By Ron Smith
April 15, 2024
 
(WAIMEA, Hawaii) Westmont men's and women's golf opened play on Monday in the PacWest Championships on a blustery day at the Mauna Lina Golf course. With unrelenting winds, competitors from all schools had to try and figure out conditions that were quite different from their practice round the day before. As a result, scores were generally higher than anticipated.
 
"It was brutal," said Westmont sophomore Peyton Hendricks. "There was one hole coming down – hole nine – where I think it was at least 40 (mph) in our faces. It was a 460-yard hole playing about 575 to 580. It was brutal all day. It was a casual 30 mph at all times with 40 gusts. The ball would run on the green and rotate.
 
"We had almost no wind in our practice round. It was an entirely different golf course. You couldn't hit certain shots that you did the day before. You have to hit different shots into the greens, different clubs, different yardages, everything is different. The only benefit is that you know where O.B. (out of bounds) is now. Tomorrow will be a different course than today."
 
On the men's side, Westmont finds itself in fifth place after tallying a team score of 327. The Warriors are three strokes behind Academy of Art (324), in fourth place, and seven behind Chaminade (320), who is in third. Westmont is six strokes ahead of Dominican (333) who is in sixth.
 
Two Hawaiian teams lead the tournament. Hawai'i Hilo is in first place with a score of 309, one stroke ahead of Hawai'i Pacific (310).
 
Two Warriors are in the top-10. Hendricks and Cooper Allen both shot 80 (+8) today and are part of a six-way tie for eighth place. Westmont's other two scorers were Trevor Moquin, who recorded an 83 (+11) and is tied for 18th, and Brock Yurkovich who put up an 84 (+12).
 
In the women's opening day round, Sydnee Magpoc led the Warriors with a score of 81 (+9), tying for 15th place. Hanna Camara recorded an 86 (+14) and is in 26th place. She is one shot ahead of Noelle Thompson whose 87 (+15) ties her for 27th place.
 
As a team, Westmont is in seventh place with a score of 343. The Warriors are nine strokes behind Dominican (334), who is in sixth.
 
Biola leads the tournament with a team score of 318, two strokes ahead of both Academy of Art and Hawai'i Hilo who are tied for second with a 320 team score. Point Loma is currently in fourth place with a score of 321 and Hawai'i Pacific is one place farther back with a score of 325.
 
Tuesday's forecast calls for winds to be less than 15 miles per hour for round two play.