Friday, January 7, 2011

Favorable weather conditions benefit golfers at Kapalua

By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

By customary standards, the at-times treacherous Plantation Course at Kapalua was a soft touch during yesterday's opening round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

 

An early-morning downpour coupled with lower-than-usual tradewinds proved a bonanza for the all-winners field in the first event of the PGA Tour season.

 

Unable to capitalize on the player-friendly conditions was two-time defending champion Geoff Ogilvy. 

 

The Australian had to pull out of the event after suffering a nasty gash to his right index finger following a close encounter with coral while taking a dip in the ocean in the day before.  The wound required 12 stitches and prevented Ogilvy from adequately gripping his clubs.

 

That opened the door for Jonathan Byrd and Carl Petterson to take the early lead with 7-under par 66s.  Ben Crane trailed the co-leaders by one stroke, with Jim Furyk, Bill Haas and Charley Hoffman two strokes back.

 

In fact, only two players -- Justin Rose with a 75 and Rocco Mediate with a 79 – failed to break par in the field of 33 golfers.  The average scored on the PGA Tour's only par-73 layout was 70.5.

 

That, of course, could all change with drier greens and higher winds in an event that runs through Sunday and is being televised on the Golf Channel.

 

MIL ROUNDUP:  Defending champion Seabury Hall opened its MIL Division-II campaign with a decisive 70-51 victory over visiting St. Anthony.  Phelan Pagano's 21 points led Seabury, who also benefited from Dylan King's 14.  Jarrett Stinger's 21 led the Trojans.

 

Baldwin posted a pair of victories as the expense of visiting Kamehameha-Maui. 

 

The Lady Bears open the double-header at the Baldwin gym by holding off the Warriors for 33-28 win.  Kristina Edgamin scored 13 for the Bears, while Tori Cambra's 12 led Kamehameha.

 

In the nightcap, Baldwin capitalized on double-digit production for a pair of players not particularly noted for their scoring. 

 

Senior starting forward Kona Sarmiento had 14 and reserve forward Adrian Garces 12 for the Bears, who improved to 5-1 and kept pace with Lahainaluna in the D-I standings. Kawika Kong's seven points led the Warriors.

 

In MIL basketball action today, the Lahainaluna boys and girls play host to Maui High.

 

UH ROUNDUP:  Losing its first two WAC games on the road was almost predictable considering that UH teams are not particularly noted for being road Warriors.  But after a promising start to the season, the return of their top player and playing at home, much more was expected of the Hawaii men's basketball team last night.

 

Instead of flourishing, the Rainbows floundered, shooting a dismal 29 percent from the field in a 59-44 loss to Idaho at the Stan Sheriff Center.  UH made just 3 of 22 shots from behind the arc, including 0-for-12 in the second half.  As a result, Hawaii was held to its lowest point total in a dozen years while falling to 0-3 in the WAC and to 9-6 overall. 

 

The return of senior forward Bill Amis didn't help UH nearly as much as expected.  Showing some rust after a 10-game layoff because of a lingering foot injury, Amis made 2 of 7 shots and had two rebounds in 29 minutes. Even with Amis back, UH again struggled on the boards and were out-rebounded, 40-28. 

 

Now, UH must try to rebound against Boise State, which escaped from San Jose State with a 102-101 quadruple-overtime victory.  The Broncos will bring records of 10-5 overall and 3-0 in the WAC to The Stanley.

 

WAHINE LOSE:  In the first game of a double-header, the Rainbow Wahine played about as poorly as their male counterparts in the suffering a 74-58 conference-opening home loss to New Mexico State.  The Lady Aggies had four players score in double figures while UH struggled with foul problems and turnovers in dropping to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in the WAC. 

 

UH trailed by only three points, 36-33, at halftime but fell apart in the second half. Keisha Kanekoa led the Wahine with 17 points and Kamilah Jackson added 12.  Kanekoa now has 1,040 career points, passing Tondi Redden for 14th place on the UH all-tme list.  Jade Abele is No. 13 with 1,057.

 

Next for Hawaii is a Saturday game againt LaTech,, which is coming off a 69-34 blowout at San Jose State.

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