UH men finish in ninth at Big West Championship

The golf season ended for the University of Hawaii men’s team Tuesday when it finished ninth in the Big West Conference Championship, at San Luis Obispo Country Club in California.

The Rainbows closed with their best round of the tournament, firing a 299 for a three-day total of 922. UC Irvine won with a final score of 285—860, ending Cal State Fullerton’s two-year run as BWC champion. UC Davis finished a shot back of UCI.

Cal Poly’s Justin De Los Santos (69) was medalist at 2-over-par 212. UH’s top finisher was junior Scotty Yamashita, who tied for 28th at 70—226. Smart Kittirattanapaiboo, a UH freshman from Thailand, had his best collegiate finish, tying for 33rd at 77—229.

Senior Ryan Kuroiwa closed his career with a final-round 75 to finish 43rd at 234. The ‘Aiea graduate had two career top 10s, including a victory at the 2014 Aloha@Oahu Invitational.

UH’s other senior is Brian Lee, who did not compete in San Luis Obispo. His best finish was a tie for ninth at last year’s conference championship, a season in which he posted two top 10s.

Francis Brown Four-Ball Championship this weekend

Top-seeded Evan Kawai and Matthew Shen meet Rusty Santiago and Mike Miguel in the first quarterfinal of the 64th Francis Brown Four-Ball Championship, Saturday morning at Ala Wai.

Semifinals follow, at 12:35 p.m. Sunday’s final, scheduled for 36 holes, tees off at 7:16 a.m.

Kawai won the Brown title with Jared Sawada in 2013, defeating Shannon Tanoue and Mark Takahama in the final. That team is also still alive in the tournament, which started last weekend. It meets State Amateur Stroke Play champ Shawn Lu and Jun Ho Won in another quarterfinal.