DuPONT, Wash. – Hawai'i Pacific University's Keita Okada had a strong front nine and had gave up strokes on the back side in Friday's second round of the 2021 NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional at The Home Course.
 
Okada, the PacWest Conference Freshman of the Year from Tokyo, Japan/Bradenton Fla. IMG Academy, carded a 5-over-par 77 on the par 72, 6,979-yard second day layout at The Home Course. His 36-hole total is 11-over 155, tied for 70th in the 86-player field.
 
Okada's front-nine was full of highs and lows. He shot the only eagle on the par 4 380-yard third hole to go to one under, and he had a birdie at the par 4 389-yard seventh hole. But the lows were bogeys at the second, fifth and ninth holes to make the turn at even-par 36. Then he struggled with the back nine, posting bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16. Okada finished the round par-par to go in with the 5-over 77.
 
Individually, Colorado State-Pueblo's Andrew Nl fired his second consecutive 2-uner 70 to take the lead at 4-under 140 after 36 holes. Nl is two strokes in front of a tie between Texas A&M-Commerce's Zach Burch and Sonoma State's Tom Jenkins at 2-under 142. Burch shot a 3-under 69, while Jenkins posted an even-par 72 on Friday. A four-way tie for fourth follows at 1-under 143, three strokes back. A total of 11 players have 36-hole scores of par or better.
 
The team competition swapped hands as well today.
 
Oklahoma Christian fired a 1-under 287 as a team to take a two-stroke lead at 7-over 583. Host Saint Martin's and Colorado State-Pueblo are tied for second at 9-over 585, with A&M-Commerce fourth at 10-over 586.
 
The top four teams and the top individual not a part of those teams advance to the NCAA Division II Championships at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., May 17-21.
 
The final round is slated for Saturday starting at 4:30 a.m. HST (7:30 a.m. PDT) at The Home Course.