Brandon McIver of Oregon had two eagles and five birdies to shoot 62 (-9) in the first round of the Kaanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. His team shot 254 (-30) to take the team lead after round 1.
OOregon head coach, Casey Martin said, “There were a lot of low scores out there today – this course is designed for playing in the wind and there isn’t much wind today so the players knew they needed to make birdies to be competitive. The guys played great, it is fun to watch them play so well at Kaanapali.”
Oregon is ranked 2nd in the NCAA national standings going into this weekend’s tournament. Martin added, “Our strategy going into the day was to focus on playing well, hitting the fairways, hitting the correct side of the green, and giving themselves the opportunities to score well.” All five Oregon players shot under par today, including T2 Jonathan Woo who was in the lead most of the day (-8).
The North Florida team is currently in second place with 269 (-14) and Kansas hot on their tail at 270 (-15). Two of Florida’s players are in the top five after today’s round (Petronio T2, Maguire T5).
Loyola Marymount player, Connor Campbell is also T2 with a 63 (-8) including seven birdies, an eagle and just one bogey.
Third ranked national player Lee McCoy of Georgia, who’s team won the College-Am yesterday, is currently T8 with a 66 today (-5) along with Bowling Green State player Jose Narro, Kansas players Chase Hanna and Brock Drogosch, and Oregon player Aaron Wise.
Maui’s own, Ariel Elftman-Hanson, a freshman at Utah Valley State is T48 after today with 72 (+1). Hanson said, “It feels very good to be back at Ka’anapali, the course is in great condition and I am happy to be home to play.” Hanson has quite an impressive history at Ka’anapali and should fare well in the next two rounds.
Host school, University of Hawaii (UH) is currently T11 with 286 (+2). Brian Lee and Skye Inakoshi both shot 69 (-2) and Scott Yamashita was even par at 71. In individual play, it was Justin (Pono) Tokioka of Kauai who leads for UH with a 68 (-3).
UH Coach Ronn Miyashiro commented about the event, “”Going into the event we knew that the quality of golf would be top notch, just by the list of participating teams. It definitely showed today in the scores. With no wind, the course was out there for the taking. If the weather conditions stay the same the rest of the weekend, we could see some record numbers in the scoring.” Miyashiro added, “I want to thank Ed Kageyama, Sutee Nitakorn and the rest of the Ka’anapali staff for putting together a first class college event. The response form everyone has been nothing but positive. As long as the interest is there from the mainland schools, I really hope we can keep doing this year after year.”
