AIEA, HAWAI'I - The UC San Diego golf team placed a season-best eighth and two Tritons finished inside the top-20 as the Pearl at Kalauao Invitational wrapped up Thursday in Hawai'i. It was the fourth and final tournament of the fall season for UC San Diego.
The University of Hawai'i hosted the 54-hole, 17-team tournament at The Pearl at Kalauao course in Aiea on the island of Oahu.
The Tritons shot 31-over par . Their best round came in Wednesday's opener when they finished 7-over.
The second round was spread over two days as darkness prevailed late Wednesday and forced the postponement of the tail end of the round until Thursday. UC San Diego finished the round at 11-over.
Today's third and final round saw the Tritons shoot 13-over.
Individually, freshman
Cole Kim and sophomore
Ethan Lien had outstanding showings. Kim was the team leader, coming in at five-over to place 16th. Lien was one stroke behind to finish in 19th.
Kim shot 77-71-73 on the par-72, 6955-yard layout. Lien, who was UC San Diego's top finisher in three of four tournaments during the 2026 fall season, went 76-71-75.
Also playing for UC San Diego were
Justin Gill (+10, 34th),
Jerry Zhu (+12, 50th),
Hanjie Yu (+21, 85th), and
Branden Wong (+19, 79th). Wong was playing as an individual and did not figure in the team score.
The lone team to finish under par, Augusta rook the top position at 3-under. West Virginia was five strokes back in second and LMU was third at 12-over.
The individual medalist was Augusta's Andries van der Vyver at 5-under. Teammate Pieter Rossouw took second, one stroke back and West Virginia's Michael Shivers was third at 3-under.
It was UC San Diego's second appearance at the Pearl. In 2025, the team finished second in the 18-squad field at 10-under par. Senior
Nathan Tseng won his first collegiate tournament, also shooting 10-under to top the 108-player contingent.
COMPETING TEAMS (national ranking)
• Air Force (197)
• Army (263)
• Augusta State (89)
• Butler (109)
• Cal State Fullerton (149)
• East Texas A&M (213)
• Hawai'i (210)
• Hawai'i Pacific (NR)
• Loyola Marymount (59)
• Northern Colorado (154)
• Prairie View A&M (291)
• St. John's (151)
• UC Riverside (267)
• UC San Diego (216)
• UT Arlington (162)
• West Virginia (83)
• Wofford (150)
UP NEXT
The Tritons compete at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. The event is hosted by the University of Wyoming Feb. 22-24 at the Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif.
