HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's and women's golf teams each won the Pearl Collegiate Classic title Sunday at the Pearl Country Club.
Competing against Division II schools Hawai'i-Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific, UH easily bested the competition. The Rainbow Warriors won by 24 strokes while sophomore
Kotaro Murata captured medalist honors with a 5-under 139 total. The Rainbow Wahine easily took home the team title with a 617 total, 41 strokes better than host HPU and were led by freshman
Monica Johnson's 5-over 149 total.
The title was the Rainbow Warriors' first since winning the 2014 Aloha @ O'ahu Tournament. Murata was UH's first medalist since Skye Inakoshi was co-champion of the 2016 John A. Burns Intercollegiate.
On the women's side, the team and individual titles were the first since the Ānuenue Spring Break Classic in 2018. Johnson became the program's eighth all-time medalist and first since
Kaci Masuda captured the outright title at the Ānuenue Classic.
Murata, a sophomore from Matsuyama, Japan shot a first round 5-under 67 to take a five-stroke lead heading into Sunday. UH-Hilo's Dustin Franko shot a final round 67 but Murata's even par 72 was enough to hold off Franko and win by one stroke. UH senior
Justin Arcano shot a 2-under 70 on Sunday to finish in third place at 3-over 147 while senior
Justin Ngan tied for fourth place at 5-over 149.
Johnson, a freshman from Sydney, Australia carded rounds of 74 and 75 for a 5-over 149 total, two strokes clear of teammate
Zoey Akagi-Bustin, who shot 74-77 for a 151 total. The Rainbow Wahine was supposed to compete in The Gold Rush tournament in Seal Beach, Calif., this week several factors forced the team to pull out and enter the Pearl Collegiate Classic.
The UH men will next compete in the Duck Invitational, March 22-23 in Eugene, Ore., while the women are scheduled to play in the Jackrabbit Invitational, March 8-9 in Boulder City, Nev.
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