Westmont Golf had plenty to celebrate at the PacWest Championships this week, headlined by Hannah Camara claiming the PacWest Women’s Golf Individual Championship with a first-place finish.
In winning the tournament, Camara becomes Westmont’s first PacWest individual champion.
“I am proud of Hannah,” said Westmont’s head coach Leo Maes. “She has worked hard for this. This semester was a good experience for her leading up to the conference championships. Everything was a preparation and it showed what she has worked on all semester.
“She has always kept her faith up front and has always been humble and gracious. I am happy for her and I know the entire team is happy for her and the men’s side as well.”
Camara set herself up for a shot at the title when she shot a tournament-best 68 (-4) in the first round. The junior recorded seven birdies in the round to take a two-shot lead over Menlo’s Kim Penzold.
“It was a lot of me staying present,” explained Camara about shooting 68 in round one. “If I had a missed shot or a missed putt, I was able to let it go and just focus my attention on the next shot. I was really happy with my short game and I feel like my short game played a lot into it.
“I was putting really well. I was able to read the greens and that was the big thing – reading everything well, trusting myself and trusting my line. I was able to execute well, so that was good.”
For Tuesday’s second round, which saw players battling 25 mph winds, Camara and Penzold both shot a 74 and remained in first and second place. Isabella Iorio of Hawai’i Pacific moved into third place by following her first round score of 73 with an even-par 72. That left Iorio one stroke back of Penzold and three behind Camara.
On Wednesday, Camara, Penzold and Iorio were paired up as a three-some for the third and final round. Asked if playing in a grouping made up of the top three helped her, Carama replied, “It honestly did. They were such good players. We just had to play within ourselves. It really does help with that competitive edge.
“I knew I was playing well, but I didn’t know where I was throughout the round. I definitely felt a lot of nerves and pressure, but I am glad that I didn’t let it consume me. I am really happy about that.”
Camara explained, “Keeping God up front was a really big thing today. I am glad I was able to focus on that. I tried to repeat Philippians 4:13 to myself all the time and I think that helped me to keep my mind off the shots.”
On the front nine, Penzold recorded a birdie for the first hole, then eight straight pars to post a 35. Meanwhile, Camara had three bogies and two birdies to go one over for the opening nine holes. That left the two golfers tied at one-under par.
Camara bogeyed the 10th hole and Penzold capitalized with a birdie, giving Penzold a two-stroke advantage. Then on 12, Camara bogeyed again and Penzold claimed a three-stroke lead.
After both golfers made par on holes 13 and 14, Camara birdied the par-three 15th while Penzold bogeyed. That made Penzold’s advantage just one stroke.
The par-four 16th, proved to be the decisive hole. Penzold ran into trouble when her ball landed amongst some rocks and ended up recording a seven. Camara held par on the hole and the three-shot differential catapulted Camara into a two-stroke lead.
Both golfers made par on both 17 and 18. On 18, Camara hit the green with her second shot, then laid a long putt next to the hole for her third shot, all but clinching the victory. When all three golfers had completed the final hole and exchanged handshakes and hugs, Camara’s teammates greeted her with a celebratory dousing with water.
“I am so grateful for my teammates,” said Camara. “I am so grateful for their friendship and for their support and how close we are as a team. I love them all so much.
“My parents have been with me from the start, through all my ups and downs in golf. I am so grateful to have them out here watching the whole time. I am super blessed to have them here.”
As a team, Westmont had a tremendous first round and led after the first day of competition with a two-stroke advantage over Hawai’i Hilo. Karis Haltom posted an even par 72 and was tied for third.
The second day did not go as well for the Warriors who recorded 20 strokes more than the previous day and dropped from first to fourth.
In the third round, Westmont improved as a team by 11 strokes, but it was not enough to move them out of fourth place.
“I felt like we fought hard today,” said Maes of the women’s third round. “We had nine holes left and we were even par. We gave ourselves a chance on the back nine to make something happen. It didn’t, but we fought.”
Hawai’i Hilo won the tournament with a total team score of 895. Point Loma took second at 897 and Dominican placed third at 907. Westmont tallied 914 in its fourth-place finish, beating out Hawai’i Pacific (925), Vanguard (946), Menlo (949) and Jessup (961).
“We will see what the selection committee has for us,” said Maes about the possibility of the Warriors’ season continuing. “If we make it to regionals great, if not, I still think it was a successful year and hopefully we can build on that.”
The NCAA Division II Championship selections will be announced on Sunday, April 26.
As for Westmont Men’s Golf, the team far exceeded tournament seeding and improved in each round. Entering the tournament as the number seven seed out of eight teams, Westmont posted a team score of 300 in the first round to tie with Dominican for fifth place. Fernando Jimenez posted a team-low 73 (+1), with Hernan Iriarte and Jose Licon each shooting 75 (+3).
Then in the second round, Westmont dropped five strokes off of its previous day team total and moved into third place, just three strokes behind second-place Menlo. Nicholas Rocha posted a two-under 70 and Iriarte and Licon both posted 74s.
That put Westmont into the final grouping for Wednesday’s third round, pairing them with first place Hawai’i Hilo and second place Menlo.
The Warriors responded to the challenge by posting a score of 281, which was the lowest single-round score by any team in the tournament. Licon shot a five-under 67, which was the lowest round by an individual. Jimenez carded a 69 and Rocha tallied a 71.
“Jose’s low round was bogey free,” pointed out Maes. “He has worked hard. The past month he has been ill and fought through it. He was healthy coming into this tournament and put together a great tournament today.”
Rocha, who happened to observe the coach’s post-tournament interview, had something to say and inserted himself into the conversation.
“How about a coach that keeps believing in his team?” asked Rocha in reference to Maes. “We had misstep after misstep with great rounds but couldn’t close it off all year. But Coach kept believing in us and kept pushing us to be better. His belief is part of why we had a round like today’s. Thank you coach for believing in us and pushing us. We will be back next year and keep getting better.”
“Last night we had dinner, then afterward we were in agreement that we were excited to compete against Hawai’i Hilo and Menlo,” reported Maes. “We looked at it as an opportunity to ‘go win tomorrow and finish off strong’, We felt like we prepared well for this tournament and could leave with something.
“I think we left with an understanding that the next couple of years are going to be exciting as long as we continue to stay focused on our daily work as student-athletes and as human beings. I am super proud of them. They are a young team and I am very blessed as a coach to be coaching that group right now.”
Three Warriors were honored for top-10 finishes in the conference meet. Licon tied for third with an even-par 216. Rocha tied for sixth at 218, and Jimenez tied for eighth at 219.
“Nico, in his second year, is basically our unannounced captain and has done a great job. Fernando, as a junior, has led this team by example on the golf course. All three of them had a great showing.”
Despite the strong results in the final round, Westmont, which tallied a team score of 876, finished in third place, one stroke behind Menlo (875). Hawai’i Hilo posted a team total of 857 to win the tournament by 18 strokes.
The Warriors finished ahead of Vanguard and Dominican who tied for fourth with 889 points. Jessup (891) took sixth place, Hawai’i Pacific (898) was seventh, and Chaminade (923) was eighth.