Oklahoma Secures Win in 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic

Oklahoma secured a win at the 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational this weekend on Maui, finishing at 15-under (837) and outplaying 18 other teams from across the US. Georgia’s Zach Healy, meantime, earned first place in the individual competition at 8-under par (205), beating out Oklahoma’s Brad Dalke by one stroke (206).

The win is the first career victory for Healy with the Bulldogs.  The personal performance by Healy helped Georgia secure a second place team finish of 3-under (849). Healy, who is a sophomore, had the lead going into the final 18 holes on Sunday, and commented in a post-event press release saying, “I stayed really patient and tried to play stress-free golf knowing that, in the wind, tap-in pars were really good.” He added, “I really putted well this week — I made some key putts and struck the ball real well.”

The Oklahoma team, ranked No. 14 nationally, led the entire three days of the tournament at Kāʻanapali and solidified their win with a team score of 4-under (280). They were the only team to shoot under par on Sundy in windy conditions, and one of only two teams to finish the tournament under par.  Georgia was the other team at 3-under.

“These guys did a great job this week from top to bottom—everyone pitched in to help us win,” Oklahoma Head Coach Ryan Hybl said in the announcement. “The conditions were tough with the wind and quick greens, and we played great.”

Oklahoma freshman Brad Dalke clenched his first top-five finish with a 68 (-3) and second place for the tournament, just one stroke off Healy. Oklahoma sophomore Grant Hirschman at one point was on top of the leaderboard today and eventually shot even par, finishing fourth overall at 208 (-5).Johnny Watts of Ball State shot 70 (-1) on Sunday to secure the third place overall position with a 207 (-6) for the tournament. Ranked No. 21 Nationally, Lee McCoy of Georgia finished the tournament in fifth place at 4-under par and Keenan Huskey of South Carolina took 6th place at 3-under par.

University of Hawaii held on with a 4-over finish as a team, securing seventh place at 17-over (869) for the weekend.

UH Head Coach Ronn Miyashiro said, “We had our ups and downs this weekend, but in the end, we were able to hold it together today and have our best finish of the fall.” He continued saying, “We had a talk after the second round and discussed how we weren’t able to close it out in the finishing holes Saturday.”

“Today,” he said, “even in the windy conditions, we were able to maintain and that made for a good feeling at the end of the day — hopefully we can carry this momentum into the spring.” During the awards ceremony Miyashiro thanked the 19 teams for participating in this year’s event and praised the course conditions.

UH sophomore and Lahainaluna graduate, James Moran-Horton was the lead UH player finishing even par on Sunday and closing out the tournament T9 at 1-under (212).

“I am really excited, I feel really good about this weekend’s play here at Kāʻanapali, for not only me but also for our team,” said Moran-Horton, who is a recent transfer from UH Hilo.

UH’s Scott Yamashita shot 2-under par on Sunday.  Both Yamashita and fellow UH teammate, Skye Inakoshi ended the three-day tournament T26 at 218 (+5), contributing to the UH 7th place finish.

A list of all scores and final results are available online.

Scott Yamashita #10 putt. 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. Photo credit: Aric Becker.

Hawaii, James Moran-Horton. 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. Photo credit: Aric Becker.

Oklahoma, Brad Dalke. 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. Photo credit: Aric Becker.

Georgia, Zack Healy. 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. Photo credit: Aric Becker.

Oklahoma Team Winner. 2015 Kāʻanapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. Photo credit: Aric Becker.