During the final 10 days of 2019, the PacWest is counting down 10 memorable events from across the conference in the calendar year. This is the second installment in the 2019 Games of the Year series, featuring Holy Names first PacWest title at the men’s golf championships.
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – The Holy Names men’s golf team made history for the school, winning its first PacWest title in any sport at the PacWest Championships by coming from behind in the final round to win by three strokes at the Wigwam Golf Course.
After two rounds, Holy Names was in second place with a score of 13-over-par 589, which was one shot behind Dominican and eight ahead of Academy of Art and Hawai`i Hilo in a tie for third place. In the second round, the Hawks had shot a 1-over-par 289, which was the best score for the round, moving them up from sixth place to second place.
Four of the Hawks got birdies on the first hole to start the third round, and each of them were at even-par after nine holes, which was one stroke better than Dominican had after the front nine.
Ryan Lu got birdies on the eighth and ninth hole to get back to even. Academy of Art also tightened the gap with the top-2 teams after
Matthew Watkins shot an eagle on the first hole and added a birdie on the third hole.
On the back nine,
Heetae Yang started to shoot up the leaderboard, leading a strong finish for the Hawks. After starting the day in fifth place, Yang recorded four birdies with no bogies on the final nine holes of the tournament.
Lu was the first Hawk to finish the tournament, shooting a 1-under-par 71 in the final round to move up six spots on the leaderboard.
Aniceto Mandanas was the next to finish, recording a 4-over-par 76 after getting a birdie on the 18
th hole.
Zachary McClure wrapped up the 2019 PacWest Championships in a tie for 11th place with a score of 3-over-par 222 to keep Holy Names in the lead with only Yang still on the course. On 17th hole, Yang recorded a birdie to make it a three-hole lead over both Dominican and Academy of Art. Yang was paired with
Gabriel Manatoc from Academy of Art and Dominican’s
Nick Rivera as the three went into the final hole. Rivera and Manatoc both got a par on the final hole, and then Yang two-putted for par, tapping in to secure the PacWest title.
Along with clinching the team’s PacWest title, Yang became the PacWest’s individual champion. He finished the tournament with a score of 3-under-par 213 and is the first golfer from Holy Names to take home the individual trophy.
McClure finished the tournament in a tie for 11th place and one shot ahead of Lu with a 6-over-par 222.
Jed Enomoto tied for 22nd place with Mandanas as both Hawks finished the tournament at 11-over-par 227. The team’s final score was 15-over-par 879 after shooting in the final round a 2-over-par 290.
2019 GAMES OF THE YEAR
10: Fresno Pacific women’s cross country at PacWest Championships (October 25)