WAIKOLOA, HI – Reigning Pacific West Conference Champion Hawai‘i Hilo is the favorite to claim the 2012 PacWest Men’s Golf Championship and the Vulcans will have an opportunity to carry home that hardware when they host the conference championship April 23-24 on the Kings’ Golf Course at the Waikoloa Beach Resort on the island of Hawai‘i.

The two-day, 54-hole event will feature two rounds of 18 on Monday, April 23, followed by a single round of 18 on Tuesday, April 24.

The Kings’ Course is a Par 72, 7,074-yard layout designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish in the arid region of The Big Island. The course has a 135-degree slope and sports a 73.4 rating.

The PacWest will play from the Championship Tees which reduces the course distance slightly to 6,594 yards.

The head coaches of the PacWest submitted their predicted order of finish heading into the championship and the top three teams mirror the 2011 outcome when Hawai‘i Hilo finished first with an 880, Grand Canyon took second with an 881, and Dixie State nabbed third with an 882.

The following is a list of this year’s predicted order of finish with the number of points and first-place votes noted.

 

PacWest Men’s Golf Championship Predicted Order of Finish – Points (First-Place Votes)

1. Hawai‘i Hilo - 96 points (7 First-Place Votes)
2. Grand Canyon - 87 (2)
3. Dixie State - 78 (1)
4. Notre Dame de Namur - 59
5. California Baptist - 57
6. BYU-Hawaii - 54
7. Hawai‘i Pacific - 47
8. Academy of Art - 39
9. Dominican (CA) - 21
10. Chaminade - 12

The top players to watch in this year’s conference tournament include Academy of Art senior Stuart Favretto (Oakville, Ontario Canada/St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School) who has led the Urban Knights all season. He finished in the Top 4 of two tournaments this year, including a fourth-place finish at the Lindsay Olive Wildcat Classic (Oct. 17-18).

Recently, Favretto earned a tie for third overall at the California Baptist Spring Break Invitational (Apr. 16-17) and was the highest finisher in the West Region. He shot a career-low 68 in the second round of that tournament.

California Baptist junior Steven Watson (San Diego, CA/Christian) leads the Lancers this season with a 74.46 scoring average in 26 total rounds. The CBU junior earned his first career win on the season, taking individual medalist honors at the Smee Builders Invitational in Jamul, CA, with a score of 215 (72-70-73).

Watson followed that up with a third-place finish at the Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational, shooting a seven-under-par 209 (71-68-70). He owns a trio of Top 10 finishes this season and fired a low round of 67 at the CMS Invitational.

Dixie State senior Kyle Chappell (Richfield, UT/Richfield) is a returning All-PacWest First Team selection who tied for fourth in the conference championship tournament last season, while Grand Canyon junior Brandon Moore (Glendale, AZ/Mountain Ridge) is a definite player to watch for the Antelopes.

Hawai‘i Hilo rookie Jamie Hall (Seattle, WA/Seattle Prep) has produced an outstanding first campaign. He won the St. Martin's Invitational and Dennis Rose Invitational, tied for second at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational, tied for seventh at the Lindsay Olive Wildcat Classic and shared 31st at the Western Washington Invitational.

Hall competed in three predominantly Division I tournaments and completed 22 rounds in eight tournaments that yielded a scoring average for each round of 73.77.

Hawai‘i Pacific red-shirt freshman James Fawssett (Surrey, England/Box Hill School) played in 10 of HPU’s 11 matches this season and has shot in the 70’s in eight of those contests. He also registered a pair of 72s and a round of 73.

Notre Dame de Namur senior Troy Davis (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) has finished in the Top 25 of every tournament in which he has competed this season, including four Top 10 finishes.

Davis placed third at the NDNU Invitational, seventh at the Grand Canyon Invitational, 10^th at Saint Martin’s and at Sonoma State. He has a scoring average of 73.7 for the year and recently finished 11^th at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational last week in California.