WAIKOLOA — Perfect conditions and top-tier talent paired up for low scores aplenty during the first round of the 25th Annual Amer Ari at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course on Thursday.
WAIKOLOA — Perfect conditions and top-tier talent paired up for low scores aplenty during the first round of the 25th Annual Amer Ari at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course on Thursday.
Nearly half of the field shot par or better, led by Oregon State’s Conner Kumpula’s 6-under-66. A stroke behind is Stanford’s David Boote while his teammate and second-ranked Maverick McNealy is tied with five others for third place at 4-under-par 68.
While many golfers flourished on the Big Island course, Auburn — the No. 1 ranked team in the nation — left the clubhouse after the first day leaving much to be desired. The top ranked Tigers are in 15th place (293). No. 9 Southern California and No. 5 Stanford share a one stroke lead at 10-under 278 over UCLA (9-under 279).
Behind UCLA is Oregon (282), No. 12 Oklahoma State (282), Texas Tech (284), San Jose State (285), TCU (286), Oregon State (286) and Osaka Gaukin University (288).
Hawaii is 11th at 289 followed by Arizona State (290), Georgia State (290), host Hawaii-Hilo (290), Auburn, Pacific (294), Colorado (296), UC Davis (296) and Cal State Monterey Bay (297).
Kyeton Littel and Rick Yamamoto turned in even-par 71s to lead the Vulcans. Three-strokes back and tied for 71st place are Jared Kinoshita and Casey Tamura at 2-over 74. David Tottori’s 6-over 78 (T108) completed the scoring portion of the Vulcans’ squad.
Auburn’s Michael Johnson, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 golfer in the country, shot even par and is tied for 45th place with nearly another dozen golfers.
The second round starts today with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start on the Waikoloa Kings’ Course.