By Ron Smith
April 16, 2024
 
(WAIMEA, Hawaii) The winds calmed down on the second day of the PacWest Men's and Women's Golf Championships and scores across the board were significantly lower than the previous day. The average score for the 35 women competing in the tournament dropped 4.98 strokes. The men's field of 30 averaged an 8.11 stroke drop over the previous round.
 
Westmont's Noelle Thompson led the way for the Warriors, posting a one-over 73, which was 14 strokes better than the first round.
 
"I was hitting the ball really well, which was encouraging, especially after day one," said Thompson. "I took advantage of not having the wind and being confident and committing to my lines. When you are swinging great it is easy to do. I was striking it well and compressing it well. I knew where the ball was going to go."
 
About four or five holes in, Thompson began feeling like she could have a good round. "I could tell from the way that I was making contact with the club face. I was chipping great. The front nine, I wasn't hitting as many greens but I was hitting those putts to get up and down. I knew that I had everything in the formula to play a good round. I was making short putts, I was making fairways and lag putting was okay."
 
Thompson made par on 15 of the eighteen holes. She recorded bogeys on holes two and eight, then birdied the par-five 10th hole. Thompson moved up 10 places and is currently in a tie for 17th with a two-round total of 160.
 
Syndee Magpoc and Hannah Camara are both tied for 21st place along with two others, Camara dropped nine strokes from her 86 to record a 77. Magpoc showed consistency, carding am 82 in the second round after posting an 81 yesterday.
 
Charlie Bloom dropped 14 points and Mallory Hopper improved by nine to record scores of 77 and 80 respectively.
 
In the men's tournament, Cooper Allen posted a 71 (-1) for the Warriors, improving his first-round score by nine strokes.
 
"I was confident over the ball and committed to my shots," reported Allen. "I think that played a lot into my success today. The conditions were much nicer than the first day and much more scorable.
 
"I felt very confident coming into this tournament. Yesterday, conditions were rough but I managed it pretty well. Today, I was hitting it well in the range and putting well, so I went off to the first tee hoping I could do something good."
 
Allen hit par on 11 of 18 holes. He bogeyed holes one, 12 and 18 while notching birdies on two, seven, 14 and 16. His two-day total of 151 puts him in a three-way tie for eighth place.
 
Peyton Hendricks put up a 75 today, five less than the first round. His two-day score of 155 puts him in a three-way tie for 11th.
 
Trevor Moquin improved his day-one scoring by three to record an 80 in the second round. Noah Lodewyk dropped seven strokes from his first-day performance and scored 80.
 
The Warriors begin the final round of play tomorrow with the women teeing off beginning at 7:30 a.m. local time and the men starting at 9:40 a.m.
 
"My mindset going into tomorrow is to not rush anything or push anything, but to play my game and let it happen," said Allen. "If the putts fall, that is great. If they don't, I'll just keep making pars until they do."