Team Scoring Final

Hilo, HI -- The Academy of Art men's golf team ended the PacWest Tournament right where they were predicted to finish, but at the same time opened some eyes around the conference when looking at how far their program has come and just how high it can climb. Stuart Favretto faltered after his tournament-low score of 66 on Monday, but still finished tied for 8th place overall to earn All-PacWest Second Team honors.

The Knights had their best round in the second, led by Favretto, but still had a solid showing in front of their conference rivals. Alberto "Dago" Esponda tied for 23rd place overall with a solid 80 in the final round, and finished with a score of 230. Sean Etow had a score of 236 to tie for 33rd place, and Cody Moore had a 238. Thomas Krepp scored 82 in all three rounds to finish with a 246, to tie for 42nd place overall.

Grand Canyon took home their fourth PacWest title in the past six years, edging out Dixie State by 16 strokes and finishing 24 strokes ahead of host Hawaii Hilo, last year's champion. Newcomer Cal Baptist and Hawaii Pacific rounded out the top five. The Lancers' Steven Watson finished first overall, firing a 211 (5-under) to take the tournament. Grand Canyon had four finishers in the top ten, while Dixie's Kyle Chappell had a 214 (2-under) to finish second. 

It marked the end of a season of growth for the Knights, who see their program on the upswing after finishing the year with higher finishes this year than ever in program history. Favretto's 8th place finish was his highest since his 7th place finish in 2010, and the third highest since Matt Garcia won the tournament in 2009.