–318–331 (961) |
