Final Results (pdf) |
Live ScoringSPRINGVILLE, Utah – The University of Hawai'i women's golf team captured its first tournament title in 19 years by winning the Hobble Creek Fall Classic, Tuesday, at the Hobble Creek Golf Course. The tournament was shortened to 36 holes after rain and lightning forced play to be halted.
The Rainbow Wahine won for the first time since capturing the 1996 Lady Bronc Classic. Junior
Eimi Koga took home medalist honors in her first tournament as a Rainbow Wahine after transferring from Washington. Koga finished the tourney at 1-under 141 (70-71) while junior
Raquel Ek tied for second at 1-over 143 (73-70).
Play was suspended on Monday while the golfers were in the middle of their second rounds. The teams completed their round Tuesday morning and played three holes of the third and final round before play was halted due to unplayable conditions. After a brief delay, the coaches met and decided to finalize the tournament after 36 holes.
UH shot 583, eight shots better than defending tourney champion New Mexico State (591). Fellow Big West member Cal Poly placed third (598) followed by Santa Clara (602), Cal State Northridge (604), Weber State (606), Northern Arizona (611), Grand Canyon (613), Montana State (614), and Eastern Washington (616) to round out the Top 10.
"The girls are really happy, but I'm especially thrilled because they played really well," head coach
Lori Castillo said. "Eimi played solid the past two days. She's been solid in practices leading up to the tournament. I'm really proud of Daezsa (Tomas). She's playing well and her short-game was right on. Izzy (Leung) was hitting the ball well. Raquel's play was very consistent, other than a couple hiccups, she was pretty flawless.
"Unfortunately you can't control Mother Nature. They had great weather leading up to the event and I know Coach (Sue) Nyhus and her staff worked so hard to put this tournament together with 16 teams. It is what it is with the weather but we'll definitely take the victory. We knew this morning that there was a chance the third round would be cancelled so we made sure to buckle down and take care of business in those final few holes."
Tomas placed seventh – her best finish in her three-year UH career – with a 5-over 147 (75-72) total while Leung tied for 28
th at 10-over 152 (75-77). Sophomore
Marie Donnici tied for 60
th at 158 (81-77).
The team championship was just the third in school history – 1996 Lady Bronc Classic and 1986 Rainbow Wahine Invitational (tie). Individually, Koga's title marked the second straight season-opening win after Leung won the Oregon State Invitational last fall. Koga is also the fifth UH golfer to capture medalist honors joining Leung, Bobbi Kokx (1986 Rainbow Wahine Invitational), Lynn McCool (1991 Utah-Dixie Classic), and Dale Gammie (2005 Bay Area Classic & 2006 Heather Farr Memorial).
The Rainbow Wahine will next compete in the Eden Ihlanfeldt Invitational, Oct. 6-7, in Sammamish, Wash.
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