WAIMEA, Hawaii -- Switching golf courses with the women's team, Vanguard men's golf took on the North Course for the Southwest Airlines Hawaii Pacific Sharks Shootout.  The Lions finished tied for 12th in their debut at the event with 572 strokes (290-282), 12 over par as a team.  The second round score of 282 is the best single round score in program history.  Colorado Christian won the team title with 532 shots, 28 shots under par, and picked up the gold and silver medals in the individual standings. 
 
 
The Course: The Village Course at Waikoloa was designed by Robert Trent Jones II and is a par 70.  The fairways are wide but the greens are guarded by bunkers, lakes, and some natural features that make the course fun yet challenging.  Only the boundries of the course bring any of the lava rock fields into vision as the facility wraps around itself.
 
What Happened?  Charles Thurston was the top scorer for the Blue and Gold, finishing with 139 shots (74-65), one under par for the event.  He had one birdie and 13 pars on day one but was fantastic on day two.  He set a career-low score of 65 on Saturday, as he pocketed five birdies and 13 pars, tied for the second-lowest score on for round two and the third-lowest overall.  He finished tied for ninth in the field with 26 total pars.
 
Rex Robinette also recorded his best two scores of the season as he finished tied for 41st with 143 Shots (71-72).  He had nine pars and five birdies on day one and returned Saturday to put in two more birdies and 12 pars.  Robinette had the most birdies on the team with seven for the tournament.  Alexander Elia finished with rounds of 73 and 71 to garner a 144 for the tournament to end tied for 52nd.  He had five birdies and eight pars on Friday and collected two more birdies and 13 more pars on Saturday.  He ended in grand style, as his final round of 71 set his season-low score entering the winter break.
 
Charles Gulbe finished tied for 65th with 146 strokes after two days of play.  He netted three birdies and 11 pars for a 72 on day one, a season-low.  He returned with 14 pars on the second day for a 74.  Matthew Wilkes was 104th after the tournament concluded with rounds of 76 and 90.  He had two birdies during his opening round and tallied 10 pars on Friday and five more on Saturday.
 
 
 What Was Said?  "Very proud of the way both teams battled against very tough fields here in Hawaii," relayed Head Coach Jeff Anderson.  "We had some great individual performances, with Charles leading the men.  We are looking forward to the off-season, but we will continue to prepare for the spring portion of the season."